How long after giving back courtesy car can they charge for damage

KeysMcK

Hi all,

I've got some hire car worries, hoping someone could help.

My BMW was re-called, they took the car off the road to fix it and as the parts weren't avaialble.This took a month, and for this month they put me in a Enterprise hire car, they paid the bill (although I had to pay £50 to have the car released to me).

When they dropped the car off for me it was dripping wet, I had a brief look around but coudln't see any damage. Their office printer wasn't working on the day so they gave me an 'interim contract' for me to sign, which was actual just saying there was no damage, I never signed any paperwork about me agreeing to pay for damage etc, and I wasn't offered any insurance or anything.

The next day I noticed a tennis ball sized mark where someone had obviously keyed the car, not sure if that was when I had it or if it was just hidden by the bodywork being wet.

The day before I gave it back I also fell victim to a 1ft high wall and scuffed the bumper a little, well within what they would class as damage. I was sure I was going to be charged hundreds for this repair (it was a brand new BMW hire car!)

The day I picked up my car I dropped this car off with the garage, they 'off-hired' it. I didnt hear anything from anyone about any damage. No one even looked around it, no one from Enerprise was there. (28th June this was)

A few weeks later I got the £50 returned to my credit card (16th July), but still nothing about any damage etc. I've heard nightmare stories of them charging hundreds of pounds to people's credit cards without any warning etc. I've reported mine lost and ordered a new one hoping that they won't charge it.

My questions are:

1) will having a new credit card protect my old one from being charged, or can they still request money from it?
2) how long would they have to report and charge me for damage?
3) could it just be that I've been really lucky and they haven't charged me because I never signed their contract?

I have no problem with paying for damage I've done, but I want to ensure I'm charged fairly, and I don't want it being done without damage! Equally though I don't want to contact them to ask as if I have got away with it I don't want to raise the issue.

Any advice appreciated :-)

neilmcl

I've always found they don't really bother much with the BMW Enterprise car courtesy vehicles. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I take it you didn't offer up the fact that you had scuffed the car then.

Svein_Forkbeard

I would have thought the OP would like honesty on both sides. Instead of ducking and diving and lying to his CC company to avoid a charge for damage he has caused to his card. Quality.

KeysMcK

Nope, I walked in, handed them the keys, they handed me mine and told me my car was parked out front.

I'd worked through how I was going to approach it with them but they didn't look around the car so it caught me off guard!

I was going to argue the other mark, but the wall scratch was 100% on me.

KeysMcK

Svein_Forkbeard wrote: »

I would have thought the OP would like honesty on both sides. Instead of ducking and diving and lying to his CC company to avoid a charge for damage he has caused to his card. Quality.

As above, had planned to pay, but they just gave my my keys and rushed my out the door.

Side note - I think honesty is something you absolutely do not get from car hire firms generally, there's loads of stories out there of people being charged for damage they hadn't caused etc. I think if this is an unlikely and uncommon scenario in which a consumer got one over on a pretty dishonest industry I wouldn't lose any sleep.

Comms69

KeysMcK wrote: »

Hi all,

I've got some hire car worries, hoping someone could help.

My BMW was re-called, they took the car off the road to fix it and as the parts weren't avaialble.This took a month, and for this month they put me in a Enterprise hire car, they paid the bill (although I had to pay £50 to have the car released to me).

When they dropped the car off for me it was dripping wet, I had a brief look around but coudln't see any damage. Their office printer wasn't working on the day so they gave me an 'interim contract' for me to sign, which was actual just saying there was no damage, I never signed any paperwork about me agreeing to pay for damage etc, and I wasn't offered any insurance or anything.

The next day I noticed a tennis ball sized mark where someone had obviously keyed the car, not sure if that was when I had it or if it was just hidden by the bodywork being wet.

The day before I gave it back I also fell victim to a 1ft high wall and scuffed the bumper a little, well within what they would class as damage. I was sure I was going to be charged hundreds for this repair (it was a brand new BMW hire car!)

The day I picked up my car I dropped this car off with the garage, they 'off-hired' it. I didnt hear anything from anyone about any damage. No one even looked around it, no one from Enerprise was there. (28th June this was)

A few weeks later I got the £50 returned to my credit card (16th July), but still nothing about any damage etc. I've heard nightmare stories of them charging hundreds of pounds to people's credit cards without any warning etc. I've reported mine lost and ordered a new one hoping that they won't charge it.

My questions are:

1) will having a new credit card protect my old one from being charged, or can they still request money from it?
2) how long would they have to report and charge me for damage?
3) could it just be that I've been really lucky and they haven't charged me because I never signed their contract?

I have no problem with paying for damage I've done, but I want to ensure I'm charged fairly, and I don't want it being done without damage! Equally though I don't want to contact them to ask as if I have got away with it I don't want to raise the issue.

Any advice appreciated :-)

They have 6 years to pursue this.

Aylesbury_Duck

The issue may arise when the next hirer of the car records the damage when they collect the car or when they're mistakenly charged for it when they return it and they dispute it. It's possible it's been hired since and therefore it would be difficult to apportion blame to the OP but if it hasn't, it could yet come back to them.

neilmcl

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

The issue may arise when the next hirer of the car records the damage when they collect the car or when they're mistakenly charged for it when they return it and they dispute it. It's possible it's been hired since and therefore it would be difficult to apportion blame to the OP but if it hasn't, it could yet come back to them.

I doubt it will. The majority of these cars are for the dealer network and don't get hired out to individuals therefore there are much less strict when it comes to checking and chasing for minor damage. I even queried it when the last one I had was delivered and was told they tend only to note significant body work damage.

It may well be that these cars are actually owned by the BMW group themselves and are simply managed by Enterprise and they'll just end up at Auction after a couple of years of use.

KeysMcK

I had wondered if this was the case.

I honestly think it!!!8217;s a bit crap that they give you a blank diagram and have you mark down he damage you can see when you hire the car. If they know there!!!8217;s a mark on it why not have it already marked down, unless you!!!8217;re going to catch out user after user and charge each of them for damage that was already there.

Anyway, as above I!!!8217;d be happy to pay them for he damage, I just wanted to make sure that the precautions id taken so far with my credit card were enough to ensure that cant take any money out without my permissiOn. I try to pay my credit card off in full every month but I haven!!!8217;t done so since giving it back to avoid losing the money overnight.

Thanks for all advice so far!

jb66

When I got a hire car from BMW it had a £0 excess