chipped windshield
 

I recently returned a car in France with a chipped windshield probably caused by gravel projection.

The Avis agent told me Avis did not charge for windshield damage. While I did have full insurance (CDW, TP, and deductible buyout) on this rental, and have yet to see the rental charge on my credit card, I am curious whether this practice is industry-standard.

Certainly few renters damage windshields through carelessness, but not charging for damage strikes me as unusually generous from any for-profit company.

[this is the only thread that I can find about cracked windscreens/windshields ... incredible !]

Contrary to monahos' experience below, I rented from Avis Hamburg last week and chipped the windshield - I pointed it out to the checkin guy and yesterday received a letter from Avis Germany (complete with digital pics) confirming that they're charging me €671 (around $840) :eek:

No argument from me that the damage occurred on my watch, but there was already a small chip on the windshield when I picked the car up (noted on the docs) - anyone had any experience with 'negotiating' the costs down in circumstances like this ?

[slightly ot, but I only ended up with Avis 'cos Sixt had screwed up my res, and the only thing Avis had available with satnav was a Merc CLK convertible :D - managed to get up to an indicated 225kph (around 140mph) with the lid down and the music blasting :D ]

StewieMac: congratulations on finding a 4-year-old post!

In June, we returned a Chrysler 300 to National, Vancouver with a windscreen chip. They later invoiced just under CAD300, which converted to around £157 IIRC. The 300 is a huge animal, so I can only assume you rented a Bentley to be charged that price. :eek:

In our case, the damage was covered by our AmEx Platinum card (charge card) and the refund has already appeared in my bank account. I'm a happy bunny. :)

I hope this is OT: I have the same type of AmEx card and I just wondered if you had any problems with getting them to pay the charges? I assume you charged the CAD300 to your AmEx and then AmEx deducted or did AmEx even bill you?

Thanks in advance---

Thanks

find-, find-, find-, findability, that's the beauty of search ! ;)

It was a Merc CLK, very nice motor but €671 seems like a fortune, which is why I was asking... sadly, after three days seems like I was much less fortunate than most who frequent the Avis forum. And it was on my regular BA Amex, so I think I'll have to get on the phone to them and do some begging.

Yes, National charged the CAD 300 to the card and I paid the AmEx bill.

The insurance company repaid me direct to my bank account.

Slightly OT, perhaps, but in the US some states require insurance companies to cover windshield damage with no deductable. I got a few free windshield replacements in my 20 years of driving in MA. ^