Problem with Enterprise rent a car, legal advice needed

[ref600]

This is my first post and I hope the last, so hello everybody!

 

 

I have rented a car from them since end of August,

2 days ago they entered my house private drivaway and through the open gates (fully detached house with driveway for 12 cars and clearly visible cameras everywhere) and the took the car back, without any warning, any issues and NO outstanding debt !

 

Last conversation I had with them, was a day before the incident and I asked them to change my car with another one and also asked them to forward to me an invoice, as they never issue one and breakdown of charges.

 

I send a letter to their head office, fca, bvrla , I enclose copy of the letter, do I need to report and involve the police as they entered my property ?

What are my legal options against them please.

Many thanks and forgive the length of the post.

 

letter enclosed.

Dear Sirs,

 

My name is Xxxxxxxxxxx, I would like to complain about Enterprise Car Rental Company, especially the St. Johns Wood Branch in London.

I had a horrific experience with this company, I am not a new customer to them, as I hire a car from this company since end of August 2018.

During this period, I paid more than UK5500 to them for rental and service charges. as I hired a mid Executive car from them.

 

Until October everything was nice and smoothly, since then they started to take unauthorised payments without my knowledge from my credit card for silly reasons (administrative charges without explanation, handling ticket charges and so on),

 

I had to cancel my Amex credit card and replace it as I wasn’t confident leaving a card with a very high limit on their system,

I gave them a debit card to use and when they need to take payments,

I asked them to call me, issue an invoice to me and then charge the card after my authorisation.

 

Since that day I was receiving threats and warnings on a daily basis,

that they will report the car as stolen to the Police (many SMS messages for evidence)

and to avoid this to happen,

they asked me to prepay the rental period in advance (one month in advance),

they also requested from me to pay higher monthly rental fare than the agreed amount, and a higher deposit.

 

As I am using the car on a daily basis, in order to go to work and to pick up the kids from school,

I paid them the money requested, however it didn’t end ,

 

they requested the car back in December stating that BMW recalled all cars for security checks (again they told me that if I will not comply they will report the car as stolen !) and they replaced the car with a much inferior Hyundai ! I accepted as I didn’t have other options.

 

Until yesterday and after many messages they never replaced the car with the BMW that I had since September,

instead and without ANY notice or warning they came to my house at 7.35 in the morning (with cameras evidence),

took the car and left me WITHOUT a car,

with an overcharged card and a set of Hyundai keys !

 

I would like to add that one day before I was reassured by the Branch Manager (with SMS text evidence) that the car will be replaced with the BMW and that there are no outstanding payments.

 

Since day one, I NEVER received any invoice or account statement from them so I don’t know how much money they have taken in total and for what reason and rental period.

They NEVER refunded any of the deposits back to my card and they always came with excuses that the accountant is sick, fired, etc

 

I have contacted my bank and credit card providers and asked them to investigate the matter and if needed to dispute all payments until the issues are resolved.

 

I also instructed my Solicitor to be in contact with the regulating body and their executive team and instructed him to go ahead with court proceedings and seek FULL compensation.

If you need additional information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Edited February 10, 2019 by dx100uk
spacing

[dx100uk]

send them an sar get all the details

then you'll be able to workout what has gone on.

 

your story is rather garbled and difficult to follow, but I gather there was a safety recall by BMW?,

they as the owner are quite entitled to repossess their property esp if by continuing to let it be driven, you or your children could have been injured or worse.

 

however I would suspect that the repo guys were in-fact simply a recovery firm , not bailiffs , and without any powers to enter private property, regardless to if the gates were open or not. that is something you might have recourse upon, but it does really count for much.

 

and ofcourse they might not of had any other BMW's cars to replace it if they were all under the same recall.

and replaced it with what they could to keep you mobile.

 

the more important issue are the possibly unlawful fixed sum penalty charges, which are in most cases unlawful,

 

if I were to be frank they did ask you to return the car , you misunderstood the legal importance of you doing so at their request and they had little choice but to go get it.

 

dx

[BazzaS]

Court proceedings for what tort? What breach of contract?

Saying that your solicitor will issue court proceedings without a letter before action setting out what loss / harm you believe they have caused you..... They’ll see that as just so much bluster. Did your solicitor really agree that?.

