Hire companies are just a nightmare. I always do a full video run round before and after use, along with photos. It’s proved useful more than once as they’ll try anything. It annoys me that they bill for previous damage that has never been fixed. Cheeky. Never paid and always disputed.
@@imamiddleagedman just imagine if hotels did the same for little scuffs and scratches found in your hotel room. They would go out of business in less than a year under the weight of disrepute. Why the hire car companies havent is a mystery.
Rental companies are often terrible, Alamo Budapest was an exception for me. Part way through the rental, the car suffered some quite obvious damage while parked, so I was dreading returning the car. When returning the car guy came out, took detailed photos of the car, and then said thankyou. Shortly after, whilst at the airport waiting for my flight, I received the damage report by email. There were photos with the car park damage circled, damage on the wing mirror circled (that I had not even noticed before) along with a couple of stone chips circled. Right below the photos were the words "No damage charges" I didn't even have any kind of insurance or excess waiver with Alamo, as I had taken out my own separate hire car insurance. It's nice to get a positive experience every once in a while. Instead of giving me the hassle of filing an insurance claim, now instead they have a repeat customer
@@arcadeuk Good to hear your experience. I’ve long since associated Hertz, Avis, National, Enterprise with being top tier rental brands. But Hertz is no longer on that list. I’m suspicious of Europcar after they screwed a colleague for a tiny door dent, but they’ve been ok to me so far. I guess Alamo is worth looking up. I’m even thinking that rent-a-wreck in Norway might be worth investigating. Best hire car company so far has been Bella Coola Vehicle Rentals. They don’t have a global reach sadly.
@@anthonydyer3939 Reviews indicate that good and bad experiences are not consistent with any rental company (and some lesser companies only receive negative reviews and appear to implement damage charges as part of their business model) I was involved with a company for several years that bulk ordered cars from Europcar for several years (thousands per year) and don't remember damage claims being high. Best of luck resolving your frivolous Hertz damage claim 👍
Had a similar issue when hiring a car from Aberdeen to East Midlands airport one way. They came at my employer for a damaged windscreen but I did the same as you and was able to defend myself and my employer that the damaged was already there as pictured. Where I failed was I didn’t go back into the office in Aberdeen, the one beside Richard factory to have the original damaged sheet updated to show the screen damage. Always do now. That headlight is 100% fault and not damage
It's a terrible indictment of modern society where you have to cover your own back at every turn. With car rentals especially taking the biscuit, where customers get treated like rubbish at times. Car insurance services are another that seem to take their customers for granted nowadays. Rant over ...... 🙊
@@_Dougaldog any insurance service, not just car insurance, can’t be trusted. Take this general exclusion for example from Nationwide Home Insurance: ----- Any loss, damage, liability, cost or expense of any kind directly or indirectly caused by, or resulting from, the following: • mechanical, electrical or electronic fault or breakdown ------ Now at first reading you might think that simply applies to the equipment that has broken down. A fair reading, and probably the original intention of the drafted text. Read it again: “Any loss or damage”, “directly or indirectly caused”. Combine a faulty piece of equipment, which causes a fire, and subsequently causes total damage to your home. Is fire “any loss or damage?” Yes! Was fire “indirectly caused” by a faulty piece of equipment? Yes! It’s depressing on 2nd reading how little cover your insurance companies actually provide.
Hertz should be directing this claim for a failed headlight to the car's manufacturer and not to the end hiring customer, as the headlight would still be covered by the manufacturer's warranty. (It would be interesting to check on the internet whether this vehicle is prone to headlight failures, as it is likely to be a complex LED unit, where the expensive starter module can fail completely). If the manufacturer's warranty does not cover their vehicles when they are being used for hire, then the cost of the failed headlight will need to be borne by Hertz as part of 'fair wear and tear'. The customer would only be liable for physical damage, as specified in the rental agreement. The customer should not be liable for failures due to substandard components present on vehicles that cannot sustain the rigours of being used for hire.
