Car rental damage question

I rented a car from Hertz in Germany recently, half way through the holiday I noticed damage to the bumper arch that I didnt see was there before. I think I may have done it while pulling into a grass verge to make way for a tractor but Im not sure it might have already been there and I missed it.

They had marked the car as "no defects" when I rented it but I found many and took pictures at the time and told the guy, I didnt see this one if it was on the car before I rented it as it was literally at the very bottom of the bumper/arch corner of the front wheel and you could easily walk past and not notice it but when they wash it im sure it will be.

So it could well have been me but I genuinely dont know.

My question is, when I dropped the car back I presumed they would go over the car with me and inspect it. They didn't do anything, he just said do you want a receipt and I said no and we walked off to our flight.

Do you reckon I will get a call from them in the next few days to say I owe them money or should that inspection have been done with me there?

I.E I could say the car was fine when I returned it one of your employees has done it. I wouldn't do that but I just was surprised it wasn't checked in my presence.

Having never rented a car before Im unsure how this works, I got separate insurance cover anyway that covered my credit card deposit so Im not too concerned.

colm_mcm

In my case, I found out about the charge when I got my credit card bill.

Toyotafanboi

I actually find what rental companies will let you away with in terms of "wear and tear" style damage is actually very good.

A pic would help us make a good judgement call but IMO if the damage is any way subtle I'd just forget about it.

colm_mcm

colm_mcm wrote: »

In my case, I found out about the charge when I got my credit card bill.

How much did they charge you colm, i.e my waiver was 900 quid but theres no way the damage is 900 quids worth, do they take the whole waiver?

Did they not inspect the car with you there either? Did you dispute it

colm_mcm

500 pounds.

I've gone with full insurance since.

Toyotafanboi

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

I actually find what rental companies will let you away with in terms of "wear and tear" style damage is actually very good.

A pic would help us make a good judgement call but IMO if the damage is any way subtle I'd just forget about it.

Dont have a pic but its not subtle, the bumper is gouged down to the undercoat.
Im just surprised they didnt check it with me there, i thought would have been standard procedure.

Sixtoes

I wouldn't stress too much. I've had similar happen a few times and never heard anything.

Del2005

colm_mcm wrote: »

In my case, I found out about the charge when I got my credit card bill.

I would have queried that. As if you don't point out damage when taking the car it's assumed to be your fault. If they don't point it out when you return it should be their fault, what's to stop the person crashing it after you walk away and charging you.

ted1

You'll need the paperwork to claim off your excess insurance without it you'll have a hard time trying to get them to pay out.
Paperwork is a copy of the damage , quotes to fix, invoice after being fixed etc
Good luck to you.

ted1

ted1 wrote: »

You'll need the paperwork to claim off your excess insurance without it you'll have a hard time trying to get them to pay out.
Paperwork is a copy of the damage , quotes to fix, invoice after being fixed etc
Good luck to you.

Bollox, your man just put out his hand I handed him back the pack with the original signed docket and he said do you want a receipt I said no and just walked off. So if I need to claim il have to hope they can send me the docket or a copy of it

colm_mcm

Del2005 wrote: »

I would have queried that. As if you don't point out damage when taking the car it's assumed to be your fault. If they don't point it out when you return it should be their fault, what's to stop the person crashing it after you walk away and charging you.

I did, but what happened is I dropped the car back on a Sunday evening, there was no staff on, directions were to drop the keys in a box. The thing is I got the car cleaned before I dropped it back, being nice so I knew there was no damage. Parked it in the corner of their fenced car park with their own minibus parked beside me. When I queried the damage they said there was damage all along the near side, when I pointed out that I was parked in the left corner of their car park they changed it to the offside. I pursued it for weeks, looking for pictures of the damage or a bodywork invoice, they provided neither and pointed out that in the T&Cs it stated I was responsible for the car until the time they inspect it for damage.
I had to stop contacting them as it was stressing me out a lot and it just wasn't worth it. I subsequently found out this was a common enough scam with Europcar. It was covered by Watchdog or someone. That's 10 years ago

Carson10

A good tip for anyone.

