Skatering

I dropped my rental car at Kruger Airport (MQP) earlier today. The agent came over, and I immediately reported that the car I was given had a faulty boot release, and nobody's been able to open it. He acknowledges that, checks my car over, including the boot, and gives me the okay. I leave. I didn't get any paperwork, and neither did anyone else, and as this was my first rental as a Preferred member, I figured much of this is paperless now.

Ten minutes later, the man finds me in the bag drop queue, and tells me that he's noticed a very significant scratch, and that I need to come with him. I immediately deny it, but offer to come and look. Sure enough, there was a huge horizontal horseshoe scratch on the bumper that I never saw, he never saw when I was there, and couldn't have feasibly happened unless someone acted deliberately.

After watching so many scams in Africa, and having done my best to resist them, my immediate thoughts were: I'm a solo female traveller, with third party insurance, who has no time to argue as her flight's closing soon, and who reported the car as faulty. They know this car will be out of action while it's fixed so why not put a scratch in it so they can make some money from the repairs and with loss of use charges.

I didn't tell them this, but I did say that he checked this car over and told me it was okay, and that he can't come to me after I've given the car back with mysteriously appearing damage. He was very sheepish and said there was no way he could've done it. (He could, if he wanted to, and in seconds.) I reiterated that once the car has been returned and okay'ed, that's that. He insisted I go to the desk and fill out a damage report, but didn't escort me to ensure I did. I chose to anyway, and met with another sheepish agent, who didn't attempt to defend my observations that the damage appeared after I left. I gave them my details, but stated clearly in the report that this damage occurred after I'd returned the car and I was not admitting liability. He said he would give it to his manager tomorrow to deal with.

I walked away with no receipt, or no copy of the damage report. That was a mistake I made under the pressure of the situation.

I would suffer no financial loss in an incident like this, as my insurance excess is zero, and had that occurred on my watch and brought to my attention when I returned it, I would've happily accepted it. But my feeling was, and still is, that this was yet another tourist scam and I wasn't having any of it. I feel like I've lost a lot of faith in Avis as I thought this was a brand I could trust anywhere in the world.

Anyway, I'm either never going to hear from them again, they'll fight it to the death, or somewhere in between. Can anyone offer some advice on how I should handle this?

phalkon30

Similar situation a few years ago. I got a letter in the mail 3 months after I rented a car stating that I caused significant damage to one side of the vehicle, and I should send in my credit card info so they can bill me for repairs. I was enraged, I was never once told when I checked the car in that there was an issue and was handed a receipt when I left the car.

I called Avis (I think just the regular customer service number) and explained that I was never told about the damage, and would not send in my credit card number until I was shown proof that there was even damage, or that I caused it. The agent told me to simply write on the letter that I denied doing the damage and send it back. Never heard from Avis on the issue again, it was gone. It's like they were fishing for someone to pay for it. If it were me I'd wait until they contact you (which could be a while), then dispute it.

Another quick similar story, I was billed (again several months later) for $180 from Avis e-tolls. I always use my own I-Pass/EZ-Pass, so I knew it wasn't me. Long story short when I called they said they knew the EZ-Pass had been stolen the week before and removed the charges. They were fishing again!

I could keep going. If I didn't get such nice cars from them....I don't blame you for losing faith in Avis, I don't trust them at all.

Often1

Notify your third-party insurance immediately. Let them know what happened and let them deal with it. Among the things you pay for is peace of mind. You move on and the insurance people deal with the crooks.

For the future, never pick up a car without snapping pictures and never drop one off without snapping more.

ucfjoe

You've basically described the exact same issues I've encountered with Avis including the tolls with the exact same rationale for staying with them.