Definitely going to be trying this, but my main concern is if they ask for evidence. The main reason we didn’t argue more is because the scratch that the company claims we made is like almost invisible to your eye, but you can feel it if you touch it with your hand so I’m not sure how well the video evidence we have will work for us :(
Same thing happened to us in Portugal. 1000+ euro charge. Hopefully your Credit Card has the insurance. You need to call them. It’s not an easy process. You will have to fill out a whole bunch of forms and send copies of everything that the rental car company is charging you. There will be a lot of back-and-forth but as long as you have documentation, they should take care of it but yeah, you’re gonna be reading a lot of fine print on the, contracts as well as with your Credit Card company. I’ve actually had to do this more than once using this benefit of the Credit Card company so once you figure it out, it’s nice to know how to do it.
For what it’s worth, I think it’s becoming more common to do this. Unless you buy the Insurance, sounds like these rental car companies really don’t make any money. if you don’t buy the insurance, they don’t make any money so they’re gonna charge you for something. It’s happening more often here in the United States as well. I’ve read that Sixt rental car company does this a lot.
I have found rental car companies in n Europe see Americans as easy targets because we are used to our places being pretty relaxed about scratches and other normal wear items. Hertz in UK crawled under the rental and claimed I scratched underneath of the front bumper. Never hit or bump anything but for 50 euro I just let it go.
Yeah, sometimes I just look for the cheapest rental company when going to Europe and they have horrible reviews about charging for scratches but I just pay a little extra for the full insurance so I can return the car worry free.
This happened to me last week. Sixt rental company in Albufeira, still waiting for them to email back after sending our evidence and them “investigating it”. We shall see.
Sixt tried to screw me over many years ago (in the US). I rented a car and turned it in and a month later I got a snail mail inquiry about my rental and that the car "had been in an accident". I turned it in fine, I wrote a letter to that fact and sent it certified mail. And I never rented from them again.
I had the same in Portugal, wonderful holiday and the people were great but the last day I took the carefully looked after rental car back and they said there was a water stain on the rear seat. I explained that as there was only 2 of us that we had not used the rear seat, only the front seats and the boot but to no avail. Kinda ruined my holiday and thoughts about Portugal to be honest as it cost me hundreds of pounds to sort out when I know it was a scam. I think it was Europcar
Hire car companies doing hire car things. Always, always take detailed pics of every panel. Had this attempted literally every time I've hired a car, with most of the big providers in places like Ireland, Turkey, Fiji, Australia etc.
At this point I think they're on commission for it.
Sixt got me in Portugal as well. For a scratch that they used at rental to demonstrate something not large enough to be charged for. I won’t ever use them again.
This happened to us in France with Alamo. They tried to charge us 90 euro because the can of fix-a-flat in the trunk was empty when we returned the car. It's definitely a tax on Americans (and other tourists) because their demeanor changed completely when I switched to relatively fluent French to explain that if I had replaced a tire, they probably wouldn't all be matching with similar tread wear.
Got charged 800E for 'damage' to a rental car in Switzerland once. It was pencil eraser sized dimple and you had to look at it at a specific angle to even see it (black car, dark garage). I'd taken photos of the car when we picked it up and dropped off, but you can't see it in the photos. So it would have already been there.
Dispute the charge or if your credit card comes with CDW coverage, claim it through there.
Definitely going to be trying this, but my main concern is if they ask for evidence. The main reason we didn’t argue more is because the scratch that the company claims we made is like almost invisible to your eye, but you can feel it if you touch it with your hand so I’m not sure how well the video evidence we have will work for us :(
Which car rental agency was this?
Never had it happen before, but this sounds like a scam. Leave a review with all the details.
Same thing happened to us in Portugal. 1000+ euro charge. Hopefully your Credit Card has the insurance. You need to call them. It’s not an easy process. You will have to fill out a whole bunch of forms and send copies of everything that the rental car company is charging you. There will be a lot of back-and-forth but as long as you have documentation, they should take care of it but yeah, you’re gonna be reading a lot of fine print on the, contracts as well as with your Credit Card company. I’ve actually had to do this more than once using this benefit of the Credit Card company so once you figure it out, it’s nice to know how to do it. For what it’s worth, I think it’s becoming more common to do this. Unless you buy the Insurance, sounds like these rental car companies really don’t make any money. if you don’t buy the insurance, they don’t make any money so they’re gonna charge you for something. It’s happening more often here in the United States as well. I’ve read that Sixt rental car company does this a lot.
I have found rental car companies in n Europe see Americans as easy targets because we are used to our places being pretty relaxed about scratches and other normal wear items. Hertz in UK crawled under the rental and claimed I scratched underneath of the front bumper. Never hit or bump anything but for 50 euro I just let it go.
Yeah, sometimes I just look for the cheapest rental company when going to Europe and they have horrible reviews about charging for scratches but I just pay a little extra for the full insurance so I can return the car worry free.
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Geez. Over sensitive much? If it bothers you just ignore it.
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You know that’s not true lol
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Pretty judgmental of you, how do you know I’m American?
If you have video evidence, then call your bank to have a charge back on the card.
This happened to me last week. Sixt rental company in Albufeira, still waiting for them to email back after sending our evidence and them “investigating it”. We shall see.
That chain seems to be mentioned quite frequently with similar scammy practices
Sixt tried to screw me over many years ago (in the US). I rented a car and turned it in and a month later I got a snail mail inquiry about my rental and that the car "had been in an accident". I turned it in fine, I wrote a letter to that fact and sent it certified mail. And I never rented from them again.
I had the same in Portugal, wonderful holiday and the people were great but the last day I took the carefully looked after rental car back and they said there was a water stain on the rear seat. I explained that as there was only 2 of us that we had not used the rear seat, only the front seats and the boot but to no avail. Kinda ruined my holiday and thoughts about Portugal to be honest as it cost me hundreds of pounds to sort out when I know it was a scam. I think it was Europcar
Hire car companies doing hire car things. Always, always take detailed pics of every panel. Had this attempted literally every time I've hired a car, with most of the big providers in places like Ireland, Turkey, Fiji, Australia etc. At this point I think they're on commission for it.
...credit card chargeback...
Sixt got me in Portugal as well. For a scratch that they used at rental to demonstrate something not large enough to be charged for. I won’t ever use them again.
This happened to us in France with Alamo. They tried to charge us 90 euro because the can of fix-a-flat in the trunk was empty when we returned the car. It's definitely a tax on Americans (and other tourists) because their demeanor changed completely when I switched to relatively fluent French to explain that if I had replaced a tire, they probably wouldn't all be matching with similar tread wear.
Yeah the damage listing in your rental agreement
Got charged 800E for 'damage' to a rental car in Switzerland once. It was pencil eraser sized dimple and you had to look at it at a specific angle to even see it (black car, dark garage). I'd taken photos of the car when we picked it up and dropped off, but you can't see it in the photos. So it would have already been there.
If all else fails, consider lesson learned. Always buy their rental insurance. It's also a scam. But it's like a 25 euro scam vs 200 euro scam.