VHF vs. the auto rental company

[Vegas Halo Fan]

As I mentioned here a while back, I made a trip to Spokane in June for my stepdaughter's graduation from Eastern Washington University.  I got a package deal through Priceline for the airfare, a rental car and a hotel room. For the sake of discussion, let's call the car rental company Avis.

I rented a white 2017 Nissan Altima with about 25,000 miles on it. I looked around the car and I saw a few minor scuffs and scrapes, but nothing out of the way for a rental car with that many renters. The rental was uneventful until about a month after I got home, when I got a letter from a company called Viking. They identified themselves as a representative of Avis, and they informed me that I owed them almost $1,500 for damage to the vehicle during the time that I had it. Not a chance in Hell, honestly.

I did some research and I found a useful strategy from, of all places, the Christian Science Monitor. After reading it, I asked my new friends at Viking for the following:

Photos of the alleged damage

An itemized estimate from the repair shop for any necessary or performed repairs

A time-stamped photo of the vehicle immediately before I rented it

A time-stamped photo of the vehicle immediately after I returned it

A complete record of the rentals of the vehicle between the time that I returned it and the date of their request

Predictably, all that they provided was pictures of the various scuffs and dents on the vehicle, and a repair estimate. They failed to supply anything that might have weakened their case. When they sent me another letter, I went to the nuclear option of suggestions by the blogger on CSM: Filing a complaint with the Attorney General in the state where I rented the vehicle. Within about a week, I got a letter from my now BFF at Viking informing me that the claim had been closed. Washington was about to send the case to mediation, and Viking knew that the only thing that they could prove is that the vehicle has minor damage now.

So what happened? In my opinion, this vehicle was about to be cycled out of the fleet (based upon age and mileage), and they wanted to stick someone else with the bill of getting it in pristine condition to be sold off. In order to accomplish this, they would need for me to (a) accept that a rental vehicle with almost 25,000 miles on it was in perfect condition when I got it, (b) accept that a bunch of damage happened over a seven-day period without my knowledge after nothing in the previous 25,000 miles, and (c) be gullible enough not to fight back. I had also declined the loss damage waiver, which would have cost more than $50 per day and tripled the cost of the rental.

Needless to say, I will never rent from Avis again.

In case anyone wants to see my playbook, here it is.

[arch stanton]

I always point out every scratch and scuff before i take it. Photos beforehand. My personal strategy includes getting full names of everybody involved and informing them that I'll be filing complaints with every organization with a phone number. Maybe the consumer fraud department and the IRS and TSA don't care about you but we're all going to find out together

[Lou]

@Vegas Halo Fan  what type of company is Viking? 

[mancini79]

7 hours ago, Lou said:

@Vegas Halo Fan  what type of company is Viking? 

Viking is a collection agency. Just about all the car rentals companies use them except for Enterprise. Enterprise handles their claims in house and notifies the renter up front when the car is returned. If the Enterprise rep misses the damage when checking in the car, then that branch eats the cost of damage. 

VHF, a useful tool to use is requesting a copy of the last 10 rental contracts. Look at the car diagram if a previous Avis rep had already marked that damage. Of course Avis could have easily done this before sending a claim to Viking. I'm sure the damage had been on previous contracts. 

[Blarg]

I've used Enterprise almost exclusively for rental because they are close. I did rent from Avis in Montana. Got a brand new Subaru with only 800 miles on it and no one went out there to do a walk through, they just handed me the keys at the counter and told me where it was parked. Same on return, no check in once over, I just handed back the keys.

Never going to do that again. 

[gotbeer]

The other scam they try to pull is the out for maintenance fee.  If they have to take a car out for maintenance, they try and stick it on some renter for the money lost on renting the car. 

But yeah, I try and point out every little thing wrong with the car.  I love when, on a non smoking car, I point out the cigarrette burns on the seats.

[Lou]

2 hours ago, mancini79 said:

Viking is a collection agency. Just about all the car rentals companies use them except for Enterprise. Enterprise handles their claims in house and notifies the renter up front when the car is returned. If the Enterprise rep misses the damage when checking in the car, then that branch eats the cost of damage. 

VHF, a useful tool to use is requesting a copy of the last 10 rental contracts. Look at the car diagram if a previous Avis rep had already marked that damage. Of course Avis could have easily done this before sending a claim to Viking. I'm sure the damage had been on previous contracts. 

So strange. I was just wondering earlier this morning where you had been. 

Oh, and thanks. 

And he said Avis just for the sake of discussion! 

 

[nate]

I always rent from National, all they ever do is look at the gas gauge to see that I filled it back up before returning it.  Never had an issue.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Avis handed me the key and told me where the car was. There was no walkaround or recording of any information. That is something else that I could have used had they pushed it. It was raining when we arrived, so I didn't spend much time looking the car over. 

[Slegnaac]

Avis  at Edinburgh was really thorough about the condition of the car.  As I recall it included using a gage to measure scratches and dings.  So yes I had them mark down everything during the walk around.