Complaint / Review
Purco Fleet Services, National Car Rental, Alamo
'loss of use' fees, 'undocumented fees', 'rental car', 'administrative fees' 'bogus fees'

Aproximately two months ago I backed into an unoccupied vehicle in a parking lot in downtown Tucson. There were no injuries, and the car I backed into sustained only minor cosmetic damage. I was the only witness. I did not call the police as it was a small dent, instead leaving my contact information with the salesperson inside of the store where the accident occured. The vehicle I backed into was a rental.

A few days later I was contacted by a claims representative with Purco Fleet Services who informed me that my insurance company only paid a portion of the losses incurred, and attempted to make arrangements over the phone for payment of the remaining amount. I did not and have not at any time made any verbal or written agreements to pay the amount of money in question.

The claims representative for Purco Fleet Services faxed me a damage estimate on the car, an explanation of what a 'loss of use' fee was, and a scale for determing administrative fees. I have not yet received any kind of invoice or actual bill.

I contacted my insurance company, and was told that my insurance company will not pay a 'loss of use' fee to a rental car company until they are provided with copies of daily logs proving that the rental agency actually lost a profit while the car was in the shop. I was advised to demand copies of the logs as well before I agreed to pay any 'loss of use' fee out of pocket.

I contacted National Rental Car rental to requests copies of these logs and was referred back to Purco Fleet Services. I am now playing phone tag with the claims rep at Purco and am really getting nowhere.

I don't know if I am actually liable for these fees. Although I backed into a parked car, my insurance company has already reimbursed National Car Rental for damages and labor. I have never personally done business with National Car Rental and again have signed no agreement or contracts accepting responsibility for these fees. This 'loss of use' and 'administrative fee' combined is approximately seven hundred dollars. Any advice on where to go from here would be greatly appreciated.