Rental Car - exorbitant bill

Not sure if this is the right forum, but..

Recently rented a car for a few days in Germany. When I picked it up it was dark and raining but I checked it for damage and didn't find anything.

Upon return, they found (with a torch) a scratch under the front bumper. Also the petrol was not completely full (about 1/10 empty)

Needless to say I did not make the scratch, nor could possibly have found it on my initial inspection in the dark/rain.

I now have a letter stating that they have ALREADY charged 372 euros to my credit card broken down as

275 - scratch
50 - petrol
50 - administration

I am furious... can I do anything here?

The same thing happened to me in Cork, picked up the car late evening so it was impossible for me to see the scratches in the dark and i know i didnt cause them....

Problem was...prove u didnt....Cost me €250. Needless to say i wont pick up a rental car in the dark again..

Any time I pick up a rental car at night I confirm with them that I will be reviewing the car in the morning and they have always said that there is no problem with that. I have spotted scratches in the daylight and reported them the next day without penalty.

I have recently taken to paying for full insurance anyway as I hate them blocking vast amounts on my cc just for the Excess. I try to only use my debit card for transactions these days so it seems to make sense.

I'd love to know how many other people have been charged for the same scratch..

Which rental company was this? If you ring their local office in Ireland with a grievance regarding an overseas rental, they just might be willing to help you. At least that's what I found with Avis Ireland after a ridiculously bad customer service experience in France this summer. For the record, the car rental agency, CarHire3000.ie, with whom I had booked, were spectacularly unhelpful.

Try getting a charge back on the credit card?

It would be very interesting for the Consumers Association or maybe a TV programme to do a test of this. Take a car out in the dark.

Check it in the morning.

Leave it back and see the result.

Try to hire the exact same car again to see if they have hired it out without noting the damage.

Talked nicely to the guy who sent the letter and he agreed easily enough that in this case we could not reasonably have been expected to check underneath... so he'll refund the damage charge (not sure if this includes administration..) so we'll wait and see..

so he'll refund the damage charge (not sure if this includes administration..)

Click to expand...

While you have got some result does the 50 euro for petrol not seem high as well ? Does the tank actually hold 500 euro worth of petrol ?

got a replacement car in ireland when i was getting a repair job done and didn't notice a big dent along the sill under the door - this could only be seen about 10 feet away and when I picked up the car it was parked between two cars... two days later I phoned the office and they accepted and didn't charge for it..... Girl was very nice and I was relieved - was expecting a big bill and probably wouldn't have a leg to stand on legally....