Holiday Malta Carwiz Rental charging my account for Burnt Clutch

ivtechcivic

Hey all. I need an advise please.

I rented a car from Carwiz in Malta on the 31 Aug and supposed to return it 4th Sept. Car given to me was different from what I paid on Expedia.com and what it says on contract (that is fine no big deal). 

I checked the car and recorded all evidence, I then tried to drive the car and notice the car wasn't moving, so I went back to the office and it was already closed, even though it is a 24hr opening office. I managed to move the car and notice the biting point was just high.

Car's engine is loud for a 1litre car. Whilst driving the car, car would occasionally rev very high and I had no idea why. And on the 3rd Sept the car broke down. I called their road and emergency number multiple times and no one picked up. I had to tow the car which came to 4th Sept and I had to push the car to the same parking bay I picked it up from. 

Carwiz were using excuses, saying that if the car had a problem why didn't I report to them. They said the clutch is burnt. And £830 was taken from my credit card. 

I used chargeback, and Barclays rejected my claim saying there is lack of evidence for refund and I did receive the service. They said the car was towed on 4th Sept which was day I was supposed to return the car, so eventually I used the car. 

What can I do. I messaged Carwiz for invoice for the fee, and waiting for a reply back. 

I haven't started my claim with Gigasure.com yet. Which is the insurance I used to protect my rental. 

paul_c123

ivtechcivic said:

.......................

I checked the car and recorded all evidence, I then tried to drive the car and notice the car wasn't moving, so I went back to the office and it was already closed, even though it is a 24hr opening office. ...............

This bit is confusing me. When you pick up a car, you check it over before "accepting" it because inevitably there is a form with areas (probably a diagram) to note damage, etc.

If you went through that quickly and just signed a blank form (ie no damage) then the office closed, any inspection you do after that is within the hire period, not an acceptance by both parties of the condition of the car.

born_again

ivtechcivic said:

Hey all. I need an advise please.

I rented a car from Carwiz in Malta on the 31 Aug and supposed to return it 4th Sept. Car given to me was different from what I paid on Expedia.com and what it says on contract (that is fine no big deal). 

I checked the car and recorded all evidence, I then tried to drive the car and notice the car wasn't moving, so I went back to the office and it was already closed, even though it is a 24hr opening office. I managed to move the car and notice the biting point was just high.

Car's engine is loud for a 1litre car. Whilst driving the car, car would occasionally rev very high and I had no idea why. And on the 3rd Sept the car broke down. I called their road and emergency number multiple times and no one picked up. I had to tow the car which came to 4th Sept and I had to push the car to the same parking bay I picked it up from. 

Carwiz were using excuses, saying that if the car had a problem why didn't I report to them. They said the clutch is burnt. And £830 was taken from my credit card. 

I used chargeback, and Barclays rejected my claim saying there is lack of evidence for refund and I did receive the service. They said the car was towed on 4th Sept which was day I was supposed to return the car, so eventually I used the car. 

What can I do. I messaged Carwiz for invoice for the fee, and waiting for a reply back. 

I haven't started my claim with Gigasure.com yet. Which is the insurance I used to protect my rental. 

So on trying to leave office car would not move? You got it going, but never went back next day?
Sounds like clutch may have been on the way out & the driving of the car over the 5 days has totally killed the clutch. 
Should really have left it there & got a taxi.

Better stick a claim in with Gigasure. 

ivtechcivic

paul_c123 said:

ivtechcivic said:

.......................

I checked the car and recorded all evidence, I then tried to drive the car and notice the car wasn't moving, so I went back to the office and it was already closed, even though it is a 24hr opening office. ...............

This bit is confusing me. When you pick up a car, you check it over before "accepting" it because inevitably there is a form with areas (probably a diagram) to note damage, etc.

If you went through that quickly and just signed a blank form (ie no damage) then the office closed, any inspection you do after that is within the hire period, not an acceptance by both parties of the condition of the car.

Yea but what it says on paper is external damage. This is internal damage. And frankly after research I found out that Rental Car companies do not cover clutch damages and always blame it on driver. 
The paper does not show clutch damage, they never do. 

paul_c123

Yeah I just wanted that aspect cleared up, that's all. It would come down to the T&Cs you agreed to. Just make a claim with Gigasure if they cover it.

Mildly_Miffed

ivtechcivic said:

Hey all. I need an advise please.

I rented a car from Carwiz in Malta on the 31 Aug and supposed to return it 4th Sept. Car given to me was different from what I paid on Expedia.com and what it says on contract (that is fine no big deal). 

I checked the car and recorded all evidence, I then tried to drive the car and notice the car wasn't moving, so I went back to the office and it was already closed, even though it is a 24hr opening office. I managed to move the car and notice the biting point was just high.

That was the time to turn the car off and phone the rental agency, insist on swapping for a different car, and not drive it one more metre. The clutch was clearly giving problems already, but...

