How do I sue car rental company for deducting monies from my Card for ALLEGED damage?

MyRealNameToo

flaneurs_lobster said:

Sound advice - video the hire car.

Doesn't making an 'X' on an agreement mean the same as signing your name? 

If you didn't agree/sign the documentation does that mean that you were driving the hire car without insurance?

Yes the X is the same as signing

As to the second point, it may be complex is probably the best answer. Certainly there wouldnt be an offence of driving without insurance because the car will still be insured as that the keepers legal responsibility and so the hire car company. 

A contract doesnt have to be signed to be legally binding. Would need to understand the exact circumstances of how someone got to drive away with a hire car without signing a hire agreement but most likely it will have deemed to be accepted on the grounds the OP paid for the service and made use of the service even if they hadn't made their mark. Alternatively it could in other scenarios be considered that the vehicle was taken without permission in which case the insurer would have a right of recovery from the OP for any payments it has to make, the hire car company potentially would have similar rights. All a bit of moot point as the OP ultimately did sign/make their mark. 

Vitor

Couple of points -

It would be better to sign normally but write “subject to inspection video” or similar beside the signature.
Tone of threat, usually it’s better phrased as “I will have no option but to pursue this through the Small Claims process”.

Grumpy_chap

Didn't we just have a thread about this very same thing from the same OP?
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6637638/how-do-i-sue-car-rental-company-for-deducting-monies-from-my-card-for-alleged-damage/p1

In fact the OP seems to be starting several thread that are not really questions or directly affecting them - for example how their Niece's house-purchase fell through - which means the threads are of limited function with third-party hearsay comments.
Maybe the best thing the OP can do to assist third-parties if they desire the type of support the forum can offer would be to encourage the affected individuals to join themselves and post personally.  That will improve the quality of any comment provided.

TonyMMM

A friend of mine worked for one of the big hire companies until a couple of years ago - the office/branch had a monthly target for finding chargeable damage that they were expected to achieve.

I would never hire a vehicle without video recording every blemish however slight, on handover and return.

Murphybear

Just a thought

I had a nail in a tyre once.  It was a nightmare to drive to the garage and I was definitely aware that the nail was there.   I am wondering whether you would have felt it while driving, as I did.  

FrankFalcon

Grumpy_chap said:

Didn't we just have a thread about this very same thing from the same OP?
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6637638/how-do-i-sue-car-rental-company-for-deducting-monies-from-my-card-for-alleged-damage/p1

In fact the OP seems to be starting several thread that are not really questions or directly affecting them - for example how their Niece's house-purchase fell through - which means the threads are of limited function with third-party hearsay comments.
Maybe the best thing the OP can do to assist third-parties if they desire the type of support the forum can offer would be to encourage the affected individuals to join themselves and post personally.  That will improve the quality of any comment provided.

Thanks for your input. I’m no expert on here, which you have pointed out. I can only apologise to those that I’ve annoyed by not posting in the correct manner and format. I’m one of those blokes that doesn’t read the instructions and then rants and raves that my latest purchase is faulty. 

My intention was always to try and help other people (my niece, my brother and others) especially, when I started my last thread with ‘I am writing this for the sole reason of helping out others.  I gain nothing from this other than to possibly save somebody a lot of stress AND money.

Lesson learned by me. Peace to all. X

Ergates

Murphybear said:

Just a thought

I had a nail in a tyre once.  It was a nightmare to drive to the garage and I was definitely aware that the nail was there.   I am wondering whether you would have felt it while driving, as I did.  

Counterpoint.   I've had the same (well, it was a screw rather than a nail), and was totally unaware of the issue until my tyre went flat a couple of days later.

adrich

I’d start by disputing the charges with your credit card company, since they can push the rental firm to provide proof.

Also send the company a written complaint asking for photos, the return-inspection report, and an explanation for why they charged you so late. If they ignore you, escalate to the Financial Ombudsman.

Small claims is an option if they still won’t engage. I’ve dealt with a similar mess before, and after reading a bunch of CarRental8 reviews, it seems like this kind of thing happens way too often. Push back. They should have to prove the damage.

born_again

adrich said:

I’d start by disputing the charges with your credit card company, since they can push the rental firm to provide proof.

Also send the company a written complaint asking for photos, the return-inspection report, and an explanation for why they charged you so late. If they ignore you, escalate to the Financial Ombudsman.

Rental co's have nothing to do with FOS 🤷‍♀️

saajan_12

Ergates said:

Mr.Generous said:

I wouldn't want a picture of a tyre with a nail in unless you could see the vehicle concerned and some evidence of the date - not digital data that can be manipulated. We all know that if you set up a camera and imput the wrong date and time at set up then all images are time and date stamped incorrectly. Easy as that to backdate a picture. 

No need for a conspiracy theory - it isn't really feasible that a large rental chain would fake a picture of a tire with a screw in it.

A large retail chain is still a collection of smaller offices (which often have targets / commission based pay) and each office is a bunch of individuals. All of which are fallible, have their own motives, etc. It absolutely is feasible for an employee to have accidentally done the damage and blaming it on a customer, or try to bolster their numbers.