When Steven Price returned his rental minivan to Fox Rent A Car in San Jose, Calif., recently, an agent claimed he “put a scratch on the bumper” and the company eventually tried to bill him $520 for repairs.
“I realize now that I never signed a check out slip stating the condition of the vehicle when I checked it out,” he says. “I was not in a wreck — the car was not damaged at all when I had it.”
And here’s a question I get a lot from readers: Now that Price has refused to pay the $520, and Fox has turned the matter over to a collection agency, is there anything he can do?
Yes, there is.
I recently helped another car rental in a similar situation deal with what he considered to be a bogus claim. Hal Wechter rented a car from Enterprise in Florida, and after he returned it, the company sent him a bill for damages. I recommended that he send a brief, polite email back to Enterprise, denying that he damaged the vehicle and requesting more detailed documentation. Here’s what he sent:
Please be advised that during the entire rental period no damage was done to the car, nor was any damage brought to our attention at the time of return. You may also note that your representative brought my wife back to our car in the vehicle in question and the vehicle demonstrated no signs of damage. I will be more than happy to review this matter further if you can produce the following:
1. Proof that the vehicle was damaged while it was in our possession. That would include pictures of the car that are time-stamped before and after that show the damage.
2. Documentation of any loss of use.
3. A contact for the repair shop, so our attorney can speak with them directly.
4. Any documents signed by us acknowledging any damage to the car when returned.
A car rental business with a legitimate claim should send these documents with the original damage bill. And if it doesn’t, it should send them on request.
Enterprise promised the documents within a few days. When it failed to produce them, Wechter send another letter. This time, he copied Florida’s insurance commissioner, underscoring the seriousness of the matter.
We are in receipt of your letter dated September 2, 2009 as a final notice with regard to the above subject claim. Please be advised that we still have not received the information requested of Enterprise in our correspondence of September 2, 2009 which was to be delivered by Friday September 4th as per your email below. Please advise on the status of our dispute and when we can expect the information requested.
Meanwhile, Florida’s insurance commissioner chimed in with an email to all parties:
Dear Mr. Wechter:
On behalf of Commissioner McCarty, thank you for the courtesy copy of your email to Ms. Patrick regarding her claim.
Should you need any assistance, you may contact the Department of Financial Services, Division of Consumer Services at toll free 877-693-5236 (in Florida), 850-413-3089 (outside of Florida), or by visiting www.myfloridacfo.com.
If the Office of Insurance Regulation can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
This response likely made Enterprise’s damage claims department think long and hard about the case against Wechter. If it proceeded, it would need to have a watertight case. Enterprise finally sent Wechter a document, but it didn’t prove anything. A few days later, I got a note from him: “We won the battle,” he reported.
Of course, all of this could have been avoided by taking just a few precautionary steps, as I’ve outlined in a previous post. It’s also worth noting that car rental companies are trying to fix the problem of inadequate documentation, which is laudable.
So to Price and any other car renters who feel they have a bogus bill, I say: Ask for the proof, and let the insurance commissioner in the state you rented the car in know about your predicament.
If the claim is bogus, you’ll have a good shot at winning.
(Photo: star5112/Flickr Creative Commons)
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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
I like this kind of thinking. I often use these sorts of tactics myself. Most recently about a year ago when a former client tried to pigeonhole me on some debts owed to me by another former client. It shut them right up.
Unfortunately these tactics don’t always work. Legendary Journeys is still selling insurance policies in the state of Florida even though they have ripped off hundreds if not thousands of people with their “trip insurance” that doesn’t pay out when there is a problem.
This in spite of complaints to the Florida Insurance Commissioner , and the Florida Cosumer Protection agencies.
My mother has now died and thus they think her claim has died and gone away with her. Who is out there trying to protect us against Legendary Journeys and all the trip insurers that have folded under their “name” They are the scummiest of travel agencies.
I forgot to leave me email and blog if anyone has any info to help with the scum Legendary Journeys. http://www.icoulduseadeal.blogspot.com jtrophy at aol dot com thx .
I don’t own a car and don’t have insurance that covers rental vehicles. I often rent cars or trucks, so I always buy all the insurance. I’m not sure I understand why I could potentially have any problems. Even if I returned the vehicle damaged, wouldn’t the insurance I purchase cover the damage? And if this is the case, do I really need to spend 10 minutes with my digital camera photographing the vehicle prior to driving it off the lot?
I rented a vehicle shortly after reading about these issues here, and I was pointing out and photographing every single tiny imperfection I could find on the vehicle — which was a large, 4×4 truck — to such an extent that the agent tried to politely inform me that since I was buying all the coverage I could actually total the vehicle and still be covered.
@ Leigh Hanlon.
Make sure you get that in writing, or record the agent saying that on a cellphone video.
Leigh, just because they say it doesn’t make it necessarily so. It’s what’s in writing that counts.
And Jeannine, it’s a lot easier to get someone to back off a collection with these kinds of tactics than it is to get a scum company to pay up. In your case, you might really have to get the government regulatory agency involved. And even then (and this will sound very pessimistic – I’m sorry about that), there’s a strong possibility the company will “fold” and open up shop in another location under another name. If you read around on this site, you’ll see that this seems to be an ongoing problem in the travel insurance industry. Keep after them, though. There’s always that chance they’ll do right by you. Be the squeaky wheel.
