Car hire group going the extra mile
ARENTAL car dispute involving hundreds of pounds of damage charges has been steered to a happy conclusion with a full refund for the customer. Young driver Clive Negus is mightily relieved because for two months he feared his day’s hire of a Renault Clio would turn out to be one of the most expensive things he had ever done.
The demand for £732 came out of the blue as he thought he had already settled with Enterprise Rent-A-Car for a small scuff.
“This extra charge is for something I did not do,” says Clive, who had never hired a vehicle prior to this.
After he returned the car to Enterprise’s Lincoln branch back in March it was subject to the standard check in his presence.
It was then that the mark was spotted and that was chargeable. Clive duly signed for that, paying £200. “But that was all that I agreed to and that was noted on the report,” he says.
The second invoice he was sent listed extensive repair work and included other fees for a cracked bumper and scratched paintwork.
Clive’s hire contract came with an excess payment on the insurance. For any problem deemed to be his fault he would be liable for the first £1,000. The branch explained it had investigated and that the two problem areas it had picked up were linked.
It also said no record of such damage existed prior to the hire although it did return a £45 administration fee.
“This must have happened after it was signed off,” adds Clive who took photographs of the mark he made but not the whole car. “That was a mistake on my part,” he admits, “as that would have proved my case beyond doubt.”
We asked Enterprise for a review and like Clive were delighted with the fair response which states: “We can see there’s a discrepancy between the damage shown on the change of condition form and work undertaken by the repairer.
“As it’s now impossible to separate out the cost of repairing the damage caused by Mr Negus we have decided to refund the customer the full amount.
“This case is now being investigated further by our operations team to see if it can highlight any necessary improvements needed for our damage process to avoid this happening in the future.
“We are happy we’ve been able to put this right and thank you for giving us the opportunity to do so.”