Hello,

I rented a car with Hertz in Slovenia. It was a brand new car that they gave me, and when I returned it, one person found scratches on the wheel cap and initially asked for 50EUR. I disputed that and said it was normal wear and tear. There were no scratches on the body of the car whatsoever and everything else was brand new -- except for truly minor scratches on the wheel cap of all places.

I argued with the guy for a few minutes, and he was even more mad and furious and said the 50EUR was the "minimum" charge and they upped the fee to the "normal" rate (which he looked up in a table) to 120EUR. You can imagine that I was even more furious at this point.

I said fine, whatever. I told the guy to screw himself (in English)... first time ever I used "colourful language" in a public instance. I have credit card coverage, but still, I was furious.

Obviously I can easily go through my credit card and get my 120EUR back. But is there anything I can do? I feel like I should complain to Hertz in Europe or even the global Hertz HQ and file a formal complaint about this person -- although I don't have proof that he upped the "repair" cost from 50EUR to 120EUR. What should I do, if any?

Thanks.

Did you take a picture of the damage? It's always difficult to argue these points after the fact, when it turns into a he-says-she-says thing. If you did cause a scratch, it will either fall into the 'too small to care' category, or the 'minor charge for minor damage' category. If it is the latter, €50 sounds about right, given the ensuing admin. You may disagree, and I suspect either a letter to Hertz follows, or a dispute with your credit card, the latter of which may have a higher deductible. But, as I said, I wasn't there and you don't seem to have photo proof.

Sounds to me like he was about to pocket the 50euros but when you refused to pay brought the "official" charge into play. ALWAYS always take pics before you drive away and on return. It's about the only evidence you'll get that someone else isn't trying it on with you.

Well, to be fair, the scratch was not there when I rented it. It was an absolutely brand new car, I was the first person to drive it apparently. As I understand it, in the Americas, minor scratches aren't considered -- I've returned cars with minor dents and scratches and have never been charged. I also understand that in Europe, car rental agencies really inspect the car upon return in every detail. I truly think that the "damage" that I caused in this case wouldn't be considered worthy by a Hertz in the USA. But alas, this is Europe. I guess I'll just claim it off my credit card insurance. I'm definitely writing a letter to Hertz about the guy's behaviour and raising the price from 50 to 120. Although I don't have any proof like a sound recording, that really is the part that made me the most angry. What Hertz does, if they do something, obviously is beyond my control.

Dispute the charge both with Hertz and your CC. Emphasize the shake-down that you experienced. I have successfully disputed unwarranted hertz EU "damage" claims. My impression: It is a racket.

Good luck.

Being confrontational never ends well. You scratched a brand new car. You should have just accepted the 50 euro fee...

Sometimes being confrontational is the best action and makes the other side back down from what might very well be a racket. I truly never want to get into fight mode but when the other guy thinks he can get away with murder just because he becomes "confrontational" I stick my heels in. It doesn't do just to let others get away with things because they have the idea you're a pushover.

So are you more upset about the damage you caused or the way you were treated? It seems like both, and I'm not sure that's how I would proceed with any communication higher.

The shake down? Yes, by all means, report it. Sounds like the guy was going to get 50 Euro out of you, you correctly balked, and that should be brought to someone's attention.

But I'd take the opposite approach on the damage. You damaged the car, and even admitted it. I know you argued fair wear and tear on location, but without pictures that�s an argument that will be hard to win. As an aside, damage to the cap doesn�t sound like wear that would occur from normal usage. Sounds to me like you hit and/or scraped a curb.

Perhaps I'm not making myself clear. I'm "fine" with the damage, after all, my credit card will cover it. My plan was to report the guy's behaviour to someone higher up. Like I also said, it may not matter and Hertz (or whoever) probably won't care, but we'll see.

Let's move this to the Hertz forum for further discussion. Thanks. JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

Some reasonable wear and tear should be expected.

I went through the same nonsensical ordeal with hertz munich when they billed me half year after rental - i finally got cc to cover that.
This seems to be a trend at hertz in order to make extra $.

I mostly stayed away from them since that case despite being pc (which is useless anyways)

OP: What does it cost to replace or repair that part in Solvenia? Isn't that + some reasonable administrative upcharge the right amount?

You say "wheel cap". Was it a plastic cover, or an alloy wheel? Those are expensive to repair.
This isn't a Hertz thing, it's a geography thing. Throughout Europe, all rental companies are really strict on damage control.

If you scratched the wheel or its trims/alloys etc, then you are liable for it. Scratches are not wear and tear but damage due to standard of driving ( such as scraping along the kerb ). There is nothing that indicates that the damage was not caused during the rental.

Most places in Europe I have seen have had standard rates in a table for damage to the vehicle.

He quoted a rate which was , it seems, lower than the standard table rate and when you argued , simply charged the standard rate as per the table

If you have credit card coverage for rentals, then just let the rental company deal with it - it seems that you are

One thing to note is that in Europe, they tend to break out the insurance cover - i.e. in the US, there's only one insurance that covers everything and you either take it all or take none.

But in most countries in Europe, you can get CDW (for collisions), Theft insurance (for uh, theft), and Window/Tyre insurance (for damage to windscreen and tires. CDW is normally included for European renters (with a high excess), as most European credit cards do not provide car rental insurance, but the other 2 types of insurance are optional "extras".

This is why the check-out people tend to be much more strict about damage to windows/tyres, because this is a source of revenue for them - the more strict they are, the more likely you would buy the insurance (which is a rip off, but a separate story).

For them, they don't seem to understand the concept that the credit card will cover that damage since European cards don't have that benefit.