I hate National Car Rental

[Hoosier]

I rented an SUV for the one day I was in Saskatoon for this trip. Some ten days after my visit to Saskatoon I received an email message from the National Rental Car Company. The message said that my SUV had sustained hail damage during the 24 hours I rented the vehicle. The bill for repairing this damage was $6,700 U.S. I was told that I was responsible for this damage and should pay the bill immediately.

During the time I had the vehicle there was no hail and no rain (despite what the video might lead you to believe). I had even slept overnight in the car. During the entire rental I was never more than 100 yards from the SUV.


Pay up!

My first written response to them was to say there was no hail damage during the time of my rental. A few days went by and I received another message saying “Pay up!”.


You want to fight; let’s fight.

There were getting serious. Now, it was time for me to get serious. I contacted the Canadian Weather Service and asked for them to substantiate my claim. It wasn’t long before I got this message back from the weather service:

“A search of our severe weather database was conducted and no reports of hail were received for the Saskatoon area for the period in question. No thunderstorm watches or warnings were issued by the Storm Prediction Center for Saskatoon during the period.”

I went to the Procter & Gamble email conference (more than 2,000 people) for some advice. Folks gave me all kinds of good ideas to fight this false claim. I sent the Canadian Weather Service documentation back to National. I also pointed out that I take photos of where I’m at about every 15 minutes during the day. I referred them to my website to support this assertion. Every photo I had showed a perfectly blue-sky weather day. I also checked the time stamp on each of my several credit card receipts (gas, food, Wal-Mart) during this day. This proved where I was at what time. This information was an overlay to the weather photos I had.

I also mentioned that I rent about 50 cars from National each year. Finally I told them that I would be very willing to take this issue up the entire “food chain” of both the National Rental Car Company and Procter & Gamble if needed. Then I closed by telling them that if their claim was proved to be fraudulent I would prosecute to the fullest extent of the law (a good offense makes a good defense)!

I received a phone call response from the Toronto National Rental Car office within two hours of sending my message to them. The agent I talked to told me that my “documentation seemed to present a very strong case in my favor”. They would get back to me.


We are no longer ‘pursuing’ you.

A few days later I received this message closing the case:

“After investigating this file, we are no longer pursuing you for the damages to the rental vehicle. Attached is our letter indicating this for your file.”

Someone once told me that it’s never a good idea to mess with a retiree. We have enough time and resources to fight just about any claim!

[ferd]

Agreed, I avoid National too. My story wasn't as severe as yours, but similar.
I rented a car in Orlando, to be returned in West Palm Beach. When I got the car I noticed that the right front tire was shaking some while driving, so I turned around and went back to the rental office. It was dark and we couldn't see anything obviously wrong. Since it was late and they claimed that they didn't have another car to substitute, I had them note my concern on my paperwork.

About two days later the shaking got so severe that I pulled off an exit of I-95 to look at the tire again. Now it was plain to see that the tire wasn't round anymore (probably internal belt separation). So I called National's toll free service number. After a long wait on hold their service desk told me that they couldn't send anybody to help me because they couldn't figure out where I was -- even though I could tell them the nearest town and the exit number I was at. I was able to find a National office via a telephone book, but when I called they said I had to bring the car to them. When I tried to put the spare tire on I found I had no jack. I limped to a gas station and they put on my spare.

When I got to National's office they were willing to give me another car, but all they had were smaller ones. They promised that when I turned the car in my bill should be adjusted down to the rate for the replacement car.

When I turned that car in, the West Palm office did not want to adjust my bill. They also didn't want to reimburse me for the gas station's bill. They did want to charge me for a new tire, although they couldn't figure out why the car I was turning in didn't match my original paperwork. It took me over an hour to get them straightened out, and I almost missed my plane.

No more cars from National for me, and I've been renting cars for fifteen years since.