 

As for “ I accepted as I didn’t have other options.“

What about the option of returning the “inferior” car you weren’t happy with, apparently! (& asking them to issue you an invoice!) and then hiring through a different firm, to get a car and quality of service you’d be happier with.

 

Either you should have given the car back and hired through a different firm, or there is more to the story here than you have said so far.

Claiming “I had no other option” and “I’ll sue!” (what for??) just doesn’t add up.

[ericsbrother]

as you have engaged a solicitor you should let them advise you rather than looking for an alternative opinion here. if your solicitors advice is either very vague or doesn't agree with what you want then you should go to another solicitor as sometimes they will use wording that encourages you to spend money with very little prospect of getting anywhere.

Edited February 11, 2019 by Andyorch
Typos

[ref600]

I would like to hear different opinions before I commence any action.

Points are :

There were no outstanding payments towards Enterprise.

I was overcharged on more than 3 occasions.

Car taken without notice or warnings, not a single phone call.

No invoices issued since day one.

Threats in more than 3 occasions that they will report the car as stolen (what for ), they forced me to renew contract every 28 days and make a new contract every time.

Charges without permission for parking tickets that they never submitted to me (I am not aware of any parking tickets issued).

Entered my private property without warning.

Inside the car were my bag, personal belongings, money ,phone chargers etc , they didn’t even contact me to deliver these items back to us.

I wonder, these are not enough for legal action ?

[sgtbush]

Dx

the more important issue are the possibly unlawful fixed sum penalty charges, which are in most cases unlawful..

 

 

This is actually in the hire contract that the OP signed.

Any charges can be charged to the credit card and an admin fee ontop. So its a bit more in depth than a speculative invoice for private parking.

 

I'm surprised they allows you to leave a debit card number and not credit card...

 

As seen as you stated (OP) that you have instructed a solicitor to take the case in not going to comment any further to why they come to get the car..

I would of done the same.

[BazzaS]

I would like to hear different opinions before I commence any action.

 

 

I thought you'd said you'd already instructed your solicitor to commence legal action

 

I also instructed my Solicitor to be in contact with the regulating body and their executive team and instructed him to go ahead with court proceedings and seek FULL compensation.

 

I have to ask again, given all you'd "suffered", why did you not just give the car back and rent elsewhere. You say you "had no option", but why did you not avail yourself of the option to go elsewhere if they were so awful?

[dx100uk]

were the parking tickets Penalty charge notices or Private Speculative invoices NOT issued by council/police.?

if the former they are quite legally and duty bound to meet them and take the money from your payment source.

 

we don't know the full truthful history so we cant really comment on the rest

but its a hired car , its theirs, they can do what they like with it.

 

if I read things again in a slightly different way [as I said your info is rather garbled and unclear]

 

the BMW was returned ok by you, after many times of them asking mind..but they just came and took the Hyundai without notice?

 

cant really see what you are upset about

again even entering your private unlock property is really nothing you can wave your arms about, it possibly could only be a trespass charge, and they come to nothing anyway

the area was open and unlocked.

 

as for you personal belongings

go get them.

[ClaziszCars]

Quite common for many people to have problems with these rental companies. Heck, I am one of those people. I've tried many different rental car companies. Most of the time, the most problems I have come from the crappy staff they hire. The customer service is just horrid. Car rental agencies are a regular fixture at airports all around the world, each promising traveller's deals on automobiles to take them far and wide. However, many of those deals evaporate quickly when car agencies add on a number of hidden and blatant charges to a traveller’s invoice. Fees and deposits for damages, cleaning, road tolls, and more can blow a budget up without notice. So I ended up sticking with only one service that is way better than I expected after a bad history with rental companies, I'm talking about https://rental24h.com/usa/denver-airport/avis AVIS cars are edged with an orange frame. Also, there are cars from other companies and from neighbouring locations that will help you to choose the most appropriate at a price and other parameters option. To rent one of their cars was more than fast. Usually, it takes so long with all the documents and what not. Really handy for when I am in a rush and have no time to dilly-dally. Maybe you will find better luck here? I know I did. 

Edited April 24, 2019 by ClaziszCars