If it’s just a little scratch, and the renter wasn’t aware whether or not it was there when he hired the car, how can he be so sure that it didn’t happen when he was away from the car?
I was almost the victim of one of these scams – and make no mistake, it IS a scam.
Having read too many horror stories of this type of thing happening, I always take digital photos of the car while in the lot, before I take possession. One time this actually saved me: renting a car from Europcar in Rome. As so often happens, the agent was too busy to do a pre-inspection – so I did my own, and photographed it. When I dropped the car off, the agent found a decent sized scratch on the trunk, and began telling me that I was going to have to pay for the damage. I just laughed at him. He went inside and began working up some paperwork, while I dug out the camera chip that had my photos from my arrival. What do you know…I had a photo of that exact scratch, time and date stamped from when I picked up the car! I cannot tell you the satisfaction I felt when I waltzed into that office and handed my camera to the agent. He tried to argue and say that I must have photographed it after I took possession and scratched it. I demanded a manager, and calmly showed him the photos, which also included a shot of the odometer, with the exact mileage on the car at the time of pickup – taken mere seconds after the shot of the scratch. Watching their faces turn red, knowing they’d been stopped in their tracks in trying to defraud me, was pure pleasure. They had no choice but to let me go. Good guys: 1 Bad guys: 0.
It’s important to remember that this is a common scam, and the only way to protect yourself is to be proactive. Do not trust them – these rental companies are dishonest. And I do not say that lightly…I say it because of 1) the innumerable, credible reports of this scam that I have read, and 2) almost becoming a victim myself.
Yes, it’s a pain to spend the time when you’re trying to get a car and get somewhere. But it’s the only way to guarantee you won’t be a scam victim.
I have rented from Fox in San Jose, CA. Their lot is so small you can’t get out if anyone is trying to come in. They tried to have me drive away before I had inspected my car completely. I REFUSED. I made them document every scratch before signing and luckily didn’t have any issues upon return.
@Noah
Good question. Fortunately for us, the burden is on the rental car company to prove that the damage occurred while you had possession of the car, not that you have to prove that you didn’ damage the car.
@carver
No doubt. But, if this issue were taken to court (unlikely, I suppose), and I were a juror, I would be very disinclined to believe a renter who was 100% certain that a “ding” didn’t occur while the car was in his possession. Especially if the rental company has documentation of the state of the car, and the renter didn’t identify any issues before driving off the lot.
@noah
Fair enough. That’s why you’d probably be excused from the jury. During voir dire, you’d be questioned to see if you would be willing to follow the law and the judge’s instructions.
You’d be instructed that it’s the car rental company’s burden to present evidence that the car was dentless prior to the customer renting it. If the car rental company can provide sufficient evidence that it is more likely than not, then the customer has to then refute that evidence. If it cannot or if its a tie, then you must find for the customer, i.e. the defendant.
Those are the rules that you would be expected to adhere to as a juror.
I recently rented a car in Newark, NJ from Hertz. I was very concerned because there were a few deep scratches on both sides of the car that look like it had been keyed and also some marks on the bumper.
I am Hertz Gold so I just got in the car and planned on noting the damage at the gate. The first agent checking my paperwork when I left refused to note any damage and said I would be fine because Hertz doesn’t charge Gold Members for minor damage anyway. I pressed the second agent at the booth and he finally wrote on my paperwork “Scratches All Over” and initialed it. At that point I figured I was OK for any minor damage and left.
In the end upon returning my car (at JFK) they didn’t even mention the scratches or even look at the damage their other agent noted. However, from reading some of your other articles glad I played it safe.
@noah — I agree with Carver and others — The burden must be on the one making an accusation (the car rental company) to back it up, not to make the defendant prove a negative (which is often impossible), and jurors have a responsibility to enforce that. The technology to do so (timestamped digital photographs) is readily available to the company; if they choose not to do so that’s their problem.
Plus, I still maintain that a tiny scratch or ding that isn’t obvious from, say, 10 feet away is simply normal wear and tear (like the wear on the floor mats or steering wheel), and shouldn’t be chargeable anyway. Collision or major cosmetic damage or on an exotic luxury car, sure, but do people really run out and have every ding and dent fixed immediately in their daily driver?
Is a rental agency legally required to provide a repair invoice when they make a damage claim against a renter? If not, what’s to stop them from pocketing the money and charging the next renter for the same damage?
If you have proof that the damage did not occur on your watch, photos of odometer and damage exisiting when you picked up the vehicle, it doesn’t hurt to contact the state’s Insurance Fraud Commission also. They have a nice way of sending a note to the scammers which often stops them dead in their tracks. Insurance fraud and fake claims are criminal acts, and ought to be pursued, if you have the time and inclination to do so. It’s often enough to contact the State Fraud Commission with the documents and problem, and let them go to town, IT IS THEIR JOB TO SHUT DOWN FRAUD SCAMS which cost all of us money in higher prices.
