Fraudulant Charge to My Credit Card
Complaint
N. Sivarama
Country: Canada
I am a retired person living on Canadian Security payments. I am at a loss to know whom I should turn to when I am cheated by this Car rental company. If you are unable to resolve this please advise as to where I should turn for help. I give my story below.
Rental Agreement C3319009. with Universal Rent A Car.
Arranged by CarRentals.com
On the morning of 18th February I rented a car through Carrentals.com website to go to the airport that evening. The car was picked up from Universal Rent A Car, situated on 5400 Dixie Road, Mississauga. The agreement was that on return we would be dropped off at the airport. I, my spouse and another couple used it for the transport to the airport in the evening. As we had to report at the airport at 4.30pm, I arrived with another passenger at 5400 Dixie Road at about 4.30pm to return the car. We stayed there for a long time to be attended to. However the person in charge was on the phone for nearly half an hour. Saying that we will be late to the airport, one of the junior officers came over to clear our vehicle. He, along with both of us went around the vehicle and did a vehicle check up. Then he checked inside of the vehicle and the odeometer. Then he asked both of us to hop in and that he would drop us off at the airport. At that time we asked for a receipt for the vehicle return. He said that his boss was busy on the phone and it was getting delayed to go to the airport. He said that it would be sent in the mail. I trusted his words and left for the airport to fly out of Canada.
We returned to Toronto late on the 26th evening. On checking the messages on the answering machine the following day I found a message from Universal Rent A Car. It was to say that there was a damage on the windshield and that the cost of the repairs would be recovered from the Visa Card. I wish to state that there were no windshield damages on the car when I returned it, or was any pointed out to me at that time. The rental company now maintains that there was a windshield damage on the car and that this was pointed out. However, I still maintain that there were no windshield damages on the car and also if it was pointed out at the time of taking delivery why should he leave a message later on on my answering machine.
I also took this up with Carrentals.com and it merely forwarded my email to Universal Rent A Car and replied to await for a reply from Universal Rent A Car.
The rental charges for the day was only $25.71cts, but the rental company had charged $282.00 on the Visa Card.
I give my 'phone no. in case you wish to contact. It is 416 438 7138.
I also give the 'phone no. of Universal Rent A Car and it is 416 676 2021.
Thanking You
N.Sivarama
Rental Agreement C3319009. with Universal Rent A Car.
Arranged by CarRentals.com
On the morning of 18th February I rented a car through Carrentals.com website to go to the airport that evening. The car was picked up from Universal Rent A Car, situated on 5400 Dixie Road, Mississauga. The agreement was that on return we would be dropped off at the airport. I, my spouse and another couple used it for the transport to the airport in the evening. As we had to report at the airport at 4.30pm, I arrived with another passenger at 5400 Dixie Road at about 4.30pm to return the car. We stayed there for a long time to be attended to. However the person in charge was on the phone for nearly half an hour. Saying that we will be late to the airport, one of the junior officers came over to clear our vehicle. He, along with both of us went around the vehicle and did a vehicle check up. Then he checked inside of the vehicle and the odeometer. Then he asked both of us to hop in and that he would drop us off at the airport. At that time we asked for a receipt for the vehicle return. He said that his boss was busy on the phone and it was getting delayed to go to the airport. He said that it would be sent in the mail. I trusted his words and left for the airport to fly out of Canada.
We returned to Toronto late on the 26th evening. On checking the messages on the answering machine the following day I found a message from Universal Rent A Car. It was to say that there was a damage on the windshield and that the cost of the repairs would be recovered from the Visa Card. I wish to state that there were no windshield damages on the car when I returned it, or was any pointed out to me at that time. The rental company now maintains that there was a windshield damage on the car and that this was pointed out. However, I still maintain that there were no windshield damages on the car and also if it was pointed out at the time of taking delivery why should he leave a message later on on my answering machine.
I also took this up with Carrentals.com and it merely forwarded my email to Universal Rent A Car and replied to await for a reply from Universal Rent A Car.
The rental charges for the day was only $25.71cts, but the rental company had charged $282.00 on the Visa Card.
I give my 'phone no. in case you wish to contact. It is 416 438 7138.
I also give the 'phone no. of Universal Rent A Car and it is 416 676 2021.
Thanking You
N.Sivarama
Comments
ok guys, trust me on this one. I think the only reason I made my reservation from this stupid place was because it was little cheaper than others. I rented using www.carrentals.com But will NEVER do it EVER again atleast not for this location and company and you SHOULDN'T as well.
The guys working there are the most ignorant people I have met in my whole life.
I made my online reservation and was supposed to pick up a car at some rate, I called this company at 18663035888 ATLEAST 3 times to make a slight pick-up time change but it never was done. I am brown myself but the [***] guys working there I think shouldn't be in this country, I mean the people who have no idea about the country they are living in or understand its values GO BACK. I had my reservation and confirmation# and STILL they didn't have car with them and Stupid ass was giving me reason that he has never seen a QUEBEC driving license before and doesn't know how it should look like so it might be fake. He asked for another ID and I ended up giving my health card but the guy was like I don't know how to read the second ID as its from QUEBEC as well. I mean how dumb you have to be not to be able to see a name and photo on ID.
The dumass working there was some [***] called kashif and the manager (omar) was no help either and hung up rudely (even though I was really polite).
