Additional charges after car hire dropoff
Discussion
I recently hired a car for 10 days in Hawaii for a holiday. When I dropped it off, the car was checked over by their drop off person who checked it for damage, checked the milage and so on, and gave me an invoice (which included an extra fee for refueling, as we hadn't done this). So far, so good.
2 weeks after the trip I received a letter claiming that the car had been excessively dirty at drop off, and therefore they have taken an additional $75 fee from my card (they have done this).
Is this reasonable\legal? Below is the 'proof' they sent me - I'm not claiming the car was spotless, but its also not full of sand, nor was the condition hidden in any way - there is a small amount in the footwells, and specifically the 'check over the car' guy didn't pick it up - if they had (and we'd been threatened with a $75 cleaning fee) we'd simply have nipped the car to the nearest 'gas station' and vacuumed it out for $1.
Just to add - this isn't one of the small 'rent it cheap and sting you later' operations, this is one of the biggest hire car companies in the world (with whom I rent ~5 times a year at other locations), and the fee for the rental (£300) was not excessively cheap - it was in line with what other options were charging.
2 weeks after the trip I received a letter claiming that the car had been excessively dirty at drop off, and therefore they have taken an additional $75 fee from my card (they have done this).
Is this reasonable\legal? Below is the 'proof' they sent me - I'm not claiming the car was spotless, but its also not full of sand, nor was the condition hidden in any way - there is a small amount in the footwells, and specifically the 'check over the car' guy didn't pick it up - if they had (and we'd been threatened with a $75 cleaning fee) we'd simply have nipped the car to the nearest 'gas station' and vacuumed it out for $1.
Just to add - this isn't one of the small 'rent it cheap and sting you later' operations, this is one of the biggest hire car companies in the world (with whom I rent ~5 times a year at other locations), and the fee for the rental (£300) was not excessively cheap - it was in line with what other options were charging.
Been there, had the same happen. Legal? Yeah they can charge you for what they deem is reasonable - although I'd agree given you were on a tropical island it isn't untoward to have sand in the car after a holiday. Not that it helps you now, but every time we've been back to Kauai we've made sure to empty the car of any rubbish and sand before returning to avoid this kind of thing. You could try appealing it, but they're likely to fob you off with corporate policy. Good luck.
Madness.
It'll have taken them longer to take the pics and do all the admin than it did to vacuum up the sand.
Try a complaint to their main customer services. I've had lads of hassle from Hertz (I know it might not have been them) in the US but they always sorted it in the end. Got too much hassle though and I booked with someone else from my next trip.
It'll have taken them longer to take the pics and do all the admin than it did to vacuum up the sand.
Try a complaint to their main customer services. I've had lads of hassle from Hertz (I know it might not have been them) in the US but they always sorted it in the end. Got too much hassle though and I booked with someone else from my next trip.
Just a personal observation, but I wouldn't drop off a hired car in that condition. But then I always top up the fuel at the airport before drop off. And pay for all the extra insurances.
I have a theory, entirely unsubstantiated, that you can either pay the extras upfront through insurance waivers, or after you drop off through surcharges. Blame the internet and the race to the bottom cut-throat pricing competition that comes with it. Simple logic tells you that companies can't stay in business at the webeatanyprice.com sticker price, and won't get any business if they advertise the real price. So the reality is in the small print.
For example I'm going on a short trip tomorrow. I'm renting a car at Birmingham airport for 24 hours. I could have got it for £50 but I'm paying £75 with the surcharges. But I'm certain I won't be charged more. Then I'm flying to Edinburgh on FlyBe. I could have got the same seat for £49 or £71. I paid £71. I didn't bother checking the small print but I am certain I won't be surcharged at the check-in for wearing the wrong colour tie.
I have a theory, entirely unsubstantiated, that you can either pay the extras upfront through insurance waivers, or after you drop off through surcharges. Blame the internet and the race to the bottom cut-throat pricing competition that comes with it. Simple logic tells you that companies can't stay in business at the webeatanyprice.com sticker price, and won't get any business if they advertise the real price. So the reality is in the small print.
For example I'm going on a short trip tomorrow. I'm renting a car at Birmingham airport for 24 hours. I could have got it for £50 but I'm paying £75 with the surcharges. But I'm certain I won't be charged more. Then I'm flying to Edinburgh on FlyBe. I could have got the same seat for £49 or £71. I paid £71. I didn't bother checking the small print but I am certain I won't be surcharged at the check-in for wearing the wrong colour tie.
I actually have excess insurance through my credit card (amex platinum) - but I don't think it covers this as it's not damage - the same for the in-house policy, this fee isn't against the excess, its a separate 'soiling fee'. Full package insurance would have cost more for 10 days than the $75 so I guess the point is moot anyway..
the exclusion section of my car excess policy said:
Any fines and punitive damages.
