This post really completes the last one on May 21! On returning our rental car, the Avis employee inspecting the car noted a small scratch on the front bumper shell, and despite a lot of verbiage about no charges without my permission, added €177.43 to the rental bill, for which I signed. It was only when I got home, and reconciled expenses with estimates, that I found this excess charge - yes, it was detailed, but not exactly in noticeable type. Also, my rental contract with estimated charges was in Cdn$, the bill in Euro, and the midst of a car return garage, unloading luggage, is not the best place or time to do rapid currency conversion - although I'm learning, in future I will do exactly that!
I duly reported this damage to the Amex insurer, which covers this cost if the rental was charged to an Amex card offering such coverage, which mine does. I also reported to them the details of the damage as I had seen it.
Much to my shock and surprise, one week after return I received a letter from the unnamed and unsigned "Station Manager" and mailed not from Frankfurt but Avis Germany head office, indicating that I had returned their car damaged, that the damage was in excess of €750, and that as soon as the exact cost was determined, my Amex card would be charged the appropriate amount. The last paragraph suggested that in future I could limit such charges to €75 by purchasing Avis' damage insurance; clearly whoever initiated this letter was not aware enough of the rental contract to know that my own insurance through AMEX covered 100% of any damage charges.
Attached were badly reproduced, on an ink jet printer, small size (about 3" by 4") photos, showing the car I had rented, the speedometer reading (correct), and the front bumper in close-up with a note "front left spoiler scratched." The photos however showed "damage" much greater than the small scratch I had been seen, although on close scrutiny, on badly reproduced photos, it might have been visible. What was very obvious were four large patches of pure white, with no detail that would suggest scratching, as if the paint had simply been removed from these areas. Except, I checked with a neighbour who is an auto body mechanic, who told me that he had never seen a bumper shell or cover in which the underlying material was pure white; usually it is grey or black, sometimes a dirty yellow. Further, the day prior to turning in this car, we had driven through several severe rain storms, on secondary roads, and it was apparent even from these photos that the car was quite dirty, in fact I apologized to the agent checking us in for that. Yet, these white patches were absolutely pristine, and as I noted above, absolutely feature-less, showing no surface detail whatsoever. And more, checking a high resolution photo of this car taken during our trip, it was obvious that his "damage" was on the convex bumper shell in areas that had surface that was further forward on the bumper than the "damage." It was very difficult to come up with any mechanism of contact with anything that would leave the area in between these white patches unmarked.
After I had climbed down from the ceiling I contacted the Amex insurer, told them what had happened, and they asked me to mail in the material received from Avis, and that they would deal with it. They also assured me that whatever I was charged, they would cover it. I did so, followed by about two months of silence, from all concerned. I then got back to the Amex insurer, who by this time had re-embursed me for the €177.43 charge, to be told they had contacted Avis German with my objections to the charges, and had heard nothing back. They also noted that according to the contract I had with Avis there was no time limit to additional charges to my credit card (which they would cover) unless I could get Avis to sign off. I duly wrote Avis Germany, asking that this matter be settled, attaching my objections as I had submitted them to my insurer, and asking them to provide the original camera files of the damage pictures if there were to be further charges. That produced nearly four months of dead silence.
In late September, I searched around on the Avis Germany website, and found a general "complaints and inquiries" e-mail address, to which I duly wrote. That produced an un-readable e-mail (looking at the gibberish, it appears that jpeg files were pasted into an e-mail, rather than attached. An e-mail back produced the same thing. A further e-mail produced in time a letter from what is probably a clerk within Avis Germany, apologizing for the late(!!!) response, and adding that the damage documents requested (I hadn't requested documents, but photos) were attached (I guess included, but we'll give some grace for language!) Then there is a paragraph explaining that I was only charged €177.43 for the damage, that the "station manager" letter I had received was an automated letter, which "sometimes ... is sent with the wrong damage charge information." Then an apology for the letter with the wrong damage information. And then, a note that the actual damage was €619.50, but they would not charge the difference. In other words, a letter that is internally not consistent.
