Advice needed: Cost of dent in Hertz rental car disputed
 

On our recent trip to France, we ended up with a small dent in the rear of our vehicle (a Peugot 1007 economy car). The dent was noticeable but not significant, had almost no effect on the paint, did not affect the operation of the hatch at all. At most, it should have cost a couple hundred bucks to fix.

We received an invoice earlier this week from the Hertz office in France for 1123E (about $1450 or so). Furthermore, they insist on payment to be recieved no later than July 11...less than one week after we received the notice...or else we will incur a substantial penalty. I would have to cut a check and mail it today to make that happen.

Instead, I called Hertz corporate customer service this morning and asked them to intercede on my behalf.

Does anyone have relevant experience and/or advice to share on this matter? I am flabbergasted that a respectable company like Hertz would engage in this sort of shakedown.

OK - why isn't your insurance covering this? Either via your credit card or the coverage from hertz itself?

And almost NO body damage can be repaired for "a couple of hundred dollars" any more.

You <b>did</b> have insurance, didn't you? That thing which eliminates posts such as your own.

Hi Mr go,

The most you can do is to demand the repair invoice, which they will supply.

No insurance?

((I))

Yes, we have insurance (not thru Hertz, we waived the <i>tres cher</i>collision coverage). But a $1000 deductible...so we must wonder whether it's even worth filing at this point.

But really, it's the principle of the thing. Why should I have to file a claim and (almost certainly) affect my premiums adversely for &quot;damage&quot; that might not have even been noticed had I not pointed it out to them?

And further, why the unreasonable rush for payment? The whole thing smacks of 'bad faith' to me.

Hi mr_go,

It does sound like a very inflated repair bill to me. I just had the rear of my Honda repaired (someone rammed into me) and the repair bill was just over $1500 to replace the bumper and two other panels, plus both tail lights. Fortunately the person who hit me was insured.
In your case, it's very hard to understand how on earth one small dent could have cost so much to repair unless it affected multiple panels.
Good Luck :-(

Why I Don't Rent Cars: Reason #17.

I like the fact that in Italy you have no choice about insurance...you have to take it and it seems affordable in comparison to the rates in France. We recently had a little mishap and walked away paying only a $35 admin fee on a similar type of dent/scratch.

I was considering doing the insurance through my credit card for our trip to France next May but I'm worried about what would happen if there is indeed an accident. I guess your story is also a cautionary tale.

Good luck and I hope that you make out ok. For future reference, I understand that Auto Europe has very good customer service in cases like this they can act as an intermediary when there is a dispute. We found them to be excellent and will use them again and again. They will price match most quotes.

Four years ago Hertz wanted nearly $500 to fix a broken side mirror, hit by a French driver racing down a narrow mountain road. We disputed the claim with Diners Club, and after about 8 months Hertz was still unable to provide a repair invoice and cancelled the charge. We no longer rent from Hertz.

Moral of the story: photograph the damage!

We had a Hertz rental in France. It was part of a rail drive package, so we did not comparison shop. At pick up I splurged for the CDW coverage.

Yep 30 euro per DAY.

Included in the cost of the repair may be &quot;loss of use&quot; of the vehicle while it is being repaired.

I am not saying the original cost is fair, just what might have jacked it up a bit.

Do you have a pcture of the damage? Are they including loss of rental for a couple of days to have it repaired?

I would definitely get Hertz here to deal with them on the time limit and penalty - but if you did the damage I don;t see any choice but to pay.

(And someone knocked off my side mirror last year and it cost about $450 to get a new one and have the unit installed on the car - so your total doesn't sound like a lot.)

Sorry I can't be of more help but there was an article in the LA Times travel section (July 2, 2006) highlighting the increase in occurences of what happened to you. There appears to have been a substantial increase in after completed rentals being assessed a variety of claims--sometimes without the renter even knowing of the damage. The remedies were ineffectual and ridiculously futile i.e. photogragh your car, do exhaustive check-ins, contact your state consumer affairs dept. I am seriously reviewing my procedures as once they have your credit card, they can assess anything they want right or wrong and because of the distance and international communication, you have little recourse! We recently had a friend return a car in Avignon who was assessed $500 for a keyed scratch upon return--how was that figure arrived at so instantaneously? The Times article even mentioned bonuses awarded to employees who find these charges. Makes one pause!

&gt;&gt;<i>Do you have a pcture of the damage? Are they including loss of rental for a couple of days to have it repaired?</i>&lt;&lt;

Yes, and yes. And an admininstration fee. I tried to be the nice guy and pointed the ding out to them in the first place...and this is the thanks I get.

We'll see if anyone cares about the stunning 8-megapixel shot that ms_go took.

A few years ago, I had the side view mirror on my Hertz car ripped off in Paris. I was charged the full deductible. I called 3 repair shops for Ford cars and asked for the price of replacing a side view mirror for that model. They were all about the same. So I wrote a letter to Hertz with this information and quickly received a refund for most of the difference (I considered it normal for them to charge an installation fee for the spare part.)

You mean you think the insurance you paid for should cover parts but not labor?

Good thing you weren't t-boned. You'd be paying &quot;installation fees&quot; until Christmas.

They charged me two weeks' rental for a kid seat that I only had for five days. That was the last time (1991) they got any of my money. &lt;OPINION&gt;Hertz sucks.&lt;/OPINION&gt;

We've also been hit with the outrageous after-the-fact charges. I got a lesson in international credit card disputes: If you sign the rental application with your credit card number on it, it's not considered fraud if they overchage you. It's only considered fraud if your credit card number is used without your authorization.

I did a chargeback with American Express for an $800 cell phone rental that should have been about $100. After 3 different tries on the chargeback, I took it all the way up to the vice-president in charge of consumer relations and he explained how foreign transactions are hard to contest unless your card was used without your authorization. They did give me a $400 &quot;good will&quot; credit.

On the car rental thing, since nowadays they have huge deductables on the CDW, I use the American Express insurance and it's $20 per rental with no deductable. Italy, Ireland and some eastern European countries are excluded.

Robespierre, whenever there is a &quot;deductible&quot; you are liable for the full amount. The collision damage waiver rarely exists in Europe as one knows it in the U.S. It is merely a collision damage reduction -- since I rent the smallest cars possible, it is usually between 400 and 600 euros. A few months ago, for the first time in about 10 years, I completely scraped the entire right hand side of the car against an improperly parked motorcycle. Considering the condition of the car when I returned it, I considered myself lucky to only be charged 400 euros by Budget.

Wouldn't the use of the Plat M/C cover the CDW insurance in France? ((b))

In case your cc has deductible or you don't have a cc that offers CDW with nil deductible, you can take out a policy (anyone can - you don't have to be a UK resident) from http://www.insurance4carhire.com/ Their cover starts from only &pound;49 a year in Europe (up to 31 days per rental) and reimburses you for deductible/excess on damage to the rental car, underside, theft, windshield and tires.