Enterprise charged me massive fee 😫

[ffscarol]

Hired a van a month ago to move. When I took it back they said there was a scratch on it. I didn’t notice it when I collected it and didn’t bash it whilst I had it. It’s about the length of my hand and looks like a key mark.

They wanted £2000 because I didn’t pay the extra £17 for extra insurance. Even if I did scratch it or it occurred in my possession no way does it amount to that.

So I’ve disputed it and they’ve taken the money out of my account today.

Im away at the moment and three hours ahead - banks open shortly in uk - will I be able to get this charge back 😫😫😫

No, it's literal. Nobody is going to hire a vehicle that stinks of rotting seafood. They will have to strip it down to remove the prawns. Suddenly the scammed 2 grand comes with a significant cost attached.

This will be of no use to you, but I've always had first class service from Enterprise. They are my hire company of choice for this reason.

Good luck OP, I hope you get it sorted. I guess you know now about the excess waiver insurance for next time.

I've hired from them on a couple of occasions recently.
I was asked to check prior to taking the vehicle and make sure I was happy and no scratches/dents.
I paid the insurance as I didn't want to end up with a massive bill.
I'm afraid if you didn't check prior and point it out- plus not taking out insurance.... you've not got a leg to stand on.

Well. Theres the issue.....

I'm afraid if you didn't check prior and point it out- plus not taking out insurance.... you've not got a leg to stand on

I disagree with this. It sounds like the scratch might not even have been noticed unless all of the van was scrutinised extremely carefully.

Also it doesn't cost £2k to repair a tiny scratch, not that they'll probably repair it anyway.

They're also not adhering to industry code of conduct, about treating customers fairly, so it's them that don't have a leg to stand on.

Op did they check the van thoroughly for any scratches before you hired it? That is a good argument there if they did not.

Which bank account have you got? If it's one with insurances the excess may be covered - just found that my Revolut Metal covers car hire excess

If they do take the money from your account you can do a chargeback.. you'll get the form on your banks website. The bank will refund you the money while they investigate.

I’ve managed to get the money back 😅😅

They have also issued me with a new card - on to my Apple Pay too.

Im with Barclays and tbf the customer service was great.

At least I can deal with this away from my bloody bank account 😅

It'll be in the t&c's somewhere that they can take money for any damage however, you can definitely dispute this.

They should have done a walk around of the van agreed with you that there was no damage prior to you taking it. If they didn't do this they can't possibly prove that the damage was done while it was with you.

We had something similar and basically argued the point about lack of proof and they 'agreed to waive the cost'

I'm sorry OP, this is a stress you don't need.
We have been lucky up to now and it's never happened to us, but even with the CDW excess cover in our insurance it really puts me off hiring a car as the whole time I'm worried about being scammed.

Not for this occasion as too late but in future it's worthwhile taking out private excess insurance - you can google it. Costs like £20-£40 for a year and can be used for different rentals. I used to hire cars regularly and was charged 'damage' - even if just small scratches - a few times. You pay for it, hand the claim into your private insurance, and they pay you back. Worked for me every time. And a lot cheaper than a car higher company charging about £20 per day..

I used to have a company car, and while it was being repaired (after some delightful people stole my catalytic converter ) I had an enterprise rental car. It was left on my drive with keys through front door (at least they found my house!) so no delivery inspection. I was instructed to leave it at the main dealer when collecting my car, so no return inspection.

they tried to charge me for a “missing” tyre reinflation kit. I told the fleet manager at work I had not seen one, certainly hadn’t taken it, and that they should check the delivery inspection and return inspection records fo4 my signatures. I said I thought it was a scam and I wasn’t paying it. That went no further.

That's the terms and conditions you agree to and sign for.

Great news!

I’m not saying it’s right, but you don’t need to bother with the photos if you take out the excess cover.

Nobody agrees to be ripped off. If they actually did the repair they charged a proper rate for, few would complain.

I had this happen a few years ago - to be fair, I had scraped the side, so knew I'd be paying for repairs, but they just took the whole excess, and only "refunded" me when I complained and demanded to see the actual invoice total, as it could not have been thousands. It was a couple of hundred, so I got the rest back, but only because I complained. I now have excess cover - about £30 a year which covers me in the UK and Europe.

Not quite the same thing, but Enterprise related. We hired a big people carrier type car about 18 months ago to go to a funeral the other end of the country, we had to take some older relatives who couldn't drive. Because we aren't familiar with it, we missed paying the Dart charge. We got an email from Enterprise telling us this. I contacted Dart and they charged me - oh, about a fiver - but we had to pay Enterprise a £70 admin fee. They just took it off my credit card - which had already taken a battering what with car hire and hotel costs etc. Left a very bad taste.

I used to work for enterprise although granted years ago, the issue with hire vehicles is that the insurance that comes with the cars is 3rd party only, so that's why the excess is so high is any damage is found, because the hire company has to pay for all repairs before the vehicles are sold.

Anyway, if you didn't take out the damage excess cover the contract will state that if any damage is found the full excess will be taken, HOWEVER the hire company then needs to repair the vehicle immediately and before it is hired to anyone else, they should also refund you whatever the difference is, so if the repair was £300 you should get refunded £1700.

I would ask enterprise for the itemised repair bill, if they don't provide you with that then refuse to pay.

After working with hire car companies I always recommend people take out their own excess insurance if you have to hire a vehicle, you will still need to pay whatever the excess is to the hire company, but you can then claim that money back.

Ok OP just be very careful with this as they may still be able to take the funds from your account. It's like a recurring debit payment, like Netflix, Disney plus etc, these payments aren't direct debits they come from your card, even if you cancel the card and get a new one in some instances the payment will still go.

Thank you - I’ll have a chat with the bank when I get home

Yay glad about the outcome.

Bloody hell how long does it take to fix a scratch (which they probably won't), and how much is it to hire a day if they're missing out on £2k 😳🤣

I just had a rental from Enterprise. As I understood it they would take £2,000 per incident where damage is bigger than their gauge thingy - so two separate dings would mean £4,000. They then subtract the actual cost of each individual repair and give you the difference back.