@@RichPober Judging by the colour temperature, it looks like this is a bog standard halogen bulb. Probably 10 euros for a new bulb. DR is an Italian brand. When I looked into it, they seem to be rebadged Chinese imports. I had never heard of the brand until the rental. These are cheap cars, and the example I drove had a €18000 euro list price. It comes with a very weak petrol engine and cheap tyres as standard. Regardless of construction and cause, it’s clearly a vehicle defect and should firmly be in the “rental car agencies problem”. Except, they aren’t playing right, and I’m the one suffering undue time and distress. My next course of action is probably the European Car Rental reconciliation service, and also a section 75 chargeback dispute with the credit card company should the charge end up being applied.
@@anthonydyer3939 This car is the Italian brand DR Automobiles, model DR4.0, which is a rebadged Chinese car. Their website does not show this model, but the DR5.0 that is shown looks identical, and it does have an LED option. The BBC ran a story in June 2024, "Car maker fined $6.4m for selling China-made vehicles as Italian". Maybe, with such a large fine, the manufacturer cannot afford to honour warranty claims of 10€ for a halogen bulb.
Hope you get the response you are looking for. Personally I wouldn’t even take any future car hire from them regardless of cost and inclusive extras. There you were trying be helpful and that’s what you get in return.
You seem to have taken the correct steps so far and hopefully Hertz will drop the claim against you. If they do not though a useful tip relates to “jurisdiction “ This can be a complicated subject but I suggest you check the contract . The question is was the contract completed in Munich or did you complete the contract with the hire company from your home in Aberdeenshire. I speak as a Scottish Lawyer not that far from you. Anyway good luck with the claim.
@@kilowatt3496 It’s a good point. The booking and payment was certainly made in Aberdeenshire. They verbally said the (very short) document I signed in Munich was not the contract, that was already agreed in the booking. Interestingly though the booking confirmation includes the terms and conditions, but not the damage excess amount or any copy I would consider to be a signed document. Hopefully this matter can be resolved without referring to such details. I’d hope that Hertz would take a view that this kind of action is not good for their brand image, and take steps to repair it, but I do fear that they could instead try to silence such criticism through legal threats of censorship instead.
Ok This must be stressful but I would not worry about any legal threats from Hertz. I am OK to have a chat with you when you get back to Uk. Not sure how comms works as I am not making my contact details public. By the way not looking for business as happily retired!!!
@@kilowatt3496 interesting rental terms in my booking confirmation: ------- These reservation terms cover your booking with us (Hertz Europe Service Centre Limited, a company registered in Ireland) and are governed by Irish law. Your rental terms will be given to you by the Hertz company that provides your rental vehicle and will be governed by local law. If you are a Gold customer, your Gold terms will apply to your rental. Acceptance of your reservation and completion of this contract for provision of a rental vehicle will occur when the vehicle is made available for your use on the agreed pick up date by the Hertz company providing your rental. ------ So my reading of this is that the contract is initiated in Germany when picking up the car, not when the reservation is made. So I guess that means German law applies. I’d hope German consumer protection laws are as good as the UK. But….. I placed the order on my credit card, so I’m guessing that means that UK consumer credit protections apply here, some how.
@@Tim_Small I hope you got a refund for your booking, but I guess you got no compensation for the time wasted, stress and inconvenience caused by rejecting an unroadworthy vehicle. But sidewall damage is especially dangerous and I'm appalled that put their customers and other road users at risk by attempt to rent out a vehicle in that condition. It's a shame from a police perspective it's the driver that's solely responsible for the car. There seems to be no redress against the rental company itself for this.
One extra thing I might do is date-stamp the pictures/ video on the device as a clear indicator, rather than just rely on the File details. Paranoid, but if they're trying it on, they might suggest you altered that data. Also, ask for a hard copy of the return report BEFORE leaving the premises, and if they refuse log pre-prepared email to their branch, or head office stating Return date/ time and "Returned with no further damage, requested inspection (Declined) Photo records available on request" I suppose you could even pre-print a copy and request THEY sign the document?
