I don’t have time for this.
When I flew to Wyoming a few weeks ago, I rented a car from Budget Rental. When I checked out the car, I was asked to sign a waiver acknowledging that there was existing damage to the side of the car in the form of scratches, dents, and missing paint. I did so, and took the car. I enjoyed driving it. It was a cute little Toyota Camry, much more fun to drive than my old Toyota Avalon. I was on the ranch almost the entire time I had the car. There was no traffic. I returned the car as I was leaving. Nobody was in the office when I returned it, so I just slipped the keys into the drop box. A few days after I returned to Virginia, I received my invoice for the transaction. No additional charges had been made on the account, and I owed nothing. I took this to imply that the inspection had checked out, and that everything was behind me.
Today I got a call from a woman in the claims office of the national Budget office. She informed me that I had inflicted major scratches on the rear end of the car and scraped away a good deal of paint, and that she would be sending me a bill shortly. I was dumbfounded. I think I’d have noticed if someone had rear-ended me, or if I had backed into something with enough force to cause that type of damage. I suppose it might be feasible that someone could have rear-ended my car when I wasn’t in it, except that I was in an extremely rural area the entire time, and an accident of that sort would have been extremely unlikely. I am quite certain that the damage was on the car before I took it out–I guess I should have walked around when I checked out the vehicle and done my own inspection, but this is the first time I’ve ever rented a car and I didn’t think of it–or someone ran into the back of the car at the airport, after I returned it but before an inspection was done.
I don’t know how to proceed from here. This is the last thing I need right now. I can’t afford to pay for damage to a rental car, particularly damage for which I am not responsible for.
That totally bites. My guess is that if you are polite and still forceful about how you did not cause that damage, the company will eventually (after many frustrating calls) agree that you didn’t.
What BGG said. Also, if that fails, tell them that the Billy Goat who lives under the bridge will get them. Seriously, that is awful. Be polite and forceful. Oh, BGG said that.
Oh, no … how awful. For future reference — you should never drop off a rental car without re-inspecting it with a representative, who agrees and signs off on the fact that it was returned in the same condition it was in when you took it. Because rental car agencies are rat bastard hell assholes, as you’ve been unfortunate enough to discover.
I agree with BGG — be civil, confident, and forceful, and chances are that they’ll give up. Make sure they don’t send you to a collection agency without your knowing it, though … that can wreak havoc with your credit rating.
What a pain!! Sometimes depending on the credit card you rented with, there is insurance implied via the CC company. (I know certain AM EX cards come with insurance for car rentals.)
Ditto on the approach. Indignant. Be super indignant. In a professional way.
What were you doing in Wyoming? Lucky!
Urgh. That’s terrible. So sorry to hear you’re having to deal with that.
I second what Ybonsey said. If you used a credit card, check with the credit card company on how they can help you.
Also ditto the indignant.
They sent you the ‘all clear’ when they sent the invoice with no additional charges. Someone else (maybe a rental car office worker) may have dinged that car afterward.