Car rental scam

This is another good reason to always take pictures of a rental car before and after you use it. You say that the damages are not yours, how so and can you prove it incase a collection agency gets involved? Good luck.

A few more details on the experience might get you some help, or at the very least, help others from avoiding this problem.

Have you disputed this with your credit card company? I'm not sure how much good it would have done to have rented through an agency. Most of the time, I hear more about how each entity tried to make the other deal with it. But the previous posters are right - more info would help us understand what happened and maybe give you better ideas. And always take pictures of all sides of the car before you take it.

Remember that you're responsible for any damage that happens to the rental car during your period of rental, whether or not the damage is your fault. What kind of insurance coverage did you have? In what country was the rental?

Thanks to you all for your replies. This happened in Germany, pick up in Braunschweig off in Berlin. We got the Collision damage Waiver. Turns out it only covers the exterior not underneath the car. These scratches were under the car. Who takes pictures of underneath? We really felt set up. The companies offer cheap rates, an insurance to make you think you are covered, and then clobber you with charges in the loop holes. We had good experience with Hertz in the past, so we let our guard down thinking that the whole corporation was reputable.
Our learnings: let Visa be the insurer, use a company to rent with, like AAA or Auto Europe. They will help handle these scams. And take photos before and after, even better, take a video with the rental attendant saying whatever it is you want to document.

As Tom points out , culpability is not the issue . you are responsible for damage regardless of the circumstances . If you read the rental contract thoroughly ( meaning the fine print ) you will most likely find that even with a super CDW ( no excess , or deductible , as we call it here ) you are not covered in the case of damage to the undercarriage. If you took the car off road and it was damaged or even if you had the unfortunate experience of jumping a high curb , for instance , you would be responsible for any damage even with CDW. On a number of occasions when returning a rental overseas , I was aware that the agent looked under the car . Sorry to hear about this!

Jess, I never realized CDW didn't cover undercarriage. Has Hertz provided you with an itemized bill of cost for repairing the "damage"? You might want to look at the Chris Elliott website ( elliott.org). He is a consumer advocate who provides advice on dealing with travel problems. I've seen articles on his site about issues with rental car damage in the past. Good luck.

Hi Jess- I hope you used a credit card to pay for the rental. A few (many?) years ago Hertz tried to bill me for damage not evident when I returned a rental car to FRA. Of course I told them that I had used a credit card that would pay off and I forwarded the bill to my credit card company. The credit card company requested a detailed bill from Hertz with photos. Time went by - after awhile (6-9 months) there was no reply from Hertz Europe. So I contacted Hertz in the US to find out "Was ist los" They contacted Hertz in Europe and got no response. So Hertz in the US told me to forget it which I did. I have since rented many times from Hertz and ALWAYS inspected the car when first renting it. In fact, the was so much superficial damage noted on the rental agreement on a Hertz I picked up in Dublin that the attendant who checked me in when I returned the car just laughed. (I kept it only because it was the last automatic available.)And I make sure I get a copy of the rental agreement with any damage noted on it when I rent and return the car. That is even better to argue with them than pictures...
Good luck...

On the recommendation to use an "agency"/consolidator such as AutoEurope, despite generally favorable opinions among Travelers Helpline regulars, there are as many complaints against AutoEurope on the web as against any and every major rental car company. On the whole, the complaints represent a small percentage of rentals by any of the major players. It can certainly be an advantage having someone in your corner who is used to dealing with these situations, but they cannot help you if you don't have a good defense to begin with. No consolidator is going to quit doing business with a company over a random dispute. Personally, if you cannot get Ed from Pensacola to intervene on your behalf, I would go with Andy or Bob from Gemut over a random AutoEurope salesperson who may be new to the job. The downside of consolidators is the same as with any other rental -- hotels, airlines, etc. Anytime you go through a third party, you increase your chances of miscommunication, with costly results for you. When the two other parties keep passing the buck to each other, you wind up paying the bucks.

I'm so sick of car rental scams I decided many years ago that renting a car just wasn't worth the headache. We take trains everywhere...and I've never been billed for a scratch since.

