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Car Rental Complaints
Submit complaints about fraud, rip-offs, or scams relating to rental cars. Our objectives are:
1) to provide information necessary for our readers to avoid rip-offs.
2) to obtain refunds or credits for significant legitimate complaints.
Please visit www.ripoffs.org/complaint.html for information about filing a complaint.
To respond to a complaint about your organization, please visit www.ripoffs.org/response.html
Avoid the latest scams by signing up for our free newsletter at www.ripoffs.org/alerts.html
To provide a link for consideration (non-profits or government agencies only), send an e-mail to editor@ripoffs.org
REPAIR CHARGES
"Almost four months after renting a car from (a major car rental company) I was shocked to get a bill for a $700 engine
repair.
The rental company claimed that I put diesel fuel in the rental car. They submitted a bill, and turned me over to collection
immediately. I have had no
opportunity to review or invetigate the situation. I have never made that mistake with my own vehicles and am certain that I
did not put diesel fuel in their car. My credit card statement from the service station that I used would certainly show what
type of fuel I put in. But, after almost four months, it will be difficult to find that. Nozzles on diesel pumps are not
supposed to fit in gasoline powered cars. I assume that any contaminates in the engine could be the fault of the service
station where I filled the tank. I have also had no access to the parts taken from the car. Yet, the rental company insists
that I put diesel fuel in the vehicle, and has not even provided me the time to prove differently before billing me and turning me over
to a collection agency. Even though they only recently notified me of the charges, I received a call advising
me that the rental company has filed suit, and that I will need to go to Florida if I want to defend myself. It appears
that the result of my use of this car rental company will involve:
- my vacation being ruined by two cars that quit working;
- being turned over to collection;
- needing to spend more than the car rental cost to defend myself;
- the inability to gather any information prior to court."
testimonial
editor's note: The car rental agency deprived the renter of an opportunity to gather evidence that might have demonstrated
that he was
not negligent by waiting four months to contact him. At that time
it was too late for him to get the receipt that might show that he purchased unleaded gasoline. It was too late to gather
damaged parts for his own evaluation. The rental company said that they have four years to make this claim. We recommend that
you save gasoline receipts for four years when you rent a car. We recommend that you photocopy the receipt because the
thermal paper often used at gasoline pumps may deteriorate before a claim against you is made.
PREPAID GASOLINE
"When we go to Florida we drive directly to our condo. We spend most of our time walking or
riding a bicycle. A typical fill up when we return our rental car is under $4. One car
rental company always attempts to sell a full tank of gasoline to us for about $24. This way the car would
be returned empty. It is very difficult to return a car empty without running out of gasoline.
We don't think that you get your money's worth. The company in question charges an $18 deposit
if you decide not to pay for a full tank of gasoline. Then they always leave that deposit on the
bill when the car is returned. If you don't catch it you will pay for all of your gasoline plus $18."
editor's note- Please contact us if you have had similar
experiences.
EXPIRED PLATES
Be sure to check the expiration date on the license plates when you rent a car. Even thought the rental agencies that own the cars should be responsible for any resulting tickets, we have had many complaints from renters who have been pursued by the car rental agencies for tickets resulting from expired plates.
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