Car hire - the sting

[woodbutcher]

I am posting this in the hope that someone will have had experience of similar events and maybe can offer some advice.
My eldest son who lives in Canada went to the UK to visit his brother and hired a car from Enterprise car rentals. He did suspect that the steering wheel was a bit off centre but the car handled ok so he ignored it.
He duly returned the car at the end of his trip and paid with his credit card. A couple of weeks after he had returned to Canada he got a package in the post from Enterprise with an enormous list of faults with the car which their service department had "discovered". They also informed him that since they hadn't received an acknowledgement from him within two weeks that he had received this package , they had automatically withdrawn 1500.00 Canadian dollars from his credit card account. Since he didn't receive the package for two weeks he could hardly have been in touch with them about it.
I have seen reports of similar actions but the rental companies (for example Eurohire) send an invoice for the amount they are demanding and there is an appeal process in place.
Sorry for the long winded explanation but can anyone throw light on this kind of situation .

 

[Drago]

It's pretty common practice. If you ever hire a car, immediately report your credit card as 'lost' and order a new one.

I don't know what the laws are like over where he is, but in the UK I'd be taking it up with the card company rather than fanning about with BentAndPrise.

 

[Slick]

I regularly hire a car from the same company at Stansted and sometimes they are really good at going over faults with you on pick up and return and sometimes they are terrible even in the middle of the day. You really should make sure all faults are reported at least when you drop it off but preferably before you take it away even if it means turning round after a mile or so when any problems present themselves. The only real problem I had last time I was there was the tank was quite a bit less than full but certainly nothing like you describe.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Can he not sue them for hiring him a un roadworthy car?

 

[woodbutcher]

Can he not sue them for hiring him a un roadworthy car?

that would be very satisfying!

 

[woodbutcher]

It's pretty common practice. If you ever hire a car, immediately report your credit card as 'lost' and order a new one.

I don't know what the laws are like over where he is, but in the UK I'd be taking it up with the card company rather than fanning about with BentAndPrise.

Thanks for that Drago, l think thats the way to go.....see if a chargeback is on the cards !

 

[Nigeyy]

I'm not sure if it would help in this case, but I always video around the rental car prior to pickup and after dropping off with my phone. That way if a scratch or dent is claimed I have some evidence (or who knows, maybe it would put off an unscrupulous person trying it on if they see you doing this).

Interestingly the last time I hired a car it had so many dents and scratches I was really happy as I thought they couldn't get me on any tiny scratch. The pre-pickup damage report looked like a car with a severe attack of the measles. It was funny watching the employee going around the car pointing out the dings and scratches, it took him a looong time!

 

[perplexed]

I once hired a van for a day. It started with a full tank. I did quite a lot of mileage and it was very thirsty, so I probably used nearly half a tank.

I filled it up on the way to dropping it off.

The fact that I filled it to the brim at a petrol station not a mile away from the rental place on the way back didn't stop the robbing bas***ds trying to charge me about £20 for it being short filled. I disputed it (had the receipt which was time stamped) and asked how the hell they thought I'd used £20 of fuel in less than 4 minutes...

I got my money back.

 

[mjr]

Are car rental firms paid by motor manufacturers to be crap so that it encourages car ownership even if it sits in the garage 95% of the time?

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Photos on receipt and return, in and out.

 

[TheDoctor]

I appreciate that the horse has long since vanished from the stable, but car hire excess insurance is designed for this.
Costs about £60 a year, but it stops this problem in its tracks. And hopefully the insurers are diligent about telling the car hire company to go and do one!

 

[woodbutcher]

I appreciate that the horse has long since vanished from the stable, but car hire excess insurance is designed for this.
Costs about £60 a year, but it stops this problem in its tracks. And hopefully the insurers are diligent about telling the car hire company to go and do one!

Since this was a once in a few years visit to the UK ,do you know if it is possible to take out that kind of insurance for a single visit.
I think that my son was a lamb to the slaughter because he is used to the very laid back attitude of US&Canadian car hire firms who are far less worried about the odd ding here and there .

 

[TheDoctor]

Yes, it is. I get an annual one as I'm hiring cars every few months, but they do shorter periods. Google "car hire excess cover" and you'll find a few firms do it.

 

[swee'pea99]

Since this was a once in a few years visit to the UK ,do you know if it is possible to take out that kind of insurance for a single visit.
I think that my son was a lamb to the slaughter because he is used to the very laid back attitude of US&Canadian car hire firms who are far less worried about the odd ding here and there .

It's not really a question of being more or less laid back. Companies over here - and even more so in some parts of continental Europe - have a business plan essentially driven by the levying of extortionate penalties for 'damage', since competition has driven their hire charges down to a point where if they relied on those alone, they'd lose money, and they will go to these (and indeed any) lengths to find some. At Malaga Airport I used my thumbnail to scrape off a tiny patch of 'damage', mightily aggrieving the young man who had already begun the process of preparing a charge of £140 to cover it. It's a well known scam that's been getting steadily worse over the years. As others have said, you'd probably have more luck taking it up with the card company than with Enterprise.

 

[PaulSB]

Since this was a once in a few years visit to the UK ,do you know if it is possible to take out that kind of insurance for a single visit.
I think that my son was a lamb to the slaughter because he is used to the very laid back attitude of US&Canadian car hire firms who are far less worried about the odd ding here and there .

This type of insurance is widely available and for example I had a week's cover earlier this month for £23. Annual policies are available and reasonably priced but I don't hire frequently enough to justify one.

While I would not in anyway attempt to justify Enterprise's actions they result from a general approach we have to pricing in the UK - people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

This manifests itself in nearly every aspect of daily life, car hire rip off, airline seat charging, extortionate train travel, insurance costs, poor quality food, clothing - the list is almost endless.

I'd never defend shoddy service or attempts to rip off the consumer but it should come as no surprise when the cheapest supplier is unable or unwilling to provide the service the customer thought he/she was buying. One gets what one pays for and not surprisingly the cheap option usually doesn't match expectations when things go wrong.