Car rental scam

[ten ocho recon scout]

Wondering if anyone else has had something like thid happen. I rented a car when i was on vacation a few months back. I just got an email from that company saying I owe them about $1K in damages.

No clue at all what they are talking about. At most I can guess would be maybe paint chips(?) If something kicked up ehipe I was driving. But the car was literally driven from the airport to my hotel, parked overnight, then driven back and dropped off the next day. All freeway driving, no dirt roads or anything. 

I have no clue what damages could have happened. I didnt hit anything, no dips, anything like that. Anyone have a similar experience.

 

[Blarg]

Demand photos of the damage and photos of the car before you rented it, the day you rented it. Also the check-in report the day you returnd the car to see what was notated on the return and if the car was rented out after your usage.

Basicly it's on them to prove without a doubt the car was damaged while under your contract. If they can't prove the car wasn't damaged before you rented they have no case.

 

 

[ten ocho recon scout]

Whwn i turned the car in there was no attendant, just a spot you leave your keys. I guess im an idiot for not taking pictures of the car, but ive never had anything like this happen.

I googled it and it sounds like this happens all the time.

My credit card said they would take care of it, but on principal it kills me. Not only do i have no idea what damage they could be talking about, but $1K in damage is ridiculous. The most it could be would be paint damage from the roadway, if even that. But $1k?

[Blarg]

It's a scam. Next time a few sefies before you give up the keys. 

[Stradling]

40 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Whwn i turned the car in there was no attendant, just a spot you leave your keys. I guess im an idiot for not taking pictures of the car, but ive never had anything like this happen.

I googled it and it sounds like this happens all the time.

My credit card said they would take care of it, but on principal it kills me. Not only do i have no idea what damage they could be talking about, but $1K in damage is ridiculous. The most it could be would be paint damage from the roadway, if even that. But $1k?

When you call them start the conversation saying, "This is officer Mexican Dude".  I don't really think the Mexican Dude part will help, I am assuming the officer part will help though.  

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

When you call them start the conversation saying, "This is officer Mexican Dude".  I don't really think the Mexican Dude part will help, I am assuming the officer part will help though.  

Well, its in switzerland...so eho knows ehat the hell language ill have to speak. Swiss french? Swiss german? Italian?

My credit card said theyd cover it. I told them i think its ridiculous, they shouldnt have to pay anything either. They said "honestly, we dont care." 

Im glad theyre so easy going with me about it, but i think the fact they arent fighting it is one of the reasons the car rental places pull this. I agree with blarg, its a scam. Im sure thats ehy they wait a few weeks/months to tell you.

And again, there cant be anything more than maybe some scratches (if they even exist).

Im also wondering if i ask for photos, how could i even prove when the pics were taken?

[Stradling]

Funny you should mention Switzerland.  So ten years ago I was in Switzerland on an INO trip.  We were on a boat on Lake Geneva and I dozed off.  I woke up as we pulled up to our dock.  As I was walking back to our hotel I realized I didn’t have my passport.  I walked back pretty confident I would find it on the small boat.  Nope, it was gone.  I wasn’t away from the boat for more than five minutes or so.  I was pretty pissed off.  So in order to get a new passport I had to take a police report to the embassy.  The police station charged me $7 per page of the 9 page police report.  The last page was literally just the signatures.  What a frickin scam. 

[arch stanton]

Neutrality ain’t cheap 

[NJHalo]

I just went through something similar. I got a speeding ticket in the mail from Venice Italy for an infraction this past July. Says a camera caught me going 77km/hr in a 72 zone. I thought it was a scam also, but turned out to be real, so I paid the 65 euros fine online at the Commune of Venice website. They had a picture of me driving my Hertz rental car, woth the right time and date on it. Turns out this is very common speed trap. They subpoena Hertz for all the info, and it took 5 months for me to get. PLUS Hertz bills my credit card 20 euros for processing fee.

Next day, my wife calls me at work to say they are really pushy, and sent it again. Turns out it was ANOTHER TICKET! This time for speeding (4 kph over!) on the way out of Venice two days later. 

There is one freaking road into and out of Venice, and that’s it. I manage to get a ticket both ways! When I asked around, I got mixed advice on whether or not to pay. I read that your fine will double every six months, so if you plan on returning, and we already booked another trip there for this summer, you better pay. You risk getting stuck at Passport control in the airport and owing a hefty fine before they let you in. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

I got a million speeding tickets in france a few years back. Same thing, cameras. Id read online to blow it off, but i figured the same thing, better to pay it im case i ever go back.

