Rental Car Damaged Prior to Pickup

[Walloper]

Just a quickly re msg #57 in the thread.

The "we have no more of the car you ordered (and probably prepaid for) but we have another more expensive one available" seems to happen quite often in the US.

Just say no thanks. The apparently more expensive rental will then always be issued at the lower rate.

 

[jastel]

It would be interesting to see what (if any) levels of insurance people who have been scammed had on the rental.
Overseas I usually get the full package and have not had any dramas.
Have had the we don't have that car thing but not any extra charges...so no biggie.

I am still not convinced that the Gold/Black credit card coverage is enough.
Maybe they only try it on people without max coverage?

 

[Deleted member 29185]

It doesn't matter if your Gold, Platinum, Titanium... Hire car organisations are all scum and it's very important to remember that.

This may seem to be an "over-the-top" generalisation, but I also believe there is a lot of truth in it.

Add Red Spot to the list of scum, as many years ago they hit me up for a late return and fuel. At the time they stated we returned the car, we were half way to the Gold Coast aboard an Ansett jet! Ansett actually gave me a statement to that effect, stating the time we checked in and that we did indeed board. I also added the fuel receipt which showed the date and time and proved the servo as being one of the closest to SYD DOM. Wasn't good enough as they claim the station at the time was manned (it wasn't, we used the courtesy phone to ring the city office and they advised us to leave the key in the drop box) and that they "knew" the time we dropped the car back. What rubbish. All they know how to do is to lie through their teeth. I was somewhat younger and somewhat more naieve at the time and it never occurred to me to do a chargeback through the credit card.

Europcar CNS has twice tried the "fuel" scam on me and once tried the "late dropoff scam". Avis and Europcar have given me vehicles that were only 3/4 of a tank on pickup, but both times I picked it up immediately (always check the fuel guage). Europcar has given me a car with incorrect km's listed on the contract. Europcar has tried to get me to sign the contract with a higher rate than booked and even argued with their own head office as to the rate, when I rung them (the airport office computer was showing a different rate to the central booking computer....work that one out). That cost them the rental as I just grabbed a Hertz car (which turned out to be a higher cat. vehicle for the same rate as I was supposed to pay with Europcar). I've noticed spare wheels missing on a number of occasions (and photgraphed it before accepting) but they've never tried to bill me for it.

On the flip side, I've twice hired a car (Avis PER and Europcar CNS) that had some pretty visible damage which I didn't pick up and not been billed for it.

All in all, as N860CR has stated, treat them as scum out to rip you off, photograph everything, check the spare tyre (mainly for their damage list) and photograph the dash instruments and make sure the car is turned on to bring up any digital displays like the odometer. Most times, the rental will go without hitch, but when it does go pear-shaped, at least you have some kind of evidence.

 

[OATEK]

It would be interesting to see what (if any) levels of insurance people who have been scammed had on the rental.
Overseas I usually get the full package and have not had any dramas.
Have had the we don't have that car thing but not any extra charges...so no biggie.

I am still not convinced that the Gold/Black credit card coverage is enough.
Maybe they only try it on people without max coverage?

I'm with you jastel. Overseas have always taken the full insurance, and never had an issue, with any of Hertz, Avis or Europcar.

 

[Ktee]

We had an issue with Hertz in Melbourne. We were parked up at the hotel and a bolt of lightening struck the pole next to the car, it took out the electrics on both ours and the managers car. We saw the lightening bolt so knew what had happened. We advised Hertz they gave us another car. When we came to dropping it off they told us we were liable despite having full insurance cover, they also wanted money for the tow truck to take the car away and more money for bringing a new car out. I argued and argued and we missed our flight. They told me we were not covered by acts of God. I then argued how did they know it was the lightening strike that fried the electrics, they said because I told them, to which I argued I wasn't a qualified mechanic. I will never use hertz again after that incident. A warning for others if you ever get hit by lightening, chances are slim I know, but do not tell them the truth.

 

[Ktee]

I have to add Alamo was absolutely fantastic with us recently. Someone smashed in to our car whilst at Universal Studios. We informed the car park security, advised the police, took the car back to Alamo immediately they swapped it for a better car. No hassle at all.

