Comments on: Broadsided by a car rental bill

By: Sean Franks

Sean Franks — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:06:54 +0000

My experience was with Thrifty in Orlando in October 2009. I was told to leave the car back empty, agreed the number of scratches etc on the car. Had a great holiday, handed the car back at 2am in the morning and everyone was happy. Got home to England and received a credit card statement with monies deducted by Thrifty. Though I have phoned and emailed I have received no explanation for why the money (£150 approx) was deducted or how they got authorisation. Do I just right this off, never use Thrifty again and ensure everyone I know understands that Thrifty is not the car hire company to use, or is it worth me going the legal route?

By: DN

DN — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:02:04 +0000

As a reminder, carry a flashlight too. A number of smaller airports have un-tended car rental areas and they are poorly lighted. A car that looks good at 8pm at night could have a number of scratches and dents that show up at 8am the following morning. I’m reminded of the National Car Rental location in Billings, MT, who made me sign a damage waiver form before I even looked at the car and they missed a very large (4″ x 12″) dent on the front quarter panel. I’m sure that, without the photographs I showed the agent and the fact that I walked back to the counter 4 minutes after I left, I would have been charged for that dent too (and I’m an Executive Elite).

By: Joe Farrell

Joe Farrell — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:42:39 +0000

most cell-phones have cameras – and you must use them – especially with off brand places like Enterprise and Advantage and ANY place overseas.

Cars that fleets buy often come without a manufacturer warranty – which drops the price even further for the fleet. Thus, repairs cost what they cost.

The simple thing is to dispute the charge, have it removed since they cannot prove you did it since they will need to show when it was last inspected. If they bring a collection action you ask for:

1. last 5 rentals – identity and if those folks were charged for repairs
2.. contact the last 5 and see if they remember the vehicle having nicks and scratches
3. if they do sue they need to prove damages – yeah. and – finally
4. Ask for the check out form for the NEXT 5 rentals as well.

Trust me – they’ll drop their claim. But I have that same question about the bumper – a) could it be the renter and poster placed something heavy, say, a suitcase, that caused the damage that was not seen because they were in a rush to depart?

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:29:24 +0000

How’d Enterprise manage to re-attach a bumper and repair nicks and scratches for only $319? When my car got hit in a parking lot recently, the cost to repaint that edge of the bumper was $514.35. That meant taking it off, painting and putting it back on. Either Enterprise gets a heck of a discount or they’re playing games.

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 03:35:35 +0000

A “detached” (probably loose) bumper on an almost new car is probably a manufacturing defect, not user-caused damage.

By: Carrie Charney

Carrie Charney — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:43:59 +0000

We rented a car from Enterprise. The agent went around the car and didn’t notice a thing. My husband noticed the “ding” on the rear driver’s side door and had it noted in our rental agreement. I don’t know how he noticed it, because, of course, the light was really low.

A few days later, we returned the car. Without even looking in the direction of the car, a different agent merely asked for our rental agreement. I said, “You mean to see if we had the door dent noted?” He said yes. We showed him the notation and I asked him, “So how come we had to point it out to you, but you knew it was there when we returned the car?” He said that that was why they have the customer examine the car with the agent.

My conclusion: That’s how they get we naifs to pay for their careless handling of their cars.

By: Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:21:10 +0000

@Lisa S, I think Enterprise probably withdrew the bill because I got involved. If the bumper was detached, the customer had to have known. But I don’t know that for a fact.

By: Lisa S

Lisa S — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:23:49 +0000

Chris, I am a little confused here. Did the person who rented the car not notice the detached bumper when s/he picked it up? Could the damage have occurred after the person dropped it off? It is a shame that consumers have to be so careful when they rent cars, but taking photos with the time stamp–and representative in the picture if you ask me–is unfortunately a necessary action. Thank goodness for digital cameras! Did Enterprise withdraw the repair bill because their representative did not point out the damage and explain how the repairs would be billed? Or, did Enterprise withdraw the repair bill because you contacted them?

By: Linda

Linda — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:04:15 +0000

““But probably what caught their eye on the return check-in was that the bumper was detached,” she added in an email, which included several pictures of your damaged rental car.”

How did this NOT catch the OP’s attention??

By: Carver Farrow

Carver Farrow — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 13:45:11 +0000

There is a third way to avoid being charged. if you are a frequent renter from Hertz, you can join the Gold program. In theory it’s $50 a year, but there are so many loopholes to getting into the program for free. Hertz policy is not to charge gold members for minor damage, i.e.nicks and scratches.