Car Rental Damage

markonm

Hi,

I rented a car in Italy in January for a week. On return I received a registered letter from the local office claiming:

XXX noted that the above client has been charged locally for the amount of €720.53 for the following new damages caused to the vehicle:

missing the 4 wheel covers
rear light broken
damages between the wheel arch and rear right bumper
door of the glove compartment broken

The car did not have any wheel covers when I picked it up. This is standard(ish) practice in this country and the UK and I didn't think to note it. In fact, I noted nothing wrong with the car. I didn't even inspect it (i know, i know) as it was 10pm and foggy when I picked it up.

The only damage I did was the rear light cover. The others are made up.

Im being stitched up here. The amount has been deducted from my CC. I had no CDW. In 20 years renting cars, Ive never had a problem.

Any advice?

TIA

Mark

tbh

what was the story when you handed the car back? do you still have the original contract?

RealJohn

As far as I know, you can get back on to the company and dispute it and call your credit card company and ask them to freeze it until the issue is sorted.

Given that you didn't inspect the car though, you might have trouble arguing your case.

tippbhoy

I'd a rental recently in Austria and they took 150 more out of my CC. We had been upgraded because they didn't have the car i'd booked and ended up charging me. Didn't discover this until about a week after. Disputed this with them, hard enough to contact but they refunded me the money in the end.

I had a chat with BOI about credit card disputes, they said they can put the money back in your account but it is still subject to dispute resolution. You need to attempt correspondence with the rental company first.

On the actual dispute, i don't think you have any comeback here. You are supposed to do a check beforehand as you already know. Have you a copy of the T&C's? The fact that you admit some damage already could be a bit of a problem.

I would dispute the wheel covers, losing 4 of them is a bit unlikely, and the glove box, this is normal wear and tear and wouldn't be part of any inspection. Arch Damage...not sure will you have any hope here and this sounds like the big cost. Is it the same side as the rear light?

eth0_

markonm wrote: »

In 20 years renting cars, Ive never had a problem.

And in 20 years of renting cars you've never done a check with the rental company rep before hiring the car and after you've returned it?

jor el

markonm wrote: »

The only damage I did was the rear light cover. The others are made up.

Did you mention the broken light when you brought back the car? If you didn't, and you admit to causing this, then you leave yourself open to the others. When they noticed the light, they probably did a more thorough test and discovered all the other things.

You could contest the charge with the credit card and see what they say.

markonm

I usually do some sort of check. Given that the checkout form was in Italian, it was late and I was a bit stressed with having to travel ~50 miles in sh**te weather on roads I didn''t know (god bless satnav), I had other things on my mind. Maybe I was lucky in the past, but i have never had a problem before so I guess I was a bit careless. Silly me!

I think the point is that once they discovered one bit of uncontestable damage, they went to town on it. You could see how this might be 'unofficial' policy. In hindsight I should have got them out to validate the damage before handing it back.

The CC situation is worrying. I checked this out with AIB and they said that if you sign an open ended agreement with the car rental company then its tough luck. I can't claim that it was an unauthorised payment because, well, I authorised it! If they had taken 5K from the card it would be tough luck. They had no answer on how to avoid this sort of thing happening.

It seems that 250 euro of the 750 bill is the 4 wheel covers. I should get that back. Ill keep ye informed.

MOH

My father got ripped off before by a car rental company here. He did some damage to the car after being forced into the side of a narrow road by an oncoming truck. The car needed a tow, he called the rental company, they sent out a tow truck. When it arrived the guy somehow managed to drop the car as he was lifting it, doing fairly extensive damage to the front of it. Despite making this clear when he returned it, he got hit with a bill for the whole thing. When he refused to pay, they took it off his card anyway. At the time my mother had just died suddenly and the two of us had more to worry about than keep after them to try to get the money back, so we ended up leaving it. But it's left me with a healthy distrust of car hire companies.

markonm

markonm wrote: »

I usually do some sort of check. Given that the checkout form was in Italian, it was late and I was a bit stressed with having to travel ~50 miles in sh**te weather on roads I didn''t know (god bless satnav), I had other things on my mind. Maybe I was lucky in the past, but i have never had a problem before so I guess I was a bit careless. Silly me!

I think the point is that once they discovered one bit of uncontestable damage, they went to town on it. You could see how this might be 'unofficial' policy. In hindsight I should have got them out to validate the damage before handing it back.

The CC situation is worrying. I checked this out with AIB and they said that if you sign an open ended agreement with the car rental company then its tough luck. I can't claim that it was an unauthorised payment because, well, I authorised it! If they had taken 5K from the card it would be tough luck. They had no answer on how to avoid this sort of thing happening.

It seems that 250 euro of the 750 bill is the 4 wheel covers. I should get that back. Ill keep ye informed.

Well, here's the latest from the rental company. Note they are different from their local agents.

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Please understand that we have tried to dispute the charge on your behalf with our supplier,
however, dispite our diligent efforts, we are sorry to inform you that Loacl Company is simply
unwilling to refund the charges to your account and have provided official documentation from the
rental showing they were authorized to bill them.

Although we sympathize, understand and respect that you feel you were misinformed locally, we
regretfully must inform you that the Rental Agreement does have a clause that states "The vehicle
must be returned in the same condition rented."

In this case, the vehicle was rented to you with a minor dent and scratches on the front bumper as
well as damage to the trunk door, but was returned with new damage as the check in form states 4
hubcaps were missing, a tail light was broken, a dent was discovered between right front wheel arch
and bumper of the vehicle, and also that the glove box door was broken.

Attached I have included both the AutoeuropA Check Out Form from pickup as well as the Check In
Form from return for your records. You will see the notations of damage are entirely different.

We had our Italy implant at the company translate the damage notations from Italian to English for
us as we sided with you on the fact that since the notations are in Italian it would be difficult
for someone who does not read Italian to decipher what was different between the two.

Upon the conclusion of the translation, we were dissapointed to learn that the damage listed as new
on the check in form was not reflected on the documents from the time of pickup,and as such, are
maintained as new damages recorded on the vehicle.

Please try to understand we are not blaming you outright for causing the damage, but we regrettably
must inform you that you are responsible by default as you were in possession of the vehicle when
the new damage was incurred.

Although we belive what you are saying concerning the other damages with the exception of the tail
light, we regret that the Rental Agreement Contract and Check Out Form from the rental do not cite
that the hub caps, wheel arch and glove box were damaged at pickup.

If you wish to pursue the matter further we respectfully request that you contact your credit card
company to continue the dispute as, sadly, we are unable to dispute the matter further on your
behalf as we have no further recourse with our supplier.

On behalf of Auto Europe, I would like to extend my apologies for the inconvenience experienced
with the recent car rental in Italy.

We make every effort to ensure that each client returns home with a pleasant car rental experience
and are, therefore, disappointed that you did not receive the quality service that our clients both
expect and deserve.

I apologize for not being able to offer a more favorable response. I hope this helps address your
query, please don't hesitate to call or write with any other questions or concerns.