Rental Car Situation

[veryape]

<< Your father, as an attorney, should be the first to advise you "Caveat Emptor". You do not have a case. Pay the bill.
You signed a contract, no damage noted. You'll lose this, sorry to say. I can tell by your attitude that you are not one to accept accountablility.
What I see is that you signed off your name, as any in a hurry, less than mature adult did. Now you don't like the consequences, so you want to try and twist the legalities. GROW THE F*CK UP! >>

Give me a break, if you were in the situation of having to pay almost $700 damage, you would bring it to court to. Don't give me that crap that it wouldn't happen to you because you would have inspected the car before accepting responsibility for it blah blah blah, because people do things when they are in a hurry and if you say you don't or haven't then you are a liar. Anyone who would just pay for this without a fight would be the one who needs to grow up and get some balls.

 

[KK]

<< Your father, as an attorney, should be the first to advise you "Caveat Emptor". You do not have a case. Pay the bill.
You signed a contract, no damage noted. You'll lose this, sorry to say. I can tell by your attitude that you are not one to accept accountablility.
What I see is that you signed off your name, as any in a hurry, less than mature adult did. Now you don't like the consequences, so you want to try and twist the legalities. GROW THE F*CK UP! >>



Spoken like a true idiot.

Anyways, I would do as much as I could do to cause them to suffer money wise. They probably have you legally bound to pay with the contract and all, but that doesn't make it fair. Just keep resisting it'll probably cost them atleast half of what they are seeking.

KK

 

[helloedchen]

i think this is gonna be a hard fight. i've rented a total of 2 cars my whole life, and each time i have checked before hand and after to make sure nothing is wrong. i still buy the damage protection because, sh*t happens outside that you can't control. so when you sign that contract, you are agreeing to what they are saying. which is, you have inspected the car, and anything after that happens in your possesion is your responsibility.

put yourself in their shoes, they have no idea if this happened before or after, but they are sure that due to the contract that, if it wasn't on there before, and it is now, that's your fault. doesn't matter if you called 15 mins afterwards, accidents can happen in 2 seconds outside the lot. btw, im not saying it was you, im just stating what they are thinking...

right now, its your word against theres...and they've got the upper hand right now imo.

 

[StageLeft]

That sucks but i don't see what you can do. I guess we can all learn from it though to check cars before rental; I otherwise would not have likely checked one out either.

 

[Rudee]

Rental car agencies see this kind of thing all the time, where a person damages the car and claims he or she was not responsible. If I wasn't reported on the initial walkthrough before you took the car, you're responsible. Phoning them 20 minutes later to inform them of the damage looks very suspicious. A guilty person would do the same thing if they didn't have any insurance on the rental. You will end up paying for it. By the way, the old "my father is a attorney" gargbage is something they hear all the time. Why did you assume they did not know about that damage if it was previously there? Would you not of been confident that they already knew about the damage, thus no need for the panic phone call? The phone call is making your case much much worse, as it reeks of guilt.

 

[Rudee]

<<
Anyways, I would do as much as I could do to cause them to suffer money wise. They probably have you legally bound to pay with the contract and all, but that doesn't make it fair. Just keep resisting it'll probably cost them atleast half of what they are seeking.

KK >>



Doesn't matter. The rental car company will easily win this case and will recover all legal costs in the process. They are not going to abandon this case because they fear it may cost them more money. They are well schooled on what to do in these circumstances and they will not falter until judgement has been passed by a court of law. Stall and bicker all you want, you'll still end up paying in the end. I'll say again, the phone call 20 minutes after leaving the rental car company looks extremely suspicious, and will actually work against you, than for you.

 

[apoppin]

Did you pay cash or use a credit card to rent your car?

I didn't see this anywhere. My VISA Gold will cover this kind of damage.

 

[trulfe]

If you would read my posts I never spoke with them threatening them or saying my father was an attorney etc. We send an official legal document from the law office notifying them of my position. As I can see, you are from Canada and obviously laws are different as they are in every state in the US. They will have to take me to small claims court in which they will not be able to have any legal representation. If only the law was so simple to say you will defintely lose because of this or that, we wouldnt need lawyers.

