Hired a car for a short break in Munich looking for property from Dollar Thrifty Munich via the internet. On arrival I was informed that the small vehicle that we had booked was unavailable and would I take another that had just been returned.
As it was getting late and the children were tired we agreed and it was a large Mercedes at no extra charge which looked a good deal.
We checked the car over despite being rushed by the dealership who had no interest in completing the check (beware this is their first tactic in the deception).
My wife noticed a small stone chip on the passenger side of the window screen which I reported to the office. I asked him if this had been included on the damage report as it was all in German which he confimred by pointing out some German phrases on the form. I again asked him if the stone chip was shown on the form and he confirmed again that it was.
On return the car was checked back in (they are very keen on this but do not like checking it out) and the first thing that they said was that I had damaged the window screen.
I informed them that this was pointed out on check out that the damage was already there when we picked the vehicle up and that It was confirmed by the office that the damage was shown on the form which they denied, what a surprise.
I refused to sign any forms as they were in German and I did not know what I was signing. At this point the lady in the office was very agressive despite my size and said that if I did not sign the form then I would not be receiving a lift to the airport which would have caused us to miss our flight.
She then informed me that I was only signing a form that would enable the firm to claim on the insurance (always in German, the deception goes on and on).
As the children and my wife were present and obvioulsy under stress from this ordeal I signed the form which she confirmed was only to be able to claim on the insurance (another ploy by this firm, they get you to sign German only forms telling you that they are to claim on the insurance policy when you are actually accepting responsibility for the damage).
A month later I received a charge to my credit card for 695 Euro's without any notification that this was being done which took me over my credit limit and also gave me additional charges from the lender.
I contacted the firm to ask what the charges were for as I was told that the insurance would cover the damage (their insurance is also not worth the paper it is written on, I took the top level of insurance which supposedly covered everything and was then told that window screens are not covered) they informed me that the window screen had to be replaced.
Two frauds here, 1. I did not do the damaged in the first place 2. The damage on the windscreen could have been repaired at no cost as it was on the passenger side and was only a small stone chip so replacement was not neccessary at all. Despite not coing the damage in the first place I confirmed that this type of repair to the window screen is legal in Germany as it is in the UK.
I will never use this firm again and I inform everyone I meet of my experience so that they do not suffer the same ordeal.
Sorry this is long but if it stops anyone else being a victim of this company it has been worth it.
Regards
Meiko602
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