 

[JohnK]

Welcome to the real world!

Human beings working for a company scamming other human beings for the good of the company? I can understand if someone was attempting to commit fraud then you come down on them hard.

Sad state of affairs indeed.

 

[jetkins]

When we visited Oz last year, we rented an SUV from Hertz for two weeks. We flew in and out of SYD, but rather than rent from the airport desk and pay the exorbitant (30%!) location fee, I selected Hertz' "Alexandria Downtown" location, just outside the airport on O'Riordan St. Our cabby was pissed that he got such a short fare after waiting at the airport rank, but I gave him a decent tip to make up for it, and the savings were enormous on a rental of that length. Even for a weekend rental, an effective 30% discount will pay for a couple of short cab rides with cash to spare.

The Alexandria location is somewhat industrial and access isn't the easiest, so if time and/or appearances are important to you then it may not be a good option, but if not, I highly recommend it. The staff there were very helpful and courteous, even offering to pull the vehicle out into the sunlight so I could give it a once-over before we loaded up and left.

 

[klavdy]

My experience with Hertz , Sydney Airport in July, 2014 left an indelible impression.
We'd pre booked a nice car, specifically requesting a white one and used the Gold 5* to upgrade it (Off to a wedding ), landed in Syd and went to pick up the car in the dingy car park at domestic right on dusk.
First car was a heap of dented, scraped dung.
It looked ok from the drivers side, but the front and passenger sides were scraped, dented and scratched.
Interior was stained too, the car was rejected by us.
The Ramp dude said to go to the office and swap it, this wasn't too difficult,got another white car , walked all around it,noted a couple of nicks on the rear bumper/boot lip from people probably dragging bags into it, but acceptable.
Made a note on my form, and told the office people about it.
They said it was O.K, just wear and tear.
Off we went, wedding was great and had a couple of days in Sydney with the car parked in the underground carpark at the hotel.
Low and behold, on returning the car, the very same ramp dude pounced on the car and claimed we'd put nicks in the boot lid.
The same nicks that were on the car when we got it.
They tried to charge me a couple of grand then and there.
They stalled and delayed, using blatantly obvious tactics to get me to sign over and accept responsibility before my flight was boarding, they wanted to put an extra charge on my C.C.
No way!
I just walked out after telling them to try their scam on someone else, that they were not getting a cent out of me.

After I got home,this escalated to claims and counter claims,I put a hold on all credit card charges from Hertz,sicced AMEX onto them,and told Hertz Sydney Airport, in response to their increasingly strident emails and written letters that the dispute was between AMEX and them, to take it up with AMEX, that it had nothing to do with me.

Then came dunning letters for thousands of dollars from a totally dodgy collection agency who was told by me in no uncertain terms that they didn't have a leg to stand on , they then went on to claim that they were actual solicitors and that the woman in particular that I was dealing with was a lawyer for a certain firm.
She lied.
She wasn't a solicitor.
This exploded in her face rather spectacularly when the legal firm she said she was with was contacted, and they informed us that the woman was most definitely not a lawyer, but was actually an office manager in a minor regional branch of their firm.
The letters to her ,with C.C's to the ACCC, NSW Fair Trading, Office of the Legal Services Commissioner and the Law Society outlining her attempt to pass herself off as a lawyer and the false, misleading and deceptive practices HERTZ and this collection agency stooped to seemed to have the desired effect and I never heard from them again.

 

[prozac]

I love a "go sic em" story. Well done.

 

[Awesom Andy]

I have mostly good experiences with my car rentals, mostly from Europcar and Hertz. Although there was once when a Europcar contract had the mileage a long way off from what it was, but they fixed it up like it was a simple daily occurrence. Hertz can be a little problematic with their billings though. I had a Gold Plus Reward account which, despite the best effort to reset it, it always included the zero excess insurance by default. It's all fine after getting a new account, but these days, it seems that there are more issues with getting the right amount showing up on the contract, with promo codes not sticking. If there's no manager on the spot to override it at the station, then there's the hassle of submitting a claim after the rental and wait a couple of weeks for the refund.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I have mostly good experiences with my car rentals, mostly from Europcar and Hertz. Although there was once when a Europcar contract had the mileage a long way off from what it was, but they fixed it up like it was a simple daily occurrence. Hertz can be a little problematic with their billings though. I had a Gold Plus Reward account which, despite the best effort to reset it, it always included the zero excess insurance by default. It's all fine after getting a new account, but these days, it seems that there are more issues with getting the right amount showing up on the contract, with promo codes not sticking. If there's no manager on the spot to override it at the station, then there's the hassle of submitting a claim after the rental and wait a couple of weeks for the refund.

