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Original poster

Car rental damage - scam?

24 replies

Yika · 02/09/2022 14:29

I feel I've been scammed by a car rental company - on return of the car they 'found' damage (scrape on the underside of the bumper) that I'm quite sure I didn't cause (didn't have any bumps or scrapes during the week), however it wasn't marked up on my rental agreement. I checked all the interior and exterior on pick-up and rental but not under the bumper - had never thought of doing so. I actually had strong 'scam' vibes immediately upon return when the rental person checked it and made a beeline for that part of the car.

I did not take their full insurance as haven't normally had problems with car rental in the past. Do I have any recourse? Anyone else had a similar experience?

OP posts:
Peony15 · 04/09/2022 23:45

Same happened to me in Mallorca , the car checker ( one of the top international car rental companies ) went instantly to a difficult to see area on car , almost tyeing himself into a knot trying to point it out. I knew straight away it was a scam as he seemed to know it was there all along. It was more than obvious, his modus operandi.
However I had full zero excess cover so checker looked annoyed he couldn't book this one but no doubt was going to use same tiny , hidden damage spot in future.
I feel for you but no idea how you can prove it. Most rental companies make a fortune out of faults that they charge for, yet never fix. Utter scam all round.

Goawayangryman · 04/09/2022 23:51

Agree, total scam. Is a scrape under the bumper even a chargeable fault? Seems unreasonable to me if it is invisible and doesn't compromise the function of vehicle.

In future you can take out excess insurance cover, it's about £45 a year and you'll never have this situation again.

Original poster
Yika · 04/09/2022 23:55

Yes that was exactly the way it went in my case. The checker first tried it on with a ‘scratch’ on the side (non-existent) and then zoomed in underneath the bumper for the ‘gotcha’ moment.
Was it Sixt by any chance? I’ve been reading up on other discussion boards and it seems to be a well-known scam …
i will take the zero excess cover in future but will have a go at fighting this one in the meantime. There’s probably nothing I can do but it’s pure extortion.

OP posts:
Original poster
Yika · 04/09/2022 23:57

Good to know, will look into that.

i have never checked the underside of the bumper before, it would not have occurred to me.

OP posts:
Peony15 · 05/09/2022 00:00

yes it was Sixt. First and last time I used them

Original poster
Yika · 05/09/2022 00:05

I will also never use Sixt again. Have rented mostly with Hertz and occasionally with Avis over a period of decades and never had a problem!

OP posts:
chelle0 · 05/09/2022 00:50

We had a hire car from europcar. The seat belt broke after a day so they replaced it, a driver came out to swap them over. Immediately rang them to tell them it smelt of smoke and of the damage to the car and they still tried to charge me for it when I took it back!! Was filthy too 🙄

Original poster
Yika · 06/09/2022 13:33

Thanks for sharing your experience, certainly gives a sour aftertaste to the holidays...!

OP posts:
Scudon · 19/10/2022 16:44

Mallorca - Hertz. On returning the car the check-in person asked if i had Super cover which i did not and got me thinking why are you asking? Then says the front underside of the bumper was scratched although she had not even checked under the bumper before informing me! Scam alert. She claimed both the front and rear bumpers underneath were scratched (which they were when i got down to check myself) and said they were not noted on the rental paperwork and i had done this!. Now i know for a FACT i never scraped those bumpers and the damage was there at collection. With the damage not shown on the rental form at collection i was hardly going to get on all fours and do a check for scratches and they know this. They have now sent a claim for outstanding payment. I have used Hertz for many years but they will not be getting any further business from me after this. I will be reaching out to head office to escalate further. I have the name of the returns person in question. Considering Hertz are one of the most expensive companies its a bit of a surprise.

Original poster
Yika · 19/10/2022 18:11

That is exactly the same as what happened to me at Sixt! They charged me 500 euros for the scratches under the bumper. I had been thinking I would use Hertz in future as they were always my go-to car hire people in the past but it looks like they are all up to the same scams now.

OP posts:
sosolongago · 19/10/2022 18:28

Europcar scammed me like this at Gatwick Airport several years ago. AVIS is the only car hire company I have subsequently found trustworthy.
It is a known scam at Gatwick airport if you google. The staff say 'you should have taken out our insurance' if you query it. They highlight dirty marks with highlighter pens and call it damage.

Ohsugarhoneyicetea · 19/10/2022 18:41

They tried this on me too, I was already aware of the scam though and had cancelled the card I used to book so they had no way to steal the money. That was the last I heard of it.

