[usmabmass]

Hello,

I had damaged my car after an incident with a deer, and my insurance company set me up with the Enterprise center in West Point, NY.

When I picked up the car, they were friendly and we did the walk-around to check for damage or scratches, and everything was fine.

The car was fairly dirty (and had 1/8 tank of gas...), and so I went and cleaned it (even using tire shine), during which I had the opportunity to really look at the car before I ended up turning it back in.

Prior to turning in the car, I went over the vehicle thoroughly on my own and it was in perfect condition, and so I drove the car up to the station. There were two employees outside with all the cars, I think they were still trying to log them all in (the Army-Navy football weekend had just ended and a lot of people had rented the cars, although I kept my car in New York). I wasn't sure where to park my car, and one of the employees (call him "Ted") pointed out a spot for me to park, in which i did so perfectly. I got out and asked "Ted" what the process was to return the car, he told me just to give him the keys, and the other employee "Fred" would give me a ride back to my barracks.

This all occured early yesterday afternoon. Today at 1245, I got a call from someone in the loss control department (call her "Haley"), stating that the car was reported with extensive damage - dents on all four doors, the trunk, and on the passenger-side quarter panel.

I was absolutely aghast - while I had the car, I drove it more carefully than i ever had (and my own car has never had any kind of exterior blemishes whatsoever). I never parked in a lot where shopping carts and other obstacles were present, and I ensured that I only parked in either a) the very end of a lot where there were no spaces to the front/rear or passenger side of my car, or b) in the driveway of my friend's house when i visited. Also, I didn't use the trunk at all. In fact, the only time i came into contact with the car was when I opened the doors or scraped the ice off the windshield the night prior (there was no damage to the windshield reported..)

There should have been no possibility for this damage to have been present, especially since I inspected the car 5 minutes before i turned it in.

I was very polite with "Haley," and she told me that she was also surprised about the damage, but said I could go up to the rental place and look at the car for myself (keep in mind this was about 1245). I said I wasn't sure if I could, but i would try. I ended up taking a bus up and going to the office, but they told me that they had taken the car to the body shop that morning...

During the whole process, they kept telling me that I was responsible for damage to the car for one business day after I turned it in, and kept alluding that I had turned the car in after business hours on Sunday night, when in reality I turned it in at about 1PM on Monday, placing the keys directly into the hands of "Ted."

It all sounded a little fishy to me, and I called my insurance company to let them know what was going on.

My question is, what should I do now? I am 100% positive that the car was free of damage when it left my control, and now I realize that I should have done the visual inspection first, but I didn't at the time and the employee told me I didn't need to do anything. What are the next steps I can take to protect myself? After finding this board, I'm a bit worried... thanks everyone for your help..