Don t be too hard on the OP for driving on a dirt road in the west. We have property in CO and frank

Q uestion : We rented a car from Enterprise in Phoenix. When we picked up the car, a representative inspected it with us. My husband noted a couple small marks, but she said we shouldn t worry because anything under four inches was waived.
We drove on some dirt roads, so the car was quite dusty when we returned it and to say the representative eagerly went around the car like Sherlock Holmes looking for clues would be an understatement. She found a small scratch on the left rear bumper, which appeared to be possibly from someone backing into us, as we knew it wasn t done by our usage.
Before one could blink, we were hauled over to the processing office and our $256 bill jumped to $772 of course, taken from our credit card without our authorization. Trying to get through to the rep assigned to handle our claim is impossible as she never is available on the phone. But her assistant was very helpful in informing us that the bill for repairing what he even admitted from the photos was a small, quite insignificant flaw was more than $500.
This is a total preplanned scam and the way the check-in rep went over ever square inch of the car with such enthusiasm there is little doubt these folks are being cut in for finding things wrong with the cars.
We are reasonable people and understand that even if someone backed w hotel honolulu into us if there was a small scratch we would be willing to pay a small amount to cover what is fair for repairing w hotel honolulu it. But more than $500, including an administrative fee is totally unacceptable. Carri Schoeller , Orlando, Fla.
Answer : Your suspicions are understandable. Why would one employee waive you off, while another w hotel honolulu one goes over the car with a fine-tooth comb? And why deduct w hotel honolulu the $500 from your credit card immediately when the full repair costs aren t known yet? Whatever happened to the damage estimate? Weren t you entitled to receive a repair bill, detailing the work that had been done on your rental?
But there are three things about your story that I find troubling, and that Enterprise had nothing to do with. First, you found scratches on the car. Why didn t you note them on your rental agreement? Talk is cheap. You can almost be guaranteed that the person checking you in won t be handling your return. So what if the second employee w hotel honolulu doesn t know about the four-inch rule?
Second, did you say you d gone off-roading in your rental? Most car rental agreements forbid drivers from taking their cars on an unpaved road. Even if they don t, it s a good idea to stay away from dirt roads in a rental car. The most common kind of car rental damage w hotel honolulu the chipped window can happen too easily when a car or truck in front of you kicks a pebble at you.
Finally, and perhaps most problematic, is that you agree that damage happened w hotel honolulu to your car while it was in your possession, though not by your usage. Unfortunately, it doesn t matter. w hotel honolulu If the car was dented when you had it, you re responsible.
In most cases, I d say follow up with a letter to the attorney general s office in the state because what they are doing is pretty much insurance fraud. (Notice how the damage is always w hotel honolulu quite close to a common deductible?)
I can t say that going off-roading really has anything w hotel honolulu to do with the story at hand here.  While the op admitted to going off roading, they also stated that the damage that was done to the vehicle was not caused by that.
The issue here is that the car rental w hotel honolulu company charged them before any true damage assessment w hotel honolulu could be performed on the vehicle.  There was no estimate, not repair bill, just a flat charge for the damage.  That s what s troubling with this story .
I had to laugh when my wife and I rented a car on our Honeymoon.  The contract specifically stated that you must stay on Paved Roads.  Well, after driving around for a couple of day I realized that about half the road in Aruba are not paved, so that would have been extremely limiting.  Going on Dirt Roads isn t a bad thing, you just have to drive carefully and don t follow too close to anyone in front of you.
Alway, always note all damage, no matter how minor, prior to accepting the car no matter what an employee of the agency might say. This is your only defense against a claim for pre-existing damage on return.
Don t be too hard on the OP for driving on a dirt road in the west. We have property in CO and frankly, w hotel honolulu many of the rural roads (including some marked state highways) are all dirt roads. w hotel honolulu Our property is on a dirt road. Unlike urban areas, maintained dirt roads are commonplace in AZ. Now if they were driving 4WD roads, or Jeep trails, that is a different story
Whenever I rent a car these days, I mark all four sides as scratched, and get an employee to initial the form, including their copy.  You can always find something to back it up, just like they do when you return the car.
