- Laopooh
- Jul 15, 2000
-
|
I work for a rental car broker and the rental car industry is rife with scams.
We currently offer rental suppliers who are extremely crooked but successful nonetheless.
Most of the really bad stuff happens in Spain and other southern European countries, but some rental companies in the US are also routinely scamming customers for large amounts.
There are several ways to get more money out of a seemingly bargain priced prepaid booking.
The classic scam is renting out vehicles with hidden damage (under the fender or somewhere not easily spotted right away) and then charging them for the "new" damage when they return the car.
That is mostly gone now because people have gotten wise to it.
What's more popular are hidden insurance contracts or to add several insurance products to the rental agreement without telling the customer. Then having them sign on an electronic pad, where they can't see all the charges they accepted.
If they notice right away you either tell them some lie about it or cancel the insurance.
If the customer doesn't notice right away, it's almost impossible to get a refund for the insurance they clearly accepted with their signature.
Other scams are raising depot amounts to incredible sums (2000+ euros) so that most people's credit cards can't be blocked for the amount. Then the customer has to buy extra insurance to reduce the deposit, or they forfeit their prepaid booking.
There even is one major Spanish company who make 60-80% of their earnings by just straight up pressuring customers to buy extra insurance.
Yeah I got hit with the fake damage thing by PurCo, some scammer company in Utah. I wrote them a letter and they immediately dropped the case. I still wonder if the Hertz manager was in on it, or if it was just some employee who'd slip them customer info in return for a kickback. The damage charge was also not ridiculously high so I could see some people paying up to not have to deal with the hassle.
quote:
Incident report in response to claims made by PurCo Fleet Services, Inc.
After losing my car in an accident I was set up with a rental at Byers Car Rentals by State Farm Insurance on November 03, 2014. I returned the car to Byers on Nov 25, 2014 where the car passed post-rental inspection. At that time I was not given a Post-Rental Vehicle Inspection Form. Several weeks later on December 01, 2014 I received a letter from PurCo car services informing me that damage to the car had been incurred during the rental period and that I would be charged for the repairs. I had kept the car in a garage the entire length of the rental when it was not being driven and it had passed the post-rental inspection. I am quite positive that no damage occurred while the car was in my possession. On December 05, 2014 I went to Byers and spoke to a manager regarding the damage claim. I was told that the car was not there for me to see at the time and that the damage had already been repaired.
On January 14, 2015 I received the damage incident report from PurCo stating that I would owe $158.24 in total to cover the damage repair, loss of use, and $50 “administrative fee.” This damage report included a copy of the Pre-Rental Vehicle Inspection Form but no copy of the Post-Rental Vehicle Inspection Form was to be found. The report also included photos of the damaged roof dated January 09, 2015. When I spoke to the manager on December 05, 2014 I was told that the repairs had already taken place. Furthermore, there was snow visible in the photographs and to the date I had returned the car, no snow had fallen.
I am quite sure that the damage incurred did not take place during my possession of the vehicle and no evidence has been provided to show that it has. None of the claims made by PurCo or Byers line up and key pieces of information, namely the missing post-rental inspection, the fact that it passed inspection, being told repairs had been made by Dec. 05, and receiving pictures of the damage dated January 9th, all belie the case being made against me. I am perfectly willing to contact the attorney general and the Better Business Bureau if these charges are not immediately dropped.
|
#
¿
May 13, 2016 15:26
|
|
- Adbot
-
ADBOT LOVES YOU
|
|
|
#
¿
Apr 27, 2024 16:03
|
|
#
¿
May 13, 2016 15:26
