Being charged for damage I DID NOT DO!!!

[jrose]

I have looked over several post from other people and I can see this is an all to common practice with ERAC.
My situation is as follows, I picked up the car in march at 20 mins till closing,(due to work) lobby was still full and it was dark and raining. I felt bad because i knew they were busy so told them not to worry about vaccuming out the car. When I was took to the back of the building to see the car.It was very dimmly lit and raining like crazy. Was not given a walk around of the car.But like a idiot i signed ok on the condition of the car. I took the car back after hours and put the keys in the drop box. 3 days later i received a phone call saying there was damage (a dent) on the rear drivers side door. I explained to the manager my side of the story and that i did not cause that damage. He said I would call me back in a few days. Needless to say I never recieved a call back,But 4 days ago yes 6 months later i recieved a paper demanding payment for $798!!! To top it all off the the estimate on the car was not done until august 31! And the difference in milage from when I dropped off the car and from when the estimate was done is 18,211 miles!
I was advised not to speak with anyone from ERAC over the phone because they can say that i agreed to pay when I didn't. So I sent a certified letter to the loss control administrator and I am awaiting a response. Could anyone please advise me on what i could do legally and if I could countersue?

This is a typical erac practice !! I have seen it done to customers many times while working at the branch. I am sorry you have to go through this.

First thing I would do is when talking to Loss Control people, request a copy of at least 10-15 previous contracts ( rented before you ) on the vehicle you rented. Quite often, the damage will be found on a previous contract. If that is the case here, they will drop their case immediately. You may not be personally provided with a copy of all these contracts ( as they contain personal information on the other renters ) but it is worth a try.

Make sure you are professional and keep your cool while talking to them. Loss Control reps get graded and promoted based on how much they collect, so to them you are a number they are chasing and will do everything in their power to make you pay. Explain in detail that you were never even explained you need to walk around the vehicle ( as no other rental company does that ).

If nothing works, talk to the Loss Control Manager. Next in line is the Regional Rental Manager or Regional VP ( every region has at least one or the other, some both ) They will 99.9% of the time take care of you, since they DON"T want you to go any higher with your complaint. Of course, corporate in St. Louis is the last resort, but I think the RRM or RVP will handle if LC doesn't. You sound like you have a very legitimate reason to be upset, specially since
1. there was no walk around the car when you picked it up
2. even if you did walk around the car, there was not enough light for you to detect a dent in the dark
3. no one bothered to call you the day you returned ( but 4 days later )
4. no one returned your call for 6 months, and now that is probably time to sell that car, the branch is trying to find someone to pay for damages, therefore they maximize their profit on the sale and minimize their expense in preping the car for the sale


Good luck and keep us posted.

If there was no accident report done, there is no way they can prove you did it. Ask to see the accident report, look at the date. They made a lot of mistakes in your situation.

1. They should have done a report that day...if they dont have it that day, then they are screwed. Also, you didnt sign the report aknowledging the report was done (Not completely neccessary, but erac really prefers you to have signed it to pursue your and your insurance company
2. If there was a DENT, they shouldnt have rented the car, and it should have gone to the shop right away. ERAC makes it clear to offices that if they rent a car with damage, they may end up footing the bill regardless who was responsible. It is not good customer service to rent damaged products to paying cutomers....maybe rent a wreck does it, but erac has a corporate image to protect.
3. Do they have pictures of the dent. How can you be sure that after 18k miles, the damage wasnt done by someone else?
4. No one called you from loss control to discuss this with you. You have a VERY strong case to have this waived.

If worse comes to worse, contact a newspaper reporter that acts as an advocate for the general public that get taken advantage of (channel 7 is on your side.....type of thing) and have them do some digging. I GUARANTEE erac will drop it. They HATE negative press like that, and there are so many holes in their procedure on this deal, you will surely get off. Mark my words....they DID NOT follow the company procedures. Also, the last post has good tips too.

Good luck!

[jrose]

I have not recieved any word yet for the the LAC and know he got my letter because it was overnighted and certified. So as soon as i hear I will let you know thanks again to the both of you for taking the time to respond to my questions.

You're an idiot saying you DID NOT DO IT.

You admitted you dropped if off in a parking lot and left the keys in the drop box.

did you have a video camera on the car for the hours before ERAC opened? how do you know someone didn't just decide to dent it on you? You dont. That's why you're an idiot.

Jrose,
There's a lot a good advise here, all should release you from responsability. Lawyers are expensive so definitly see what you can do on your own. Another tip is what was the reason you were renting for. You may be a able to use that to your advantage. For example, if you were coming over from a dealership or bodyshop, you can go to the Service Manager or owner and explain to them what happened. Dealerships and Bodyshops hate being caught in the middle of things like this. In fact if you raise a big enough stink about this, the dealership/bodyshop may even stop referring business to enterprise. But your goal is to have either the owner or the manager of the dealership/bodyshop call the branch and speak to the area manager. Don't waste you time trying to speak to the Branch Manager. He/she is now the decision maker. If you did rent b/c your car was being serviced or your ins. company was paying for repairs you have a good chance of having them pay for this damage.
If you just rented the car for personal use, look on the back of the contract for the GM/vice president's name and phone number. $750 is not worth his/her time. They only care about customer service, if you state your case to him/her, he'll see the facts and waive the costs of repairs. To be honest, you could be responsible for this damage but if you follow this advise you won't have to pay a dime.

