Saved $250! We beat "The Man". The rental car "Man".

[Shwa Girl]

Since June we have been fighting with a US rental car company. They claimed we damaged their car and wanted $250. They did not know that they were dealing with a Shwa Girl, though.

We beat The Man
The rental car Man.

We told them that the damage was there before we rented. They said they have a record of damage reported at one spot on the car but not on a second spot. The second spot was the issue.

We fought and fought all summer:

• Started with the rental car manager

• Then went to the regional office

• Then went to the local Better Business Bureau – found SIX claims against them still pending. So seems they are not well liked.

We won. “ No Charge” they said. Got it it writing.

Tip#1: if they try to scam you, don’t deal with them on the phone. Use snail mail and e-mail to fight.
Tip#2: If the price is too low to believe, it may be a trap. They wanted $100 for a 5 day rental when other companies wanted $400 for 5 days. We should have been cautious.
Tip#3: Get it in writing. Usually the rental car lets you write the damages. You sign. They sign. There is a record. Curious, they did all this on computer and did not give us a record.
Tip#4: While you are fighting, do everything in writing. No phone calls. You need a paper trail. We have a Ziploc bag with all the e-mails and such.

Total savings: $250.
Yes!

[amira84]

Nice! Thank God you didnt get into their trap and saved yourself some money too.

[Shwa Girl]

Nice! Thank God you didnt get into their trap and saved yourself some money too.

Thanks.
Some people will just give in and pay. We knew we did not do what they said. So we fought!

[torontogal12]

Good for you! You should not pay if you did not do the damage. Was it one of the major car rental companies or an independent? I used to rent cars at least once a week at my old job. I was told never to go with several companies and stick to Enterprise whenever possible. They are the best, customer service wise.

[Shwa Girl]

Good for you! You should not pay if you did not do the damage. Was it one of the major car rental companies or an independent? I used to rent cars at least once a week at my old job. I was told never to go with several companies and stick to Enterprise whenever possible. They are the best, customer service wise.

Yes. A major US rental company. Guess they saw Canadians and thought it was easy $$$
Agree with you about Enterprise. Have not had any problems with them.

[tobiwobi]

what company? need to know not to go there.

[morningrose]

Great for not giving up when nothing fault on our side.

[seylz_gurl]

your story is going to be placed in my memory bank to take pictures of rental car beforehand. sorry to hear you had to devote so much time to this but at least you were successful!

[Natalka]

Good for you, and a heads-up to others.

Why can't you name the company?

[ashp]

I admire your determination!

I can't believe they think they can get away with that, which probably means they've done to this other people. What a sad thought.

[Shwa Girl]

what company? need to know not to go there.

Alamo - Florida.
But not all locations is like that.

[Shwa Girl]

I admire your determination!

I can't believe they think they can get away with that, which probably means they've done to this other people. What a sad thought.

Yes. I think you are right.
We Googled "how to fight a rental car claim" and found that some companies do this to US renters when they go to Europe.
They figure that you won't bother fight when you return home.

So some companies make a lot of $$, sadly.

[Kwala]

Great for fighting back and winning. We had similar problem with Advantage rental here. They charged 500 on our credit card after the car was returned and they said no damage when we returned but a day later they called to say we had damaged the car. We didn't have any paper after we dropped off the car, otherwise would have been easy. Well went to Small claims and won but they wouldn't pay back. Long story short we ended up getting around 350 or 400 back and learned a lesson that never rent from companies like them and always get them to sign the contract after you return the car that there was no damage and no further charges would be put through. Since then we have always gone with Enterprise and have had no problems.

[walkonby]

just glad you stood your ground and they finally got tired. lol!!

[couponteen101]

I'm glad to hear that you didn't have to pay! It's crazy how hard some companies try to scam people! We will be careful where we rent from!! Thanks for the heads up!