BayCityTrollers · 19/10/2022 18:51

We had it with car rental in Italy, can’t recall the company. It was obvious damage though and I’d taken photos when we got the car so could demonstrate clearly we hadn’t done it!

They tell you to check the car and highlight any damage but they also just hand you the keys and leave you to go off and find your car so it’s hard to go back and find someone.

I am boycotting Europcar too as I hired a car during the fuel shortages last year and they couldn’t provide anything with more than 30 miles of fuel. There were no fuel stations with fuel within that distance so I would have been stuffed. I cancelled and the fuckers charged me £50. I also had to cram DS1’s Uni stuff in the back of a sodding mini! It was shit. I will never use Europcar again and welcome everyone to join me in my boycott🤣🤣

Badbadbunny · 19/10/2022 19:03

Yep, same happened to us with Sixt. We've hired dozens (maybe over a hundred) cars over the past 40 years of holidaying in the UK and all over abroad. Never had a problem anywhere else, having used the big firms like Hertz and Avis right down to one-man bands on Greek Islands!

We'll never use Sixt again. Before the "damage" scam, we'd also had problems once when we booked an estate car (4 of us, each with a large suitcase) and they gave us a "sporty" car with a tiny boot we couldn't even fit one suit case in and initially wouldn't change - their attitude was that it was a "better" car because it was an Audi, so we were lucky to have been "upgraded". When I asked her to show us how to fit the 4 suitcases in, she just disappeared into a back room and never came out again. Finally the other counter clerk became free and we had to start over with her to explain the problems, etc., and after lots of eye rolling, huffing and puffing, she allocated a different car to us (still not an estate), but at least it had a boot to get 3 suitcases in and the 4th had to be put in the middle of the backseat. To top it all, they charged us twice, once for each car as their system then showed us having two!

For a supposedly large reputable company, they're pretty incompetent and bordering on fraudulent.

PeekabooAtTheZoo · 19/10/2022 19:06

This is very common. The Google reviews on loads of different car rental companies say they do this. I always take a video walkaround of the vehicle before accepting it to prove no damage.

thenightsky · 19/10/2022 19:06

Their Trustpilot reviews are shocking OP Shock

uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.sixt.co.uk

Quisquam · 19/10/2022 19:11

We’ve had it with a local Enterprise. We pointed out a chip in the windscreen, when we picked the car up. They tried to charge us for it, when we returned the car. DH refused to pay.

We’d never use Enterprise again.

Original poster
Yika · 19/10/2022 19:38

thenightsky · 19/10/2022 19:06

Their Trustpilot reviews are shocking OP Shock

uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.sixt.co.uk

Gosh those are shocking. Wish I’d read a few reviews first!

OP posts:
Tiredmumno1 · 19/10/2022 19:50

Europcar are not any better, you should see some of their reviews.

This one makes me chuckle 🤭

Car rental damage - scam?
Original poster
Yika · 19/10/2022 20:17

Lol!

OP posts:
HouseInChaos · 19/10/2022 21:53

I've thought before about setting up a website where customers could record the registration plate of their hire car, and log any existing faults with it, or anything the hire company tell them they've found - with a photo where possible. The scams would behave to stop pretty quickly if the companies could be reported for fraud each time.

Frantze · 31/07/2023 20:35

if you get stung, and paid by credit card, you can pursue the card provider under section 75 of the credit card act, by memory. They might resist but I have succeeded in the past in recovering from the card provider.

pagune · 21/02/2024 11:25

Hertz-Marseilles. As others have said, I could tell by the demeanour and the way the attendant went straight for the tiny scratch mark (on side mirror) and didn't continue to look elsewhere or even check if mirror was banged up/loose. He just antedt to point this scratch out and then say it wasn't shown on the emailed pdfs of the two scratches that were previously known to be on the car. It's a complete scam/fraud. They want £95 but it's the sheer nerve they have to repeatedly accuse innocent customers of damaging their cars when obviously they haven't. I'm not paying and I'll see what happens. May report them to Watchdog tv programme

AnnaMagnani · 21/02/2024 18:12

Italy, Europcar. The car hire was delighted to find a 'medium dent'.

On questioning him about this microscopic dent, they didn't have a smaller category than medium.

DH had taken out the extra insurance but lets face it, that exists as everyone knows the insurance companies scam.

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