Good Luck!!!

[erac_whore]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

This is a typical erac practice !! I have seen it done to customers many times while working at the branch. I am sorry you have to go through this.

First of all, let's be fair. Being charged for damage that you don't feel you are responsible for is not a practice exclusive to Enterprise. This is occurs regularly throughout the rental car industry. I have had countless customers insist on going over their rental car with a fine-toothed comb because they got screwed by XYZ Rent-A-Car last time. (XYZ can take the place of Hertz, National, Avis, Dollar, Enterprise, you name it...)

That being said... I always commend my customers who insist on examining the car inch-by-inch before signing for it. You just can't be too careful... While I'm not out to rip anybody off by "missing" damage when I check someone into a car, I am only human, and I could fail to notice something. Others may not be scrupulous, and are hoping you fail to see something... Beware of the rental agent who stands in the same place while you walk around the car, conveniently blocking your view of that right rear corner of the bumper, etc...

On the other side of the coin, after we do thoroughly check you into the car to your satisfaction, after you have refused to purchase any damage waiver, when you return the car and we point out damage that wasn't there when you picked up the car; don't be a baby! Take your medicine, cough up your deductible, and wait for your insurance premiums to go up...

Also, we need to define what "responsible for" encompasses with regards to damage to a rental car. You sign for the car. Hopefully you inspect the car with a rental agent. You decline Damage Waiver. You bring the car back to the rental location. There is damage to the vehicle that wasn't present when you picked it up as noted on your rental contract. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for that damage! I don't care if someone tagged you in a parking lot while you were in the grocery store, a truck kicked up a rock that cracked the windshield, or even if someone ran into you after running a stop sign and you have all of their insurance information and a police report (although this is a good first step to seeing that you are reimbursed your deductible - your insurance rates may still go up...) We are going to file a claim with your insurance and collect your deductible. It is up to your insurance company to pursue the other party's insurance for payment. Even if there is a hail storm or similar "Act of God" that causes damage to the rental vehicle, the key point is still that the vehicle was damaged while in your possession. Take the damage waiver or don't; your choice.

We rented you a car in an agreed upon condition. You agreed to return the car in the same condition. We offered to cover the car for you in the event of any damage, regardless of fault. You declined. When refusing our collision damage waiver, you stated, "I don't need your insurance. I have full coverage with my own auto policy." Maybe we tried to sell you a little more... (this site is full of discussions of the "high pressure" tactics that ERAC uses when selling coverages. You can't say we didn't warn you...) Okay. No problem, sir/ma'am. If you are comfortable with us using your insurance policy to cover the costs of any repairs, regardless of fault, just initial here to decline our coverage. So why are you making such a big fuss now that you are returning the car with damage that wasn't there when you picked it up?

This post isn't about all that, however... The majority of the following post describes steps you can take to prevent being held responsible for damage either pre-existing for the rental vehicle in question before you pick it up or damage incurred after you drop it off. In other words, this is how to avoid being screwed...

Now, onto some suggestions for what you should do whenever you rent a car:

When checking into the rental car

1. Always examine the rental car BEFORE you sign or initial acceptance of the condition of the vehicle! Insist an employee of the rental car company accompanies you on this inspection (I don't care how busy they are, this is YOUR money we are talking about!) This is one of the things I don't understand about the Hertz Gold, Avis Preferred, National Emerald programs. To be honest with you, I wouldn't be too comfortable just having someone toss me a set of keys without first agreeing to the condition of the car...

2. Examine the vehicle damage diagram on the rental contract before you sign. Make sure all damage that you and the employee identified is clearly marked on the contract. While there is such a thing as "normal wear-and-tear", insist that anything you don't want to pay for is noted. A tiny scratch less than one inch in length that does not go through the paint is okay, any dent no matter how small, or any damage to the windshield at all should be noted. Any refusal by the rental employee to note damage should be viewed with the harshest suspicion.

3. Make sure all damage noted is visible on your copy of the rental contract (usually the bottom or last copy.) If it is not, either demand a new copy of the contract or have the employee write out all of the damage along with their signature somewhere on the original contract, with your copy back underneath so you have a carbon copy. Do not accept them writing anything directly on your copy, as you will have no way to prove that you didn't write it yourself after the fact...

4. If the lighting in the parking area is not sufficient to adequately examine the vehicle, insist they move it to somewhere where there is enough light. Some suggestions would be inside their car prep area / wash bay, out in front of the building rather than out back, or even the gas station across the street... Make sure you can see the vehicle clearly!

