Unavailable Rental Advice

Herzlos

StarshipUK wrote: »

Simply if there is a UK law which protects consumers from hire vehicles not being available when pre-booked.

IF it's simply a case of it not being there when you pre-booked, as in, you turn up and the guy is un-contactable or says "We ain't got it, sorry", then it's a shoe-in from your side - they failed to honour the contract and shouldn't have charged you.

Since you turned up (to a business you know is small, during lunch hour), they said they would have it with you in 20 mins (according to them, 40 according to you), warned you that there would be no refund, and you cancelled, it's entirely open to debate as to which one of you failed to honour the contract, and what the reasonable outcome should be.

DoaM

As already asked (but maybe lost in the tit-for-tat) ... did your rental agreement specify a collection time (or period)? If yes, how did the actual timings relate to the agreed timings?

This is an important question ... your defence may rely on it.

As regards payment being made to another company ... is there more to this story? IMHO getting this information right may help your defence, as it may cast doubt on the veracity of what the claimant is claiming.

Small claims are judged on the evidence and on the balance of probabilities. If one side's behaviour can be called into question it may sway the judge to decide in favour of the other. So in this respect I disagree with a previous poster who said the payment angle was irrelevant.

AdrianC

DoaM wrote: »

So in this respect I disagree with a previous poster who said the payment angle was irrelevant.

For clarity, what I said was that a dispute over branding between the hire firm and a former commercial partner was irrelevant to whether the OP was liable for the debt or not to the hire firm.

Mercdriver

AdrianC wrote: »

38 posts. 10 of those in this thread.

If you've actually been around the forums, rather than simply registered, you'll also appreciate that descending into personal abuse is rarely tolerated for long by the moderation team.

Really? You have a short memory. The moderation team here moderate with very light feather duster. It has hardly any feathers on it.

BeenThroughItAll

Mercdriver wrote: »

Really? You have a short memory. The moderation team here moderate with very light feather duster. It has hardly any feathers on it.

I'm not even sure there is any moderation team; let's face it, the latest DM is still here and I called him out on that before I went on holiday for two weeks, and he's still spouting the same old drivel.

Mercdriver

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

I'm not even sure there is any moderation team; let's face it, the latest DM is still here and I called him out on that before I went on holiday for two weeks, and he's still spouting the same old drivel.

You can call people a csucker more than once and not get banned, so I definitely wouldn't say the moderation team don't tolerate abuse.

Tothepoint.

Mercdriver wrote: »

You can call people a csucker more than once and not get banned, so I definitely wouldn't say the moderation team don't tolerate abuse.

Maybe the mods agreed with her.

Mercdriver

Tothepoint. wrote: »

Maybe the mods agreed with her.

I'm assuming you are aware I was the target, yet no smiley. You aren't her are you?

Clive_Woody

DoaM wrote: »

As already asked (but maybe lost in the tit-for-tat) ... did your rental agreement specify a collection time (or period)? If yes, how did the actual timings relate to the agreed timings?

This is an important question ... your defence may rely on it.

This is the key question that I don't think has been answered. I've not done that many rentals but from memory you agree a pick up time and day rather than just a pick up day.

Not sure who would be at "fault" for not agreeing a time for pick up. If neither party thought to agree a time for pick up then I would suggest even a 40 minute wait is not unreasonable if the renter just turns up on the day.

I don't think they can add admin costs to the claim, so I suspect that won't be awarded but the other costs could well go 50/50 depending on who presents themselves best and what mood the judge is in.