car hire - tyre 'damage' and excesses

wandaland

I hired a car in the UK from a 'well-known' car hire company. Within a few days we realised we had a slow puncture.
We phoned the car hire company and were told we were responsible for tyre damage, and that it was OUR responsibility to check for tyre damage when we collected the car.
It was cheaper for us to buy a new tyre than to pay the excess. The tyre shop found TWO nails in the tyre and said that there was no way we could have found these nails unless we took the wheels off.
I have written 3 times to this 'well-known' hire car company using recorded delivery. The first letter was delivered and signed for, but I had no response. The next 2 letters also sent recorded have not been signed for, and Royal Mail seem to be ignoring my letters about this. (They were sent 2 months ago).
I have taken consumer advice, and was told that it is an 'unfair term and condition' that the hirer is responsible for damage to a tyre when the only way of checking the tyres on collection of the car is to take all the wheels off!!!!
I feel it is highly unlikely that we managed to get TWO nails in a tyre within the first few days of hiring, and strongly suspect they were already there as the puncture was very very slow.
Has anyone had this experience? And, has anyone tried to write to a 'well-known' car hire company and failed to get any response?
And, has anyone any advice they can give??
(P.S - I have just joined this website so I hope I have posted this thread correctly!)

Crabman

Welcome to MSE Which hire company is it?

Did they inspect it and note the alleged damage at the time of collection whilst you were still present? If not, I'm unsure how they can claim you caused the damage when you could equally claim it was caused after the vehicle was handed over. I'll move this to the Motoring Forum for a better response

Alias_Omega

I know this sounds dishonest, and i did this myself.

I had a hire car (black corsa), and it had a slow puncture. The last thing you check when you pick it up is damage to tyres etc, you have a quick look around the body work for dents, marks then sign the for.

When we noticed the rear tyre was going down, we pumped it back up, and slightly over inflated it before we gave it back to them.

Its not right, but if i mentioned to them when i took it back, they would of said it was me. If i noticed it before i signed it, they would have took the hit.

Its just not right..

wandaland

I have just written reply to this thread - and seem to have lost it! This post is a 'test' !!!!!!!!!

Crabman

wandaland wrote: »

I have just written reply to this thread - and seem to have lost it! This post is a 'test' !!!!!!!!!

Don't forget to tick the "Remember Me" box when signing in, otherwise it'll log you out after 15 mins, that time includes typing a reply

wandaland

Ahhhhh ...... looked at your reply after I typed the message again! I will try again

wandaland

Not sure if I should mention name of 'Well Known Car Hire Company' - not sure of legalities etc and may want to take comapny to court.

Hired car at UK airport for 10 days. Visually inspected car before we drove off. On day 2 realised we had slow puncture.

Phoned 'Well Known Hire Car Company' and asked if we could call roadside assistance for something like a dodgy tyre. they said we could.

Roadside assistance attended, took wheel off, found nail, replaced with spare wheel. Said we wouldn't have seen nail without removing wheel.

Phoned hire car company - asked for spare tyre to replaced damaged tyre. He said it was our responsibility. He was rude and belligerent and kept repeating that we had signed the terms and conditions that we would be responsible for tyre damage.
HE ADMITTED THAT THE WHEELS ARE NOT REMOVED IN BETWEEN HIRINGS TO CHECK FOR DAMAGE. All they do is check the pressures.
I asked when the car was last offhired - he said the day before we collected the car. I asked when the car was last checked - he said the day before. I said a very slow puncture would not be evident in such a short space of time.

He said we could buy a new tyre as that would be cheaper than paying excess.

At the tyre shop 2 nails were found - again we were told we would not have been able to see them unless we removed the wheels.

We can't prove the tyre was damaged when we collected the car. Neither can we prove that we didn't 'damage' the tyre ourselves. If we took the case to a small claims court to claim the cost of a tyre they would look at the 'balance of probabilities' and of course that is very subjective.

I strongly believe it is highly unlikely we managed to get two nails in the tyre within 2 days. And it is unreasonable that a hirer should be expected to be responsible for 'invisible' damage.

Can I suggest to anyone who wants to hire a car in the future that they must take all four wheels off to check for damage before they sign the terms and conditions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wandaland

reply to alias-omega

With hindsight, I don't blame you. But it is a dangerous practice. I was advised last week that a nail can cause a blow-out. I think if hire car companies continue to include non-visible damage to be the responsibility of the hirer, then this sort of practice will continue and one day there will be a fatal accident.
By the way, the car we hired wasn't a black corsa!

anewman

You could try small claims court action. Threaten court action, if they make no attempt to resolve the issue within a certain amount of time, in a letter and see if that gets them replying.

sillywizard

I've just had the same experience - I've written to Avis Customer Service and copied in Avis Head Office in Bracknell and the AA (who organised the car as part of Relay Plus) and I'll update with their response.

Incidentally, you were more fortunate than I was; their customer service told me to expect a minimum of three hours wait if I wanted mobile assistance. I'm unexpectedly pleased that they were rude and hostile to you as well though :-) I was taking it personally until I read that..

wandaland

So you have guessed that I used the same 'well-known-hire-car-company' as you used!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would be interested to find out how you get on.

So far I have had no response from Avis - I wrote to them last October. I suppose I could send another (4th) letter using SPECIAL DELIVERY which costs just under £6. As we are claiming back £50- ish, I wonder if it is worth it.

Do you know if I can claim costs such as postage from Avis??? (as well as the cost of the new tyre)

We don't belong to AA or RAC - we belong to Brittania Rescue. I could find out whether they are willing to help with my case.

As I have said in my previous posts, the bottom line is ...... a hirer should not have to pay for ANY damage that is invisible on collection of the car. This is what can be called an 'unfair term and condition' within a contract.