Ric Vesely knows about the car rental industry s double standards. When he returned his Dollar Rent

Ric Vesely knows about the car rental industry s double standards. When he returned his Dollar Rent a Car vehicle in Minneapolis recently, an employee asked him a strange question: Did he have a receipt for his gasoline purchase?
Vesely, an engineer who was visiting from Colorado, hadn t bought Dollar s pricey fuel-purchase option, car rental maui agreeing instead car rental maui to return the vehicle with a full tank. He said he didn t have a receipt, but that it didn t matter — the needle on the gas gauge pointed to full.
The employee became angry with me and told me that it was buried in the fine print on the contract I had signed, he remembers. He then proceeded to interrogate me on where I had purchased the gasoline.
What do I mean? Well, if a ding or dent is discovered on Vesely s vehicle after he returned it, a car rental company would send him a bill and insist that he settle up immediately. Failure to do so could get him reported to a collection agency, damage his credit score and land him on a car rental blacklist. Sometimes, the agency car rental maui doesn t even bother sharing a picture of the alleged damage. It just sends the bill.
If a customer has the audacity to ask for evidence of the damage, the response is often: We don t have to prove anything . The agency, or an outside company hired to process the damage claim, will just re-send the bill wrapped in an even more threatening letter.
I m working a case right now where there are no photos of the damage, no real proof the customer harmed the car in any way. Mike Scher, a reader from Miami, returned car rental maui his Dollar rental recently and an associate gave him a clean return car rental maui form that indicated the car was in good condition. We were shocked to receive a very aggressive claim for over $700 in damages, he says.
I ve had conversations with auto rental executives who say they don t need to show you anything. If you were the last person to rent the vehicle, you re on the hook for whatever damage they want to charge you or your insurance company. You just have to take them at their word.
Yet when it comes to a tank of gas, car rental agencies typically won t take us at our word. They can demand proof that we filled up the tank. They don t even trust their own cars to tell them the tank is full.
It s absurd. At the very least, car rental companies ought to conduct a thorough inspection when you return a car, documenting any damage. A driver should also acknowledge any problems in writing before leaving the parking lot. Any damage discovered after the return should be covered by the car rental company. After all, who s to say the car wasn t dented while on the lot?
On the fuel issue, I fill the car up and make sure it is quite full when returned. I ve never had a problem, but if I ran into someone giving me trouble, I would suggest that we establish without a doubt whether there is fuel in that tank and how much. They can come with me to the gas station, we put the nozzle in and see how long till it pops and go from there.
Come to think of it, I did run into a situation about 18 years ago at Hertz National car rental maui Airport Washington DC where the car was not full and the fellow at the check out refused to accurately depict the fuel level. I contested him, he didn t budge. I went back to the car rental agency car rental maui office, got it marked properly (he was trying to mark it as more gas than their was, it wasn t full). When I left again, he pulled attitude on me, so I then called Hertz s head office and filed a complaint car rental maui about him. I was rational and truthful and didn t ask for anything from Hertz in return. I expect it didn t bode well for him.
If the gas gauge shows full, that should car rental maui be all that is required to avoid such fees. The problem is that gas pumps cut off as full at different levels. Additionally, different makes/models of cars take different levels of top off gas ( gas pumped after the initial cut off, usually to get the purchase to an even dollar amount). Some take virtually none, others can take several gallons.
Maybe one of the other attorneys can give more specifics on this. My understanding is that a collectin agency car rental maui cannot report a disputed debt unless it originates from an extension of credit by a financial institution.
I encountered this at a Thrifty location at the Pensacola, FL airport. The counter person specifically told me I had to have a reciept for filling car rental maui the tank. They specified a radius of 5 miles, which isn t too bad.
When I returned the car, the girl never even looked at the reciept. I don t remember if they kept the reciept or I did. I made sure to use a CC for the gas so my statement would serve as an alternate car rental maui reciept, and I remember taking a photo of the reciept in case they lost it. I will say I ve rented from this location a half dozen times and never had an issue.
