Page 2 | Being charged by car hire company after car broke down

afrikat · 2024-08-27T15:30:47+00:00

Just been on holiday to Europe, booked a hire car from the airport. On the second day the car broke down on the motorway, husband said it seemed like a gear box failure. Mechanical error, not user error. Just had a message saying they are going to charge us nearly E1000 for the failure. Will be charged to the card we used to pay for the car. Having checked the socials of this company there are dozens of people complaining about being charged for similar things, or tiny scratches, so seems like they have form for this. Company isn't responding to emails or answering the phone. Where do we stand legally?? If they charge us I will raise a dispute with the CC company but don't know if it will be upheld? Surely we can't be held responsible for the bloody car breaking down??

ItsZa · 27/08/2024 18:56

ItsZa · 27/08/2024 17:55

Was it an automatic car? What type of car - sorry if you've already mentioned this.

I'll quote myself 😂😂 BTW I'm aware the whole point of an automatic is not having a clutch as such I was just wondering if the 'clutch' issue might have been to do with bad translations. 🫣

Original poster

afrikat · 27/08/2024 18:58

ItsZa · 27/08/2024 18:54

Will you be able to show that you only or mainly just drove on the motorway? Were there and big hills or heavy traffic? How many miles were on the car?
I'm not sure what the best thing to do is but what about writing and saying that you will be disputing the charge and that you consider it unfair. Explain that your husband is an excellent driver with XXX years of experience, that you'd only driven for XXX amount of time/miles along XXX roads and that there were zero signs of anything being wrong with the car before it broke down (If that's true) all of which shows it practically impossible for your husband to be at fault. I'd also ask for proof from them that there was no existing fault with the clutch when they rented it to you. (Which they won't be able to provide) Ask when and where it was last serviced too.

There will be template letters online which might give good suggestions about what to include and to phrase it. Even if it seems a bit pointless trying to negotiate with the hire car company having everything in writing will help if you have to go back to the credit card company.

Thanks that's a good plan. A couple of hills but nothing major. A short drive from Pisa to Lucca, then a 15 minute drive to the villa.
The problem is the car hire company are not responding to any emails and don't answer the phone, but at least we can have a paper trail for the CC company

OP posts:

ItsZa · 27/08/2024 19:04

The problem is the car hire company are not responding to any emails

That's good in a way as it might go in your favour if you end up going through the credit card.

itsgettingweird · 27/08/2024 19:13

SleepingisanArt · 27/08/2024 17:49

Hertz did that to us a number of years ago - automatic car broke down few days into holiday in Italy. Towed to garage, swapped into a new car but when we got back to Rome Airport at the end of the holiday Hertz wouldn't let us leave until we'd paid £1000 for the clutch we'd 'broken due to our driving style'. We paid so that we (and young children) could catch our flight but raised it with our credit card as soon as we got home. They held the payment and demanded an investigation. The investigation showed that there was no way we could have broken the clutch. They refused to authorise the payment but gave Hertz the right to appeal. They didn't and therefore couldn't claim from us for the repair.

How could you have broken a clutch in an automatic car?

I've just got an automatic and I am struggling with not having one to use - but it's definitely not there 😂

Original poster

afrikat · 27/08/2024 20:38

Spoke again to the CC company and they advised us to raise a dispute against the pre authorisation so there is a chance we can block them from taking the charge. Think we will also raise a dispute against the extra insurance fee since this was completely missold. We were advised verbally that 300 was the absolute max we could be charged for any damage etc but in the small print we got sent later there is a massive list of exemptions which basically makes the extra payment pointless

OP posts:

SamAndAnnie · 28/08/2024 01:07

Depends on the contract I'd have thought. I've refused to hire vehicles abroad before after reading the small print where it says I'd be liable for X amount if the vehicle was stolen, regardless of whether it was my fault or not!

Hopefully the CC company can help you OP. Especially if they're trying to take payment for one car out of the deposit for another car. That sounds shady AF.

Original poster

afrikat · 28/08/2024 15:10

SamAndAnnie · 28/08/2024 01:07

Depends on the contract I'd have thought. I've refused to hire vehicles abroad before after reading the small print where it says I'd be liable for X amount if the vehicle was stolen, regardless of whether it was my fault or not!

Hopefully the CC company can help you OP. Especially if they're trying to take payment for one car out of the deposit for another car. That sounds shady AF.

The contract is pretty vague and doesn't specifically mention break down. It does refer to 'mechanical damage' which I am assuming they are using. They haven't specified and aren't responding to emails or phone calls so can't get any further info

I can't tell you how many SM posts I've found on this company, all talking about being scammed / charged for stuff they didn't do, with zero response from the company when questioned. It's obviously their MO to get money out of people I just can't believe it's all legal

OP posts:

huuskymam · 28/08/2024 15:19

You can burn a clutch in minutes. My daughter did it the the first time she sat in a car at a training school while on a school trip. My bil is a mechanic and says it happens more often than you'd think.

LookItsMeAgain · 28/08/2024 17:15

I did a quick Google Search on European Consumer Rights and found this information:
How do I complain about a company in Europe?

Reporting problems or making complaints
Find an ombudsman in another EU country.
Make a SOLVIT complaint in another EU country.
Find a European Consumer Centre (ECC) in another EU country.
Find a financial dispute resolution network (FIN-NET) in another EU country.

If you can produce links to complaints on chat boards/feedback sites like TripAdvisor or similar, I'd recommend including them too.

I hate to break it to you but when I clicked into the details in relation to SOLVIT it said "The United Kingdom left the SOLVIT network on 31 December 2020. As a result, SOLVIT can no longer assist UK nationals in European Union member countries or EU nationals in the UK."
Yet another benefit of Brexit for ye.

Original poster

afrikat · 28/08/2024 17:23

huuskymam · 28/08/2024 15:19

You can burn a clutch in minutes. My daughter did it the the first time she sat in a car at a training school while on a school trip. My bil is a mechanic and says it happens more often than you'd think.

My DH is a v experienced driver though and has driven cars all over Europe, I really don't think he'd be burning a clutch on a properly maintained car

OP posts:

Original poster

afrikat · 28/08/2024 17:23

LookItsMeAgain · 28/08/2024 17:15

I did a quick Google Search on European Consumer Rights and found this information:
How do I complain about a company in Europe?

Reporting problems or making complaints
Find an ombudsman in another EU country.
Make a SOLVIT complaint in another EU country.
Find a European Consumer Centre (ECC) in another EU country.
Find a financial dispute resolution network (FIN-NET) in another EU country.

If you can produce links to complaints on chat boards/feedback sites like TripAdvisor or similar, I'd recommend including them too.

I hate to break it to you but when I clicked into the details in relation to SOLVIT it said "The United Kingdom left the SOLVIT network on 31 December 2020. As a result, SOLVIT can no longer assist UK nationals in European Union member countries or EU nationals in the UK."
Yet another benefit of Brexit for ye.

Thanks, will look into this

OP posts:

SleepingisanArt · 28/08/2024 17:26

@itsgettingweird - they don't have traditional clutches but there is an equivalent. Our argument was that we couldn't damage it due to our driving style because the car selects and changes the gear not the human sat behind the wheel. Part of the reason we won our case - along with Hertz not bothering to respond to the credit card company. (Also husband has been driving automatics for a long time so knew they were trying to blame us for their failing to maintain the car correctly. )