@Eric
The car company has no obligation to actually repair the car as its their car to do with as they wish. So no, they don’t have to supply a repair bill.
Several years ago I rented a car from Enterprise on a business trip to Calif. The car was returned and no mention of damage noted. Two months later, I received a bill for over $2,000 stating I had damaged the roof. (Who looks at the roof! This damage could not be seen as the roof as the roof had been slightly caved in due to excess weight) After several calls to Enterprise it was stated by Enterprise the previous renter had rented the vehicle to move from the East Coast to the West Coast. Oviously, this renter had placed items on the roof.
I refused payment, Enterprise went direct to my insurance company and filed a claim against my policy! I advised my insurance carrier NOT to pay. To this day, I do not know the outcome.
Bottomline, I have learned to now #1 not rent from Enterprise #2 Look at the roof top and totally walk the car and insist every little ding is on the contract.
Most insurance companies have clauses in place which they use to avoid paying out in the event of a claim – the small prints they call them – just hate them all.
On April 25 I wanted to rent a vehicle for 2 days from Budget at the Dublin airport in Ireland. Unfortunately the vehicle what they gave me had a defective clutch (?); of course it is not visible from the outside. The vehicle was a VW Golf Reg No. 09W651, MP1002 with rental agreement DA629472 it was defective, it stalled three times within 5 minutes. I had to come back from the first roundabout, the total time I was behind the wheel was maximum 10-15 minutes. After three stalls, common sense tells you to return to the rental location to prevent any further damage, as I did at the first possible U turn place. When I returned, I told one lady at the second rental booth that this vehicle has some problem, stalled 3 times in less than 15 minutes, and I would like to get a replacement. This vehicle had 2150 km on it, when I returned it within 15 minutes it read 2155 km on the meter, so I was not the first and only driver. The manager came out and tested the car, he said I damaged the clutch. I asked, how can I damage a VW clutch in 10-15 minutes, the car stalled 3 times within 2 km!!! The total driving (crawling) was 5 km only. The “towing” was was on June 18-19 SEVEN WEEKS after my rent. So I must assume, that Budget made some adjustment to the clutch. It is a good possibility, you can adjust the link to the clutch, than Budget kept on renting it to other people for an additional seven weeks or so, than I got the invoice .This is more like a criminal fraud. I asked for the actual odometer reading at the time of towing, they refused to give it to me, we need to inspect Budgets rental history on this car if this car was rented to others during this seven weeks. The “repair charge was ” 500 euro higher than an authorized VW dealer in Dublin, plus towing charge 160 Euro, loss of rental 88 Euro, plus one day charge of 50 euro for one day use ??? What a super scam!! Filed a claim already in Ireland in the district court, ready to testify. Too bad, my credit card company could not help, they said, they act only as an arbitrator in this case .
Zoltan, Santa Cruz, CA USA
i too rented from Fox Rent a Car in San Jose, CA – i believe the scam tactic is to rush you out on vehicles that have noticeable damage so you do not list or sign the document listing these damages. In this ocassion the window had scratches that were there when i rented the vehicle. When i returned the car, this is what the attendant said, “these scratches were not here at time of rental” me: “you did not look at the paper, how do you know?” attendant: “it is not in our document.” me: “well this is why i paid an extra $15 for insurance so you take it with your insurance carrier. is that listed in your document?” and i walked away. Never heard nor went back to Fox Rental Car again. Scammers. Although this was the very first time it felt good to pay the extra $15 for insurance (yes i know that’s also a scam).
Hey it is me Steve, the guy who originally rented the van. Hey just a quick follow-up note. I wrote fox’s collection agency a letter stating my case and cc:ed the district attorney (the same one that headed up a law suit against fox for illegal business practices). Apparently fox was fined a huge sum of money a few years ago for illegal billing practices. (found the info online with the whole transcript) I cced all of the prosecuting attorneys listed on the case as well as the better business bureau. Well that was all it took, guess dropped there collections case against me and all was well.
During the process an interesting question arose. Who has the burden of proof if a damage dispute comes up? The legal response I received, yes I contacted an attorney, was the the rental car company holds the burden of proof that the car was damaged while it was in your possession. That means no check out slip stating the condition of the car when you picked it up= no liability. The only time they may be able to stick you is if the car is brand new 0 miles on it. They it would be easy to prove you did it.
Hope this helps someone!
This exact scenario is happening to us right now! We rented a car in Hawaii earlier this month, from Alamo. It was an older Pontiac, with scratches everywhere. My husband circled all over the inspection form when he took possession of the car. When we returned it a week later, the check in girl “noticed” a scratch in an area he apparently hadn’t circled. She even told us she had been reprimanded the day before, for not catching enough damage! We told her absolutely nothing had happened to the car in our possession and she referred us to her manager. The manager hemmed and hawwed and eventually gave us a receipt with no balance due, saying “don’t worry about it”. Yesterday we got a notice from Alamo that they are pursuing a damage claim. I sent a letter like the one Steve had, above, and the person in Alamo’s damage department told my husband today he didn’t care about our letter. I could use help from anyone and will keep you posted.