Car rental looking for payment after 9 months

mfceiling

That's it really.

I hired a car last july in Sicily. Took out the additional insurance at the time. Turns out they only charged for the insurance €350 and forgot the €295 for the car hire.

I can genuinely put my hand on my heart and say I never noticed this at the time. It was nearly 12 at night and I just signed up as quick as I could, paid and left.

Got an email this morning looking for the payment. I'm thinking it's a bit too late coming looking for it 9 months after we signed off on everything.

Pay up or not?



Edit....I already paid for the car at the time of booking back in May of last year. The email says that I never paid for the booking. I prepaid €358 at the time of booking and an extra €350 at the desk for the full insurance package.

undertaker fan 88

Pay of course. It's not like you didnt use the service.

mfceiling

undertaker fan 88 wrote: »

Pay of course. It's not like you didnt use the service.

To be fair I will pay up. Just a bit pìssed off that after 9 months they send me a bill. As I said I genuinely just gave them my card, lashed in the pin and got out as quickly as I could.
Live and learn.

TheBoyConor

I'd be telling them it was their mistake and they can fúck off coming back to you 9 months later looking for it. No fear of them. Shnackes.

mfceiling

TheBoyConor wrote: »

I'd be telling them it was their mistake and they can fúck off coming back to you 9 months later looking for it. No fear of them. Shnackes.

It's coming up as "pending" on my credit card. Slightly pìssed off that it's taken so long especially when it was their mistake.

Dav010

TheBoyConor wrote: »

I'd be telling them it was their mistake and they can fúck off coming back to you 9 months later looking for it. No fear of them. Shnackes.

Which one of us doesn’t check our CC bills after coming back from holidays, Of course the op knew he/she hadn’t been charged. Would you not know if €295 hadn’t been charged?

mfceiling

Dav010 wrote: »

Which one of us doesn’t check our CC bills after coming back from holidays, Of course the op knew he/she hadn’t been charged. Would you not know if €295 hadn’t been charged?

Can genuinely 100% say I never noticed it. I used my card quite a bit and i usually just throw a few quid off it every week. I was buying dinner, shopping, diesel, trips etc and really never noticed that they hadn't charged me. Actually I must go further back and see had i pre-paid the car at the time of booking.


Edit....I had pre-paid for the car in May. I've no idea what this charge is for then.

Jim Root

Pay up

mfceiling

Jim Root wrote: »

Pay up

I did...back in May.

L1011

They're going to get it from you regardless, bank won't entertain a chargeback basically.

snoopboggybog

If you have the original bill and are aware that the extra money was never charged I'd probably pay up.

ted1

Take out an annual excess policy 350 is a crazy amount to pay.

mgbgt1978

OP, is it definitely an invoice for the rental? Not an admin charge for handing over your details in relation to a speeding ticket/ illegal parking or similar?? (some hire companies will pay the fine and then charge you for the fine and their fees)
Although the figure is a bit high for that I thought I'd ask anyway.

edit: main reason for asking is that 350 seems too high for excess insurance on 295 rental fee.

mfceiling

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

OP, is it definitely an invoice for the rental? Not an admin charge for handing over your details in relation to a speeding ticket/ illegal parking or similar?? (some hire companies will pay the fine and then charge you for the fine and their fees)
Although the figure is a bit high for that I thought I'd ask anyway.

edit: main reason for asking is that 350 seems too high for excess insurance on 295 rental fee.

Definitely an invoice for rental. Got my bro in law to look at it as he's fluent italian. I prepaid for the car in May (€358)...I then paid €350 for the full bells and whistles insurance package at the desk....I know I should have bought a yearly policy here but it slipped my mind and at the desk I just said feck it and took their comprehensive policy.

No idea what this €295 charge is for.

redcup342

mfceiling wrote: »

Definitely an invoice for rental. Got my bro in law to look at it as he's fluent italian. I prepaid for the car in May (€358)...I then paid €350 for the full bells and whistles insurance package at the desk....I know I should have bought a yearly policy here but it slipped my mind and at the desk I just said feck it and took their comprehensive policy.

No idea what this €295 charge is for.

I pay 70 euros for the year with Insurance4carhire.com and have had one claim for 950 euros 3 weeks ago and another for 300 euros in october last year, paid out within 10 working days of paying the rental company.

"Bells and whistles" insurance can have conditions in it that if you don't follow them it makes the insurance invalid. In the case of the incident in Sri Lanka I had back in October as I was returning the car they advised that their insurance was invalid as I hadn't filed a police report and hadn't informed them via phone the same day the incident happened. (i.e. if the damage was more than the excess I'd have technically unlimited liability)

I didn't even notice there was any damage as the car was covered in damage anyways :rolleyes:

Anyways, sent off the details to my excess insurance, they pay me the money and they chase after Sixt in Sri Lanka to investigate it.

I renew my excess insurance every year, it's worth the money even if you rent one time per year (and I rent way more than that)

It's just a shame the crowd I use can't offer their service anymore post brexit

BabysCoffee

mfceiling wrote: »

Definitely an invoice for rental. Got my bro in law to look at it as he's fluent italian. I prepaid for the car in May (€358)...I then paid €350 for the full bells and whistles insurance package at the desk....I know I should have bought a yearly policy here but it slipped my mind and at the desk I just said feck it and took their comprehensive policy.

No idea what this €295 charge is for.

Contact your credit card and reject this payment


Then contact the car hire company and ask what this charge is for

L1011

BabysCoffee wrote: »

Contact your credit card and reject this payment


Then contact the car hire company and ask what this charge is for

Card providers require a lot more than just a phone call to do that

mfceiling

L1011 wrote: »

Card providers require a lot more than just a phone call to do that

I just contacted them. They've put a freeze on the payment and they will request documents from B Rent to ask why or what reason they are seeking additional payment after 9 months.

I can't get through to B Rent on the phone so I'm going to email them and the original company that I booked (and prepaid) the car with.

rampantbunny

mfceiling wrote: »

I just contacted them. They've put a freeze on the payment and they will request documents from B Rent to ask why or what reason they are seeking additional payment after 9 months.

I can't get through to B Rent on the phone so I'm going to email them and the original company that I booked (and prepaid) the car with.

You can't get through to them maybe because of covid situation. You of course will understand this but it is not your fault. And maybe they are owed money (although from what you write it looks like there's a mistake on their side).
If they ring you, if possible put them in a queue or on hold...20 minute should do it. Then tell them you need to check your own terms and conditions...you know, the ones that you had at the time of renting the car but didn't pass to them because they didn't ask. And mention the small print you got added to the back of your licence and credit cards that you need a microscope to read, which they should have read before accepting your custom. Then tell them they have the wrong department, put them on hold, or hang up.

All I'm really saying is, I would let them do the chasing on this as long as you can ensure your money will not be taken from your account. It might be a cynical view, but if they sent 100 of their customers the same request I bet some would pay without question i.e. it's a scam until proven otherwise.

rampantbunny

L1011 wrote: »

They're going to get it from you regardless, bank won't entertain a chargeback basically.

At time of paying for goods/services and you provide your card details, if there is a subsequent issue e.g. not enough was charged or extra required for delivery/booking etc. can your card be charged again?
Or does the service provider not have to request your card details again (I'm presuming payment by card here).

Just puzzled by this genuinely i.e. I thought companies could not retain your card details but this is not based on legal knowledge or knowledge of GDPR rules.