DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: I want your assist resolving a automobile rental injury declare. I just lately rented a automobile from Enterprise in Phoenix. The rental automobile had a small dent in one of many doorways. I took a photograph of it to doc the injury.
Christopher Elliott, the Journey Troubleshooter
After I returned the automobile, an agent did a walk-around with me and stated the automobile was good to go. Eight weeks later, I acquired a injury declare from Enterprise. The date of loss was three days after I returned the automobile.
I despatched Enterprise the photographs of the prevailing injury, however the firm is insisting that I’m nonetheless accountable. Are you able to assist me get Enterprise to drop this $1,391 declare, please?
— Stacey Wall, Crestview, Florida
ANSWER: Technically, Enterprise is correct. You might be answerable for a automobile whereas it’s in your possession, together with any dings or dents. However you probably have proof that your automobile was broken earlier than you rented it, this ought to be sufficient for Enterprise to drop its injury declare. Clearly, this didn’t occur in your watch.
You probably did the appropriate factor by taking “before” photographs of your rental, however it seems to be such as you missed a number of issues. You need to take each “before” and “after” photographs of the automobile to indicate there’s no injury.If there may be injury, it’s essential to request a unique automobile. If no different automobile is offered, you need to observe the injury to the automobile in writing and get a supervisor to signal the shape. It seems you solely had the “before” photographs, which confirmed the preexisting injury. They had been timestamped, however this apparently didn’t matter to Enterprise. Its data should have proven that the automobile was undented earlier than your rental.
This can be a frequent drawback with rental vehicles. Many drivers assume that in the event that they weren’t straight answerable for injury to the automobile, another person — perhaps the automobile rental firm’s insurance coverage — will care for it. However sadly, this isn’t true. The renter is answerable for something that occurs to the automobile from begin to end.
It may well take weeks, generally months, earlier than a automobile rental firm processes a injury declare. So, the dates you point out — the declare being dated three days after your rental, for instance — aren’t out of the peculiar.
Right here’s what’s slightly uncommon: You had photographic proof that the injury already existed, which the automobile rental firm gave the impression to be ignoring. If the automobile was already dented if you picked it up, why isn’t Enterprise taking that into consideration?
I contacted Enterprise in your behalf. It reviewed your photographs and agreed to drop the declare in opposition to you.
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