Planning To Rent A Car? Better Take Pictures Of The Vehicle Before & After
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - When renting a car typically the one thing you pay the most attention to is price.
David Sutta reports on how doing that could end up more than you ever imagined.
When Daniel and Mary Mann rented a car at Ace Rent-A-Car earlier this year they were in for quite a ride.
Their vacation went fine but things ended badly.
"The guy at ace says you have a dent on the car," Daniel recalls. "Oh, that's news to me. Ok, there is a dent, I didn't do that," He told the employee.
Perhaps it was there when they picked up the car. But with no photos to prove it the Mann's would have to pay for the repair.
They estimated it would be a thousand dollars tops but when the bill came in three months later it was $7,600.
"I got the email and I was fuming," Daniel said.
Insurance paid a little more than half the claim.
They were on the hook for the rest of the bill that included administrative fees and something called diminished value.
Yes, the car's value now being worth less.
Peter Greenberg, CBS's Travel editor, explained to us the diminished value is a real thing.
"Keep in mind the concept of diminished value is negotiable," he said.
Greenberg also says this entire incident could have been avoided with one simple step.
"Things you need to do as a renter before you even take possession of your car. Sign agreement, take key. Spend five minutes walking around and taking pictures of everything around the car. If something happens you have photo evidence."
We thought this incident may have been an isolated incident but a closer look at ACE's reviews showed us this company has quite the reputation.
Complaints can be found across the internet.
On Yelp one customer calls them "Massive scammers" after a "$61" rental became "$348".
Another writes "By far the worst car rental experience ever! Run away!"
On another review "DO NOT rent from here!!! Classic Bait & Switch"
The complaints go on and on.
Most people book ACE through travel deal sites like Hotwire, Priceline and CarRentals.com.
The price looks great but the experience for some is far from it.
We reached out to ACE's corporate headquarters and the franchise at Miami International for comment.
Neither responded with an on the record comment.
Meanwhile, the Mann's are refusing to pay ACE's bill. "I'm gonna use the word scam, because I believe this is a scam," Daniel said.
The bottom line here is you need do a quick internet search of the car rental company before you book with them.
The best price isn't always worth it. Also, make sure you inspect the car and take photos of it when you pick it up and when you drop it off.
