[debnjohn]

Whilst I was in Christchurch I hired a basic cheap car. I returned the car late afternoon on Tuesday 3rd, and the owner pointed out some damage to the roof of the car. I hadn't noticed it before, but in the low angle sunlight it was indeed visible; several small indentations as a result of the hailstorm a couple of weeks before. Apparently this was the third car they had returned with damage as a result of the storm, so they were looking out for it.
I asked how much it would cost to put it right, and was told a rough estimate would be $200-$300, but I would receive an email to confirm costs after they had sent it to a spray shop for assesment (I told them I was flying back to the UK the next day).
As yet I have not received the promised email, but my credit card statement shows that on Wed. 3rd there had been a charge of $450 put on my card. Does anyone think this charge seems a bit excessive for a roof spray on a non-metallic white car? Or a rather rapid repair, seeing as the car was only returned at 4:30pm the night before? Or am I just being paranoid? :uhoh
John.

[Timbo]

It sounds like they are indeed extracting the u-know what. Maybe it was not the wisest move to mention your imminent return to uk.
Anyway. Why should you have to pay for damage caused by the weather?

[debnjohn]

It sounds like they are indeed extracting the u-know what. Maybe it was not the wisest move to mention your imminent return to uk.
Anyway. Why should you have to pay for damage caused by the weather?
The guy asked me if it was parked in Christchurch during the storm, which it was. He then told me that it was unfortunate, but I was liable in the same way as if someone had 'keyed' down the side of the car as it was 'in my care' at the time.

[freeflyer]

No , They are scammers . I would certainly send a strongly worded email to the management .
Similar thing happened to us with a certain campervan company. They tried to bill us for damage that was already there when we picked it up. :eek
I don't think that you should have to pay for weather damage either.
Hope that you enjoyed your trip though .

[Timbo]

So, according to mr car hire man, if a tidal wave had swept the car off to Oz, it would be YOUR fault. Nahh. Got to be an act of nature surely.
It sounds as if it was a case of scamming a tourist for old damage if you ask me. Unfortunately, impossible to prove.

[jo b]

John

just cancel your credit card and get another.

Jo

[debnjohn]

John

just cancel your credit card and get another.

Jo
Hiya Jo,
that wouldn't do any good as the charge has already gone on. Besides, I like the credit card as it doesn't charge commission for foreign transactions. I've raised a query with the CC company for them to get more info. from the hire car company. I have no problem (well only a sick feeling :wah ) paying the $450 provided it is warranted. It's just the circumstances seem a bit suspicious.
If I can see an invoice for the work done, or even if I had an email first detailing what I was going to be charged (which was what they said would happen) then I would have felt better about the incident.
John.[/b]

[GeorgeM]

Who were the company?

[debnjohn]

Who were the company?

George, I'm not sure I should mention it on the open forum, until I know whether dirty tricks have been involved. I'll send you a PM.
John.

[jubjub]

You dont need to cancel the card, just dispute the transaction with the card co as not authorised, which is was not as they dont have your signature on a slip...

Worth a try and it may get you the answer out of the company, once the money gets taken back off them!

[foolsgold99]

You're not saying anything libellous, as far as I can see you are giving a statement of events. You have nothing to fear, please name the firm

[Moorf]

I'd name and shame them - I can't believe that they can charge for hail damage :no

Why not post a story to Fair Go (consumer affairs prog here in NZ, bit like Watchdog) then copy your story to the car hire firm.

:nice1

[Moorf]

Hmm I've just looked through a couple of hire firm insurance details online and most of them do say that they won't cover Acts of God so I guess you'll have to go down the credit card authority to debit route :(

[GeorgeM]

I've had a chat with a mate of mine who is SI Ops Manager for one of the large big name car rental firms.

He said that they wouldn't try to recover the cost of this sort of damage from the customer - they would look on it as an act of God and would cover it themselves.

BUT - he did say that increasingly the smaller and lower level operators were trying to pass such costs on. A couple of years ago they probably wouldn't have done, but prices are so low at the moment that they will try to get every cent they can off the punter. Other examples he gave were punctures - with his company this cost would be covered, with the smaller company probably not (even tho the tyre could be yonks old and v poor quality); his company would very seldom make a cleaning charge (it would only be done in exceptional circumstances - for example if you had hit a deer or something and left it spread all over the bodywork) whereas many of the lower level operators now make a charge for cleaning cars that are not brought back in a clean and tidy state.

