[Anonymous]

[keithduncan47]

I recently hired a car from Hertz @ Gatwick Airport. The arrangement for the North Terminal is that you sign the paperwork and collect car keys within the building and then proceed to the rental bay to collect the car. I signed the usual Pre-Rental inspection paperwork and checked the vehicle for “damage” when I collected it. None was present. I drove 60 miles in the car without incident and returned the car to the rental bay in it’s original condition and fully re-fuelled. There, again, were no Hertz staff present to return the keys to so I placed them into a secure box and returned to the terminal.

When I received the invoice for the rental I had a charge on the invoice for refueling (£ 10.00) and for “damage” and “damage admin processing fee” for a total of (£ 160.00 excl VAT), the orignal rental charge had only been £ 60.00.

I complained to Hertz and immediately got the re-fuelling charge refunded but had to open a claim for the alleged damage. Two investigations have found that the “damage” claim is valid and I have now established that this is for a missing “Temporary Tyre Repair Kit” located in the boot of the vehicle, which I had never even opened let alone removed from the car.

I now appear to be at the end of the road (pardon the pum) with the Hertz complaints process and have got nowhere. Does anyone know if there is an ombudsman or professional body I can complain to?

[ImissConcorde]

Straight to the top!! C.E.O. is Neil Cunningham <a href="mailto:[email protected]“>[email protected]

[newbieflyer]

I had a similar problem with Hertz in Cape Town. When the car was given to me, it was casually checked during night time, with minimal light, and was assured the car had no damages. 2 days later, of quiet driving in cape town, I was told that there is a dent to the bottom left door sill corner and the invoice would be sent to me, after which I was duly charged a sum of 1600 Rand after the vehicle inspector suggested the costs would be in the range of 100 Rands.!

After this incident I was over careful in renting cars, and the next time with Avis at London City, I checked and re-checked, and saw one tiny dent (similar to the one in cape town) and immediately reported, to which I was told that Avis doesn’t usually charge for small scratches\dents.!

Sorry keithduncan47, cant be more helpful, but I am sure the regulars over here will be able to provide you with some guidance on what can be done.

[VintageKrug]

You could always take them to small claims court, though I detest American approach to litigating such matters.

I would agree that a letter to someone senior (though CEO might not be the right person – person someone more operationally responsible would be better?

Whatever avenue, be sure to back it up with the threat of legal action, hoping you don’t have to go down that route.

If the charge hasn’t hit your credit card, they might also be able to place the transaction in dispute.

[SimonS1]

In my experience typical of the underhand practice of hire companies these days.

A good article in Which magazine a couple of months ago exposing the refuelling scam, in many cases the refuelling policy is buried at point 8 (or similar) of the small print which naturally few travellers tired after a journey want to go through.

[LuganoPirate]

I would immediately raise a disputed charge with the cc co. at the same time write as suggested and copy the cc company with all correspondence. They will anyway want to have this. They will have to prove the repair kit was there, which I doubt they can do, so it becomes your word against theirs. I suspect they will give up at that point.

I now read the agreement in full. If I don’t understand something I ask them to explain it. You can feel their impatience especially if it’s busy. I also check the car very carefully and have everything marked, even if they say, as do Europcar, that small dents are ignored. What is a small dent after all?

[RetiredLawyer]

Use your cell phone camera to take photos of your rental car before you move it — then you have a record of the condition at the beginning of the rental.

[Bruce98]

++Temporary Tyre Repair Kit”++

Was this listed as equipment on the paperwork?

If not, I would argue that you cannot check for a piece of equipment that is not declared and then ask your credit card co to clawback the money.

[JimmyCat]

Thanks for the warning – I certainly will avoid Hertz wherever possible

[MartynSinclair]

You could perhaps reverse the problem and threaten Hertz that you will report them to Trading Standards for not supplying a car with the full safety equipment!

[LuganoPirate]

Just a quick thought. Use the fact they incorrectly charged you a re-fuelling charge as further evidence that maybe they got the missing puncture repair kit wrong as well?

[openfly]

AVIS Cape Town did the same to me…..a minute almost invisible dent above the door handle. Mind you, one headlight didn’t work, the a/c didn’t work and the fuel gauge didn’t work and the car had 25000 km on it….and they tried it on with this dent.
I wanted proof. This came back as an estimate….not a bill for the work! With the help of AVIS uk the problem was resolved. I am very much under the impression that these added charges are a SCAM. I dare say the next renter of my car was charged for the same minute dent which would have impossible to spot in the dark or the rain….or even in sunlight.
I only rent with AVIS for theAvios. Each time I rent I am going to take the car apart before I leave the lot.
On the last rental I went to the Cape Town downtown office because I noticed that the fuel gauge was off zero. They put 14 litres in! In March this year they put 11 litres in after a journey of 10 km from the airport….check the fuel gauge closely. Another scam!
I pay on my UK BA/Amex card. They are very good and understanding on these AVIS “extras”. They see them all the time. They refund the charge to me immediately and then request proof from AVIS. They seldom get a reply from AVIS South Africa over the disputed charge. After 28 days Amex just charge AVIS and it all gets sorted….over and over again.

[VintageKrug]

Because of the way these hire centres are set up, it’s very hard to report a problem prior to leaving the depot.

The gatekeepers are usually quite low in the pecking order and often struggle with English, so getting them to attest to any damage you’ve seen can be tricky.

[newbieflyer]

Agreed VK.

Similarly the rental areas also I feek are part of the scam – dark, far away areas where the car is parked, and upon returning it, you are in the brightest area of the car park, with UV lights to detect the faintest of faintest scratch, as happened to me with Hertz cape town.

And with regards to a previous reply, I had a similar problem with fuel with avis Jo burg. Filled full tank at a fuel station 6 km away from the rental area, only to notice that that the fuel tank gauge showed only 3/4 th full. Although they only charged me an extra 100 rands for it, I didn’t make a big deal out of it. So either been scammed by the faulty fuel gauge or the fuel station itself. My bad I didn’t realise/check the fuel gauge as soon as I filled up the tank, but only as I started driving and almost reached the rental location.

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