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Thrifty Kona car rental email - says car was damaged

N

Nolathyme

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2007
Messages
371
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Location
MD
I rented a car at the end of August in Kona, Hawaii. I did not have an accident or damage the car during the rental.

This morning I received the following email:

We have noticed damage on the front bumper on the vehicle you returned on August 26, 2022.
To comply with our damage process, please fill out the below Vehicle Incident Report and reply to this e-mail with a description of the accident.
Please make sure to also file a claim with your personal insurance and include your insurance name, policy number and the claim number in the e-mail and the accident report.

What should I do?
 
Did you pay for it with a credit card that has CDW coverage? If so, contact your card issuer first.
 
It’s of no help now but always do a walk around of the car with your cell phone and take a video but also take a video of the roof! I noticed a huge scratch on the roof and a dent in the drivers door and recorded it.

When I pulled up to the checkout booth I left the agent know about the dent. He said don’t worry they are looking for dents larger than a quarter. I had him look at it visually and he said that’s a large dent. I told him I wanted it documented.

He stepped out of the booth with a form and noted all of the dings and dents as well as the roof scratch. I had a copy for myself to keep and a copy to hand to the agent when I returned the car. I will continue to record and note any dings and dents on any rental car inside and out.

Also make sure to use a CC that has CDW. If you didn’t in this case I’m sorry to say you’ll just have to fight it as best as you can.
 
I did pay by CC and will contact them if it gets to that point.

I did take pictures of the car at the beginning of the rental. Never thought of taking pictures at the end of the rental. I would think they would look at the vehicle before the rent it out to the next person. If there was damage, it could have been anyone that rented the car over the last six weeks. Why did they pick me? Maybe they are sending this email to everyone that rented the car and hoping someone will fess up.

I will definitely take pictures at the end of the rental from now on.
 
I think your response is to reply indicating there was no accident and no reported damage at the time you returned the vehicle.
 
It won't help with this situation, but I usually do a walk-around video with my cell phone if I suspect the car has a lot of wear and tear when I pick it up. That way I can prove damage was there when I picked up the car, and isn't something I did to it. Because of Covid, car rental companies in Hawaii are keeping cars longer than they used to, so there is more damage on them than there used to be.

Dave
 
It could have just as easily been a Thrifty employee who caused the damage.

I had an employer in Key West who made a photocopy of the cash drops before she deposited the cash. She'd fan out the hundred-dollar bills so that all the serial numbers showed and hit the copy button. Then she wrote the date of the deposit and filed it.

One day, the bank called. "There was a counterfeit hundred dollar bill in your deposit on January 12th."

"Hold on, let me get the copy of that deposit. OK. Read off the serial number of the counterfeit bill. Got it. No, that wasn't me. I'm looking at my copy of all the serial numbers. Do you want me to bring it in to verify? No? OK, have a good day then!"

And then the bank called the next small business on the "let's pass the (bogus) buck" list.

Documentation fixes so many problems.
 
Vegas' Thrifty once tried to charge me for pre-existing damages.
I sent them a denial & the checkout sheet which showed every scratch + dent.
I copied Thrift corporate, who apologized and sent me a coupon (not used).

Recently, at Budget, I took photos of a large dent and went back to the counter.
They said, "Don't worry." I said, "I want if documented in the file." They did.
.
 
ScoopKona said:
I had an employer in Key West who made a photocopy of the cash drops before she deposited the cash. She'd fan out the hundred-dollar bills so that all the serial numbers showed and hit the copy button. Then she wrote the date of the deposit and filed it.

One day, the bank called. "There was a counterfeit hundred dollar bill in your deposit on January 12th."

"Hold on, let me get the copy of that deposit. OK. Read off the serial number of the counterfeit bill. Got it. No, that wasn't me. I'm looking at my copy of all the serial numbers. Do you want me to bring it in to verify? No? OK, have a good day then!"

And then the bank called the next small business on the "let's pass the (bogus) buck" list.

Documentation fixes so many problems.
Click to expand...
I bet she had been burned before by this bank.
 
DrQ said:
I bet she had been burned before by this bank.
Click to expand...

She summed it up nicely: "They have no idea which business deposited the bad bill. They're not going to screw a personal account. And they're not going to screw a big business. So they just call one of their small business depositors -- one that doesn't know any better. I'll bet this happens every day."
 
