<p>Have to agree–did you purchase the “extra insurance” at the time of rental? We never do as our insurance covers for rental cars. However, on a return trip from dropping our student at college, someone rear-ended us. Oh, it was the other driver’s responsibility, she just didn’t have insurance. So, of course, Enterprise called us and the agent was delighted to tell us that we would be held responsible. (Keep in mind that damages were less than $1000). At that point, lawyer spouse informed them that OUR insurance would need to be contacted and we would need a copy of the estimate. It took a lot of wrangling to obtain that estimate, which ended up being more like $1500+. (We think there is some type of minimum; insurance racket). We have never heard another word, our insurance handled it. And, by the way, there have been no changes in our insurance rates either. We won’t rent from Enterprise again! (I knew it was going to be a difficult rental experience when we first arrived and we had to take a different vehicle than what we had originally reserved–never again with Enterprise!)</p>
<p>I don’t necessarily agree with the advice to report the scratch to your insurance company (but I’m no lawyer) depending on the repair cost and your deductible. If this is really just a scratch then there’s a good chance it’ll cost less to repair than your deductible. If it’s really a dent rather than a scratch it could cost more. Regardless, I doubt there’s an urgency to contact your insurance company immediately. The concern is that when your insurance company gets involved the fight for who’s fault it is may end and I think you should definitely fight this. </p>
<p>It’s clearly not your fault. At 0500 when you turned it in they inspected it and relieved you of responsibility for it. After that point it was ‘in their care’. Have you noticed how most rental car lots are? They’re packed with cars, frequently parked very closely to each other, with the workers blasting the cars from here to there, and with other renters backing out and manouvering in vehicles they’re unfamiliar with. Most likely either one of the workers or another renter caused the damage but regardless, it’s not your issue since you turned control of the vehicle over to them prior to that point.</p>
<p>If they raise a ruckus I think you should just get ‘Curm’ to represent you seeing as you’re both in the midwest.</p>
<p>I would think that the insurance company should be contacted not just in case you have to pay, but to help you cross t’s and dot i’s so you don’t have to. Also, some insurance companies require that you notify them within a certain time frame or they won’t pay at all.</p>
<p>When we were home on a two-week trip to the US, my H’s rental car (parked) was hit. Clearly not his fault - we weren’t even in the car, which was legally parked. The people who hit the car admitted fault, and filed with their insurance. We contacted our primary insurance company right away. Turned out the other people’s insurance had some sort of limit on it, and wasn’t willing to pay the loss of revenue portion of the claim. So the rental car company came after us. </p>
<p>We had rented the car with a credit card that carried automatic insurance. My H just wanted to be done with everything, so he contacted them at that point to see what they would pick up, and they refused to get involved because it had been more than x days since the accident. (60? Can’t remember. We were overseas dealing with letters being forwarded, etc, and it took time from the initial “it’s our fault” to the “we won’t pay that”.)</p>
<p>Ultimately, it ended okay, but I can’t remember how. I think we contacted the folks who hit us, and they intervened. Don’t think our insurance ever paid anything. But we did learn the importance of involving everyone ASAP.</p>
<p>I think someone already said this, but it bears repeating-- be sure to notify your credit card company that the rental car company is trying to defraud you and that you are not authorizing any charges to your card. You might even want to talk to the fraud dept as well as the dispute dept, because they probably have had experience with these bogus charges as well, and might have some good suggestions for you as to what else to do to avoid these charges from being put on your credit card, and how to respond to the company. </p>
<p>The other thing I am hearing that rental car cos are doing is charging for gas even though you return the tank on full, especially if you can’t produce the charge slip for filling up the tank. I’ve now taken to topping off the tank-- I figure the extra few bucks it may cost me is still less than the aggravation I’d go through if I have to battle with them over a ridiculous overcharge for gas. </p>
<p>I am glad to hear you folks take pictures. My h and s’s would think I am being ridiculous if I did that, so thanks for validating that I am not being ridiculous. I do go around it with a fine tooth comb when I rent it, but oftentimes it is dark out and I can’t really see the dings and scratches. So far no company has tried to charge me for scratches or dings. Last Feb when I returned a rental car, the check-in guy told me I had to go inside to finalize the transaction as the person who checked it in last time put the wrong mileage on it, and my check-in mileage was lower than the check-out mileage (when I first took the car). I looked at him with a dead serious expression and told him that it was probably correct, as since it had snowed, I had to drive the car backwards. He stared at me for a while before we both started to laugh. If you keep him laughing, they <em>usually</em> are nice in return…</p>
<p>Pictures are useful as there can be rain droplets, reflections and shadows obscuring scratches and dings. If you’re renting a minivan, then that’s a lot of surface area to cover. I use an 8 MP camera and it’s amazing what it can catch in the way of windshield chips, scratches, rust spots, etc.</p>
<p>OP, I would also scrutinize the copy of your check in report. It most likely has the name of the person checking you back in. I am guessing they were no longer on duty when the damage claim was received that afternoon.</p>
<p>“H does a lot of business travel and his company uses Hertz. He’s never had a problem–in fact, he says that if you bring back the car with at least 3 wheels on it, you’re good to go.”</p>
<p>We always use Hertz and our corporate rate, even when it is more expensive to do so, because the corporate agreement covers damage to the vehicle. We could indeed return it with three wheels and they wouldn’t even ask us what happened!</p>
<p>The very same thing happened to me with Alamo. They claimed that the windshield had been dinged by a rock. When I turned the car in, the windshield was fine. However, I had to leave the car and drop the keys because it was very late, so I couldn’t really prove that it didn’t happen when I was driving the car.<br>
I had rented the car with Amex. I turned the claim over to them. They paid to fix the windshield (even though I told them I didn’t do it). Then, Alamo tried to get me to pay even more, saying that Amex had only paid part of the claim (how much can a dinged windshield cost?) I sent the 2nd letter on to Amex and I never heard from Alamo again.