Personally, I don't think it's fair to use the word "scam" when a rental company bills you for damage that was specifically excluded in your rental agreement. If you travel & rent cars, it's good to be aware of the typical exclusions in CDW policies. If you want to avoid surprises, you can of course not rent cars at all. But another solution is to cough up the dough and buy the most comprehensive coverage that you can, either from a third party or if necessary from the rental car company itself (e.g. Italy, Ireland).

Certainly, if one is familiar with the legal language and if one has the time to read through the fine print that is often difficult to read, and if one is so experienced with traveling that one knows of these issues before hand, and if one knows that these things can occurr, surely, then one should just cough up the money because that is how greedy business's operate. For us regular folks, it just takes a lot of joy out of traveling. On the other hand, open, clear policies and ethical business practices is what keeps the tourist industry thriving. It is truely a pleasure to deal with reputable businesses and clearly stated regulations.

Wow! Jess, I was not aware of the "under-the-car" thing. Tkx w so much for this post. I did know that Super CDW does not cover windshields, tires, and wheels, towing, re-scheduling of your rental if you wreck it, putting in the wrong fuel, locking your keys in the car, etc. so I bought a supplemental policy thru a broker for our recent trip in Ireland( most credit cards will not cover any rental car damage in Ireland.) I put in a claim to cover the damage I incurred from using the wrong fuel, so I'll find out how good these policies really are. (they reimburse you.) I always use my VISA to book my rentals, and generally use AuteEurope, so I would hope that these would also help if a ran into a problem.

Hi Just a suggestion. I purchased a new card from BankAmerica. It is called BankAmericard- Travel Rewards. It is a Visa Signature card- but a different concept. I used it last year in Europe and i am going to use again this fall in France. It has only been on the market for about a year. I did mention ths in a post last fall. I just spoke to a benefits administrator. She stated that my card would pay for any physical damage to the car- windshield, side window, tires, undercarriage as long as the car is not driven off road- any physical damage to the car. Does not cover personal injury or personal theft of your belongings- but does cover theft of the car- if you are responsible. They sent me a whole list of information. Also with this card there is no transaction fees. I used it last year in Europe for gas, insurance, hotels, restaurants etc. It does not cover Ireland. If i go to Ireland, Israel, Jamaica i would use my Mastercard- which i believe also covers the above. It is special Mastercard- do not recall the name but i think it is black. If you need more information just send me a message. I feel so bad for your situation. I hope this info helps you for your next rental. I have used Hertz and never had a problem but it could happen to anyone. But with this card i feel pretty good that i am covered.

HI Lynn, That is very helpful information, thanks so much for your reply. We will look into this.
Jess

Jess! Germany? I doubt that you really needed a car in Germany. Germany is not like the US. Germany has the most extensive rail system in all of Europe, augmented by a system of buses. In 4 months of travel in Germany in the last 13 years, I have only once needed a rental car to get to something (Burg Eltz) I wanted to see, and then I saw something else (Marksburg) interesting instead that I wouldn't have seen if I had gone to the first place. Plus I have saved thousand of dollars vs renting a car, could watch the scenery at my leisure, and didn't have the hassle of parking, traffic, etc or the risk of damaging the car. I know this won't help you this time, but for you and others, check out the public transportation in Germany before deciding to rent a car.

Jess, That sucks! But I thank you for bringing it up to my attention. Because of this I called AMEX Premium Rental Coverage and verified that with their plan, undercarriage is covered as long that I am not off-roading. I have Premium Rental Coverage with American Express. I always decline all insurance from rental agencies. Once a rental car is charged to my AMEX, for me (in CA) AMEX charges for international an Additional 17.95 total for coverage. Basically without going through my personal insurance, they pay for all damages and do all the calling and paper work. It's a fantastic program for a peace of mind that only cost a total of 17.95 for up to 42 consecutive days. Again, I'd be furious if it happens to me.

Thanks, Lee; that is great advice. You have been telling people here for years about the great rail network in Germany. I am sure you've saved a lot of people headaches with car rentals and just the sort of problem Jess is reporting. Tim, you took the words right out of my mouth. I take trains everywhere; no car rentals for me. Who needs to deal with this kind of problem?? Jess, I would contact an attorney. I think that is the only way of fighting this so it doesn't go to a collections agency.

