Car hire charging excess fees

flea72

I recently hired a car that had a mileage limit on it, with excess miles being charged extra.

I knew to check the car over for damage before leaving the site, but didnt think to check the mileage on the Car. They are now saying i did over 1200 miles in the time i had the car. I picked it up in the afternoon and returned it early the next morning, so 15hrs in total. I needed the car to get from my home to the airport for an early flight, so i only did 50miles.

How can i dispute this?

Aylesbury_Duck

flea72 wrote: »

I recently hired a car that had a mileage limit on it, with excess miles being charged extra.

I knew to check the car over for damage before leaving the site, but didnt think to check the mileage on the Car. They are now saying i did over 1200 miles in the time i had the car. I picked it up in the afternoon and returned it early the next morning, so 15hrs in total. I needed the car to get from my home to the airport for an early flight, so i only did 50miles.

How can i dispute this?

First of all it isn't really feasible, is it. By their records, you averaged over 80mph for the duration of the hire, so that alone should convince them to look further into it. Ask for the recorded mileage at the start of your hire and at the end. If that shows 1200+ miles difference, you will need to ask them to check the mileage records for the hire before yours.

flea72

I told them that it wasnt possible to do the mileage in the time. Their reply was 'They need to wait and see if any speeding fines come through then'

Ive asked for evidence of the cars mileage history, they have said no

jk0

Presumably this is being charged to your credit card? I would refuse to pay the credit card bill.

BoGoF

jk0 wrote: »

Presumably this is being charged to your credit card? I would refuse to pay the credit card bill.

Shockingly bad advice.

macman

Too late now, but it's advisable to always take a pic of the mileometer reading at start and end of hire.
Re evidence, do you mean they have said they don't hold it, or that they won't supply it? This is nonsensical: if they hire with a mileage limitation, then they must log the mileage at start and end of the hire. The opening read should be on the hire document, and the closing read logged and signed for by you on return. Without that, they have carte blanche to charge you extra.

Herzlos

Most hire contracts I've had have included the mileage on collection, but if you didn't record the mileage on return you'd have nothing to compare to.


What stage are you at with the hire company? Can you lodge a formal complaint? Who's the hire company?
I'd also be talking to your credit card company about the potentially fraudulent charge.


As a last resort, after taking the money, you can file a money claim online to get the money back, and let them justify the charge to a judge in a small claims court.

scaredofdebt

So they've no evidence of the mileage when you picked the car up?

They will have no leg to stand on if it goes to court, so I would push back and force them to go down that route if they are brave/stupid enough.

It sounds like they've not followed their own procedure when you collected the car, ie took a photo/wrote down the mileage and got you to sign for it, as you do for damage etc.

IANAL.

You can prove your case if you have some kind of tracker on your phone, for example Google maps can track your movement.

flea72

Having looked through the paperwork there is a mileage listed on the sheet i was given at collection, but as i didnt think to check this, i dont know if it matched or not. Their 'estimate of fees' paperwork they give you at collection is very confusing, with numbers and text all over the place and in small font. They basically hand you it, point at where to sign and Walk you out the door. You have to sign the paperwork before they walk you round the car to check bodywork

Upon return you get no paperwork. The employee walked around the car, said 'everythings ok' held out an electronic device and asked me to sign. I assumed this was just a formality to say i had returned the car undamaged.

My final invoice doesnt state return mileage either, just the excess mileage figure and the associated fees.

I asked for proof of mileage they said no, the figures are correct. Do staff enter collection and return mileage figures manually for each customer, or would the next hirers invoice automatically be populated with the last known mileage? Because if they did enter the return mileage wrong for mine (switched numbers round), then would the next hirers invoice have collection mileage as actually,shown on car, or my wrong figures, iyswim? Or they typed in the starting mileage wrong?

I really need to see the previous hirers invoice (if staff didnt use it between that is) and the hirer after myself, to see if there is any discrepancy. Do they have to provide copies of these or not? Or only if i start legal proceedings?

Tia F

macman

So you know the opening read, because you signed for it, albeit without checking it's veracity. Ask for evidence of the closing read and when it was taken. If they didn't record it, then they have no basis on which to charge you, as the alleged additional mileage could have been clocked up between you returning it, and the next hirer's opening read.
It's beyond comprehension that a company operating a limited mileage hire policy does not have a proper system for recording mileage.
However, if the discrepancy was with the opening read, you really don't have a leg to stand on, since you agreed it.

Nasqueron

Push back at them, if you have proof of the time collected and returned they would clearly not be able to convince any half decent person that you could have driven that far in such a short period of time, are they honestly suggesting you hired a car and then just drove up and down motorways at 85mph+ (allowing time to get to the motorway, looping around and for stopping and refuelling 3x given the likely tank capacity and range)