Hertz's IT platform absolutely takes the cake for useless. We whine a lot about the VA IT but VA's is a dream compared to Hertz.

 

[Awesom Andy]

When we visited Oz last year, we rented an SUV from Hertz for two weeks. We flew in and out of SYD, but rather than rent from the airport desk and pay the exorbitant (30%!) location fee, I selected Hertz' "Alexandria Downtown" location, just outside the airport on O'Riordan St. Our cabby was pissed that he got such a short fare after waiting at the airport rank, but I gave him a decent tip to make up for it, and the savings were enormous on a rental of that length. Even for a weekend rental, an effective 30% discount will pay for a couple of short cab rides with cash to spare.

The Alexandria location is somewhat industrial and access isn't the easiest, so if time and/or appearances are important to you then it may not be a good option, but if not, I highly recommend it. The staff there were very helpful and courteous, even offering to pull the vehicle out into the sunlight so I could give it a once-over before we loaded up and left.

It might work for long rentals, but I usually get 3-4 day rentals and the savings are minimal.

 

[Awesom Andy]

Hertz's IT platform absolutely takes the cake for useless. We whine a lot about the VA IT but VA's is a dream compared to Hertz.

Goes both ways, I suppose. I've (unintentionally) tricked it to give discounts as well. A Corolla-sized hatchback for $20 per day from an airport location is a steal.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

It might work for long rentals, but I usually get 3-4 day rentals and the savings are minimal.

Europcar has irked me a few too many times, so these days I check each rental rate on a daily basis and even it is just a dollar cheaper, I cancel the booking and rebook. I never used to bother unless the difference was blatantly large, but I reckon this method with me has saved over $100 in the last few months. Some of the savings have been only a few dollars but others have been closing in on $20 by the time I've done multiple cancels and rebooks! I justify it as me reclaiming some of the dollars they intend to attempt to rip me off by into the future.

 

[melaus]

Sorry, but I have no sympathy for what happens to you, should you hire a car from any of the corporates.

I'm long since retired and when working, I did only a few times hire a car, mainly in the USA and UK.
I soon learned at the tender age of late twenties, I'm now on the doorstep of seventy, Car rental agencies, yes Hertz one of the main offenders, are without doubt absolute thugs......yes THUGS.......and their staff are no doubt trained to extract whatever they can from a perfectly innocent customer.

If ever anything should be done to protect a consumer in this area, it should be enacted very much sooner than later.

Please take my advice, my years can give you very fair warning..........DO NOT HIRE A VEHICLE FROM COMPANY's SUCH HAVE BEEN MENTIONED AND THEY ARE THE BIGGIES.

May only happen to you once before you don't fall for the trap again of hiring a vehicle, again FROM THE BIG NAMED mongrels, but you have been warned here from me.

Find another way of doing your business.........YOU WILL SLEEP BETTER AT NIGHT and your hard earned $'s may be better spent by you for something LEGITIMATE.

 

[Westozi]

We always go round the car thoroughly, take photos, (time and date of taking is in the photo info). Anything we find we go back to the desk and report before we even leave the terminal. So far it has served us well and we have never had any problems.

 

[kewpeeii]

I always photograph speedo then whole car then speedo again and repeat the process at end of hire on phone it is proof of sequence. of course always keep contract for at least 2 months.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Goes both ways, I suppose. I've (unintentionally) tricked it to give discounts as well. A Corolla-sized hatchback for $20 per day from an airport location is a steal.

Oh, yes I agree. Mine was VA SYD-AUH on VS points for 3 adults. I'm just disappointed they finally woke up!

 

[kewpeeii]

Also always use Budget fantastic and never had a single problem, 12 plus rentals year for last 5 years and always at least a week hire. Unlimited km's amazing.