Rental Car Charges - France - Europcar - Charged for Damage Not Caused

TroyMcClure85

First post here but need help. 
Long post but will try to summarise.

- Rental Car from Europcar Nice France
- Noticed very minor damage upon collection which was not on the documents. Videoed damage for my own records. Car collection was independant with no Europcar staff.
- Upon returning veichle damage was discussed with attendant in garage. I was barely viable to naked eye but showed video to attendant who said he was not sure. I was asked to sign return form and go inside to discuss with management who would resolve. I assumed signing return was to confirm I had left the car back.
- Showed video to 3 staff members including manager who advised no problem and assured me there would be no charges.
- Upon returning home I was charge £1000 for damage and admin fees.
- In the two months since, 100 phone calls and under answered emails, Europcar Customer service who agreed that I had been misled into signing return form and that there was evidence of the damage on a time stamped video (they requested this from me), advised that the Nice Depot who make the decision on returning charges advised that I would recieve no refund because 
a) I didnt report the damage within 2 hours of collection (yet had been asked to provide the video evidence during the process)
b) signed the return form (which I explained was not an admission of liability and had been misled)

The booking was via RentalCars.com. I informed them who tried the insurance that I had taken, which is refusing to cover the cost as I too honestly made the initial compliant to them denying liability. The insurance company state that as I said damage was prior to my rental, they will not cover it.

I have made a complaint to the European Car Rental Conciliation Service (ECRCS) but am yet to receive a response.

Has anyone had an experience like this?
Can anyone advise of any possible way to escalate my complaint within Europcar?
Has anyone had success with ECRCS?

Thanks!

Aylesbury_Duck

TroyMcClure85 said:

First post here but need help. 
Long post but will try to summarise.

- Rental Car from Europcar Nice France
- Noticed very minor damage upon collection which was not on the documents. Videoed damage for my own records. Car collection was independant with no Europcar staff.
- Upon returning veichle damage was discussed with attendant in garage. I was barely viable to naked eye but showed video to attendant who said he was not sure. I was asked to sign return form and go inside to discuss with management who would resolve. I assumed signing return was to confirm I had left the car back.
- Showed video to 3 staff members including manager who advised no problem and assured me there would be no charges.
- Upon returning home I was charge £1000 for damage and admin fees.
- In the two months since, 100 phone calls and under answered emails, Europcar Customer service who agreed that I had been misled into signing return form and that there was evidence of the damage on a time stamped video (they requested this from me), advised that the Nice Depot who make the decision on returning charges advised that I would recieve no refund because 
a) I didnt report the damage within 2 hours of collection (yet had been asked to provide the video evidence during the process)
b) signed the return form (which I explained was not an admission of liability and had been misled)

The booking was via RentalCars.com. I informed them who tried the insurance that I had taken, which is refusing to cover the cost as I too honestly made the initial compliant to them denying liability. The insurance company state that as I said damage was prior to my rental, they will not cover it.

I have made a complaint to the European Car Rental Conciliation Service (ECRCS) but am yet to receive a response.

Has anyone had an experience like this?
Can anyone advise of any possible way to escalate my complaint within Europcar?
Has anyone had success with ECRCS?

Thanks!

How did you pay?  You should speak to your card provider to see if they might intervene.  On the basis of your account, the "gotcha" moment seems to be that you didn't report the damage in the first two hours. 

Despite booking through rentalcars.com, I suspect your actual contract was with Europcar, and the French entity of Europcar at that.  That would mean that any legal action you might want to take (if you run out of options) would be using the French legal system.

DullGreyGuy

These are the risks of accepting a vehicle with damage that wasnt noted on the handover document. Certainly wouldn't have pointed it out to them on returning it if a new handover document hadn't been given showing the damage. 

What do the terms of the agreement state? 
Normally it states you must inform ERAC immediately if the handover document is wrong and you are liable for any damage found up to 1 hour after handing it back or 2 hours after opening time if handed back out of hours that isn't on the handover. 

Having failed to do step 1 you've not helped your position. 

Never had it happen but have refused to accept a car that had a big scratch that wasnt marked on the handover despite their insistence that it was ok to do so as they knew about it despite it not being on the form (wasnt ERAC)

TroyMcClure85

Aylesbury_Duck said:

TroyMcClure85 said:

First post here but need help. 
Long post but will try to summarise.