 

[mrwicked]

sounds like bs. tell them to piss off.

apparently i broke some law driving in italy too. showed up in the mail like 3 months later. it was probably legit though, driving in/near florence is a nightmare. i just paid it, was cheap.

always good idea to verify any spots on the car when you sign it out, and then take pics when you drop it off (especially if no one around to sign you out).

but f*ck american car rental companies.

[Angel Oracle]

Now, do other countries understand why we get pissed off at them sometimes?    Camera related tickets for going barely over the speed limit?   What is that?   Their chief source of country's income?   

[red321]

One reason I'm hesitant to going back to New Zealand is I expect to have tens of thousands of dollars of speeding fines waiting for me...we didn't bother to ask what those cameras were until the end of the trip...and anybody who has been to the south island can attest...driving 55km/h on wide open empty two lanes roads is just downright impossible (and criminal really).

[Tank]

so you go to italy in july but they don't notify you of speeding tickets until january? screw that.

[red321]

17 minutes ago, Tank said:

so you go to italy in july but they don't notify you of speeding tickets until january? screw that.

you've never heard of Italian time before?

[Amazing Larry]

14 hours ago, NJHalo said:

There is one freaking road into and out of Venice, and that’s it. I manage to get a ticket both ways!

I've been stuck on that road before. There was a pileup about a quarter mile in front of us so they shut it down. Sat in the car for about 2 1/2 hours going nowhere. 

[mrwicked]

man i love venice. 

another town that everyone needs to visit at least once in their life.

it's amazing that man could build such a thing - it's literally a floating city built on fossilized wooden stilts submerged in the sea.

but the second the cruise ship people show up.. get the f*ck out (or at least away from piazza san marco).

[NJHalo]

11 minutes ago, mrwicked said:

man i love venice. 

another town that everyone needs to visit at least once in their life.

it's amazing that man could build such a thing - it's literally a floating city built on fossilized wooden stilts submerged in the sea.

but the second the cruise ship people show up.. get the f*ck out (or at least away from piazza san marco).

You are so right! The cruise ships plus the summer crowds can make you feel like you are in Disneyland. Plus St. Marks Square is borderline insane during the day. Go back at night, and its all yours. 

Loved just walking around and getting lost

[Tank]

2 hours ago, red321 said:

you've never heard of Italian time before?

i've heard the trains run on time...

[Amazing Larry]

26 minutes ago, calscuf said:

I took a wrong turn and ended up on that bridge.  In a van with George W. Bush's face on the side.  With the steering wheel on the English side.

Funny, I saw some graffiti in Venice that said "Gangster Bush". I couldn't tell if it was a protest against the POTUS or some outrage toward 70's p0rn. 

One thing about Venice that surprised me was all the African immigrants peddling fake designer purses. They were everywhere. 

[AngelsLongBall]

8 minutes ago, LHalo said:

Funny, I saw some graffiti in Venice that said "Gangster Bush". I couldn't tell if it was a protest against the POTUS or some outrage toward 70's p0rn. 

One thing about Venice that surprised me was all the African immigrants peddling fake designer purses. They were everywhere. 

The Africans, or the purses?

[mrwicked]

1 hour ago, LHalo said:

Funny, I saw some graffiti in Venice that said "Gangster Bush". I couldn't tell if it was a protest against the POTUS or some outrage toward 70's p0rn. 

One thing about Venice that surprised me was all the African immigrants peddling fake designer purses. They were everywhere. 

I have a fun photo of those dudes. My wife and I were chilling at an osteria, just drinking wine and... drinking wine. Anyways I set up my phone across the way to take a self-timer pic of us.

Counting down 10..9..8.. 

And then you just here police yell, and the grip of african dudes come running right in front of us with all their stuff because the cops were gonna bust them for peddling those shitty knockoff purses.

The photo is of me grinning, and my wife with sheer terror and just a flash of dudes running by as the camera goes off. 

I think Rick Steve's posted it on his FB page. Was hilarious. 

Man I love Italy.

[Amazing Larry]

Dude you have to post that. 

[NJHalo]

2 hours ago, LHalo said:

Funny, I saw some graffiti in Venice that said "Gangster Bush". I couldn't tell if it was a protest against the POTUS or some outrage toward 70's p0rn. 

One thing about Venice that surprised me was all the African immigrants peddling fake designer purses. They were everywhere. 

Yup, and in Rome it was all the dudes from Bengladesh trying to sell purses, flowers, fake paintings , and slime. My friend teaches biology at a school in Paterson NJ that has a large Begali population, so I texted him to ask one of the kids how to say “No, get the hell away from me” in Bengali. It was hilarious watching there faces when you come back at them in their own tongue.

[NJHalo]

6 hours ago, Tank said:

so you go to italy in july but they don't notify you of speeding tickets until january? screw that.

Here you go. Got two of these bad boys.