When I rent a car, before I even open it, I take pictures on my phone of every angle of it and all the wheels /alloys and a picture of the mileage even if there is no damage evident. Only takes a minute and and would be a handy backup if the above happened.

Carson10

Carson10 wrote: »

A good tip for anyone.

When I rent a car, before I even open it, I take pictures on my phone of every angle of it and all the wheels /alloys and a picture of the mileage even if there is no damage evident. Only takes a minute and and would be a handy backup if the above happened.

We did this, I have 10 pictures on my phone but I either didn't spot the damage or I caused it. Honestly don't know

It's definitely good practice to do this though, I just couldn't believe they had the car marked as no defects and I brought your man out and showed him about 5 dents and scratches and made him take note of them.

grogi

colm_mcm wrote: »

. I subsequently found out this was a common enough scam with Europcar. It was covered by Watchdog or someone. That's 10 years ago

That is second report of dodgy damages handling by this company mentioned here on boards. Enough for me to stay away...

grogi

Jeffery Wrong Bongo wrote: »

We did this, I have 10 pictures on my phone but I either didn't spot the damage or I caused it. Honestly don't know

It's definitely good practice to do this though, I just couldn't believe they had the car marked as no defects and I brought your man out and showed him about 5 dents and scratches and made him take note of them.

If the damage is not on the pictures...

Charmeleon

Be very careful when dealing with your own excess insurance company. Check your policy wording because most won't cover you unless you take full responsibility for causing the damage charged to you. If you are in dispute over whether it was there before or not then you will be waiting a long time before getting a refund, if you get it at all.

Charmeleon

Charmeleon wrote: »

Be very careful when dealing with your own excess insurance company. Check your policy wording because most won't cover you unless you take full responsibility for causing the damage charged to you. If you are in dispute over whether it was there before or not then you will be waiting a long time before getting a refund, if you get it at all.

Thanks for that, good info. if they contact me I will say I take full responsibility then .

Charmeleon

Jeffery Wrong Bongo wrote: »

Thanks for that, good info. if they contact me I will say I take full responsibility then .

Unless you had photos to prove the damage was there prior to renting then that is the only way of recovering your excess. I'm sure it catches a lot of people out when dealing with the more cut-throat companies that regularly manage to find damage after you've boarded the flight. Unless you get their own hugely expensive policies that let you drop it back with doors hanging off, you are really bunched on disputed claims.

Fozzydog3

They'll usually take the full excess for a while, get a quote from a mechanic and refund you the difference

omagh776

Jeffery Wrong Bongo wrote: »

I rented a car from Hertz in Germany recently, half way through the holiday I noticed damage to the bumper arch that I didnt see was there before. I think I may have done it while pulling into a grass verge to make way for a tractor but Im not sure it might have already been there and I missed it.

They had marked the car as "no defects" when I rented it but I found many and took pictures at the time and told the guy, I didnt see this one if it was on the car before I rented it as it was literally at the very bottom of the bumper/arch corner of the front wheel and you could easily walk past and not notice it but when they wash it im sure it will be.

So it could well have been me but I genuinely dont know.

My question is, when I dropped the car back I presumed they would go over the car with me and inspect it. They didn't do anything, he just said do you want a receipt and I said no and we walked off to our flight.

Do you reckon I will get a call from them in the next few days to say I owe them money or should that inspection have been done with me there?

I.E I could say the car was fine when I returned it one of your employees has done it. I wouldn't do that but I just was surprised it wasn't checked in my presence.

Having never rented a car before Im unsure how this works, I got separate insurance cover anyway that covered my credit card deposit so Im not too concerned.

You'll be grand if you didn't cause the Damage.
The sheet is only a visual from the local station, they'll check records and verify it.

Happened once to me with Hertz, there was a bit of damage on the wing mirror, they checked it against records and advised it was there before so no charge

pilly

If you have insurance on your excess why are you worried? Sorry, just confused.

omagh776

pilly wrote: »

If you have insurance on your excess why are you worried? Sorry, just confused.

Because the OP will have a Deposit on their Credit Card and if there is damage chargeable it's just hassle as they'll have to get documentation from Hertz, pay first and then claim it back afterwards.

