Help - Car Rental Invoice - Scam??

[leebo87]

I really hope somebody can give me some good advice here. I'm very worried about this.

In March I hired a car from Alamo, through holdiayautos.co.uk I booked and paid for the car. When I arrived at the office the didn't have the car I booked (a small engine 3-door economy car) so instead I was upgraded to a Vauxhall Insignia (big estate kinda thing).

A few days into the rental the car picks up a flat tyre. I bought insurance with Holiday-Autos so knew I was covered. We rang Alamo, and followed there advice and drove it to a Kiwik-Fit garage. They didn't have the tyre in stock but fortunately there was an Alamo office not 100m's up the road.

There we exchanged cars, I got the style of car I should have been given and they charged me £183 for the new tyre on the previous car.

They took that £183 out of my £250 deposit. After the rental I put a claim through Holiday Autos, it has been approved and I am waiting for the finds to go into my account.

A month and 5 days after my rental agreement concluded I today received an invoice from Alamo for £243.01. Apparently for fixing the tyre. I must add that I dropped the car back at the Alamo office at the end of the agreement and there was no mention of any extra charges incurred and I believe I even signed a form that said just that.

Where should I go from here? I really cannot afford to pay this invoice, and I don't believe I owe them any money at all.

The deepest and utmost gratitude to anyone who can shed light on what action I should take next.

Kindest regards, Lee

[redman]

Re: Help - Car Rental Invoice - Scam??

I would start by putting something in writing to the company specifically asking them to explain the charges and why it was not covered by insurance.

I think in this instance, it will very much depend on the policy wording for both the hire and insurance! Have you got copies of the documentation and specifically, a copy of the insurance policy and any policy excess clause?

Did you check the vehicle before you drove it away? Did you check the tyres more to the point?

In your letter to them, you might think about asking questions such as 'when was this tyre last replaced and how many miles has it done since replacement?'