It was my impression, that with funny money, the holder takes the loss. You accept it, you lose. If it is in a night drop, then that should be preserved as evidence.

If I were a small business owner, I would spend $1000+ on a pitbull lawyer to make them PROVE I passed the bill and make them remember the scar the next time around.
 
DrQ said:
It was my impression, that with funny money, the holder takes the loss. You accept it, you lose. If it is in a night drop, then that should be preserved as evidence.

If I were a small business owner, I would spend $1000+ on a pitbull lawyer to make them PROVE I passed the bill and make them remember the scar the next time around.
Click to expand...

We have lost money because of forgeries. It's pretty rare and usually only $5's and $10's. It's been so long ago that I don't remember what the bank did but I think we accepted the loss. We were able to identify the forger for the police so the guy was busted.

Bill
 
dioxide45 said:
I think your response is to reply indicating there was no accident and no reported damage at the time you returned the vehicle.
Click to expand...

This is what I would do. Every rental car I ever checked in was cleared by an employee at check in. The exception was Mexico and a damaged oil pan. I doubt I did it but my credit card dealt with it and I never heard back. I had pictures of the car before and after but no pictures of the oil pan.

Bill
 
easyrider said:
We have lost money because of forgeries. It's pretty rare and usually only $5's and $10's. It's been so long ago that I don't remember what the bank did but I think we accepted the loss. We were able to identify the forger for the police so the guy was busted.

Bill
Click to expand...
Usually, the bank will discover and confiscate the bill(s) at the window and call the police. I've never heard of them playing "spin the bottle" with depositors when they discover a phoney bill after the fact.

If the bank mingles the funds, they are odd man out.
 
DrQ said:
Usually, the bank will discover and confiscate the bill(s) at the window and call the police. I've never heard of them playing "spin the bottle" with depositors when they discover a phoney bill after the fact.

If the bank mingles the funds, they are odd man out.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't have believed it either, if I didn't see/hear the call personally. She said it happened at least a couple times a year. Which is why she went through the rigamarole of copying the serial numbers of the bills. The bank also tried telling her the deposit was short. "You must have miscounted it."

Her: "Let me drop by with the photocopy of the deposit that day."

Bank: "Oh! It appears everything is in order now! Have a nice day."

I never witnessed that. But I have no reason to doubt her.
 
ScoopKona said:
...The bank also tried telling her the deposit was short. "You must have miscounted it."

Her: "Let me drop by with the photocopy of the deposit that day."

Bank: "Oh! It appears everything is in order now! Have a nice day."
Click to expand...
Just wow :eek:
 
ScoopKona said:
I wouldn't have believed it either, if I didn't see/hear the call personally. She said it happened at least a couple times a year. Which is why she went through the rigamarole of copying the serial numbers of the bills. The bank also tried telling her the deposit was short. "You must have miscounted it."

Her: "Let me drop by with the photocopy of the deposit that day."

Bank: "Oh! It appears everything is in order now! Have a nice day."

I never witnessed that. But I have no reason to doubt her.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it's time to change banks.

Dave
 
dioxide45 said:
I think your response is to reply indicating there was no accident and no reported damage at the time you returned the vehicle.
Click to expand...

and that you have pictures (don't get specific) and ask why it's taken six weeks to contact you, and how they can prove that it didn't happen since you returned it.
 
DrQ said:
Usually, the bank will discover and confiscate the bill(s) at the window and call the police. I've never heard of them playing "spin the bottle" with depositors when they discover a phoney bill after the fact.

If the bank mingles the funds, they are odd man out.
Click to expand...

It was Bank of America and it would have been discovered at the teller inside the bank as that has always been our deposit policy. The reason we left Bank of America is because they moved out of our area and want us to deposit by ATM.

Bill
 
easyrider said:
We have lost money because of forgeries... We were able to identify the forger for the police so the guy was busted.
Click to expand...

I was told about a court case in which a guy took a blank check from his workplace, made it out to himself, forged the owner's name, and then endorsed it. The judge said, "You've got to be the dumbest crook I've seen. You need to find another line of work. Thievery isn't working out too well for you."
.
 
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