This is the front bumper of Jeffrey Scheid’s rental car in Reno. See anything? Yeah, neither do I.
DAMAGE
Parking garage damage is a popular sub-genre of complaint on this site. It seems every month I get a request for help from a hotel guest who valeted their car and had it returned with a ding or dent.
Tim Carpenter thought he had done everything he could to avoid a frivolous damage claim on his rental minvan.
I was about to move Don and Carri Schoeller’s car rental case into the “solved” file when I got the following email from them:
I’ve seen high car rental bills, but the one Fareeda Elqatto just got from Budget is in a class by itself.
I see strange cases all the time in my line of work, but fewer are stranger than Rebecca Davis’ rental from Enterprise in Norwood, Pa.
Roger Van Horn is the vice president for corporate loss control at Enterprise Holdings, which owns Enterprise, National and Alamo. Since I’ve received a lot of recent questions about car rental damage claims — many from Enterprise customers — I wanted to ask him a few questions about what happens when a car is dinged or scratched.
We’ve had quite the discussion about car rental damages this week, but now it’s your turn to sound off. A weekend poll asked when you think it’s appropriate for a car rental agency to come after you with a damage claim, and a majority of you (about 75 percent) said the only time it’s OK is when you acknowledge the damage and sign a claim form.
Bogus car rental damages seem to be a recurring theme on this site. This week’s edition of “can this trip be saved” takes one of those cases in its crosshairs.
That’s not an academic question, given all the recent stories about excessive car rental claims on this site. And yes, it still is the weekend. I’m in another time zone. (But I’ll be back on the mainland tomorrow.) Here’s the link to the survey. I’m also interested in your comments. Should car rental companies go [...]
When Lidia Conte returns her Avis rental to Frankfurt, Germany, a representative points to a small ding on the car. Even though another employee lets Conte off the hook, she gets a bill for 800 euros a few weeks later. Does she still have to pay?
Your rental car is fine — just sign here.
Then again, maybe not. Before I get into the substance of this post, let me acknowledge a few of my biases. Although the Transportation Security Administration has never damaged my checked baggage — because I don’t check my baggage, probably — they did kinda ruin my last New Years Day. And Kari just had an [...]
If you think the recent series of stories about car rental companies charging customers for “damage” to their vehicles is troubling, then you’re not alone.
When an Enterprise employee points to a scratch on the roof of Sandy Lamke’s rental car, she’s assured the company won’t charge her for the damage. But it does. Now, despite her efforts to have the bill withdrawn, Enterprise insists she pay up. Should she?
The allegation that car rental companies have turned the damage claims process into a profit center is so common, I could probably write an entire blog on it.
Amy and Kevin Roeder are stuck with a $1,600 bill from Thrifty Car Rental for damage they say they didn’t do. Thrifty insists they’re responsible, and isn’t backing down. And now I’m stuck, too. What do I do next?
This is Kathyria Padilla’s rental car. When she returned it to Avis last April, she took a few snapshots of the vehicle, just in case. Good thing she did.
Tracey Brown Osborne finds a mysterious charge on her American Express bill that turns out to be a repair bill for a rental car tire — a tire she says she never damaged. When her charge card sides with her in the dispute, her car rental company threatens to take her to court. What should she do?
A word of warning to anyone taking a cruse: Don’t trust anyone with your valuables.
