My discovered damage story (still in progress)

[fredrico]

I'm going to try to make this as short as possible but honestly there is alot of detail. I rented a pontiac Vibe from them early in October and was taking it for a road trip to New orleans for the weekend. In the middle of the freeway I noticed something funny and pulled over to the shoulder of the freeway and saw that the car had a flat tire.

I called thier AAA roadside service for help and waited 30 minutes and nobody showed up. With 18 wheelers zipping by at 70mph and rocking the little vibe back and forth, me and my girlfriend agreed this was not a safe spot for us to be in so I had a friend pick us up and get us out of the area. The AAA driving didn't come to meet us until 2.5 hours later. By this time the vibe already got towed and sent to storage. Our weekend vacation was ruined along with losing hundreds of dollars in hotel reservations and booked tours.

I was told by the branch I was responsible for any damages and tow/storage services and they were not flexible on that or willing to come to an agreement with me. I got a bill for $1400 a few weeks later and am now disputing this with one of the Area managers since the Branch Manager just gave me the answer of "i'm sorry, it's your responsiblity to pay the bill"

Apparently the car arrived with new bumper damage $600, storage fees $400, loss of use $150 and a few hundred for admin. fees. I did not cause any damage to the car as all that happened was a flat tire on the road.

My initial conversation with the area manager went well, he seemed understanding of the situation and admitted his branch manager didn't approach this the right way and there should have been more willingness for them work with me and not just tell me I'm shit out of luck. He said he would look into the bill and see what he can do.

I guess i'm just wondering who has experience something similar and what the outcome was? I seriously am not going to pay anything close to $1400 for this bill, I would agree to pay for a new tire, towing and 1 day of storage. As far as damages to the bumper, admin fees, loss of use, none of that was my doing.