just got back from sailin trip. Had an awsome time but was a bit pissed to find a bill from the carhire company for $1500 BUCKS!!! due to damage to the vehicle. Now we're not talking about smashing the car here, we're talking about 4 little "rub marks" where the softracks we were using had rubbed on the top of the door jam!! Which they admitted could be buffed out!!
We did, for the record pay, the extra money to reduce the excess to $300 odd, but due to the damage being on the "roof" of the vehicle, the insurance is void and we have to pay for damage independently.
Has anyone had this crap pulled on them by a hire company? If so how did you resolve it?? I made one phone call to them and got them down to $900 and demanded photos of the damage. Which leads me to believe they are just tryin it on.
anyone had any experience resolving these disputes, I gotta tread carefully as they have already taken the money off the credit card and Im trying to get as much as I can back

I would be chasing up your bank to begin with and let them know there has been an unauthorised charge to your credit card, unless of course you authorised them at some stage to take the $900 (better read that rental contract).

I had this happen once, I simply put it back on the rental company to independantly prove that the damage wasn't there before I hired the vehicle. But in that case i know it wasn't something that happened while I had tha car and I was silly to not check the car out thoughly before taking it. I now go over them like I am about to buy it.

I think you are pretty much screwed, and the fact that you probably don't live anywhere near where the car is only makes it harder to resolve. So chase the bank on getting the $$$ back and then ask them to provide you quotes on getting the damage repaired, remembering that they will be charging you for not only the buffing of the car, but also any staff time and cost in getting the car to repair and the cost of not being able to hire the vehicle, so it will add up.

Realistically, they are not going to get it fixed at all and will prob just pocket the $$$.

yea it was in aust. When i got the car i had to drag someone out to do the initial inspection. went over the car and when I pointed out the existing scratches was told " oh, we dont worry about those, they are just surface scratches that just buff out, the general rule is that if it buffs out we dont worry about it, haha". But when I returned the car I was charged for the scratches that were existing that needed to be buffed out by a panel beater, a really well paid panel beater at that!!
I think next time I will make them document every scratch, piece of bird ****, and any bugs squashed in the grill, then get a jp to witness it.
Word of advise that I just learnt the hard way, dont trust these pricks for a minute

JayBee said...

Overhead and undercarriage are never covered by rental insurance. Usually the contract also forbids the use of roofracks.

Not a lot you can do really, just tell us all who you rented from so we all learn from your lesson.

JB

I never knew that, if excluding the roof then why not the bonnet!

You would be sitting pretty oddly if the bonnet was overhead. :-)

The coverage restriction is because if you have overhead or underbody damage, the damage is probably serious (imagine the circumstances where you could incur this type of damage). I know some cars come back in horrific condition to rental companies.

Probably too late now...
Deny everything! what softrack? Never heard of such a contrivance! Windsurfing - not me, never.

And make sure you never load/unload a rental car at the yard, what is not seen can be disputed.

JB

Here's the go ( may not apply for "roof rubbing") : take out travel insurance, which for me when I did a motorbike ride from Cape York to Cairns (9 days) and then flew to the Gold Coast for another 14 days to holiday with the wife and kids, cost me under $70. This will allow you to say to the car hire company with a big smile on your face that no I DO NOT want your excess insurance.

You can say that because most? travel insurance policies cover you for damage to hire vehicles used on gazzetted roads when being driven by the insured person.

My examples are 1: My mate on the Cape York motorbike trip hit a tree on The Frechmans Track and did about $400 damage to the bike ( beat himself up as well ) but because the trip was an organized tour with registered bikes that were effectively on a hire contract on a recognized road - for those that know the Frenchmans Track you can argue that it aint a road but even though you have to carry the bikes through river crossings and it is just a set of 4wd ruts it is a road - he was able to claim the amount back on the travel insurance.

example 2: On the same trip my 7 year old daughter decided to put her feet on the side window of a hired Tarago while driving up the Bruce hwy resulting in glass spraying all over the hwy . New hire car required and bill received later for $300 which went straight to the travel insurer which they "happily" paid.

Booking hire cars with Gold credit cards is also cost effective because they have insurance built in that is really quite good and can save you heaps if your trip goes haywire or you damage a hire car.

Hope this helps if your planning a trip in a hire car in the future......

mr plod said...

Im goin to contest the fact that the top of the door seal is part of the roof of the vehicle, which I believe is not. I'll see how I go.Ill wait to see the photos of the incredible amount of damage there is caused by a piece of webbing.
I also wonder how many people in the past they have charged for the same scratch on the side of the car, pretty good money maker for them eh

You will win on "fair wear and tear" tell them your prepared to challenge in court, as the agreed it will buff out, its fair wear and tear. Magistrate will rule in your favour, 99% of time.
They wont go through with it, as its too expensive chasing the coin. Soon as you challenge them and indicate your going legal they fall over.

If it makes you feel any better I have some pretty funny photos of us jumping the hire car on the beach at the nationals in tassie! Actually maybe I should just delete them!! haha

ka222 said...

If it makes you feel any better I have some pretty funny photos of us jumping the hire car on the beach at the nationals in tassie! Actually maybe I should just delete them!! haha

Hey, what about the video (now DVD!) of MikeCK drilling holes in his hire van (hello ace hire cars in Perth if ya watching) then putting in plumbing screws to secure the door!!
Ok... the door had fallen comepletely off as he was driving along so he probably had rights to try and make it safe, but dude... seeing that was a classic. (And i believe they didnt charge him either... hiring out an unroadworthy van may have hindered things if they'd taken it further...)

Simon, looking at a van covered in screws: "I reckon just one more..."