Car's engine is loud for a 1litre car. Whilst driving the car, car would occasionally rev very high and I had no idea why. And on the 3rd Sept the car broke down.

...you then drove it around for four days with the clutch slipping badly, and in doing so, burnt the clutch out.

Carwiz were using excuses, saying that if the car had a problem why didn't I report to them.

That's not an excuse. That's a very reasonable and pertinent question.

ivtechcivic

Mildly_Miffed said:

ivtechcivic said:

Hey all. I need an advise please.

I rented a car from Carwiz in Malta on the 31 Aug and supposed to return it 4th Sept. Car given to me was different from what I paid on Expedia.com and what it says on contract (that is fine no big deal). 

I checked the car and recorded all evidence, I then tried to drive the car and notice the car wasn't moving, so I went back to the office and it was already closed, even though it is a 24hr opening office. I managed to move the car and notice the biting point was just high.

That was the time to turn the car off and phone the rental agency, insist on swapping for a different car, and not drive it one more metre. The clutch was clearly giving problems already, but...

Car's engine is loud for a 1litre car. Whilst driving the car, car would occasionally rev very high and I had no idea why. And on the 3rd Sept the car broke down.

...you then drove it around for four days with the clutch slipping badly, and in doing so, burnt the clutch out.

Carwiz were using excuses, saying that if the car had a problem why didn't I report to them.

That's not an excuse. That's a very reasonable and pertinent question.

I asked for help and advise not judgemental comment. 

HedgehogRulez

ivtechcivic said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

ivtechcivic said:

Hey all. I need an advise please.

I rented a car from Carwiz in Malta on the 31 Aug and supposed to return it 4th Sept. Car given to me was different from what I paid on Expedia.com and what it says on contract (that is fine no big deal). 

I checked the car and recorded all evidence, I then tried to drive the car and notice the car wasn't moving, so I went back to the office and it was already closed, even though it is a 24hr opening office. I managed to move the car and notice the biting point was just high.

That was the time to turn the car off and phone the rental agency, insist on swapping for a different car, and not drive it one more metre. The clutch was clearly giving problems already, but...

Car's engine is loud for a 1litre car. Whilst driving the car, car would occasionally rev very high and I had no idea why. And on the 3rd Sept the car broke down.

...you then drove it around for four days with the clutch slipping badly, and in doing so, burnt the clutch out.

Carwiz were using excuses, saying that if the car had a problem why didn't I report to them.

That's not an excuse. That's a very reasonable and pertinent question.

I asked for help and advise not judgemental comment. 

I advise you to take responsibility for your actions 

WellKnownSid

I think you are going to have to hope that your separate insurance covers you and otherwise put it down to experience.

I've hired hundreds of cars when operating between Spain and the UK - and I've never known a rental desk to be open 24 hours - even at a busy airports.  There will, however, always be an emergency 24 hour helpline number that you can phone written on the documents somewhere.

Mildly_Miffed

ivtechcivic said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

ivtechcivic said:

Hey all. I need an advise please.

I rented a car from Carwiz in Malta on the 31 Aug and supposed to return it 4th Sept. Car given to me was different from what I paid on Expedia.com and what it says on contract (that is fine no big deal). 

I checked the car and recorded all evidence, I then tried to drive the car and notice the car wasn't moving, so I went back to the office and it was already closed, even though it is a 24hr opening office. I managed to move the car and notice the biting point was just high.

That was the time to turn the car off and phone the rental agency, insist on swapping for a different car, and not drive it one more metre. The clutch was clearly giving problems already, but...

Car's engine is loud for a 1litre car. Whilst driving the car, car would occasionally rev very high and I had no idea why. And on the 3rd Sept the car broke down.

...you then drove it around for four days with the clutch slipping badly, and in doing so, burnt the clutch out.

Carwiz were using excuses, saying that if the car had a problem why didn't I report to them.

That's not an excuse. That's a very reasonable and pertinent question.

I asked for help and advise not judgemental comment. 

It wasn't "judgemental". It was advice based on technical understanding of how clutches work, explaining the reality of the situation to you.

Your actions in continuing to drive the car caused the clutch to burn out completely.
You are responsible for that.

Was the clutch failing when you collected the car? Yes, it sounds like it was. That's why you should have rejected it there and then.

Since you didn't report the issues at the time, you tacitly accepted the car as fault-free and usable.

Grumpy_chap

ivtechcivic said:

I haven't started my claim with Gigasure.com yet. Which is the insurance I used to protect my rental. 

Is that policy with Gigasure a general travel insurance policy, or a car hire excess policy, or something else?

I would not expect a general travel insurance policy to cover this type of event.

I also understand that car hire excess policies usually cover insurance excess from a collision or theft event.  I would not expect many car hire excess policies to cover a mechanical failure such has occurred in this case.

Can the OP confirm the type of insurance they have when referring to their Gigasure claim?