I have the same, I don't have a financial risk it's just a hassle risk.

pilly

omagh776 wrote: »

Because the OP will have a Deposit on their Credit Card and if there is damage chargeable it's just hassle as they'll have to get documentation from Hertz, pay first and then claim it back afterwards.

I have the same, I don't have a financial risk it's just a hassle risk.

Yeah I understand it's a hassle but believe me there is absolutely no winning with the car hire companies. They can't and don't check every car when it comes back, they check them when they're sent for cleaning and then charge the damages.

Their first approach is to charge all damage to the last customer but because OP has noted some damage that was already there then that won't be charged but more than likely the new damage will be.

I know because I've worked for a car hire firm in the past. There's not much winning with them.

Stallingrad

If you are concerned, and given what Rentals companies are capable of, cancel your CC and get a new one.

pilly

Stallingrad wrote: »

If you are concerned, and given what Rentals companies are capable of, cancel your CC and get a new one.

Do not do this if you want to hire a car in the future. It will get you blacklisted.

grogi

Stallingrad wrote: »

If you are concerned, and given what Rentals companies are capable of, cancel your CC and get a new one.

Won't change anything honestly.

Stallingrad

pilly wrote: »

Do not do this if you want to hire a car in the future. It will get you blacklisted.

Really, with all rental companies?

pilly

Stallingrad wrote: »

Really, with all rental companies?

Yep, they share information about bad renters.

omagh776

pilly wrote: »

Yeah I understand it's a hassle but believe me there is absolutely no winning with the car hire companies. They can't and don't check every car when it comes back, they check them when they're sent for cleaning and then charge the damages.

Their first approach is to charge all damage to the last customer but because OP has noted some damage that was already there then that won't be charged but more than likely the new damage will be.

I know because I've worked for a car hire firm in the past. There's not much winning with them.

Must have been a dodgy firm, I've had this experience with Hertz and Budget, both times there was damage not completely clear on the sheet and both time they checked and advised it was already existing from previous customers when they examined pictures that were taken.

pilly wrote: »

Do not do this if you want to hire a car in the future. It will get you blacklisted.

You can't do that anyway, the amount is pre-authorised so even cancelling the card they can still bill the amount.

pilly

omagh776 wrote: »

Must have been a dodgy firm, I've had this experience with Hertz and Budget, both times there was damage not completely clear on the sheet and both time they checked and advised it was already existing from previous customers when they examined pictures that were taken.



You can't do that anyway, the amount is pre-authorised so even cancelling the card they can still bill the amount.

I'll say no more. Only that the company has already been mentioned.

maidhc

I have hired a lot of cars and only once did I have trouble getting my deposit back; and that time the car was more or less totalled by a guy running into the back of it. I got my deposit back after a bit of persuasion though.

Last year I gave back the car with a decent sized dent on the door. I didn't do it, but I can't swear if it was done during my rental or before. Either way, they didn't notice it and that was the end of it.

billy few mates

I hire a lot of cars in the continent when I travel for work, I also take multiple pics when I collect and drop off even though we also have no excess when we rent.
In one occasion (also Germany) the guy spotted a tiny little scratch on the underside of the rear bumper just behind the wheel arch and was somehow instantly able to tell me it would cost €520 to replace!
I wiped a wet finger on the 'scratch' and it vanished but he insisted it was damaged. It was only visible when the car was dirty and dust highlighted it but would easily have polished out in seconds but the guy refused to discuss.
Looking at the pictures of when I collected the car I didn't have great pictures of that area because of the way it had been parked, that corner was quite tight against a fence so access was Tricky, I didn't really think about it at the time but I should have moved the car to get a better look.
I was convinced it was a scam.

One other thing I noticed at this particular airport is the lighting is much better at the drop off point compared to the collection point, now whenever I go there I take the car to that area to do my inspection, I also call the guy from the office and make him log every minor blemish or spec of dust I find or ask him to remove it, I really go to town on my acceptance check. On one occasion I made them change the car twice before I accepted one we could agree on, they pride themselves on their high standards, I have no problem forcing them to deliver those high standards...