 

[trulfe]

<< Did you pay cash or use a credit card to rent your car?

I didn't see this anywhere. My VISA Gold will cover this kind of damage. >>



i used a visa platnium card from MBNA to pay for it.

 

[apoppin]

<< i used a visa platnium card from MBNA to pay for it. >>



WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Call them now.

You should be covered.

 

[Rudee]

<< If you would read my posts I never spoke with them threatening them or saying my father was an attorney etc. We send an official legal document from the law office notifying them of my position. As I can see, you are from Canada and obviously laws are different as they are in every state in the US. They will have to take me to small claims court in which they will not be able to have any legal representation. If only the law was so simple to say you will defintely lose because of this or that, we wouldnt need lawyers. >>



It's not going to be a easy fight. The case you appear to making regarding the distance it takes to drive to your appartment and make the call - thus no time for an accident to occur - is futile. A small claims court judge won't even bother to get into it. It means nothing. I can easily back out of my garage, turn a hard left and hit my garbage shute, wich would cause equal damage to my car. This would take a fraction of a second. I wouldn't need to stop; thus the possibility of this happening "suddenly" and without hesitation is very possible. Like I said, the phone call you made to the rental car office looks very suspicious. A judge will wonder why you were so much in a hurry that you couldn't properly check the car over; yet only minutes later the damage was very apparent to you. A Judge will also wonder why you made the phone call in the first place. By making that phone call 20 minutes later, you're bringing attention to the damage, which the rental car company should of already been aware of. And if they weren't aware of it, how would you have known? How did you know they didn't know about it, thus taking the liberty of informing them of the damage? Some of your actions are out of character - thus questionable.

But the bottom line is, you signed the agreement stating the cars previous condition before you even turned over the ignition. This is the reason why rental car companies have the agreement in the first place. It's to cover their a$$es in times like this. You're entitled to coverage if you choose so, in the form of rental insurance. If you decline the coverage, then you legally don't have a leg to stand on. Them's the breaks....

 

[trulfe]

<<

<< i used a visa platnium card from MBNA to pay for it. >>



WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Call them now.

You should be covered.

>>




ill look into that. thanks for the info.

 

[apoppin]

<< ill look into that. thanks for the info. >>


You're welcome. Please let us know the results.

Platinium benefits.



<< Please call your issuing financial institution directly to verify the specific benefits included with your Visa card.

Auto Rental Insurance
Emergency Cash & Card
Lost/Stolen Card Reporting
Purchase Security
Travel & Emergency Assistance
Travel Accident Insurance
Warranty Manager

Auto Rental Insurance

Auto Rental Insurance Effective 3/1/02

What is this insurance?
Visa Platinum Auto Rental Insurance provides?at no additional charge?coverage on a 24-hour basis for damage due to collision or theft up to the actual cash value of most rental vehicles when certain terms and conditions are met. Answers to some commonly asked questions about the program follow below.

Who is eligible?
You, and your spouse, are eligible only if you are a cardholder whose name is embossed on a valid U.S.-issued Visa Platinum card. Only you and any additional drivers permitted by the car rental agreement are covered.

What is covered?
Visa Platinum Auto Rental Insurance reimburses you for the repair or replacement of covered losses to a rental vehicle while it is your responsibility. Only covered vehicle rental periods that neither exceed nor are intended to exceed 15 consecutive days within your domiciled country or 31 consecutive days outside your domiciled country are covered.

The program provides coverage up to the actual cash value of the vehicle as it was originally manufactured. Most private passenger automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles are covered, but some restrictions may apply. Please contact the Program Administrator to inquire about a specific vehicle.

Within your domiciled country this insurance is secondary to any other valid and collectible insurance from any other source.

Covered losses are:

Physical damage and theft of the covered rental vehicle
>>



Relax . . . you should be fine.

 

[rawko]

Just pay up. NOTHING is worth ruining your credit rating. If your father is an attorney, you are wasting more this is worth in his time.

 

[Lvis]

If the terms of your mbna account are the same as mine... you're covered.