Van rental "change of condition"

Markbirdie

Hi,

I rented a van for work purposes towards the end of last month, as far as I'm concerned I returned the van in the same condition I received it in. Upon returning the van it was inspected and my deposit returned to me.

However two weeks later I get a letter saying they are going to take £610 pounds out of my account (14 days after the date on the letter) for a change of condition. They don't specify what the change of condition was. I'm going to call them later on today, I guess what I'm asking here is, how do I approach this? Obviously I need to find out what I apparently did, but like I said I had no issues with the van and as far as I'm concerned it was returned in the same condition and that was confirmed by me getting my money back.

I paid for it on my debit card, can they really just take that money out my account two weeks later and after refunding to me the deposit in full.

Any help/thoughts would be much appreciated.

Mark

benten69

Markbirdie wrote: »

.....can they really just take that money out my account two weeks later and after refunding to me the deposit in full.

Quite simply, no! As it was accepted that you returned the vehicle in the condition you received it and you got your deposit back.

How can they prove that the damage / "changes in condition" didn't occur in the 2 weeks AFTER you handed it back?

Did they give you paperwork to prove it was returned in a satisfactory condition? If so, that is all the proof you need.

Also, first thing I would do is contact my bank and tell them to cancel my card, decline ALL payments on that card and send me a new card with a new number. They won't be able to take a penny from you then.

As getting a refund after they take the money will be MUCH harder than simply stopping them from taking funds in the first place.

shaun_from_Africa

benten69 wrote: »

Also, first thing I would do is contact my bank and tell them to cancel my card, decline ALL payments on that card and send me a new card with a new number. They won't be able to take a penny from you then.

That idea crops up on here on a regular basis but it doesn't work.
The rental company will be taking the money under an already authorised transaction which was agreed by the OP when they took out the contract so cancelling the card will have no effect whatsoever.
The only way to get the payment stopped or refunded would be if the OP was to claim that the card was used without their permission and that they didn't sign or enter their PIN as part of the original transaction.

If it was possible, what would stop someone checking into a nice hotel and pay in advance with a credit or debit card and agree for any extras to be taken from that card.
Then after drinking the contents of the mini bar and taking all of the towels and other removable items from the room (things that often don't get noticed or charged for until after checkout), simply contacting the card issuer and getting them to cancel the card so none of the extras can be charged for?

dannyrst

As above, you should have received some sort of confirmation that the van was in acceptable condition when returned. If you don't have this, I'm not sure how far the fact they gave you back your deposit would go...maybe someone else will have more idea on that.

I'd get in touch with them ASAP and ask them not to take the money until you have details as to why they are taking the money.