Car Hire Beware

Last week we went to Germany for the week , always been on my wish list to go to the Porsche Factory & Museum , and then on to Mercedes Factory and museum . Fantastic .
The roads in Germany were fantastic , never driven on roads as good . We hired a car at Stuttgart Airport all okay until we dropped the car off. They found damage to the front bottom spoiler and informed me that I would have to pay for this. It was not shown on my contract ( the sheet where they put a cross to show any damage on the car ) must pay .

When we collected the car I was informed to check the car and report and other damage I could see to a member of staff. The parking area was deserted no one around, checked over and found a few bits of damage including the front spoiler. I decided to take photos on my phone. THANK GOD I did. They started to argue the picture could have been taken anywhere, I had also taken a picture of the car in there underground car park.

Showed the pictures time and date stamped, still would not accept was told e-mail so we can review. What a nightmare, still unsure what is happening not heard back yet. First time I have ever had a problem... hired loads of cars

Kingsley

Hmm

I'm assuming that you paid by credit card? Should the hire company decide to charge you without authority and while you dispute their claims, I'm sure they will accept you explanation and date stamped photos to retrieve the money. Might be a pain if it goes that way but I'm sure it'll end up in your favour. Have you Google'd any info on the company to find any reviews or comments left by others with similar experiences. If you can find those that will help strengthen your case too...

Apart from that problem, I hope you enjoy the museum trips?

Good luck,

Gary

Really bad luck that they've decided to screw you up, instead of the one who actually did the damage. It's a lot easier than 20 years ago. But always take photos of the car when you pick it up and when you give it back. That way they'll have a hard time to sue you.

What company?

I recently hired a car from Chambery and returned it the following week, having done maybe 400km (it was parked up most of the time). When I returned home to the UK later that day, I had an invoice from the hire company (Avis) for an additional 275 euros, for dropping the car off the day after I picked it up, in Strasbourg, having covered 1800km: the charge was made up of all sorts of things.

Their 'help desk' wasn't open until the Monday, by which time Chambery office was closed for the week. It took me several phone calls, tweets, emails etc to convince them that they had made an error and that the car was in fact where it was supposed to be. The final clincher that convinced the initially arrogant young French lady that they had made a mistake was when I respectfully pointed out that to have driven the distance I had in little over 24 hours, i would have had to drive solidly for the entire time at an average of 75kph.

On the damage above, I'm willing to bet that you weren't the first person to be charged for it. Nor will you be the last.

Stand your ground, you have a photo with date and time thats enough. i phones log those details in your photo’s and they can’t be tampered with.