Whenever you rent a car, there’s a risk that you’ll get charged for repairs for things that you didn’t do or weren’t your fault. Do this one thing, and you’ll GREATLY reduce the likelihood of this happening to you - and it’s NOT buying their insurance (have your own)!
We recently rented a car from Budget/Avis (they are both the same company as of this filming), but what happened to us could happen at any car rental company. We got charged 6 months after the rental to repair something we didn’t do.
On the last day of our rental, we noticed a bubble forming on the front driver’s side tire sidewall. It wasn’t readily visible, only sunlight causing a shadow under it made it apparent. There were no scuffs, cuts, abrasions or apparent evidence of object damage. DirtFarmerJay was the sole driver and is certain there was no curb or similar object strikes. We had a 30-mile drive to the airport, so we drove there carefully and reported the bubble to the staff member in the return area.
We wanted to be sure that the bubble was seen and that the car did not go out to the next person, putting that driver at risk.
Six months later, we got a letter from Budget indicating they were getting ready to charge us $97 against the card on file. We wrote them a response in a very courteous manner, asking them not to charge this back to us, as we are confident that we did not cause this and sharing the same narrative mentioned earlier. About a month later, we got another letter indicating that it was their position it was our fault and the charge was made.
HOW CAN YOU MAKE SURE THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN TO YOU?
Simple. Whether it’s the policy of the company or not, or if they or you are rushed when it comes time to pick up your car, do this simple but highly effective thing. INSPECT THE CAR. Take a couple of walks around the car, checking fenders, mirrors, glass, head and tail lights, trim, paint, AND the tires. Even is something appears minor, have the staff person note it. They have the form and diagram right there with them to do so.
If we had done this (shame on us!), it’s highly likely we would have avoided this. It’s possible that the bubble was forming during our week-plus rental, so they still could have taken the path they did, but having an inspection would have put the odds of this not happening in our favor.
One last thought. Budget had the opportunity to rise to the occasion and invest in the relationship and value a customer that they invested tons of advertising dollars to acquire. Instead, they choose to invoke their contract. We’re not mad, just disappointed. Our trust with them is broken and so really think twice before renting from them again.
Insights? Comments? Experience with this type of situation? Let us hear from you in the comment section below!
IMPORTANT NOTE: It goes ALMOST without saying, but honesty is the best policy. If you damage the car or someone damages it while it was in your possession, own up to it. That’s the right thing to do. And, that is what we would have done if we had indeed damaged the car. Just sayin’!
Hey, Dirt Farmer Jay here.
I have a great life hack for you.
Recently, we had a poor experience after we rented a car.
We got charged for repairs for something that we did not do.
Well, never again.
I have a simple technique that'll absolutely ensure
this'll never happen to you,
and it's not buying their insurance.
Stay tuned.
Welcome to this life hack
and this episode of From Where I Sit.
You know, recently, Dirt Farmer Maggie and I
took a trip down to our native Arizona to see our family,
and we decided to rent a car
at the Tucson International Airport
instead of borrowing a car from our family members
and inconveniencing them.
So we rented a car from Avis slash Budget.
It was actually Budget, but they're the same company,
and enjoyed the quality of the car.
We had it for well over a week, and it served us well.
It was a nice car.
On the day that I was going to return it,
I came out into the Arizona sun, kind of that overhead sun,
and noticed something out of the corner of my eye
on the front driver's side tire.
It was like a little shadow that I saw.
Well, what it was, it was a bubble
on the sidewall of the tire,
and I thought right away that something had happened.
Somebody had hit it, somebody had hit us.
I had been in the drive the entire time
and know that I had not run up against a parking curb,
over a heavy rock, against a piece of wood,
any of that sort of thing,
and so I thought maybe there would be a scar.
There was nothing.
The tire would look pristine when you look flat at it,
but with the sun on it,
you could see the shadow and see that bubble.
Well, we had probably 30 miles to drive to the airport,
so you can be sure that I drove very carefully,
both hands on the wheel, all the way there
in case we had a blowout.
Upon returning it to the lot and the lot attendant,
I pointed out to the person,
I want to absolutely make sure you notice
that there is a bubble on this tire
because it's easy not to see it,
especially in a covered garage facility,
and I want you to make sure that does not go out
to somebody else, putting them at risk.
Well, he signed in the car.
We went on our happy way.
Fast forward, about six months later,
I get a letter in the mail, US Mail,
that informs us that they have made the determination,
they, Budget slash Avis, have made the determination
that we had damaged their vehicle
and they were going to charge us
an additional $97 to repair the vehicle.
They gave us a way to contact them back, which I did,
and so I wrote them a real quick letter,
and I'm not gonna read all of it to you,
but I do want you to hear a few of the highlights.
So I said, hello, Budget Rent-A-Car.
I got a letter from you indicating
you want to charge our car to unfile.
I'm asking you not to do this
because I personally was the driver during the entire time
and I can assure you that I did not strike any object
and I went through a whole list of items.
In fact, I found the bubble on the tire
the day that we're heading back your way to return it.
When we pulled in the return area,
as I mentioned earlier,
I notified the attendant of it
and wanted to make sure that this car
did not go back out to somebody else
and to put them at risk.
I went on to say to Budget,
I was very forthright about the defect,
and I found, and I in no way attempted to conceal it,
and I'm confident that I was not the cause of this problem.
Therefore, in light of this,
I request that this charge back not be made to our account.
If someone would like to call me and discuss this,
that would be great.
And at that point, they came back to us and said,
we apologize for the delay in responding to you.
Thank you for contacting us.
We apologize for the issues that occurred during the rental.
We understand your frustration.
However, after reviewing this case,
we found no preexisting damage with the vehicle.
In investigating this matter,
we found the repairs do match the date of return,
which I identified.
That's correct.
That's when they saw that it was there.
And I'll tell you my thoughts on that in a moment.
We have found the charges billed for damage are valid,
and they go on to talk about
that that's their contractual right,
and they mentioned that in their first communication.
So they charged our card $97
for this tire replacement,
or you cannot repair a bubble on the side of the tire.
All right, so I'm gonna close on this thought.
Avis slash Budget had a great opportunity
to rise to the occasion and honor the relationship.
They chose not to.
They went the contractual route,
and they certainly had the right to do that.
So here's my advice to you.
Don't let this happen to you,
no matter what the car rental company is,
because they likely have the same kind of clauses
written into their contracts.
Just always inspect the car.
You'll greatly reduce the likelihood of getting charged back
for something you didn't do, such as it was in our case.
Thanks for watching our channel.
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Better yet, subscribe to our channel.
And thanks for being a part of our viewer family.
Until the next time, this is Dirt Farmer Jay
from where I sit.