A car I rented a couple of weeks ago for business had two small dents just above the front license plate. I took a photo of the damage and marked it on the form, even though w hotel honolulu the rep said they were too small to matter and that damage on the bumpers didn t count anyway. So far, I haven t heard anything from them. I have read in Chris s forum that people sometimes hear from car rental companies many weeks after the rental, so I m keeping the receipts and photos for a while.I also rented a car last week for a family visit, and the rep wanted me to sign the no damage form at the counter. I said I needed to see the car first, but she said that if there was damage, I could bring the form back inside. The form had a ruler showing how long four inches is and a black circle showing how big a dent has to be before it can be marked on the form. They also told me that any damage to the bumpers doesn t matter. I did find a scratch on the roof that was longer than four inches, so I took the form back inside. The rep was very surprised that I had found any damage and asked me if I was sure, but then she did put the forms back together (so the writing on the top copy would copy to the bottom two copies) and mark the damaged area. So far, I have not heard anything from them, so I hope there are no issues.
w hotel honolulu A car I rented a couple of weeks ago for business had two small dents just above the front license plate. w hotel honolulu I took a photo of the damage and marked it on the form, even though the rep said they were too small to matter and that damage on the bumpers didn t count anyway. So far, I haven t heard anything from them. I have read in Chris s forum that people sometimes hear from car rental companies many weeks after the rental, so I m keeping the receipts and photos for a while.I w hotel honolulu also rented a car last week for a family visit, and the rep wanted me to sign the no damage form at the counter. I said I needed to see the car first, but she said that if there was damage, I could bring the form back inside. The form had a ruler showing how long four inches is and a black circle showing how big a dent has to be before it can be marked on the form. They also told me that any damage to the bumpers doesn t matter. I did find a scratch on the roof that was longer than four inches, so I took the form back inside. The rep was very surprised that I had found any damage and asked me if I was sure, but then she did put the forms back together (so the writing on the top copy would copy to the bottom two copies) and mark the damaged area. So far, I have not heard anything from them, so I hope there are no issues.
There are far too many of these stories, Chris. What needs to happen is for people w hotel honolulu to go beyond simply receiving a drop of claim and their money back. These employees and locations need to be gone after legally to force them to stop these practices.
Last month I rented a Nissan Altima Hybrid from Hertz at Palm Springs Airport.  When I received a questionnaire from Hertz, I replied as follows, partly because of the dented condition of the car: The check-in clerk was very pushy trying to sell us insurance, a costly upgrade to a bigger car, fuel, etc. The clerk emphasized the need for full insurance as the car could be damaged.  When I saw the car damage report attached to the rental agreement, it showed damage on every surface of the car already.  I questioned the clerk about being rented a damaged car and he scoffed w hotel honolulu saying it s a rental car what do you expect. That made me so nervous about an insurance claim I spend 15 minutes photographing every inch of the car on the Hertz lot to document its damaged condition when I picked it up.  The car was a hybrid and there was no owner s manual to explain its peculiarities, e.g., how to start it.  The fuel gauge registered 3/4 when I first started the engine.  I questioned the attendant who stopped the car and re-started and the gauge showed full?!?  The same thing happened w hotel honolulu when we returned the car.  We had filled the tank 3 miles prior and the gauge showed 3/4 until I turned off and restarted the engine.
Couldn t agree more. The employees know the rules. The problem is the corporate culture. A system where promotions and bonuses are based solely on the amount of extra profit the agent extract from a customer. Managers that look the other way, or worse, encourage unethical behavior, because their own bonuses are based on the agents profit margins.
This practice seems to be way worse at franchise locations than corporate locations. I am willing to bet that all of the cases here are all franchise locations. It is so bad, that I often will go out of my way to rent at corporate locations only.
Unfortunately, there is no incentive for this behavior to stop. It stinks, because the only consumer protection available is to be extra vigilant w hotel honolulu and to avoid patronizing companies that are notorious for these practices. Until consumers stop shopping based on price alone, expect w hotel honolulu these stories to continue
I doubt that Arizona rental agreements prohibit driving on dirt roads; too many of the state s roads are unpaved to make that a reasonable requirement. The four-inch rule turns u