Is Travelers Helpline turning into another TripAdvisor, with its constant barrage of topics titled "___ ___ Scam, "Do Not Rent from __," " is a Bunch of Crooks"? Always posted and resurrected about once a month by either one-and-dunners or single-issue posters who feel they have been ripped and carry a grudge forevermore. The problem I have with these posts is they always present only one side of a dispute. The poster may feel he is the innocent victim, but we have no way of knowing if the writer's perception is accurate or slanted to boost his case, leaving out important details the poster himself might not understand. I went to the Hertz website and their description of insurance includes: "Hertz Loss Damage Waiver (LDW)
When you purchase Hertz' LDW, which is not insurance, you will not be held responsible for damage to the Hertz car in the event that any damage should occur, provided the loss or damage was not the result of any prohibited use of the car." (This for total coverage, the OP may have had deductible.) Hertz claim of damage under the car may indicate that it thinks the driver used the car offroad and/or the damage was far more but the company settled for only the deductible amount.

Had planned to rent in Caen and Avignon through Herz. Sounds like most of you think Eurocar is a safer bet?

Hi My card the BankofAmerica Car- travel card has no fee.You do not have to pay extra for the coverage like AMEX. I also have an AMEX card but i do not use it for car rentals. As i stated in my prior response they also cover undercarriage etc. AMEX premium has a fee. Also the BankofAmerica car has no foreign transaction fees. It has only been available for the past year and so alot of people do not know about this card. Great for gas, restaurants, etc in addition to my car rental. I used it last year in Europe and no problem. Would not suggest this card for getting money-i use a debit card for that. www.bankofamerica.com and they will list the cards. This one is the travel card. I am not sure if you can access the benefits without having the card but this is the link for benefits. www.benefitinformationcenter.com they asked me for my card number. Just thought if you look into this card and get it you can have this information. I am not sure an agency is that helpful. Getting a good card next time hopefully will help. Hope this helps.

Lynn, I am really interested in knowing this new BofA travel card benefit. I can't seem to find it anywhere. Everything I have found showed that The BofA visa signature only covers "Secondary" and not "Primary." Meaning you would have to go through your auto insurance first and pay a deductible and they cover the rest. While AMEX premium is primary for a small fee without going through personal auto insurance. If your card covers primary for free. I am extremely interested in knowing the details, I rent cars 4 times a month, it would help me save so much money. Would you be able to maybe screen grab some benefit details and email them to me? Please exclude your personal information. If not I suppose I can go into the branch to find out some more info. Thank you~

The car rental business seems to be fraught with shady practices;, and the insurance part not only doesn't help, it makes things harder to understand. Who would think of checking the underside of a car before accepting it; and what could you see if you tried? You can look at my posting on the Graffiti Wall for my tale of why I won't use Hertz in Italy again. Similar to Avis, they are completely separate from Hertz USA, so you can't get anywhere with the company here. Also, the e-mail address, listed on the receipt, for their customer service department doesn't work.
Now for some good news. We had a windshield broken by a flying pebble, 12 years ago in Spain. Avis billed our Amex card $400 for the repair. When I reported it, the charge was put on hold; and after I filled out the paperwork, it disappeared. Incidentally, an additional $150 charge for something, written in Spanish that exceeded my language capability, also disappeared when I complained to Amex. This experience convinced me to use Amex when renting cars. Unfortunately their insurance excludes Italy and Ireland.

There are some decent tips here: http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/how-to-buy-car-rental-insurance-in-europe

I also use American xpress coverage but I did not think it was accepted as a card choice when renting in europe.

Tom, thanks for that website, appreciate it.

@ Tom , I'm with Susan , a great primer for the ins and outs of European car rental . Should be required reading for anyone renting a car !!

@Sondra
Amex is not widely accepted in small European retail establishments, but all the major car rental companies accept it.

IMHO Gemut has an absolutely excellent rental car primer: http://www.gemut.com/images/stories/report/carrentalspecialreport.pdf

Thanks to all for so many helpful topics and links. We will certainly be better prepared for our next trip.

@Sondra - Amex rental car coverage excludes only these countries: Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica and New Zealand.