Care Hire (seems like. scam) anything I can do?

Howikay

Hey all

Recently rented a car at an airport. The car was in a different area to where I did the paperwork, it was 1am (pitch black & no lights in the car park) & a storm (torrential rain). I inspected the car when I picked it up and didn't see (couldn't see) damage because it was so dark & rainy. Car was then parked at my house which has a private gate

Next morning (when light) the first thing I noticed there was small damage that I didn't see the night before

I immediately took a photo and emailed the company (Hertz)

They've billed me for it and refused to refund..stating I should have reported it when I picked up the car & in T&C's that I do that

It seems crazy that I have no come back on this, given I believe it was not possible to see the damage in the conditions I picked up the car in

Any advice on what I could do?

Thanks

Archergirl

Challenge it, tell them they need to provide lighting if they expect you to look at a car in the dark at 1am. Tell them you reported it as soon as you saw it the next day when it was light.
Tell them you will take it further (no idea how though lol)

[Deleted User]

But obviously don't tell them you think it's a scam, or you'll lose all credibility.

brianposter

Formal complaint and then small claims court.

T & Cs not reasonable in the circumstances.

cubegame

I'm not sure you'll get anywhere unless you get an act of goodwill from the hire company. You should have noted on the car hire agreement that the conditions were not conducive to a proper inspection of the vehicle.

Your only realistic option is to claim off your excess insurance.

maman

cubegame said:

I'm not sure you'll get anywhere unless you get an act of goodwill from the hire company. You should have noted on the car hire agreement that the conditions were not conducive to a proper inspection of the vehicle.

While it can't help OP, that's very good advice that will help others. I think this is common when picking up a car late at night. 

phatbear

and how can hertz be sure you didnt stop off between the hire car compound and your house and damage the car?

im sure you have a torch on your phone so there is no reason not to examine the car.

i have a degree of sympathy as use hire cars for work weekly and often the car gets left at my house without me being in therefore im unable to inspect the vehicle and quite often they accuse me of damaging the car, luckily my company deals with it all on my behalf.

Sandtree

You've signed to say there was no damage and you openly admit it had damage when you returned it.

It can be a pain after a long flight at night in the rain to go around and check the car properly but you take your risks if you decide to sign no damage without checking properly.

The reality is that they are unlikely to go to court because its not commercially worth while for them to but that goes for 90% of low value arguments with companies... its not that you are right but in the small track of the court system lawyers fees cannot be reclaimed so no point paying £1,000 for a barrister to defend a £400 claim as lose you are down £1,400 and win you are down £600. So most the time they just right off the £400

phatbear

Sandtree said:

The reality is that they are unlikely to go to court because its not commercially worth while for them to 

why would hertz need to go to court as they would have had the OP credit card at point of hiring so the money, as i read it, has already been taken for the damage hence the “refused to refund” statement

brianposter

cubegame said:

I'm not sure you'll get anywhere unless you get an act of goodwill from the hire company. You should have noted on the car hire agreement that the conditions were not conducive to a proper inspection of the vehicle.

Your only realistic option is to claim off your excess insurance.

It is readily demonstrable that some companies recognise that there is a problem and allow you to phone in details of existing damage on the day following collection.

Howikay

Yep, listen agree with what most o you have said - that I signed the agreement with no damage & admit it had damage when I returned it

But

Just rented a car this weekend from Hertz (late at night again) and this time the rep said 'check the car for damage & let us know if you find any, even call us in the morning if you need to'....which is exactly what I did in the case above

Lack of consistency on this is frustrating