Originally Posted by
Edgerfly
Maybe you can write a contract to make you believe extortion is legal, but it's not. I'm a practicing attorney, and I can assure you these charges are not legal and would never hold up in court. Extortion is never legal. I can put it in a contract between you and me, word it anyway I'd like, have you sign it, and I still cannot enforce it. There's a reason rental car companies do not pursue people who challenge them on these frivolous charges, and do not send you to a collections agency. Because they know they are not legal charges, and could probably lead to a lot worse of a situation for them than for you.
That was superbly explained. One nitpick: I've always seen these practices referred to as Contracts of Adhesion, never as Extortion. Your experience indicates that the rental car companies don't want to fight it in court. However your tactic does impose costs on the issuing bank which is not at fault. They would seem to be within their rights to fire you as an unusually costly customer.