But what happened next doesn’t make any sense. When he picked up his car from Avis in Phoenix, where he planned to rent it for three months, all seemed well. Then, a few weeks later and without any warning, he found a $6,742 charge, in addition to the $3,711 he’d already paid HolidayCars.
Not good.
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There’s something funny going on with car rental prices, and Hal Gordon wants answers.
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Ask George Mayo about car insurance, and he’ll tell you that his State Farm policy covers rentals. He’s certain of it. And he’s also certain that when he rented a car from Avis in Nashville recently, he declined the optional insurance.
Insurance isn’t required by law when you rent a vehicle in the United States, but it’s a good idea. That’s because you don’t want to pay $30,000 for a new car if you’re in an accident, or even a few hundred bucks for a fender bender.
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With all the recent stories about questionable damage claims on rental cars, it’s no surprise that motorists like Mike Weaver would insist on inspecting his vehicle before renting it. Or that he expects to note every ding and dent before he drives away.
If you’re not familiar with what some call the ding-and-dent scam, here’s a primer: You rent a car, and for whatever reason, pre-existing damage isn’t recorded in your contract. Maybe it’s a dark parking garage. Maybe you just don’t see it.
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Question: I recently rented a car in Tampa, Fla., from Avis through Hotwire. When I went to the counter, the agent kept trying to upsell me on optional items and insurance, but I said no. When she was going through the options, she showed me on the form how much the insurance would be and I said, “No, that’s OK.” Then she gave me the form to initial.
I asked the agent why it said $105 instead of the $52 that I paid through Hotwire and she said they didn’t know how much I paid through Hotwire but that was the Avis charge in their system and that I would only have to pay what I paid Hotwire.
Well, when I went back a few days later to return the car, I saw they’d charged me this same $105. I couldn’t figure out why, and so I disputed the charge. A manager showed me where I had allegedly agreed to insurance at a cost of more than I paid for the car. I explained that the agent either circled that herself when she was showing me the options or circled it after I signed because I have never in my life purchased insurance for a car rental since I have my own.
While I understand the manager’s position completely, I am quite offended by this apparent fraud and would appreciate having this charge removed. Can you help me? — Carla Dorsey, Chicago
Answer: Avis shouldn’t have charged you for insurance you didn’t want. Based on your description of events, it seems you were dealing with a rental agent who had just finished one of those seminars on upselling, and was eager to make her numbers for the month.
It’s no secret that car rental companies — and their employees — earn much of their money from upgrading you to optional items like insurance, prepaid fuel and amenities like GPS navigation systems. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this. What’s wrong is when an employee nudges customers along by circling the wrong field and hastily asking them to “sign here” knowing full well that their signature means they’ll have to pay for insurance.
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Two weeks after Mary Garrow rented a car from Budget Rent a Car in Tulsa, she got an unpleasant surprise: A $250 cleaning charge for her vehicle. Budget claimed someone had been smoking in the car.
Garrow doesn’t smoke. She’d been in Tulsa for a funeral, which explains the presence of the ashes on the seat, and she believes the charges are unfair.
Budget sent her photos of the car (see above) but Garrow isn’t buying it. I’d like your opinion on this case, because frankly, I don’t know what to think.
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Question: We recently rented a car through Avis in Frankfurt, Germany, via AutoEurope. We declined the insurance, since our credit card covers us.
When we picked up the car, we were asked to check for any damage, but the car hadn’t been cleaned, so it was difficult to do a thorough inspection. We looked over the car and didn’t notice anything.
When we returned the car, the lady at the rental location went around the car a few times looking very closely and she finally pointed out a tiny chip on the edge of the driver’s door. We had to look extremely closely to see it, and we actually thought she was joking at first.
When we realized she was serious, we took a few photos but knew that it must have been there before. The tiny chip had to have happened when the door was open, and we had never touched anything with the car. She said there wasn’t anything noted from the previous renter on the papers she had so she told us to go to the Avis counter upstairs to see if it was noted on the computer. When we checked, a representative told us everything was “OK.”
A week or so after we came home we received a letter from Avis, with an estimated cost for the car damage of 800 euros. This is very hard to accept, since we know for a fact we didn’t damage this car. Also, I believe the repair cost has been exponentially exaggerated for such a tiny chip or scratch; this is extortion.
We contacted AutoEurope but they said we have to deal with Avis. We have been given the runaround for months. Could you please contact Avis and ask them to drop the 800-euro charge? — Lidia Conte, Brooklyn, Mich.
Answer: If you aren’t responsible for that tiny ding in your car, then Avis shouldn’t charge you for it. Either way, 800 euros is way too much for a chip that can’t be seen under a layer of filth. I can certainly understand why you’d think this is a scam.
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