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Easirent Car Loan

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Hi,

My wife recently rented a car from Easirent car hire (easirent.com) in Edinburgh for a week. We have rented from them before with no problem.

They are often quite laid-back and sort of rush the initial check. Even if you point out scratches they tend to say that won't be a problem and don't write them down on the initial spot-check form. On this occasion they didn't even give my wife the initial spot-check form.

When she returned the car, the man in charge, claimed there was damage to the hub-cap. My wife said she thought it was there before and didn't think it was her - she didn't have the spot-check form to prove either way. Anyway, there were three men working behind the counter. She was on her own. They wouldn't accept her argument and insisted she paid damages for the scratched hubcap.

The total bill for this was:

£100 damaged hub cup
£100 tyre damage
£50 admin charge

£250! Can you believe it - all for a scratched hub cap. Since then, I have phone the company to complain but they don't speak to you insisting everything has to be documented by email. So i have written countless emails to the complaints department but have heard no response.

I have contacted my credit card company who refused to put a block on the payment insisting a pin transaction is a guaranteed form a payment. I raised the issue with the CC dispute team but they say they can't get involved in these sort of disputes.

So i'm at loss - was is my recourse here? Is there anything else I can do? Does anyone else have experience of this type of thing?

Many thanks!
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Comments

  • Caz3121
    Caz3121 Posts: 15,833 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Tammboy wrote: »
    My wife said she thought it was there before and didn't think it was her - she didn't have the spot-check form to prove either way.

    Unfortunately it does sound that there is no evidence on whether the damage occurred before or during her rental.
    We had this with a car in the US. Picked it up and no form issued, checked car over and found damage so tracked down agent to mark the damage on form...took the car back at end of rental and they took a copy of the damage form. We had hung on to the original which was handy as a couple of months after getting home we received a bill from the rental company for $800 for the damage...which was eventually cancelled as we had all the evidence that the damage was there before we picked the car up. I expect we would have ended up having to pay had we not had this.
    What insurance was taken from the rental company? does she have a separate excess policy?
  • harrys_dad
    harrys_dad Posts: 1,997 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Surely if there was no condition form completed and signed by her before the rental then the company cannot prove that the damage was new? If you exhaust their complaints procedure, or they continue to fail to respond,then you may need recourse to the small claims court to recover your payment. You could possibly send a letter before action now and see what response you get.
  • Surely if no spot check form exists prior to rental then how can they force you to pay. I would ask them for proof that the damage did not exist before you rented the car, if they are unable to disclose the non existent spot check form i would threaten legal action.
  • If there is no spot check form then surely they would not have a leg to stand on. How could one man remember every single mark on each and every car that they have pre and post every hire without the paperwork.
  • looks like we are all in agreement on this. Well done team
  • wealdroam
    wealdroam Posts: 19,180 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 18 August 2016 at 11:12AM
    Surely if no spot check form exists prior to rental then how can they force you to pay. I would ask them for proof that the damage did not exist before you rented the car, if they are unable to disclose the non existent spot check form i would threaten legal action.
    Won't the hire company find it easy to produce a check form showing no damage? They will have thousands of blank forms just waiting to be filled in. ;)

    It really is in the customer's best interest to ensure they receive the appropriate documentation at the commencement of the hire.
    The customer needs to insist on receiving a completed check form, signed by the hire company's rep, before driving away.
    It is the only way to protect yourself.
  • wealdroam wrote: »
    Won't the hire company find it easy to produce a check form showing no damage? They will have thousands of blank forms just waiting to be filled in. ;)

    It really is in the customer's best interest to ensure they receive the appropriate documentation at the commencement of the hire.
    The customer needs to insist on receiving a completed check form, signed by the hire company's rep, before driving away.
    It is the only way to protect yourself.

    They would then need to forge the OP's signature.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 26,612 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    They would then need to forge the OP's signature.
    It would then be up to the customer to prove that it was a forgery..

    and so on..
  • wealdroam
    wealdroam Posts: 19,180 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    They would then need to forge the OP's signature.
    Why would they need to do that?

    It's not clear from the original post that the OP's wife even signed an inspection form.

    The lackadaisical attitude shown by the customer here is the reason for the dispute.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 26,612 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    wealdroam wrote: »
    The lackadaisical attitude shown by the customer here is the reason for the dispute.
    I concur.
    Customers of rental vehicles should always do a check of the bodywork and interior prior to driving it off the forecourt. Any damage or cosmetic degradation needs to be recorded with both sides agreeing.
    A five minute inspection can save oodles of time (and money) later on.
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