Rental car scam

AcroBoy

AcroBoy

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Jim N
As summer approaches and we make vacation plans, be aware of a rental car scam, where after returning the vehicle you receive a big bill in the mail for damage to the vehicle. It is generally perpetrated by franchise rental agencies, who work through a collection agency named Purco,in Utah.

The beauty of their scam is that they prey on out of state renters, where it would cost more to examine the vehicle than pay for their claimed damage.

A number of local franchises do this, and fabricate damages to boost their revenues. Search Purco to see other complaints.

Better yet, upon returning the car, be sure to get a signed statement from a rental agent saying the car was returned in good condition with no damage. Otherwise it is buyer beware.
 
If I cant return at the counter or with their agent in the return lane, I typically take a couple of pictures before I return a car.
 
One of my coworkers just got dinged for a cracked windshield, which she insists was NOT cracked when she dropped off the car.
 
I rent cars quite frequently recently, through National. I put it on my Amex, and my company has instructed me to not take any insurance on the car.

Should I be concerned about this kind of scam?
 
Thanks for the reminder on Purco. What they do is terrible.

@Nick: Amex has a very unique program you can subscribe to. $19.95 per rental (not per day) and it is PRIMARY coverage. Your insurance is not involved at all.
 
I think the scam is largely perpetrated on individual renters who go through franchises. After I was scammed, I wrote to Hertz corporate, who said it was not their responsibility, since it was a franchise. I asked whose name was in big yellow letters over the counter, but they would not take any responsibility. Stuff like the post regarding the windshield happens a lot. It is mire costly to hire a lawyer than pay.

The other thing is to file a complaint with the state attorney general's office, as well as the BBB. These at least prompt an investigation. However, once you have left, you have no recourse to contest the claims.
 
I think it's time to start doing the photo upon turn-in as well, and include the agent that accepts your car in the photo. Maybe even something like on 419eater.com

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SkyHog said:
I rent cars quite frequently recently, through National. I put it on my Amex, and my company has instructed me to not take any insurance on the car.

Should I be concerned about this kind of scam?
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Check with your corporate account POC. Our corporate card provides the insurance on the rental, so that we don't need to purchase it separately.

Edit: D'oh I just read a little more carefully. In my case I use a corporate credit card for the rental, and that automatically provides insurance independently from the reatal company.
 
I've been hit a couple of times by Enterprise after returning cars to the FBO on a Sunday. I always check the car over well but haven't taken any photos. Both times I had my attorney send them a letter back basically saying "no thank you, we're not interested in paying that" and it went away.
 
I haven't had this happen ever, but photographic documentation is a really good idea both before and after. I usually have a digital camera with me when I go on trips, and the photos don't really cost anything, it's just electrons. A good precaution well worth the minimal time it takes.
 
steingar said:
I haven't had this happen ever, but photographic documentation is a really good idea both before and after. I usually have a digital camera with me when I go on trips, and the photos don't really cost anything, it's just electrons. A good precaution well worth the minimal time it takes.
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But how are you going to prove that the pictures weren't taken before you scratched that bumper?
 
COFlyBoy said:
Check with your corporate account POC. Our corporate card provides the insurance on the rental, so that we don't need to purchase it separately.

Edit: D'oh I just read a little more carefully. In my case I use a corporate credit card for the rental, and that automatically provides insurance independently from the reatal company.
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Clarification, "my AMEX" means my corporate issued card....I'll check with our POC.
 
Ken Ibold said:
One of my coworkers just got dinged for a cracked windshield, which she insists was NOT cracked when she dropped off the car.
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And which was probably not cracked when they sent her the bill either.

I look at franchised car rental as a branch of organized crime, similar to tow-truck operators and interstate moving companies. Expect to be ripped off or extorted and be pleasantly suprised if you are not.
 
Some of the 'premium' credit cards will offer primary coverage for rental cars. When faced with a demand from a crooked rental agency, provide your documentation/photos to their insurance and they will duke it out. I suspect that most fraudulent claims where an insurance stands in for the renter end with a 'our bad, paperwork error' from the agency.
 
They claim in the fine print in the contract that you agreed to all repairs as well as loss of service costs and " service fees", and if not paid immediately they will damage your credit rating. Even if fraudulent they can apparently do so without penalty.
 
gismo said:
But how are you going to prove that the pictures weren't taken before you scratched that bumper?
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I am operating on the assumption that digital cameras can time and date stamp photos, not that I've tried it on mine.
 
They just had an incident like this kind of thing written up in this past week's Sunday paper -- purp by Enterprise, and I think it was in southern FL (Miami-ish area), so it might be a real threat (and it took outside intervention to get it resolved)
 
AcroBoy said:
They claim in the fine print in the contract that you agreed to all repairs as well as loss of service costs and " service fees", and if not paid immediately they will damage your credit rating. Even if fraudulent they can apparently do so without penalty.
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I would think that if you have an otherwise unblemished credit history with good account activities then this kind of threat should be seen as a bit empty. I use a credit watch service that sends me monthly updates and if I ever noticed anything like that on my record, I'd immediately put a letter in the file explaining my side of the story. BTW, I never noticed anything like that when I denied their request to replace a couple of windshields.
 
weilke said:
Some of the 'premium' credit cards will offer primary coverage for rental cars. When faced with a demand from a crooked rental agency, provide your documentation/photos to their insurance and they will duke it out. I suspect that most fraudulent claims where an insurance stands in for the renter end with a 'our bad, paperwork error' from the agency.
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:target::target:
 
You can write a letter disputing their claim on your credit score, but that does not guarantee the blemish will be removed. I also approached my own insurance company, and they said I could file a claim, but it might raise my rate. Then, with the deductible, it probably wouldn't have been worth filing the claim anyway, which is why it is such a good scam.

