Renting A Car

[lincdales]

After 18 months in Thailand I visited the UK for a couple of weeks in May. I paid Sixt car rental in advance by credit card through the internet.Everything went OK, the car was fine abd trouble free but when I returned it they went over it with a fine toothcomb. They found a blister in the front nearside tyre, about the size of half a gob stopper. There were a lot of photographs taken and I was asked to sign a paper confirming that the blister occured during my hire. I qualified this by stating that, in my opinion, the problem lay with the tyre manufacture and not me.Their claims form followed me to Thailand. This was completed with many "non-applcables" and the same qulification that the claim should be made to the tyre manufacturer.Every two weeks or so following that I have received a request for payment of £128.89 and have replied with the utmost courtesy that I didn't accept responsibility with an explanation as to why. These replies have been ignored and I now have a final letter advising me that the matter will be passed onto solicitors if not paid by 24th. Due to postal delays this deadline has passed.One point I should mention is tha, when I collected the car, the reception advised me that the first £80.00 of any damage claim is automatically covered by insurance. This has not been mentioned in their claim against me.How do I stand legally? Can they take the money from my credit card without my permission? I was in business for many years and I know that. were I in their position, I would recognise this as waste of time and drop the claim.

[theoldgit]

I think you might find that tyres are not covered by the insurance and they will expect you to pay for the alleged damage to the tyre.

I also suspect that as they already have your credit card details they will, rightly or wrongly, just help themselves to the £128, do you have a UK or Thai credit card, UK card companies do offer some protection so you might want to challenge the payment if they take the money, but I'm not sure about Thai banks.

Car Hire companies are notorious for this sort of thing, have you actually checked the price of a new tyre?

[astral]

I agree that the insurance will not cover the matter.

If it is a UK credit card you can certainly challenge the charge, if they make it.

[NanLaew]

I have rented in lots of places and this is the first time I have heard of the rental company claiming the renter is responsible for a knob on a tire. If there's wheel rim damage that would indicate a hard kerbing, I can see them going for associated tire damage then but not for what is most likely a tire manufacturing flaw.

I have rented exclusively from Sixt in the UK (Aberdeen) and found their cars and service faultless. What franchise is dicking you with this BS?

[Eff1n2ret]

The last time I bought a car tyre in the UK it didn't cost anything like £128.89 - a decent brand maybe half that, so they're ripping you off anyway.

My disenchantment with UK car hire is the 'Ryanair' tactic, certainly employed by Enterprise Car Hire, of offering a very good daily rate, and when you turn up to collect the vehicle they tell you the insurance excess is £650, but you can reduce it to £100 by paying an extra £x per day. I can't remember the exact amount but it added £80 to my bill

[lincdales]

I have rented in lots of places and this is the first time I have heard of the rental company claiming the renter is responsible for a knob on a tire. If there's wheel rim damage that would indicate a hard kerbing, I can see them going for associated tire damage then but not for what is most likely a tire manufacturing flaw.

I have rented exclusively from Sixt in the UK (Aberdeen) and found their cars and service faultless. What franchise is dicking you with this BS?

Hired at Heathrow. Claims Department in Chesterfield. No I have no problem with the service, and was happy with the car. But I DID think the claim a bit OTT

[lincdales]

I think you might find that tyres are not covered by the insurance and they will expect you to pay for the alleged damage to the tyre.

I also suspect that as they already have your credit card details they will, rightly or wrongly, just help themselves to the £128, do you have a UK or Thai credit card, UK card companies do offer some protection so you might want to challenge the payment if they take the money, but I'm not sure about Thai banks.

Car Hire companies are notorious for this sort of thing, have you actually checked the price of a new tyre?

UK card company. I have checked with the card company and they say I should challenge the p[ayment if it got to that stage. I haven't a clue what a new tyre should cost. Do you think they are likely to go so far as taking legal action?

[tolsti]

Looks like you are not alone with Enterprise!

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews8019.html

Ask them for the photos taken at the end of the previous rental including the milometer. That gives you the chance of seeing whether the damage to the tyre was already there.

Note the mileage on the car and the tyre make. Make sure you get the full details of the tyre.... the manufacturer will back you up.

Dispute the charge and go to the small claims court. They will back down. I know that you are in Thailand but that would be recorded on the hire document. Any paperwork from the court would have to be sent here with the accompanying time delay being considered.

The court/their legal dept will tell them to piss off....

[Loz]

If they were going to take the money they would have done so rather than wasting time and money chasing you with paper. have you considered writing to the Times motoring section and copying the letter to the PR/marketing dept of the rental firm?

Ps. next time swap the spare (asuming its not a space saver).

PPS. to the person who said I know how much tyres cost. The OP didn't mention what car he hired. How could you possibly guess the price of the tyre with no spec? tyres on "typical" rental cars could range from 40 quid to 200 quid easily. Think ford fiesta or Vauxhall Corsa through to E class Merc or big Volvo .