@@rogerstarkey5390 asking for a return report isn’t possible with out of hours returns. But in those instances the photos will show the location and I flash up my watch to show the date/time of return. I also video myself dropping the keys into the key box in case non return or late returns becomes a dispute.
I bet you would not have got this charge had you taken out Hertz's own insurance policy. They would not countenance charging their own insurer with a frivolous and fictitious damage claim.
@@RichPober The question is: would you place that bet each time you took out a hire car? You’d end up worse off even if they did have a legitimate charge that one time.
@@ar0n375 todays reply from Hertz: Thank you for your inquiry. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns and apologize for the delay in our response. I have reviewed the damage charge billed on the above rental and have attached supporting documentation. This indicates that the damage occurred during your rental and therefore the charges are correct. The attached pre inspection form shows that the vehicle was accepted without any prior damage caused to the front left headlamp. Therefore we have determined that as the damage occurred during your rental you are responsible for the cost of repair. The document you sent us unfortunately does not prove that the damage was pre-existing. When a customer rents a vehicle, he or she accepts responsibility for the vehicle and its equipment. If the vehicle is damaged during the rental, the customer will be held responsible regardless the fault and charged the appropriate repair costs. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you again for contacting us and we look forward to serving you in the future. --- They sent no attachment
It seems they haven't even stated what the damage to the headlight is supposed to be. Shocking treatment.
Hire companies are just a nightmare. I always do a full video run round before and after use, along with photos. It’s proved useful more than once as they’ll try anything. It annoys me that they bill for previous damage that has never been fixed. Cheeky. Never paid and always disputed.
@@imamiddleagedman just imagine if hotels did the same for little scuffs and scratches found in your hotel room. They would go out of business in less than a year under the weight of disrepute. Why the hire car companies havent is a mystery.
Rental companies are often terrible, Alamo Budapest was an exception for me.
Part way through the rental, the car suffered some quite obvious damage while parked, so I was dreading returning the car.
When returning the car guy came out, took detailed photos of the car, and then said thankyou.
Shortly after, whilst at the airport waiting for my flight, I received the damage report by email. There were photos with the car park damage circled, damage on the wing mirror circled (that I had not even noticed before) along with a couple of stone chips circled. Right below the photos were the words "No damage charges"
I didn't even have any kind of insurance or excess waiver with Alamo, as I had taken out my own separate hire car insurance.
It's nice to get a positive experience every once in a while. Instead of giving me the hassle of filing an insurance claim, now instead they have a repeat customer
@@arcadeuk Good to hear your experience. I’ve long since associated Hertz, Avis, National, Enterprise with being top tier rental brands. But Hertz is no longer on that list. I’m suspicious of Europcar after they screwed a colleague for a tiny door dent, but they’ve been ok to me so far.
I guess Alamo is worth looking up. I’m even thinking that rent-a-wreck in Norway might be worth investigating.
Best hire car company so far has been Bella Coola Vehicle Rentals. They don’t have a global reach sadly.
@@anthonydyer3939 Reviews indicate that good and bad experiences are not consistent with any rental company (and some lesser companies only receive negative reviews and appear to implement damage charges as part of their business model)
I was involved with a company for several years that bulk ordered cars from Europcar for several years (thousands per year) and don't remember damage claims being high.
Best of luck resolving your frivolous Hertz damage claim 👍
Had a similar issue when hiring a car from Aberdeen to East Midlands airport one way. They came at my employer for a damaged windscreen but I did the same as you and was able to defend myself and my employer that the damaged was already there as pictured. Where I failed was I didn’t go back into the office in Aberdeen, the one beside Richard factory to have the original damaged sheet updated to show the screen damage. Always do now. That headlight is 100% fault and not damage
Hire companies ! Hold my beer Daphne, yes and my jacket. Record everything.
Useful educational video. Hope the incident gets resolved soon 👍🏻.
