I'm posting this here rather than in the National board as it's undoubtedly an issue some of you have run into with other rental car agencies...

I rent from National over 30 times a year, and have generally had nothing but positive experiences with them. As far as damage is concerned, they typically don't even look for minor scratches or dents as their vehicles are leased, unlike the Enterprise/Thrifty-type agencies that practically go over each car with a microscope before allowing you to rent it.

So you can imagine the surprise when this past Monday, I received a vague letter in my office mailbox from National's loss/damage claims department referencing damage to a rental returned on August 26. The letter advised me to file a claim with my insurance company and/or credit card issuer, and that National would send additional documentation within 30 days. Baffled as to what possible damage I could have caused, I called, and after sitting on hold for about 20 minutes, was told that the TrailBlazer had a "hanging rear bumper." No note was made of this upon return of the rental, and if the bumper had been hanging it's something I would have noticed when I picked up the SUV!

The rental was at RIC, so since I'm local I plan to go over to the National desk and ask the manager for a copy of the damage report. My thought was always that if no damage is noted upon the return, it's no longer my responsibility.

I've already filed a report with Visa's rental damage waiver folks (which, incidentally, are also here in RIC) and they advised that regardless of any dispute I have with National, they'll cover the claim 100% since I don't have collision or comprehensive coverage on my own auto policy.

National advises that I can fax them a dispute letter if I desire, but how much good is that likely to do? Should I just accept responsibility for the hanging bumper and let Visa handle it (no cost to me other than my time), or should I continue to question the validity of the claim and hope that National will drop it (mostly out of principle, as when the rental was in my hands there was no damage to the bumper, and why the heck did National wait so long to send me a letter about the alleged damage)?