Included were copies of the original rental contract, but not the return version. Also, in German, a Damage Report, which clearly indicates in words and by a car diagram, the small scratch that I had seen. No indication on this report of the "extensive" damage in the pictures. And then, a "Repair Costs Proposal" which adds up to €619.50 before taxes, but shows a final cost of €737.21 . Some of the costs shown are ridiculous for what was a small scratch; body filler applied with a spatula three times, almost $600 in labour, more than an hour of paint-spraying, for example.
Without imputing anything, if one searches around in travel magazines, travel literature, and on travel web sites (Google "car rental damage charges" for example), it is obvious that our experience is not uncommon, particularly for international rentals, when the renter is safely in another country and will find it difficult dealing with any charges suddenly levied on their credit card. Seemingly in such cases there are also charges beyond repair of alleged damage that appear; loss-of-use charges to cover loss of revenue for the period of repair - with no evidence that the vehicle actually could have been rented; and loss of value, a charge for supposed depreciation in the disposition of the vehicle at the end of its rental life, despite repair charges being levied for supposed restoration to "as new." One could support these depreciation charges for major accidents, which enter onto the vehicle's record, but they are being charged for minor damage such as paint scratches.
To defend against some of this
- never take a car without an inspection in the presence of the rental agent, noting all existing damage on the rental contract, and getting the agent to sign off on this;
- pay for the rental with a credit card that offers insurance of rental cars, and refuse the rental company's offer of a Collision Damage Waiver (CDW, which is not insurance, but only a limit to how much you will be charged for any purported damage);
- be aware of the details of your credit card's insurance; for example, some limit the amount they will pay for "loss of use" and "reduction in final value" of the rental car;
- at stations where you are simply handed the keys at the rental desk and told where to find the car (Frankfurt is one such station, but there are many more), insist that an agent accompany you to the car to make this inspection;
- if this does not happen, do not open the car or load luggage; take pictures of the car in its location (even an inexpensive digital camera is a good investment for this - make sure the date and time on the camera are set correctly for the location!), carefully inspect it, take pictures of any damage, and return to the rental counter and insist that an agent come and inspect the car with you; this is your right, not a privilege; do not move the car, if you do, you have taken responsibility for any existing damage;
- report any damage that you cause during the rental promptly to the authorities (if necessary) and to the rental company, and also to your credit card insurer, who usually require a fairly tight time limit, such as within 24 hours of damage, or as soon as practicable;
- on returning the car, follow the check-in agent closely during the inspection, and confirm any damage reported; take your own pictures of the car and any purported damage; also take a picture of the odometer; and make sure that the date and time of your camera are set correctly;
- at stations where on drops off the car in a parking lot without an inspecting agent present, take pictures of the car in its parking spot to establish location, and take sufficient close-ups of all sides to show that there is no major damage; if you have any doubt whatever about interpretation, or if there was damage present when you took the car, insist that an agent come and inspect the car and sign off on the condition report;
- if you are charged for damage that you believe you did not cause, dispute the charge with your credit card company, and ask the rental company to provide you with all documentation relevant to the charges levied, including pictures (original files, not prints) which you should be able to compare to your own pictures.
You may run into agents that object to having to do some of the above, but you are only exercising your right, and can politely point out that there is enough evidence of post-drop-off charges for damages that customers allege wasn't present that you are simply protecting yourself. If enough renters do this, perhaps the companies will decide to modify their policies.
To be fair to Avis, I also need to report a previous experience with Avis Canada in Regina, SK, which was everything one could wish for. We had a close encounter with a rabbit that suddenly jumped in front of our rental VW while we were going about 100 km/hour. It is surprising what damage a small animal can do; this totally destroyed the bumper shell at the point of impact, and, not visible to inspection, wiped out one of the car horns behind that part of the bumper. The damage was assessed at about $1200, and, because the destroyed horn was not immediately available in North America, the car was out of service for nearly a month. Throughout all this the Avis station manager in Regina was a model of what one could wish for, working with the Amex card insurer to get the claim settled with minimum work on my part. Documentation of the damage was supplied promptly (I did have my own pictures, and had also made a police report) and in the end there was no cost to me.
So, in terms of damage to Avis cars, we are 1 for 1!