I guess I have two problems with the charge - one is the amount of dirt is clearly negligable, given they hoover the cars out after every use anyway (and the fact I was told the car was 'beach ready' (it was a wrangler)). The second is that the guy we dropped it off with, who did the check-in clearly thought it was ok; Can car rental companies ding you for whatever they like after drop off? If so what's the point in the procedure? I kinda get a late charge if I'd hidden a load of damage or filled the tank with water or whatever but this was clearly visible at all times during the drop-off :/Edited by 5lab on Thursday 28th February 07:34
hutchst said:
Just a personal observation, but I wouldn't drop off a hired car in that condition. But then I always top up the fuel at the airport before drop off. And pay for all the extra insurances.
I have a theory, entirely unsubstantiated, that you can either pay the extras upfront through insurance waivers, or after you drop off through surcharges. Blame the internet and the race to the bottom cut-throat pricing competition that comes with it. Simple logic tells you that companies can't stay in business at the webeatanyprice.com sticker price, and won't get any business if they advertise the real price. So the reality is in the small print.
For example I'm going on a short trip tomorrow. I'm renting a car at Birmingham airport for 24 hours. I could have got it for £50 but I'm paying £75 with the surcharges. But I'm certain I won't be charged more. Then I'm flying to Edinburgh on FlyBe. I could have got the same seat for £49 or £71. I paid £71. I didn't bother checking the small print but I am certain I won't be surcharged at the check-in for wearing the wrong colour tie.
I never pay for the extra insurance cover or any other extras. I have a theory, entirely unsubstantiated, that you can either pay the extras upfront through insurance waivers, or after you drop off through surcharges. Blame the internet and the race to the bottom cut-throat pricing competition that comes with it. Simple logic tells you that companies can't stay in business at the webeatanyprice.com sticker price, and won't get any business if they advertise the real price. So the reality is in the small print.
For example I'm going on a short trip tomorrow. I'm renting a car at Birmingham airport for 24 hours. I could have got it for £50 but I'm paying £75 with the surcharges. But I'm certain I won't be charged more. Then I'm flying to Edinburgh on FlyBe. I could have got the same seat for £49 or £71. I paid £71. I didn't bother checking the small print but I am certain I won't be surcharged at the check-in for wearing the wrong colour tie.
I do take out separate cover at a fraction of the price and look after the car as I would my own.
Never had any subsequent charges or had to claim on the insurance.
Not trolling but I feel like I'm maybe in a minority when it comes to other people's property. I would've dropped it off in the condition it was given to me in. I treat other people's cars with pretty much the same level of respect as my own.
If all it would've taken is "nipping to the nearest gas station and vacuuming it out for $1" then that's what I would've done.
EDIT: That's not to say that I don't think $75 is necessarily disproportionate, but presumably they don't itemise every possible rectification cost.
If all it would've taken is "nipping to the nearest gas station and vacuuming it out for $1" then that's what I would've done.
EDIT: That's not to say that I don't think $75 is necessarily disproportionate, but presumably they don't itemise every possible rectification cost.
Edited by Durzel on Thursday 28th February 08:25
Durzel said:
Not trolling but I feel like I'm maybe in a minority when it comes to other people's property. I would've dropped it off in the condition it was given to me in. I treat other people's cars with pretty much the same level of respect as my own.
If all it would've taken is "nipping to the nearest gas station and vacuuming it out for $1" then that's what I would've done.
That’s what I would have done as well.If all it would've taken is "nipping to the nearest gas station and vacuuming it out for $1" then that's what I would've done.
TheRainMaker said:
Durzel said:
Not trolling but I feel like I'm maybe in a minority when it comes to other people's property. I would've dropped it off in the condition it was given to me in. I treat other people's cars with pretty much the same level of respect as my own.
If all it would've taken is "nipping to the nearest gas station and vacuuming it out for $1" then that's what I would've done.
That’s what I would have done as well.If all it would've taken is "nipping to the nearest gas station and vacuuming it out for $1" then that's what I would've done.
Incidentally, my own car has way more crap in its footwells than this - so maybe I'm just blind to it
5lab said:
TheRainMaker said:
Durzel said:
Not trolling but I feel like I'm maybe in a minority when it comes to other people's property. I would've dropped it off in the condition it was given to me in. I treat other people's cars with pretty much the same level of respect as my own.
If all it would've taken is "nipping to the nearest gas station and vacuuming it out for $1" then that's what I would've done.
That’s what I would have done as well.If all it would've taken is "nipping to the nearest gas station and vacuuming it out for $1" then that's what I would've done.
Incidentally, my own car has way more crap in its footwells than this - so maybe I'm just blind to it
30 secs at the petrol station when you topped it up before going back would be all you needed to do (not that you did that either
)I agree with you though, they should have said something at drop off, its a bit below the belt tbh.
stitched said:
If the car had been in that state when I picked it up I’d have asked for a clean one, on returning it I’d have put it in the same clean condition.
