Car Rental Damage Dispute

allesklar

Thanks, I'll enquire with the card company to check.

Let's hope that Sixt won't go through with the charge if I begin a dispute process otherwise that'll be another hurdle to get the money back off them.

brianposter

Why did you take a photograph of the damage ?

burlingtonfl6

I hire vehicles to the general public and there are a good percentage of people who hate paying for damage they cause. It's a strange mentality

allesklar

Sixt dropped all claims after I submitted my response to their letter.

Thanks to born_again for pointing me in the direction of BVRLA.  Not sure what was the killer argument but here is my response and hopefully someone finds it useful in the future.  The subject access request i submitted was a template I found on the ICO's website:  https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/right-of-access/ 

Personally, I think one branch tried to offload their most damaged vehicle to another branch and I was the conduit for this.  I believe once I made enough noise head office quashed the claim.... all speculation of course.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I write to contest the findings of the investigation conducted by your Damage Team.  I am not satisfied with your damage report as it appears that no investigation has taken place at all.

I wish to understand and see what communication has taken place between the collection and return branches as this will have formed a key part of any investigation into the condition of the vehicle on collection.

Furthermore, I would like to have access to all CCTV footage of the collection branch at the time of collection, as this will confirm that the damage was there already.  I have included a separate Subject Access Request as a formal record to obtain this footage.

Considering the extent of damage already on the vehicle, I cannot understand how you can determine that I caused any damage, particularly as I know that no damage occurred to the vehicle whilst in my possession.  Indeed, the manager of the return branch admitted that the damage did not look new.  I am prepared to pursue this matter by all the means available to me.

I understand that Sixt is a member of the British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association (BVRLA) and therefore signatory to the BVRLA Code of Conduct.  I believe Sixt has breached this Code of Conduct at numerous points.

In particular, I believe Sixt contravened the following guidance in the Code of Conduct, “The customer must be given clear instructions on how to confirm and record the condition of the vehicle and damage to the vehicle”.  I was not instructed how to record the condition of the vehicle, in fact I had to ask for a print-out of the listed damages to conduct my inspection as the staff believed it was sufficient to send the list to my email address.

Furthermore, Principle number 2 of the Code of Conduct states, “Not to misrepresent any information about their products or services”.  The condition of the vehicle corresponded to the list of damages that I was presented with on collection, however the greater level of detail on the return checksheet plus the photographs is a contradiction.  This discrepancy between the presentation of information between collection and return is a misrepresentation.  I am being held to account against evidence that I was not presented with on collection and therefore Sixt knowingly withheld information that would have aided my ability to assess the condition of the vehicle.

Finally, I believe Sixt has acted in contravention to Principle 3 under the Code of Conduct “To behave at all times with integrity and ensure that any agents working on their behalf also follow the standards set out in this Code of Conduct”.   This attempt to attribute responsibility to me for pre-existing damage plus withholding evidence on collection shows a complete lack of integrity.

I wish for this matter to be closed and that Sixt admits that all damage was pre-existing and to cease all claims against me.  I look forward to your response.

Moral of the story TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS AND HAVE EXCESS INSURANCE!