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Hypothetical question - re: rental car damage - Page 3

post #31 of 44
4/16/10 at 4:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroStyles View Post
That's not nice, Kyle.

He gets so snippy sometimes.
I think it is all the stress he's under.

Well, and that he's not gettin' any.
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post #32 of 44
4/16/10 at 4:41pm
Give me 2 weeks. I'll be tappin it on the reg and hopefully poasting less. I will still say fuck you when the situation warrants it, as this one obviously did.
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post #33 of 44
4/16/10 at 4:42pm
I'm tellin' your mom.
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post #34 of 44
4/16/10 at 4:44pm
Thread Starter 
Kyle, you are just jealous you didn't get roadhead in a Mustang convertible in Los Angeles four weeks ago.
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post #35 of 44
4/16/10 at 4:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroStyles View Post
I have a copy of the bill, I don't know if there is an estimate. I also have pictures in b&w. Is that enough?

You have a right to know what the bill is based on. In other words, tell them you want an itemized list of what they want you to pay for - parts and labor. When you get that, go to yellowpages.com and find an auto body shop in or near the part of LA where you were. Call them and arrange to fax/scan your itemized list to them and have them give you their price for the same work. Repeat until you find the lowest quote, then send that to the rental agency and see what you can work out.

Eventually you're going to have to cough up some money but you may as well make it as little as possible. Plus, the longer they have to fight with you the more likely they may be to settle, just to clean it up.
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post #36 of 44
4/16/10 at 4:47pm
I once had a rental company come after me with a bill claiming something like $700 in damage. In this case, I had no idea wtf it was and was livid. I fired off a nasty respones back to them denying everything. May have spoken to them once on the phone. That was the end of it.

Now, if you don't take action and for whatever reason they can't charge your credit card, this is likely what will happen:

- They will not rent to you again
- This information will not be shared with other car rental companies
- If you don't pay, they will likely turn it over to a collection agency (eventually) and then it will impact your credit (once a collection account turns up on your reports)

What happened with Amex?
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post #37 of 44
4/16/10 at 4:57pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnGalt View Post

What happened with Amex?

I was told by people in my company (not in writing) that using the Corporate Card would cover all incidental damages. I also had purchased rental insurance for my personal Amex for $20 per rental (great deal that everyone should sign up for). I used my personal Amex for several weeks, but this one week decided to use the Corp Card, thinking the insurance is free and probably better. I had not used my corp card for previous rentals because I had forgotten it in NY.

This one time I used my corp card, and I had an incident. I filed the police report and claim online. Amex emailed me to tell me I was not covered. Oh shit. So I called them and they said my employer had not enrolled in the Insurance plan. Of course, when I had read the online corporate card rental insurance description on Amex's site, nowhere did they say this was only optional for the Corp Card.

Turns out my company has an agreement with 2 vendors to cover all incidental damage if the corp card is used, but not at other vendors. This was not clearly communicated to me by my company. So it turns out the one time I use my corp Amex and not my personal is the one time I am not insured and the one time I get in an incident.

Clearly it is not Amex's FAULT, even though they should have fucking covered me anyway when I complained given then $100,000s I've spent with the fuckers in the last 5 years. It is kind of my work's fault for misleading me. It is also my fault for not reading all the fine print everywhere before taking someone's word for it.

It really sucks and I should have been covered. That's why I want to minimize the amount I pay. I can't complain to my bosses because it will not reflect well.
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post #38 of 44
4/16/10 at 5:01pm
Have you said anything to the car rental company yet? Perhaps respond (in writing!) asserting that you are not responsible for the damage and refuse to pay (without going into any further details).
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post #39 of 44
4/16/10 at 5:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnGalt View Post
Have you said anything to the car rental company yet? Perhaps respond (in writing!) asserting that you are not responsible for the damage and refuse to pay (without going into any further details).

Yeah I mean the damage was obvious. I filed the report when I returned it. I am "not responsible" for the damage according to the reports, but that does not matter as all rental car companies hold the renter liable for incidental damages.
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post #40 of 44
4/16/10 at 5:17pm
They can try and hold you responsible, but you don't have to roll over. My letter would be something like

Quote:
Dear Mr. carrentalguy,

I am writing in regard to your letter dated April 1, 2010 that requests payment from me in the amount of $1400 due to (unspecified?) damage to a rental vehicle.

Please note that I disclaim responsibility for the purported damage and thus refuse to make the payment you request.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
MetroStyles

They will either drop it or respond quoting their rental agreement. If you noted the damage when returning the car, I'm sure that they will throw that in too. Make sure you look over the rental agreement carefully to see what is actually specified in the case of a hit and run.

In a worst case scenario, if they keep pushing it and it really looks like you will have to pay something, then you should demand a copy of the estimate for the repair and should then seek competitive estimates. Look at it closely and make sure that it is only for what happened when the vehicle was in your possession and doesn't include anything else.

There are multiple angles you can take to try and fight it, depending on how they come back.
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post #41 of 44
4/16/10 at 5:46pm
A buddy of mine rolled a rental minivan in Idaho in college (I was sleeping across the back seat). The rental company sent a bill for a couple grand. He sent a cheque for $500 with a letter indicating that if they cashed the cheque, they agreed to release him of all responsibility for the balance of the charges. They cashed the cheque and he never heard another word.
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post #42 of 44
4/18/10 at 5:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lone Wolf View Post
You have a right to know what the bill is based on. In other words, tell them you want an itemized list of what they want you to pay for - parts and labor. When you get that, go to yellowpages.com and find an auto body shop in or near the part of LA where you were. Call them and arrange to fax/scan your itemized list to them and have them give you their price for the same work. Repeat until you find the lowest quote, then send that to the rental agency and see what you can work out.

Eventually you're going to have to cough up some money but you may as well make it as little as possible. Plus, the longer they have to fight with you the more likely they may be to settle, just to clean it up.

I'd try what JohnGalt suggested and if that doesn't work then this ^
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post #43 of 44
4/18/10 at 6:14pm
I used to work for a rental company. If the customer was an asshole we'd def follow them to the ends of the earth (which happened a couple of times).

Didn't you have the Limited Damage Waiver? ALWAYS get the Damage Waiver! If you did you're not responsible for any damage.

I'd wait to see what they do. They have ways of "sweeping it under the rug", so to speak. Sometimes they don't want it to show up on their financial reports (people not paying, that is) because it's some sort of bad credit for them. Sometimes they can just say that the cust had insurance or that the person that rented the car before you did the damage and they had the Damage Waiver and get fixed under their insurance. That's insurance fraud of course but it happens... Or, you might be able to negotiate a lower price or payments. If you're going to be honest they should work with you.
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post #44 of 44
4/19/10 at 1:44am
I'm surprised these companies are even competent enough to follow up on some of this stuff. My friend worked for a major one for about a year and ran a scam the whole time, unknown to the company, and stole probably 20k, easily. They even found out he was adjusting some things and fired him, but still couldn't figure out what had really happened.
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