Really? Do you wash your plate before leaving a restaurant too? Do the hire conditions say you have to clean it?The bottom line is that the hire company has to clean the car before the next person picks it up anyway and will do it regardless of whether you've cleaned it first, so unless you've soiled it to the point where it wouldn't be sorted with a standard clean and vac there should be no issue.
In this case I might have given the floor mats a shake-out before returning the car just to avoid any argument, but nothing more than that.
I'm not sure the restaurant plates and hotel beds are a great analogy.
You eat off the plates and you sleep in the beds, obviously that means the plates and sheets are going to be dirty (or at least unhygienic) from ordinary use, and can't be used for the next "hirer" without cleaning them. That's factored into the price you pay.
I wouldn't wash a hire car, unless it was obviously dirty to the point where I thought it would be remarked upon, but there's no reason for footwells in cars to be that dirty except through careless behaviour. If you can hire the car without s
tting up the footwells - which obviously you can - then it's exceptional.
Using the hotel analogy, if I got st (hopefully not literally) on the carpet I'd want to clean it up, not figure "meh I rented the whole room so it's all fair game". There's a difference in my mind between dirty carpets - for example - then slept in sheets.
You eat off the plates and you sleep in the beds, obviously that means the plates and sheets are going to be dirty (or at least unhygienic) from ordinary use, and can't be used for the next "hirer" without cleaning them. That's factored into the price you pay.
I wouldn't wash a hire car, unless it was obviously dirty to the point where I thought it would be remarked upon, but there's no reason for footwells in cars to be that dirty except through careless behaviour. If you can hire the car without s
tting up the footwells - which obviously you can - then it's exceptional.Using the hotel analogy, if I got s
t (hopefully not literally) on the carpet I'd want to clean it up, not figure "meh I rented the whole room so it's all fair game". There's a difference in my mind between dirty carpets - for example - then slept in sheets.BMWBen said:
The bottom line is that the hire company has to clean the car before the next person picks it up anyway and will do it regardless of whether you've cleaned it first, so unless you've soiled it to the point where it wouldn't be sorted with a standard clean and vac there should be no issue.
Agree with this statement. Those photos show nothing more than a bit of sand that would be removed by their usual clean and you shouldn't be charged extra.Definitely worth an email to customer services along the lines of "can you outline your standard cleaning process and the extra that had to be undertaken to remove the sand".
deckster said:
BMWBen said:
The bottom line is that the hire company has to clean the car before the next person picks it up anyway and will do it regardless of whether you've cleaned it first, so unless you've soiled it to the point where it wouldn't be sorted with a standard clean and vac there should be no issue.
Agree with this statement. Those photos show nothing more than a bit of sand that would be removed by their usual clean and you shouldn't be charged extra.Definitely worth an email to customer services along the lines of "can you outline your standard cleaning process and the extra that had to be undertaken to remove the sand".
Speaking from the other side of this.
I used to work for a dealership collecting / delivering customers cars for work, dropping them a loan car etc.
One occasion I picked up our loan car from a customer about 30 miles away from the dealership and the next customer it was going to lived about 5 miles away from where I picked it up so I was told rather than return to base to just take the loan car straight there.
It was still in a decent state, cleaner than 95% of people keep their own cars when I dropped it off.
They guy I dropped it to kicked up a fuss about it being dirty (never mind that his car was a tip) anyway he took the car and I took his away for the service.
Upon collection of the loan car he was still a grumpy knob but he hadn't done any damage to the car and the inside was no dirtier so off I went.
Got back to base and realised the prick had put a bag of builders / cement sand in the boot and slit it open and spread it.
It would usually take me 15-20 mins to a do a service wash on a car which involved a decent hoover round and wash and dry the outside.
It took about 2 hours to get that fking sand out so I can fully understand if you have left a fair bit of sand in all the footwells its going to take considerable more than just the regular 5 min hoover to make it "presentable" again.
But as others have said this should have been brought up when you dropped off the car not retrospectively
I used to work for a dealership collecting / delivering customers cars for work, dropping them a loan car etc.
One occasion I picked up our loan car from a customer about 30 miles away from the dealership and the next customer it was going to lived about 5 miles away from where I picked it up so I was told rather than return to base to just take the loan car straight there.
It was still in a decent state, cleaner than 95% of people keep their own cars when I dropped it off.
They guy I dropped it to kicked up a fuss about it being dirty (never mind that his car was a tip) anyway he took the car and I took his away for the service.
Upon collection of the loan car he was still a grumpy knob but he hadn't done any damage to the car and the inside was no dirtier so off I went.
Got back to base and realised the prick had put a bag of builders / cement sand in the boot and slit it open and spread it.
It would usually take me 15-20 mins to a do a service wash on a car which involved a decent hoover round and wash and dry the outside.
It took about 2 hours to get that f
king sand out so I can fully understand if you have left a fair bit of sand in all the footwells its going to take considerable more than just the regular 5 min hoover to make it "presentable" again.But as others have said this should have been brought up when you dropped off the car not retrospectively
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