- Rental Car from Europcar Nice France
- Noticed very minor damage upon collection which was not on the documents. Videoed damage for my own records. Car collection was independant with no Europcar staff.
- Upon returning veichle damage was discussed with attendant in garage. I was barely viable to naked eye but showed video to attendant who said he was not sure. I was asked to sign return form and go inside to discuss with management who would resolve. I assumed signing return was to confirm I had left the car back.
- Showed video to 3 staff members including manager who advised no problem and assured me there would be no charges.
- Upon returning home I was charge £1000 for damage and admin fees.
- In the two months since, 100 phone calls and under answered emails, Europcar Customer service who agreed that I had been misled into signing return form and that there was evidence of the damage on a time stamped video (they requested this from me), advised that the Nice Depot who make the decision on returning charges advised that I would recieve no refund because 
a) I didnt report the damage within 2 hours of collection (yet had been asked to provide the video evidence during the process)
b) signed the return form (which I explained was not an admission of liability and had been misled)

The booking was via RentalCars.com. I informed them who tried the insurance that I had taken, which is refusing to cover the cost as I too honestly made the initial compliant to them denying liability. The insurance company state that as I said damage was prior to my rental, they will not cover it.

I have made a complaint to the European Car Rental Conciliation Service (ECRCS) but am yet to receive a response.

Has anyone had an experience like this?
Can anyone advise of any possible way to escalate my complaint within Europcar?
Has anyone had success with ECRCS?

Thanks!

How did you pay?  You should speak to your card provider to see if they might intervene.  On the basis of your account, the "gotcha" moment seems to be that you didn't report the damage in the first two hours. 

Despite booking through rentalcars.com, I suspect your actual contract was with Europcar, and the French entity of Europcar at that.  That would mean that any legal action you might want to take (if you run out of options) would be using the French legal system.

Paid with AMEX who didn't charge me interest on the sum until Europcar provided documents proving it was legitmate. They have a signed return form from me so AMEX accepted that and nothing more they could do. 

The fact that I was misled or stupid enough to sign the return form without reading that it accepted liability holds no weight with them.

You are right - contract is with Europcar so it would be them I have to pursure. I was hoping RentalCars.com could argue on my behalf as their customer also - as Europcar do not want to hear from me.

TroyMcClure85

DullGreyGuy said:

These are the risks of accepting a vehicle with damage that wasnt noted on the handover document. Certainly wouldn't have pointed it out to them on returning it if a new handover document hadn't been given showing the damage. 

What do the terms of the agreement state? 
Normally it states you must inform ERAC immediately if the handover document is wrong and you are liable for any damage found up to 1 hour after handing it back or 2 hours after opening time if handed back out of hours that isn't on the handover. 

Having failed to do step 1 you've not helped your position. 

Never had it happen but have refused to accept a car that had a big scratch that wasnt marked on the handover despite their insistence that it was ok to do so as they knew about it despite it not being on the form (wasnt ERAC)

I admittedly did not read the agreement at the time. I was told at reception when collecting to document any damage not on the handover document, but wasn't advised to come back in to report or that it needed to be reported within a certain period.

I did not point out the damage on returning the car, the staff member identified it. It is so minor I didn't notice it and only when reviewing the video and zooming it could it be seen. It was a 3-5mm wide indentation which you could only see at certain light. The fact it cost £1000 supposedly to repair is ludicrous but given that I didn't do it that is irrelevant.

I appreciate I didn't handle this well at the time but having been told by the staff that it would be sorted inside by management and then told it was fine there would be no charge I feel wronged. I also found it strange that if their basis of argument against the refund was that I did not report the damage in the required time period, why was I asked for video and photo evidence of the damage that was time stamped if this is irrelevant anyway?

Legally it looks like I have been caught and Europcar do not want to accept the context.

Is anyone aware of success via ECRCS?

TroyMcClure85

By way of an update, the European Car Rental Conciliation Service (ECRCS) took on the case and Europcar have now admitted the damage was not cause by me. They have paid me a full refund of charges for damages.

A good option for anyone who finds themselves in the same position.

born_again

One thing with the ECRCS is their decision is binding on the hire co.