Well, if they are wanting a receipt that showing I filled car rental maui up the car, then I should be able to drive the car to the nearest gas station after renting and fill the tank up and deduct the cost of the fuel to fill up the full car.
A certified letter from your attorney will usually car rental maui get that nonsense to go away. Like Bill said, they can tell you they don t have to show you proof, but they ll have to dig it up eventually. Granted, you may still end up on that particular company s rental car rental maui blacklist but if said company is willing to either falsify a damage claim or refuse to provide you evidence of your damage, do you really want to do business with that company in the future anyway?
But as far as the gas receipt, I do not fault the car rental company for asking for it. In fact, I wish they did all the time, I fault them for not asking. Almost car rental maui every car I have owned, rented, etc, goes at least 50 miles, often closer to 100 while the needle is still at Full. Then it start dropping. So the needle car rental maui being on F does not mean the tank is full. And how hard is it to keep a receipt? Just stick it in your wallet. If the pump doesn t print, car rental maui go inside. In my 45+ rentals a year for many years I have only had to go inside and ask for a receipt car rental maui once.
This really irks me, as at least 10 times a year, I pick up my rental car, and within 10 miles or so the needle starts dropping. Then when I fill it at the end of the week after only driving 60 miles total, the car takes 6 or so gallons of gas, when most weeks its takes 2 to 3 for the same mileage, in the same car type. That means someone drove the car between 50 and 100 miles, the needle was still on full, so they returned it without getting gas.
You hit the nail on the head. Fueling up is for the protection of the NEXT customer not the rental agency. Besides, I always keep the receipt car rental maui to (a) balance my bank account, (b) check against the credit card statement and/or (c) document expenses for reimbursement from my employer. Really, why NOT keep the receipt? This story just gives you another reason to do so.
Very good point, I keep mine for the same reasons, as well as one additional reason. One time about a month after renting from a Hertz in Hawaii, they charged my card $80 and when I called the location I rented it from, they said it was for refueling the car. I told them I fueled it and they said their employee reported that it was returned empty and expensed a full tank of gas at the local gas station to refuel it. I was able to scan and send them the receipt as proof and they refunded the charge. They even called me after they got it and asked me if I showed it to the receipt to the employee and I told them I did and they said this has been a re-occurring problem with this employee and they would deal with it and they apologized again.
It still boggles my mind that they can give you a clean return receipt, and then turn around later to go after you for damages. And to keep the crap from appearing on your credit report, car rental maui you ll need to spend way more than what it ll cost you to just pay up. You d probably win if you went to small-claims court, but it s not worth the travel to the appropriate jurisdiction, and both you and the rental agency know it.
A debt is a debt. It doesn t matter if it s a bank, doctor s office, municipal parking authority, dentist, mechanic, video rental store, mail-order company, tax agency, collection agency, whatever. It s all fodder car rental maui for your credit report. The law doesn t specify which sources can report to credit bureaus. The law merely regulates dispute mechanisms, and your rights in obtaining copies of the information.
If you went to court, they absolutely would have to prove the damages. Unfortunately, the proper jurisdiction for the case would be the location it was rented. Few people are going to fly back in from out of town to attend a court hearing.
Sure, a letter on an attorney s letterhead should put a stop to that, but unless you have an attorney friend, the cost of that letter could be prohibitive, and certainly more than the fuel charge. And they know it.
Yes, it most certainly does put the alleged creditor in a stronger position than the alleged debtor. To top it off, there are no financial or legal penalties for anybody for reporting false information, as long disputes are handled within the law s deadlines.
Depending on how much the collection agency paid for the debt, and the size of the debt, they often will save quite a bit of money by just letting it go (especially if the letter comes from an attorney), which is why your dispute letters work. If they wish to assert the debt s validity, there s an awful lot of paperwork to file under very strict deadlines.
The collection agencies I deal with relate to matters where tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars are in dispute. They don t go away merely because they get a letter from me. But they have always complied and not reported the debt upon receiving my letters, though the matter drags on for months and may ultimately end in litigation.
Sorry, should have been a little clearer on what I meant. No, I would not bother car rental maui doing this for a $20 fuel charge. I was more going with bogus damage claims. There the doll