rental car company refuse to pay back deposit.

sorry if this is in wrong section.
anyway,just in the door from uk,
rented car for 4 days,great car,really a 4x4,
saangyong rodius.great for all the family.
upon returning car was refused my £100 deposit
as there was an inch long scrape on a door???
ive never rented a car before,im so annoyed i tried to fight my
corner but to no avail.so upsetting,is'nt this just wear and tear??
i hoovered car out before returning and generally treated it like i would a baby,where do i stand?was told to ring and speak to mgmt monday.
can i name company?
sorry so long winded.
fredg

Hi fred

This is discussed at length elsewhere. I would imagine that you will also be getting a charge on your credit card.

Brendan

Hired

Most car hire companies give you a document with a drawing of the car and marks where any dents are. If the dent is not marked and if you did not check it before you drove off they will charge you. Check the small print of the agreement for the insurance excess. If that is greater than the lost deposit they will (as a previous poster pointed out) charge the balance to your credit card.

Recently car hire companies have become very adept at this and may chance their arm at getting more than one person to pay for each dent.

Everyone should thoroughly check the bodywork of a hire car before driving off and insist that all dents are noted.

had to pay £9.25 as well as my £100 deposit.
just spoke to Joe the manager there,irish guy aswell,
he says basically it happened on your watch so you pay for damage as he has to bring it back to the people that he rents the car from himself.
Hard to believe there is no such thing as wear and tear.

fredg said:

rented car for 4 days ... upon returning car was refused my £100 deposit as there was an inch long scrape on a door??? ... is'nt this just wear and tear??

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fredg said:

he says basically it happened on your watch so you pay for damage ... Hard to believe there is no such thing as wear and tear.

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Are you disputing that the damage happened while you had the car? Or that you think returning a car after 4 days with an inch-long scrape in a door is okay and just regular wear-and-tear?
If it's the first, then as outlined above, ask them for exact details of where the scrape is etc. - but again, if you didn't notice a scrape that was already there and point it out to them, then you may be stuck with the blame. My husband goes around rental cars really carefully before signing them out and will get them to write up even the slightest mark so we don't get blamed when we bring it back.
But it actually sounds like you DID do the damage and think that it's just wear and tear. I would go ballistic if I lent my car to someone for a few days and it was returned with a scrape on the door - and I think £100 is getting off lightly to be honest.

fredg said:

... Hard to believe there is no such thing as wear and tear.

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You need to distinguish between 'wear and tear' and 'accident / accidental damage'.

'Wear and tear' is allowed for in the rental charge - tyres, brakes, clutch, etc.

Dents, scrapes, scratches and dings in bodywork or paint are 'accident / accidental damage'.

im not disputing it happened with me, the thing is he was originally going to give me my deposit back and then he went to the computer came back and said actually there is a mark! he obviously saw i didnt have the insurance taken back.

is it going to stop it from being rented again the answer is NO!
something as incidental as a chip from a stone in the road.

I reckon you should count yourself VERY lucky if you only have to pay the €109.25 !! There was a woman on the radio recently who was cahrge over €1000 for something similar....many of the rental companies charge the full amount of the excess if they can.

yes first time renting car,
all points taken on board and i bow to other peoples
greater knowledge on this area,lesson learned.
i just thought £200 rental would have included the
chance of an inch scratch when returned,
how many times over will same car be rented in future??
it is a rental car afer all,would a person refuse to rent it due
to damage as explained??
anyway thanks all
F.