Car Hire Woes

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Looking for thoughts on this please.

Hired a car for 1 day and dropped it off after hours, we then got a letter via email stating there was damage on the car shortly followed by another letter detailing the damage:





and a cost of £533 (plus £40 to assess the damage and a £27 admin fee) for repair.

In complete honesty I can't see how we caused this damage, was extremely careful, stopped once at a services for 5-10 minutes (parked away from other cars, it was relatively quiet) and once at a petrol station to refill.

The car was left on a private track outside our home during the night (track only leads to our home and a large forest) and when returned was left in a public car park in a town centre as per the hire company's instructions .

Did a quick walk round before leaving the car and didn't notice anything.

The car had been cleaned and moved to a different car park then they took the photos.

The door looks as if it's been opened against something but zoomed in there appears to also be a slight nick to the body as well:



It's a big hire firm and they've provided a proper assessment for the costs (consisting mainly of £180 for paint and 8.5 hours labour at £45 p/h).

If I thought we had caused this damage I would pay no problem but really can't see how we did this.

Would be very grateful for any input.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Just to add the car door picture is on it's side so this the end where it opens from rather than the bottom.

happyc84

I would compare the pre-collection checklist with the one that was done a the end. What was the process for handing back the car, did you walk around the car with them . I've hired 35 cars in last 2 years, never had a charge applied, and I would also take out carhireinsurance costs about £35 and covers 1 year.

PS. I've collected cars that look like they have been through the wars, so no way the car hire company will do the repair if its not safety related, they will charge you because they can.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

It was out of hours so we dropped off Sunday in the car park, put the key through the letter box and the hire company did their thing Monday morning.

Pre-hire a dent in the bumper was noted and nothing else. I doubt they'll fix it now but apparently they fix them before selling them on.

happyc84

Sorry to hear that they are taking the p!ss
Can you name the company?
Never a big fan of out of office drop off, and after you have dropped off in a public car park anything could happen.

Are they a member of the car rental trade body? They should have guidelines.

buglawton

Give them a surprise visit and check the damage yourself, check it isn't a chalk mark! I've rubbed worse scuffs off with T-Cut in the past with perfect results.

buglawton

There have been so many scam and sharp practice stories about hire car companies lately it's put me off hiring altogether. So on my last holiday abroad I made the decision to stick to local buses. Bus services turned out to be good and even saved money and was able to appreciate the countryside better. The hire car business needs to get its house in order.

1886

I used to work for Avis so I was very wary when I hired a car in June last year whilst in Spain.

I was told all the damage was already recorded then given a sheet with a picture of the car and no damage was marked on it. After a walk round the car I was astounded. It looked like it had been used for banger racing.

I got the woman to come out of the office with her master copy and easily fifty per cent of the damage wasn't noted. She added all the damage I pointed out and me and my wife took photos of everything

In your position its going to be quite awkward if you didn't note the damage first. I have no doubt it was there before you got the car and it all looks very minor to me. The quote is very expensive.

A lot of hire car companies waive damage below a certain size. I would have thought the damage in question would be waived. It looks very small to me

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

buglawton wrote: »

Give them a surprise visit and check the damage yourself

Unfortunately the car was gone when we went back, there was another rental car there with a smashed rear window, to be fair it could have been returned that way but it makes you wonder about the safety of the car park.

1886 wrote: »

In your position its going to be quite awkward if you didn't note the damage first. I have no doubt it was there before you got the car and it all looks very minor to me. The quote is very expensive.

A lot of hire car companies waive damage below a certain size. I would have thought the damage in question would be waived. It looks very small to me

I didn't noticed any damage to the door edge when we collected the car, the other scratch under the door may have been there, when they said check for damage I was looking for knocks and dents rather than a small scratch on the bottom of the car!

They state the door damage as 150mm+ and they've classed this as "serious damage" which renders the car unsuitable for renting to another customer and requires immediate repair, rather than just a scratch hence the detailed quote but their basic policy for a scratch which needs paint and is less than 2cm is £400-£550 so they seem to pick up on any damage regardless of how small.

I intend to challenge the damage with the hire company first and they part of ECRCS, but just wondered if anyone else had been in a similar situation.