R
Reggiepoo
Guest
I rented a car from a small rental agency outside of San Francisco Airport, which I had reserved through the Internet. ( I live in North Carolina) The car was scraped up quite a bit when I got it. The individual who handled my sign-up also marked a “check-out sheet” as I pointed out various scrapes and marks mostly on the bumper. On the second day I had a minor accident which occurred when I was pulling into a parking space and misjudged the amount of pressure necessary to apply the brake fully (the car did not have power brakes). The front wheels made contact with a curb stopping the car – but the forward motion tipped the car enough to make contact with a pole that pushed the bumper in. There was no obvious damage – but a bracket on the inside of the bumper, immediately adjacent to a plastic radiator reserve tank , punctured the tank.
I immediately drove to a repair shop and was told there was nothing urgent about the situation as this was only a reserve tank and not essential to the running of the auto and since his shop was already overbooked and he had to order the part, he did not know when it could be repaired.
Subsequently, I approached 3 repair shops and the verbal estimates I got were somewhere around $200 but they were too busy to help me as it was a Holiday weekend, and all suggested I return the car without reporting the accident because it would probably never be detected. I felt I had a moral obligation to report it. So I got one computerized estimate to turn in when I returned the car.
When I returned the car, as the repairmen had stated, it was not detected but I reported it anyway. ( The reason it was not detected is that there was no visible damage other than that noted on the check-out sheet – which included a scrape right where my accident occurred). Since the bill was $207 and I had collision damage waiver coverage through my credit card and the deductible on my own insurance is $500; I opted to seek help from the credit card company.
The person at the rental agency indicated that their claims person would be contacting me – but I did not wait for that, instead I faxed him when I got home. He did not contact me within a few days so I tried calling but he would not take my calls and never returned them either.
Some 5 weeks later I received a letter from a claims management firm with an estimate of $1,636. The letter stated that if I wanted to dispute the claim I must respond within 30 days. Which I vehemently did -- within 10 days. I also stated that in the absence of a credible estimate from the rental agency, I would offer the amount of my estimate plus their “administrative costs” of $100 and the “loss of use” amount of $77.
The response I received says that the rental agency is “ not willing to negotiate”. My question is: What are the possible next steps -- on their part? On my part?
I immediately drove to a repair shop and was told there was nothing urgent about the situation as this was only a reserve tank and not essential to the running of the auto and since his shop was already overbooked and he had to order the part, he did not know when it could be repaired.
Subsequently, I approached 3 repair shops and the verbal estimates I got were somewhere around $200 but they were too busy to help me as it was a Holiday weekend, and all suggested I return the car without reporting the accident because it would probably never be detected. I felt I had a moral obligation to report it. So I got one computerized estimate to turn in when I returned the car.
When I returned the car, as the repairmen had stated, it was not detected but I reported it anyway. ( The reason it was not detected is that there was no visible damage other than that noted on the check-out sheet – which included a scrape right where my accident occurred). Since the bill was $207 and I had collision damage waiver coverage through my credit card and the deductible on my own insurance is $500; I opted to seek help from the credit card company.
The person at the rental agency indicated that their claims person would be contacting me – but I did not wait for that, instead I faxed him when I got home. He did not contact me within a few days so I tried calling but he would not take my calls and never returned them either.
Some 5 weeks later I received a letter from a claims management firm with an estimate of $1,636. The letter stated that if I wanted to dispute the claim I must respond within 30 days. Which I vehemently did -- within 10 days. I also stated that in the absence of a credible estimate from the rental agency, I would offer the amount of my estimate plus their “administrative costs” of $100 and the “loss of use” amount of $77.
The response I received says that the rental agency is “ not willing to negotiate”. My question is: What are the possible next steps -- on their part? On my part?