Hire Van Charges

bigluce

Hi there,

This is my first post so I hope I'm doing it right!

My husband and I are moving house and hired a long-wheelbase van from a local hire company. £80 for the day with a £250 deposit.

We checked the vehicle on arrival and all looked good, didn't see any marks or scratches that the member of staff didn't spot.

On return the member of staff spotted some scratches on the passenger side of the van, we have no idea where they've come from as nothing happened while we had it.. They said they needed to get a quote for the damage and that he'll come back to us. This morning we got a quote through for £1200! We are absolutely staggered by this and can't understand why this costs so much. We were told that they had to go to approved VW repairers as they use lease vehicles, but this sounds like an insane amount of money to pay.

Are we stuck paying it, or is there anything we can do?
I would be hugely appreciative of any advice you can share.

Also, we'll need to hire another van (I know), but don't want to go back to this place. Can you recommend a good company to look at? We're in Leeds.

Thanks!
BL.

bigisi

bigluce wrote: »

Hi there,

This is my first post so I hope I'm doing it right!

My husband and I are moving house and hired a long-wheelbase van from a local hire company. £80 for the day with a £250 deposit.

We checked the vehicle on arrival and all looked good, didn't see any marks or scratches that the member of staff didn't spot.

On return the member of staff spotted some scratches on the passenger side of the van, we have no idea where they've come from as nothing happened while we had it.. They said they needed to get a quote for the damage and that he'll come back to us. This morning we got a quote through for £1200! We are absolutely staggered by this and can't understand why this costs so much. We were told that they had to go to approved VW repairers as they use lease vehicles, but this sounds like an insane amount of money to pay. They are probably also including some for the time it will be off the road and can't be rented out again.

Are we stuck paying it, or is there anything we can do?
I would be hugely appreciative of any advice you can share.

Also, we'll need to hire another van (I know), but don't want to go back to this place. Can you recommend a good company to look at? We're in Leeds.

Thanks!
BL.

If it was a VW it wasn't Salford you hired from. Use them, they are nearly always the cheapest and very easy to use in my experience. I wouldn't consider anyone else in Leeds unless I needed a van for just an hour or two in which case I use the Hertz 24/7 Transit from Costco.

bigluce

Nope, we used a local to Leeds firm who we've used for cars in the past and had no problems at all with.

Will definitely keep Salford in mind for the next one!

Thanks for your help.

davidwood681

bigluce wrote: »

Hi there,

This is my first post so I hope I'm doing it right!

My husband and I are moving house and hired a long-wheelbase van from a local hire company. £80 for the day with a £250 deposit.

We checked the vehicle on arrival and all looked good, didn't see any marks or scratches that the member of staff didn't spot.

On return the member of staff spotted some scratches on the passenger side of the van, we have no idea where they've come from as nothing happened while we had it.. They said they needed to get a quote for the damage and that he'll come back to us. This morning we got a quote through for £1200! We are absolutely staggered by this and can't understand why this costs so much. We were told that they had to go to approved VW repairers as they use lease vehicles, but this sounds like an insane amount of money to pay.

Are we stuck paying it, or is there anything we can do?
I would be hugely appreciative of any advice you can share.

Also, we'll need to hire another van (I know), but don't want to go back to this place. Can you recommend a good company to look at? We're in Leeds.

Thanks!
BL.

Think this just about sums the situation up.

I presume OP that if your car was damaged you'd be happy to go without it for a few weeks and also go for the cheapest options regarding paint

bigluce

If it had happened to our car we would of course want to get it fixed right away and pay the proper price. I'm just staggered that its come back at £1200 for what on the surface doesn't look like a massive job..

System

Did you brush any bushes or low trees? That'll scratch the hell out the side of a van and if you're not used to driving something that size its easily done without you realising.

konark

Do you really think they're gonna spend £1200 tarting up a van to some sort of concours de elegance condition? They're gonna trouser your money then gouge another £1200 off the next hirer, rinse and repeat. It's what these sharks do., they know exactly where to look for the scratches cos they've been there for months.

paddedjohn

Next time you hire a van or car be sure to take loads of pics before signing anything.

loskie

better still take out excess insurance but NOT from the hire company. OP did you see the scratches on return but not pick up? If so it is likely to have happened whilst in your care.

bigluce

Thanks everyone, we've pushed back on the quote and the hire company have found a cheaper one for £800. Next time we're going to take extra care and take plenty of photos!

Mercdriver

For future reference, take out excess insurance. Ones for cars are less than £50 a year for example.