Nothing ‘E-Z’ about this rental repair bill

  • By Christopher Elliott
  • Tuesday, December 23, 2014 4:20pm
  • Life

Question: I’m really hoping you can help with a car rental issue I’m having. I recently rented a car from E-Z Rent-A-Car in Atlanta. It was late in the evening. My friend and I got in the vehicle after I asked her to do a walk-around with me, but there was no employee available to walk with us.

We didn’t notice anything wrong with the car. When I returned the car, an E-Z employee claimed that the passenger side fog light was missing, and pointed it out to me. I had to sign an incident report prior to leaving.

The fog light can be missed while walking closely around the car, but it is noticeable when you’re far away, which we never were. E-Z is charging me $1,166 for this damage. I do not believe it was caused by us. I asked to see the last few rental slips, and E-Z said it would show them to me. But it hasn’t.

I asked for the camera footage, which would show us leaving the lot, and I’m positive it would show the fog light missing as well. But the company will not release it unless I take this to court.

The price E-Z is charging is obscene, and it’s throwing in some additional random charges, like painting the vehicle, which makes the total bill $1,361. I checked BBB, and this place has more than 300 complaints, many similar to mine. I feel defeated. What should I do?

— Julie Mehta, Jamaica, New York

Answer: Did you say a missing fog light? That’s kind of hard to overlook. But E-Z sent you images of a red 2014 Chevrolet Impala with a gaping hole where the light should have been. Indeed, in a darkened garage you might have missed this.

Had you taken pictures of the car before leaving the lot, those might have saved you. In fact, if you had reviewed the images, you could have immediately reported the problem to a manager and requested a different vehicle. There’s no way you should be driving a car without a light. It’s unsafe and probably illegal.

You don’t have to sign anything when you return a vehicle. If a car rental company insists you take responsibility for something you didn’t do, then you need to speak with a manager immediately. Ask him or her to review the previous rental documents to see if someone reported the damage at that time. Don’t sign and leave.

If you do sign the documents, you’re admitting “I did it,” and that limits your options. E-Z could send you a bill for whatever it wanted — a new light, a paint job or “loss of use” on the vehicle. You, or your insurance company, would be responsible for paying it. Not an ideal situation.

You could have appealed this to a manager at E-Z. I list its executives’ names and numbers on my website: http://elliott.org/company-contacts/e-z-rent-car.

As it turns out, there were more images of your rental: closed-circuit video of your Impala leaving the rental lot. You asked E-Z to see them, and it told you it would be happy to pull them, if you got a subpoena from a court.

I asked the company if it could review the footage one more time to make sure nothing had been missed. After checking the images of your car, it decided to drop its claim against you.

King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.