Car Hire firm taken to court for charging customer for clutch failure
car hire company sued after charging credit card without the customer's consent
Budget car hire firm, Rent-A-Car are being sued by an elderly customer after they charged him £820 for repairing a broken clutch on their vehicle just 5 hours after the customer had collected the car.
78-year-old Christopher Pole-Carew was hit with the massive bill after his hire car broke down after just 5 hours use. Mr Pole-Carew, a former newspaper chief, was not made aware that the company were deducting the charge from his credit card, and only discovered the money had been taken after receiving his credit card bill.
When Mr Pole-Carew contacted Rent-A-Car to ask why he had been charged, the firm said the cost was to cover the repair work on the broken clutch. Mr Pole-Carew admitted that had the cost been more reasonable, he may have let the matter go. However he felt that £820 was an extortionate amount and decided he had no option but to take the matter further.
After consulting some experts from the motor industry, Mr Pole-Carew was told that it was extremely unlikely that a clutch in good working order would suddenly break after just 5 hours of use.
The case is now being taken to the petty claims court on the grounds that the car hire company deducted money from Mr Pole-Carew’s credit card without his consent or knowledge.
This is why it’s important to check everything before returning the car to the company. When I rent a car in Israel with Avis, I make sure the inspector sign the paper in front of me to clear me from any damages.