A photo, even with exif data, might not mean much to them. I think only a signed check in by an employee would be legally binding, and even then they can claim the damage was hidden and showed up on a later inspection.
 
I use AMEX when renting and add the extra "premium" rental coverage. If I recall it is $24.95 per rental. If not used, I get a credit back for it. I have, used it that is. No issue with it and I feel much better now.
Corporate card AMEX is whatever the company decides. Since they almost never let me rent, I am not sure what their policy is but I believe it is to decline.
 
SkyHog said:
Clarification, "my AMEX" means my corporate issued card....I'll check with our POC.
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I never get extra insurance when renting a car on my company's AMEX. We have clearly been told not to do so. I have rented many cars and have not been scammed on the damage. The worst that has happened is that we sometimes return cars to the FBO but they don't pick them up for days. Occasionally we will be charged for those days. However the charges have always been reversed AFAIK. I know one person who totaled a rental car while on company business and I'm pretty sure somebody paid off because he said he never heard about it again.

The only time I have been dinged for damage was when it actually was damaged during the time I had it. Someone tagged the rear bumper when it was parked in a parking lot. This was a personal rental and my own credit card paid for the deductible and State Farm paid for the rest. I should add that I have an extra rider for rental cars though since I rent cars for personal reasons quite a bit. It's $5/month and you can add it or remove it whenever you want.
 
I got dinged in Cozumel one time for "no gato" on return ... I told 'em "there was no cats in the jeep when I rented it, and if there was, I would have chased them off." It was then that I learned gato is also "jack" ... and on this particular Wrangler, supposedly under the PAX seat. Who would have thunk to look for that? Argued until I ran out of Spanish (about 10 seconds) then argued in English for another 20 minutes, and then they resorted to "no habla inglese". Given the apparent choice of "go to jail" vs pay the fee, I paid it with AmEx. I disputed the charge with Avis when I returned, to no avail, but AmEx reversed the charge for me.
 
Your own auto, and in some states your homeowners, insurance has provisions to cover you for this. Depending on the company, they may send a team of lawyers their way. I was disappointed to hear Hertz's policy on this.
 
When I travel on business, I use my City credit card. If they want to play the game, they can play with the city attorney's office and the city's insurance company.

On personal travel, I use my Hertz Gold account and AMEX. They can tangle if they want. If they try to mess with my credit rating, I'll sue them.
 
AcroBoy said:
A photo, even with exif data, might not mean much to them. I think only a signed check in by an employee would be legally binding, and even then they can claim the damage was hidden and showed up on a later inspection.
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Not so; it is their burden to prove that you damaged the vehicle, and a photo of the car, undamaged, together with your sworn testimony, is compelling proof. I'll venture most juries and judges would roll with that.
 
AcroBoy said:
They claim in the fine print in the contract that you agreed to all repairs as well as loss of service costs and " service fees", and if not paid immediately they will damage your credit rating. Even if fraudulent they can apparently do so without penalty.
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You could sue them for libel or slander.
 
steingar said:
I am operating on the assumption that digital cameras can time and date stamp photos, not that I've tried it on mine.
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How do you prove that you set the camera to the correct date?
 
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gkainz said:
I got dinged in Cozumel one time for "no gato" on return ... I told 'em "there was no cats in the jeep when I rented it, and if there was, I would have chased them off." It was then that I learned gato is also "jack" ... and on this particular Wrangler, supposedly under the PAX seat. Who would have thunk to look for that? Argued until I ran out of Spanish (about 10 seconds) then argued in English for another 20 minutes, and then they resorted to "no habla inglese". Given the apparent choice of "go to jail" vs pay the fee, I paid it with AmEx. I disputed the charge with Avis when I returned, to no avail, but AmEx reversed the charge for me.
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HAHAHA
 
I considered filing a claim with my insurance company, but with the deductible as well as the likelihood that the rates would go up, the agent advised against doing this. Purco has the perfect scam. They fly below the radar charging too little to make an insurance claim or pursue legal action, and enough to make tons of cash settlements. They prey on out of town visitors that cannot afford to dispute the claims, and threaten damage to your credit score if you resist. It is brilliant.
 
Palmpilot said:
How do you prove that you set the camera to the correct date?
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My phone camera tags photos with time, date and location (GPS derived) that the photo was taken. If I can reset the clocks on the GPS constellation, then they can accuse me of that, otherwise, I can show the picture was taken in their parking lot at the time I returned it.
 
Someone should introduce you to Henning.:idea:

JeffDG said:
My phone camera tags photos with time, date and location (GPS derived) that the photo was taken. If I can reset the clocks on the GPS constellation, then they can accuse me of that, otherwise, I can show the picture was taken in their parking lot at the time I returned it.
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JeffDG said:
My phone camera tags photos with time, date and location (GPS derived) that the photo was taken. If I can reset the clocks on the GPS constellation, then they can accuse me of that, otherwise, I can show the picture was taken in their parking lot at the time I returned it.
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It's just stored in the EXIF data and easily changable. Microshop Professional Photo Tools lets you make these changes.

Someone can verify or dismiss the EXIF data by looking at the time, and latitude and longitude and see if the shadows make sense (length and direction)- this confirms the time and location. Weather history is readily available too (your picture shows a sunny day and the EXIF data matches a date with heavy rain) but this is all forensics. A lot of cameras store the camera body serial number in the EXIF file.
 
It's amazing the breadth of knowledge we have among various posters.
 
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