A very similar thing happened to my husband when he rented with Budget. Amex contested that claim because it was obviously bogus.
Now, whenever I turn in the car, I check it over with the clerk, if at all possible.</p>
<p>I mostly rent from Avis and have never had an issue. Hertz and Avis are the the rental companies most frequently used by corporations. They might pull fewer of these hijinks because if they irritate people too much for these petty and bogus items they could lose the coporate agreements which could cost them a huge amount of money.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, I’ve also found Avis to often be even less expensive than some of the more ‘budget’ rental car companies.</p>
<p>I read an article in WSJ a few years ago about scams the cut rate rental outfits run - basically charging for fixing the same dent or ding over and over again. Even after reading the article I still kept renting from the el cheapos - that is until I got caught in one of their scams and was forced to pay for some bogus damage. </p>
<p>Ever since then it’s been Hertz for me. Hertz has never hassled me for anything. I’d much rather pay a premium and get decent, honest service. I just hate getting cheated.</p>
<p>I wish the Eliot Spitzers of the world would go after these rental car agency scams! All it would take would be one high profile expensive investigation…</p>
<p>I actually wouldn’t want Eliot Spitzer to do anything official at this point! 
And one other thing, a chipped windshield can be very expensive, because you probably have to replace the whole windshield. But in many states, NY is one of them, windshield replacement is automatically part of insurance. When I hit a deer and had to replace the windshield in upstate NY, it didn’t even come out of the deductible. It cost $150, and the repair guys came right to where the car was parked, in a large parking lot. Could have been worse-- all around. Nothing to do with a rental car though, sorry…</p>
<p>I always rent from Hertz and have never had a problem. They are pros, and they are interested in your business, long-term. That’s what separates the good companies from the bad.</p>
<p>I feel the same way about any product or service I’m buying – I’d rather go with the established company than save a few bucks with a fly-by-night operation.</p>
<p>Have to second VeryHappy. We had been renting from Hertz (see previous post) and decided to give Enterprise a try, when our experience occurred. We have since gone back to Hertz. This spring, when we went to pick up the rental, the A/C was not working properly. They had to substitute a different model. But, unlike Enterprise, they gave us a huge credit for the trouble and were very apologetic, plus a coupon for credit on a future rental. It’s all about customer service-only Hertz for us in the future!!</p>
<p>Eliot Spitzer was the highest-profile guy going after student-loan fraud so I do think that he did good work when he was in LE.</p>
<p>Some chipped windshield damage can be repaired.</p>
<p>If you have issues like this, and you think it’s a scam, it may be a good idea to report it to the Attorney General’s office in your state. If enough people report it, they might do a sting operation.</p>
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<p>That is the difference, isn’t it? After a rental car agency screws you over, you’ll never go back to them and you’ll tell all your friends and acquaintances of your bad experience. They have to keep coming up with new customers, like the tobacco companies.</p>
<p>^^ Worse, most companies have ‘preferred’ or ‘required’ rental car companies they allow their employees to rent from. This can amount to a huge amount of business with a single rental car company from the one corporation. If enough people in that company, or sometimes even if a high-ranking executive in that company gets poor service from the rental car company, they might change the company’s policy to force the use of a different rental car company. So, that bogus $200 scratch could cost the rental car company hundreds of thousands in business per year from just a single corporation.</p>
<p>Alamo’s collection agency still is trying to collect $74 after 10 years even though this was all paid the day before the car was returned. They demanded the money again at the airport but the receipt was in the luggage already checked. The city office promised they’d fax it and clear everything up with the airport location, but apparently didn’t. Thought the matter was dropped until it showed up on a credit report years later. Paying once was enough, they’ll need to wait a few more decades before I’ll pay twice.
They lost my business forever.</p>
<p>Ever have a rental company insist you fill out a very long damage report and wait in a very long line when you need to catch their bus to the airport for a flight boarding in 20 minutes?</p>
<p>“Ever have a rental company insist you fill out a very long damage report and wait in a very long line when you need to catch their bus to the airport for a flight boarding in 20 minutes?”</p>
<p>No, but I did have shuttle buses go AWOL for over an hour which cause me to miss my flight. (Try explaining THAT to the airline counterperson.) Minute 0 “Shuttle bus will pick you up by that bench.” Minute 15 “It’ll be here in a minute.” Minute 30 “I’ll check.” Minute 45 “Supervisor hasn’t got back to me yet.” Minute 60 “Are you sure the shuttle didn’t come and you missed it?” Minute 75 “There’s only one driver tonight and he’s gone on dinner break.” I won’t say which rental company it was, but the name starts with a vowel that begins the alphabet.</p>
<p>^^ Alamo? Avis? </p>
<p>Is the last letter a vowel too?</p>