rental company charged me a damage on the car.

I am living in MA. I rented a car from E-Z rental a car company on 3/10/04 in Florida. My car's bump hit another car's bump. But there is no damage on my car. Also when I returned the car to the company, the person from the E-Z rental car company who checked the car didn’t find any body damage on the car as well.
Until 5/02/04, I got a bill charge from the company for the body damage of the trunk lid which is far away from the hitting site. Also I noticed the date they repaired the car was 4/20/2004. At that time the car mileage is 10186. When I returned the car, the mileage is 6493. So it’s possible somebody else caused the damage of the car.
They said according to the terms of rental agreement I got to pay for it. But I don’t think the damage is caused by me and it’s not my responsibility to pay that.
I don't how I argue with them.

qianxf said:

I am living in MA. I rented a car from E-Z rental a car company on 3/10/04 in Florida. My car's bump hit another car's bump. But there is no damage on my car. Also when I returned the car to the company, the person from the E-Z rental car company who checked the car didn’t find any body damage on the car as well.
Until 5/02/04, I got a bill charge from the company for the body damage of the trunk lid which is far away from the hitting site. Also I noticed the date they repaired the car was 4/20/2004. At that time the car mileage is 10186. When I returned the car, the mileage is 6493. So it’s possible somebody else caused the damage of the car.
They said according to the terms of rental agreement I got to pay for it. But I don’t think the damage is caused by me and it’s not my responsibility to pay that.
I don't how I argue with them.

Click to expand...

My response:

You argue your point with them just like you did here.

Do you still have your "Exit" rental receipt? Does it specify any damages noted on the receipt?

IAAL

Some possibilities...

Where on the cars did the "bump" occur?

Is there any chance that the damage the rental car company is referring to is for the OTHER car? Your rental agreement in FL most likely specifies that YOU are primarily responsible for any damage to the rental car and for any 3rd party claims arising from the use of the rental car. The rental car company would have secondary responsibility.

There is also the possibility that although no readily visible damage was noted when you returned the car, there could have been unseen body damage which caused the trunk lid of the rental car to not function properly. Again, the terms of the rental agreement most likely indicate that damage assessment may be defered until a "final inspection" which gives the rental car company time to "discover" damage that is not readily visable (undercarriage damage for example.)

Did you complete an accident report for the police or the rental car agency?

If the $$ amount of the damage is relatively small, you should follow IAAL's advice and argue based on your position that the mileage discrepancy indicates that the damage was caused by another party. The company will most likely waive admin. fees and "downtime" if you decide to settle. If the $$ amount of the damage is relatively large, I suggest turning this over to your automobile insurance carrier -- they are experienced in handling this type of claim.