THE STORY IS LONG BUT IVE HAVE TRIED TO MAKE IT SHORT AS POSSIBLE.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE IN ADVANCE.
I hired a vehicle from an airport branch and had three young children with me, including a 6-month-old. It was raining heavily, and the staff seemed annoyed and rushed us through the handover. When I raised concerns about some issues with the car, he dismissed them as minor, though my partner recorded videos of everything.
Thirty minutes into our five-hour journey, we noticed the steering pulling to the right and that it wasn’t straight. We stopped at the nearest service station and contacted the company. They promised a callback, but no one called. After waiting over an hour and multiple follow-ups, we were told the branch was closed and no help could be provided. We were left stranded with young children and had to continue our journey slowly.
The next morning, we reported the issues at the branch. They inspected the vehicle, acknowledged pre-existing damage, and confirmed the steering was a safety risk. They stated we should never have been given this car. Despite this, the damage team later sent a £2,570 bill, claiming we had caused the damage. When I pointed out that the images they provided were ones we had taken ourselves on pickup, they continued to pursue the charge.
After weeks of repeated calls and emails, a damage recovery manager finally reviewed the case, apologized for the mishandling, and admitted the company was at fault. And told to contact the branch .The delays and repeated misinformation caused immense stress, danger, and inconvenience for my family.
The branch manager had fobbed me off with a fake email twice and then went off on annual leave I then found the area managers email when I called customer service and emailed him .
The area manager contacted me, reviewed the damage evidence, and asked me what I would consider appropriate compensation, acknowledging that this was a dangerous situation. And no contract from the branch for nearly 11 weeks was not an acceptable .
what would be a reasonable compensation as this is my first time in a situation like this and the area manager has not offered what they are willing to pay but what I would like due to all the inconvenience.
thank you