When on business I always took the insurance and also made sure that it covered the windscren, it doesnt always even with full coverage.
It's a terrible indictment of modern society where you have to cover your own back at every turn.
With car rentals especially taking the biscuit, where customers get treated like rubbish at times.
Car insurance services are another that seem to take their customers for granted nowadays.
Rant over ...... 🙊
@@_Dougaldog any insurance service, not just car insurance, can’t be trusted. Take this general exclusion for example from Nationwide Home Insurance:
-----
Any loss, damage, liability, cost or expense of any kind directly or indirectly caused
by, or resulting from, the following:
• mechanical, electrical or electronic fault or breakdown
------
Now at first reading you might think that simply applies to the equipment that has broken down. A fair reading, and probably the original intention of the drafted text.
Read it again: “Any loss or damage”, “directly or indirectly caused”. Combine a faulty piece of equipment, which causes a fire, and subsequently causes total damage to your home. Is fire “any loss or damage?” Yes! Was fire “indirectly caused” by a faulty piece of equipment? Yes!
It’s depressing on 2nd reading how little cover your insurance companies actually provide.
Moral of the story:
Avoid Hertz.
@@RichPoberyes, but who should I choose instead? There’s plenty of horror stories with all the major rental companies.
Hertz should be directing this claim for a failed headlight to the car's manufacturer and not to the end hiring customer, as the headlight would still be covered by the manufacturer's warranty. (It would be interesting to check on the internet whether this vehicle is prone to headlight failures, as it is likely to be a complex LED unit, where the expensive starter module can fail completely).
If the manufacturer's warranty does not cover their vehicles when they are being used for hire, then the cost of the failed headlight will need to be borne by Hertz as part of 'fair wear and tear'.
The customer would only be liable for physical damage, as specified in the rental agreement.
The customer should not be liable for failures due to substandard components present on vehicles that cannot sustain the rigours of being used for hire.
@@RichPober Judging by the colour temperature, it looks like this is a bog standard halogen bulb. Probably 10 euros for a new bulb.
DR is an Italian brand. When I looked into it, they seem to be rebadged Chinese imports. I had never heard of the brand until the rental. These are cheap cars, and the example I drove had a €18000 euro list price. It comes with a very weak petrol engine and cheap tyres as standard.
Regardless of construction and cause, it’s clearly a vehicle defect and should firmly be in the “rental car agencies problem”. Except, they aren’t playing right, and I’m the one suffering undue time and distress.
My next course of action is probably the European Car Rental reconciliation service, and also a section 75 chargeback dispute with the credit card company should the charge end up being applied.
@@anthonydyer3939 This car is the Italian brand DR Automobiles, model DR4.0, which is a rebadged Chinese car.
Their website does not show this model, but the DR5.0 that is shown looks identical, and it does have an LED option.
The BBC ran a story in June 2024, "Car maker fined $6.4m for selling China-made vehicles as Italian".
Maybe, with such a large fine, the manufacturer cannot afford to honour warranty claims of 10€ for a halogen bulb.
Hope you get the response you are looking for. Personally I wouldn’t even take any future car hire from them regardless of cost and inclusive extras. There you were trying be helpful and that’s what you get in return.
You seem to have taken the correct steps so far and hopefully Hertz will drop the claim against you. If they do not though a useful tip relates to “jurisdiction “ This can be a complicated subject but I suggest you check the contract . The question is was the contract completed in Munich or did you complete the contract with the hire company from your home in Aberdeenshire. I speak as a Scottish Lawyer not that far from you. Anyway good luck with the claim.
@@kilowatt3496 It’s a good point. The booking and payment was certainly made in Aberdeenshire. They verbally said the (very short) document I signed in Munich was not the contract, that was already agreed in the booking. Interestingly though the booking confirmation includes the terms and conditions, but not the damage excess amount or any copy I would consider to be a signed document.