Having established the likely policies I brought up the question of whether a $450 charge for the damage seemed reasonable. It was difficult to gauge without seeing the damage, but he said that he thought that this sounded a bit on the low side for a proper repair. A couple of years ago there was a big hailstorm over Labour Weekend in Chch which did a lot of damage to their cars. They had a quote of $80 per dent to repair this! Doesn't take many hailstones to hit to take the cost over $450 at this rate. This was for brand new cars, but he said the cost of a repair wouldn't vary much.

Probably not the news that you wanted to hear, but I deliver it nonetheless. I think that the best option is to tell your credit card company that the amount was taken without authorisation, and see if that works. As there seems to be no hard-and-fast rule as to whether you should pay or not the rental company could give up if there is too much hassle in getting the cash out of you.

[debnjohn]

Goerge,
thanks so much for getting the information, and taking the time to post it here. It was indeed a low-cost operator, the owner seemed geniune at the time. However, a couple of things still bug me about the incident:

1) The time between returning the car and charging my card for repair seems rapid
2) If he had other cars earlier returned with similar damage (the hailstorm was at the begining of the hireperiod-I had the car for 16 days) then why was his verbal estimate to me so much lower than the actual charge? He must have had a fair idea from the earlier repairs.

I have asked the CC company to investigate the charge.

Cheers,
John

[Mildred]

Can they prove it was the hailstones? Could it not be those suspicious youngsters hanging around when you parked it? If that was the case it would surely be an insurance claim with you just paying the excess?????????

[baboonworld]

I used a company in Chc once called ATR or something and they were a bit weird. The said they had a depot at the airport and someone would be waiting with our name on a card - but there was no one waiting - then when we rang them from the airport to collect us from the terminal they said a minibus would pick us up. When the minibus arrived 2 people with no car booked (as i had seen them ringing from the airport phone as i waited to use it) were put on the minibus and we had to get off!!!! They said that there wasnt enough room and that they couldnt put my daughter (2 years old) onto the mini bus - BUT WE HAD OUR OWN CAR SEAT!!!

Then over an hour later when we got picked up it was another 45 minute ride to their depot on the far side of CHC (not at the airport!!) The ride turned out to be in the car we were getting (a really old cig burned dodgy import - that we were told we were not allowed to smoke in!) and they advised us that we had to return it with a full tank (EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD USED 1/4 TANK PICKING US UP!!) And we couldnt change the car for another unless we paid loads more as they were only an agent !! And we will never use a small company again if we can help it and have since used only the big boys (in Europe) and never been disappointed. (and the costs arent always so different - i booked via united airlines website and got airmiles too!)

[veronica]

Hiya, just to say that we helped source the hire car for John and so feel slightly responsible. This morning I have phoned about 15 hire companies to see their policies on things like that. Budget, Avis, Hertz, Omega all said that if you took out the fully comp ins (ranging from $25 to $31 a day) then that would have been covered by the insurance. If you didn't have the fully comp then it would be the hirers responsibility as the car was in their charge. One of the bigger companies in Chch said that they had decided in this instance to treat it as an act of god and not charge, but their car hire rate for this time of year was between $35 and $40 daily for a small 2 door car.
Of the small companies I phoned only one said its an act of god and they wouldn't be charging, this company charges between $34 a day (under a week) and $25 for over 20 days hire.
The amounts quoted for damage repair varied up to $800.

The general feeling was that while the hire car was in the hirers care then they were liable for the damage however it was caused unless the hirer had taken out the fully comp insurance which varied from another $8 to $31 a day............. which takes the cars out of the budget/backpacker price range

Only Ace rental cars were adamant that anything like the hail damage, keas eating the rubber on the car, getting the car back late if snowed in and things of that nature were acts of god and as such not the hirers fault so wouldn't charge. All the rest would normally charge for these things although Apex said they had taken a decision ' on this occasion' not to charge.

Best I could do as a way of on the spot stuff John.

[debnjohn]

Thanks Veronica.
As a sub-note, today I have received an email from the hire company, stating how much is was to repair the damage:
"Hello John

Just to let you know that the price to fix the hail damage on the car
you hired.
It was $450 to fix it

Regards
Peter".

John.