The smart guy who couldn't see name and look at the picture, started swearing and was extremely RUDE.
I ended u calling COPS, but the guy got scared and took off and NOW im filing a civil court case as they charged me in advance and I had my prior commitments and they didn't have car even though I had my confirmation. I WASTED so much time and peace of my mind.
SO AGAIN PLZZ save yourself from the hassle and have to deal this some of the most annoying people in your life, DO NOT RENT CAR FROM THERE...
Since my wife was in a hurry to get the car, she did not contest the charge. However, we had rented for three weeks, and we decided to return the car the next day, rather than pay this exorbitant, outrageous charge for third-party insurance. This led to surprise number 2: if you give back a car before the end of the period, this company charges you a penalty. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?
Universal pointed out that the third-party insurance charge and the penalty for early returns were both displayed on the web-site. True, if you wanted to click on the links called "Local Policy Information" and "General Rental Rules". These charges, though, are so outrageous and so out of step with other car rental agencies that you would expect a car rental agency to bring them clearly to your attention. In addition, the "Total Price" shown on the www.carrentals.com web-page did not include the insurance charge!
The result was a nightmare. Rather than getting a cheap car for three weeks, we ended up paying a very substantial sum, much more than if we had gone to a company advertising a higher rate.
My email is pondyvenki@yahoo.com
Should you require additional information or assistance, please contact:
Ministry of Small Business and Consumer Services
Consumer Affairs Branch
Consumer Services Bureau
5775 Yonge Street, Suite 1500
Toronto ON M7A 2E5
(416)326-8800
(416)326-8566 TTY (for the hearing/speech impaired)
1-800-889-9768 Toll-Free in Ontario
E-mail: consumer@ontario.ca
Website: http://www.gov.on.ca/mgs/en/ConsProt/ConsProt/STEL01_132036.html
Online Complaint form: http://www.cbs.gov.on.ca/compform/english/complaint.asp
My plane was late so I could not pick my car on time, but I called them and let them know that I want to keep my reservation. They said not a problem.
When I got to that rental place, they told me that it was automatically canceled because I did not pick a car up on time (2h window). They did not care about my earlier calls. They got me another car not for $29.99 but for $55.99 plus some 3rd party insurance for $8.99 a day ?????!!!!!
Upon inspection of the car, the guy did not tell me about some huge scratches on the right side of the car (back passenger door. When I saw that, he said that he was going to mention that (yeah right).
That was late evening, no sun light when I was surrendering that car back to them. The guy from the distance of few meters saw a stone chip on the front windshield. I did not notice that and he saw that right away. I am pretty sure that that was there when I rented a car, I just did not pay attention to that (my bad). He said that there is nothing to worry about since my credit card insurance is going to cover that, and I will not be charged anything. I said that I am not going to sign any of the documents so then he said something about me having a conversation with his boss (like I give a dame. After me having arguments for few minutes I said that I will only sign a statement that there is a stone chip on the windshield, and I need all the copies of the documents that i signed along with his signature. I knew that non of the insurance companies will pay for windshield replacement because of that.
There is one very important thing, that company is not created to make money on a car rental. It is made to make money by committing different kinds of frauds!!!!
The first thing that I did after I left their office was a phone call to my bank. I reported my card lost, so there is no chance to charge me anything right know. On the top o this they should never make a xerox copy of the credit card, it is like giving them permission to use it whenever they want to!!!!
They called me this morning, since they are not able to charge my credit card, to give them claim number co they can get some money from insurance.
I do not know if they are just taking some chances or they are really dumb people. They called me from Canada here in US thinking that I am going to help them to screw myself up. Really interesting.
My advice is avoid that place, help me to remove that place from the car rental web search engines. Write your complain to http://www.cbs.gov.on.ca/compform/english/complaint.asp.
If they got you for some reason, immediately block your credit card to avoid any charges. Do not let them make any copies of your documents. Ask for a copy of every document that you sign. Best of all do not sign anything, you are not obligated to do it by any of the laws. If they have a problem with that tell them to call caps and write a report. DO not listen to them, they are just a bunch of morons whose main goal is to screw you on money.
Hope it helps.
Best
Am highly annoyed and disturbed by the tone of Mr. Sunny- highly unprofessional and typically backward mentality. Was outright rude, hostile and uncooperative even with the Insurance agent who tried to make him see sense over a conference call. They claimed a hefty insurance for a mere right fender bender damage (CDN 8500 from the insurance company) and then had the cheek to charge our credit card to the tune of $515 without any approval or information whatsoever after a period of 4 months!
I am keen on getting them down to earth and show them what they are worth- NOTHING! Ready to testify but also want them out of business. Will be submitting the form to the Ministry right away, but any other inputs would be appreciated and I will be more than happy to be a party to the speedy downfall of this fraudulent unprofessional and unworthy owner and his company.
Initial cost for the rental car for 4 days through Carrental.com was going to be $ 170.00. It ended up close to $1100.00. Rental cost $ 340 + $770 for supposedly replaced windshield because of the stone chip.
NO COMMENTS, DO YOUR MATH BEFORE YOU RENT FROM THAT PLACE.
This is a common practice in Toronto, Canada for carrental companies to charge a processing fee on top of you 407 bill...I have been renting cars in Toronto for over 15 years and every company i have rented a car from has the same policy...including the big companies such as avis budget, hertz etc...