Hopefully this matter can be resolved without referring to such details. I’d hope that Hertz would take a view that this kind of action is not good for their brand image, and take steps to repair it, but I do fear that they could instead try to silence such criticism through legal threats of censorship instead.
Ok This must be stressful but I would not worry about any legal threats from Hertz. I am OK to have a chat with you when you get back to Uk. Not sure how comms works as I am not making my contact details public. By the way not looking for business as happily retired!!!
@@kilowatt3496 interesting rental terms in my booking confirmation:
-------
These reservation terms cover your booking with us (Hertz Europe Service Centre Limited, a company registered in Ireland) and are governed by Irish law.
Your rental terms will be given to you by the Hertz company that provides your rental vehicle and will be governed by local law. If you are a Gold customer, your Gold terms will apply to your rental.
Acceptance of your reservation and completion of this contract for provision of a rental vehicle will occur when the vehicle is made available for your use on the agreed pick up date by the Hertz company providing your rental.
------
So my reading of this is that the contract is initiated in Germany when picking up the car, not when the reservation is made. So I guess that means German law applies. I’d hope German consumer protection laws are as good as the UK.
But….. I placed the order on my credit card, so I’m guessing that means that UK consumer credit protections apply here, some how.
Good luck Anthony , shocking treatment
Augsburg Hertz flatly refused to record existing wheel and tyre damage before I left with the vehicle. In the end I had to walk away with no car.
I should add that the tyre side wall damage was significant and probably enough to render it illegal to drive. Certainly not safe.
@@Tim_Small I hope you got a refund for your booking, but I guess you got no compensation for the time wasted, stress and inconvenience caused by rejecting an unroadworthy vehicle.
But sidewall damage is especially dangerous and I'm appalled that put their customers and other road users at risk by attempt to rent out a vehicle in that condition. It's a shame from a police perspective it's the driver that's solely responsible for the car. There seems to be no redress against the rental company itself for this.
Steve Lehto has 101 videos on Herts
I just watched one of his videos. If I watched the rest, I would probably remain perpetually angry.
One extra thing I might do is date-stamp the pictures/ video on the device as a clear indicator, rather than just rely on the File details. Paranoid, but if they're trying it on, they might suggest you altered that data.
Also, ask for a hard copy of the return report BEFORE leaving the premises, and if they refuse log pre-prepared email to their branch, or head office stating Return date/ time and "Returned with no further damage, requested inspection (Declined) Photo records available on request"
I suppose you could even pre-print a copy and request THEY sign the document?
@@rogerstarkey5390 asking for a return report isn’t possible with out of hours returns. But in those instances the photos will show the location and I flash up my watch to show the date/time of return. I also video myself dropping the keys into the key box in case non return or late returns becomes a dispute.
Assuming you paid by credit card challenge the bill via the credit card company and seek compensation.
@@donaldjackson6659 I’ll be doing that, but the question is can i preemptively challenge a charge that hasn’t been applied to the card yet?
💙💙💙
I bet you would not have got this charge had you taken out Hertz's own insurance policy.
They would not countenance charging their own insurer with a frivolous and fictitious damage claim.
@@RichPober The question is: would you place that bet each time you took out a hire car? You’d end up worse off even if they did have a legitimate charge that one time.
Update when you do get a reply!
@@ar0n375 todays reply from Hertz:
Thank you for your inquiry. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns and apologize for the delay in our response.
I have reviewed the damage charge billed on the above rental and have attached supporting documentation. This indicates that the damage occurred during your rental and therefore the charges are correct.
The attached pre inspection form shows that the vehicle was accepted without any prior damage caused to the front left headlamp. Therefore we have determined that as the damage occurred during your rental you are responsible for the cost of repair.
The document you sent us unfortunately does not prove that the damage was pre-existing.
When a customer rents a vehicle, he or she accepts responsibility for the vehicle and its equipment. If the vehicle is damaged during the rental, the customer will be held responsible regardless the fault and charged the appropriate repair costs.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you again for contacting us and we look forward to serving you in the future.
---
They sent no attachment