5. Make sure to look at the not-so-obvious areas of the vehicle for damage. I am talking about under the bumpers (front and rear) the wheel wells, rocker panels (lowest edge of the car, beneath the doors), windshield (look under the wiper blades and examine the entire windshield from the inside of the car; it is easier to see smaller stars and cracks), the bed of any pick-up truck (make sure they document any dents and major scratches), and finally, the roof-especially on larger vehicles (vans, SUVs, etc.)

A special note on roof damage: roof damage is hideously expense to repair compared to similar damage on almost any other area of an automobile. Climb up on the back bumper and look, every time! Insist that any dent, ripple, scratch, or whatever is noted on your contract. Trust me on this one; nothing like renting a van for a day or two to move a few people around and get hit with a bill for roof damage when you didn't even put anything on the roof to begin with!

6. Finally, know the name of the rental employee checking you into the car. Ask for a business card if possible. It is far easier to dispute damage at the end of the rental when you can say that "John" or "Mary" saw that scratch or whatever when you got the car and told you not to worry about it than just by saying, "that damage was there and the person who checked me in saw it and said it was not significant enough to note." All the same, see items 1-5, above...

While you have the rental car

1. If you are involved in an accident, for God's sake, file a report with the police and get the insurance information from the other party! While we are still required to collect your deductible and file a claim with your insurance (we weren't there, the other party might deny responsibility, or their insurance may refuse liability), by having all of their information, this will allow our loss control department and your insurance company to do their best to ensure that the proper party ultimately pays for the costs of the damages. Please do this even if you did sign for the damage waiver, as this will help deter more unscrupulous operators from trying to find ways to "void" your coverage.

2. If damage occurs to the rental, regardless of how minor, stop in to the rental branch and ask that the write up the accident report immediately. With major damage, when the car is no longer driveable and must be towed and they have to switch you out into another vehicle, this shouldn't be a problem. With minor damage, they may try to tell you that they will just do it at the end of the rental, but you should insist they do it now. After giving them all of the information, get copies of the damage report and inquire as to were they get their repairs done, and then take the car there yourself and have the service writer do photos and estimates. Get a business card from this person, and have them write both the rental car company's claim number, as well as any internal reference number they may assign to the estimate. The reason for all of this inconvenience is simple: most credit card coverage has a time limit for when estimates, etc. are completed. Do not rely on the rental car company to do this in a timely manner, especially in the case of minor damage that does not impair the safe functioning of the rental vehicle. Trust me, we will rent it again and again and again with a small door dent or star in the windshield. Again, it is YOUR money we are talking about here.

When returning the rental

1. Insist that an employee checks you out of the vehicle with a visual inspection just as they did when they checked you into it. Require them to note "no damage" or "no additional damage" with their signature on your receipt. Again, as stated in step 6 in the first section, get their business card or at least their name.

2. After-hours drops and drops at any location other than the rental branch should be avoided whenever possible! If you must drop the car after the rental location is closed, attempt to park the car so that it is least exposed to potential damage by other vehicles. If it is not too inconvenient, when renting the vehicle, ask if you can return it as early as possible whenever the branch opens (instead of Sunday night, Monday morning first thing!) without being charged extra. Ask if you can drop at another location that is open, without a drop charge (maybe the local airport branch, etc.) so that you can return the car and have someone check it in.

If you are returning to a body shop, dealership, or other repair facility, ask the service writer to come out and check in the vehicle for any damage. Have your copy of the rental contract available for them so they can compare the original condition of the vehicle when you recieved it with the condition it is in as your return it. Have them document "no damage / no additional damage" on your copy of the contract and sign it. (It is not unheard of for a car to get "bumped" in the parking lot of a repair facility and have them play the same game that some of our customers do... "Oh, yeah. It was like that when it got here...")

3. As mentioned before on this thread, if you are contacted regarding any damage you do not believe you are responsible for, demand to see the last few rental contracts for the vehicle you rented.... Just because you and the rental agent did not notice the damage this time doesn't mean that it wasn't noticed (and documented!) the last time the car was rented... This is VERY good advice!


Finally... I know all of this seems like a great big hassle, but most of the stuff I have described takes far less time to actually do than it took you to read this post...

When you pick up the car: Inspect the car. With a rental agent. Before you sign for it. Look closely, and in adequate lighting. Make sure EVERYTHING is documented.
While you have the car: Report damage in a timely fashion. Get insurance info from the idiot who ran into you.
When you return the car: Make sure you are checked out of the car as diligently as you were checked into it.

You'll be fine.

If you are still worried, purchase the damage waiver.

Just my $.02!

erac_whore

Good points up there ERAC Whore. I can't stand having a customer come in and dispute damage when I went over it with them as detailed as possible. Working at a smaller branch its easy to be the only one for a customer to deal with on checkin and out.

[ERAC BURNOUT&DAMN PROUD!!]

Good point ERAC Whore but for the customers sake no matter what check the car very well. ERAC is all about screwing the customer! Why do you think everyone is so nice wheh you walk in the door? Its easier to screw you when your not expecting it! However, I also think it is a good idea to complain to the service manager if your car was in the shop. ERAC loves to take it up the ass for its accounts! Good luck!

Just like Denzel Washington says in Training Day, it's not what you know. It's what you can prove.