turo.com Car rental dispute. Faulty car - Wheel Nuts came off on modified Wheel whilst driving!! scammed me of £2000 too!!

[BankFodder]

First of all, it would be helpful if you didn't post your story the solid block of text. It's very difficult to read and it puts people off helping you.

Properly spaced please.

 

You haven't told us how long you rented the car for.

Presumably this money was taken using a prepayment method – such as a debit card or credit card.

You should contact your bank immediately and begin a chargeback if it was a debit card.

 

You should write to the rental company and put them on notice that they are responsible for the condition of the car and they are obliged to let you have the car in a satisfactory condition and certainly roadworthy.

If it had wheel nuts which were loose then clearly it was supplied to you in a dangerous condition.

Tell them that you are beginning a process with your bank or credit card supplier to recover the money – but also you are considering suing them in the County Court.

I suggest that this may well be where it is going to end up and I think that it is important for your own interest to act quickly and assertively. If you allow yourself to get drawn into any protracted discussion or if you allow yourself to be delayed in any way, you will lose control and you will had the advantage to the rental company
 

[BankFodder]

In fact I've just looked at the website of https://turo.com/gb/en and I see that it is not a normal car rental company. It is a car sharing company.

This may make things a little bit more difficult.

Contact your bank and start reclaiming the money as I have said – but maybe you can tell us a little bit about how the rental actually works.

[BankFodder]

Wheels and wheel bolts are clearly mechanical. You're dealing with an organisation here which is gearing up to deny liability.

I disagree that the bank can't do anything – and you ought to contact them again and tell them that you are complaining. You are the customer and you are giving them a direct instruction. But in writing – but tell them that you are making a claim immediately and you want reference number for the ombudsman.

If Turo are simply an agency which introduces you to someone who is renting out their car, on what basis have they taken the money? It's clear that their status is far more and some independent party not involved in the contract – and at the very least, by taking money I think they have implicated themselves into the contract.

I suppose it's a bit like travel agents who when things go wrong, try to say that they are simply an agent and they are nothing to do with the airline or the with the hotel et cetera.

[BankFodder]

Sorry, I don't know why I've missed all of this.

Have you any idea on what grounds the bank refused the chargeback?

Have you made a complaint to the rental company?

 

Also, do you have the name and address of the owner of the vehicle?

[BankFodder]

The ombudsman will only be of use to you in respect of the bank's refusal to implement a chargeback.

In terms of liability of the vehicle, we need to work out who it is you have made your contract with. Is it with the owner of the vehicle or is it with Turo?

 

You will definitely have to begin a legal action which will be straightforward as long as we can identify who your contract was with/who was responsible for the car.

I can't remember if I've asked this already but presumably you know who the owner is and you know their address

[BankFodder]

You could try checking the address of the property here https://eservices.landregistry.gov.uk/eservices/FindAProperty/view/QuickEnquiryInit.do and that will tell you if the name you have is the owner of the property. If the name is not the owner of the property then that doesn't necessarily mean that that is not their address – but it is worth checking. I think it will cost you 3 pounds.

You say that you "believe" that the contract was with turo.  If you are going to issue legal proceedings then you really need to be certain. If you issue legal proceedings and you will incur a fee and if you see the wrong person then you will lose that fee and you will have to begin again.

Have you checked the Turo contract?

[BankFodder]

Apart from anything else, I think you should send Turo an SAR. You should send it today

[BankFodder]

Have you seen this document https://support.turo.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001918108-Damage-claims-UK

 

I suggest that you download it so that you have a copy.

It seems to me that there is a clear duty for them to carry out an investigation. I can imagine that they have not carried out a very thorough investigation and it certainly seems remarkable that they have seized a round figure of £2000 from you and no justification.

Based on the information you have, have you managed to get your own estimate of the cost of the damage? I know that your position is that you are not responsible – but just in case it will be worth getting a quote for the work because if it turns out to be substantially less than the amount of money they have taken, then that will help to undermine their credibility.

I notice also that they apparently taken advance deposit of £500. They take this from you?

I'm pretty certain that the contract is with the owner of the vehicle so it is a kind of AirBnB  arrangement. However, it will be much more useful to bring Turo into the frame and so I think that if you send the SAR and either they don't make the disclosure – or else what they disclosed shows that there hasn't been a proper investigation or doesn't give any information about the actual costs of the damage, then I think that you have got a good basis for suing them as well as the owner of the car and frankly I would think about doing both at the same time as first and second defendant.

[BankFodder]

Thanks. This is helpful – but none of it is surprising.

It simply confirms that your contract is actually with the owner of the vehicle – and they have a contractual responsibility to supply you with a vehicle in good condition.

Turo are simply responsible for putting you together and handling the organisation of it all including payments.

However, they are also responsible for carrying out a proper investigation before deciding who should be at fault.

From that point of view, the chat that you have obtained is very helpful – but you need to send the SAR in order to get the definitive account of what they did – investigation et cetera.

If the information you get confirms what we believe that the whole thing was cursory and that there was no proper investigation – and also there was no proper assessment of the value of any damage, then we will probably suggest that you sue Turo – and maybe the owner as well for breaching their part the contract – failing to provide a car in satisfactory condition.

I think sending the SAR is essential

[BankFodder]

I suggest that you go through all your emails et cetera and organise a file on this.

Get your own quotation based on photographs. This is very important.

Do the SAR today. Use our template – keep it as broad as possible and don't refer to this issue or anything else. You simply want all the personal data that they are holding on you on any matter and in any form.

As soon as you start stating issues, you put them on guard and also you limit the scope of their disclosure.

Use our template as a basis for the SAR and don't start adding anything of your own.

[BankFodder]

I agree with what you say – but I think one needs to be a little bit more cautious. Going back to Turo straightaway – empty-handed of evidence – is simply going to put them on guard and make things more difficult later on.

The thing to do is to slow down, acquire evidence – and then when ready, to going on strike knowing that you have a good hand to play.

It all takes time and strategy in order to win

[BankFodder]

Could be either – but normally by post.

When did you send it? When is the return date?

[BankFodder]

Quote

Dear Sir/Mdm

Thank you for your message of the XXX date.

I'm afraid that the account information that you are referring to is not a full disclosure of personal data which is required in response to a subject access request.

The subject access request is a statutory request for personal data - and has already been indicated in my subject access request to you, requires that you make a full disclosure of all data which you hold on me in any form and on any matter.

As you run a business, you should be fully aware of your statutory responsibilities.

The time is running and at the expiry of the statutory period, if you have not complied in full then I shall sue you for your breach of the data protection regulations.

Yours faithfully

 

 

[BankFodder]

You should respond to them and say that the statutory requirement is only that the SAR arrives at their organisation. If they haven't trained their staff sufficiently to recognise and to deal with data protection requests then that is their problem.

Tell them that the clock is ticking and that after XXX date there will be in breach.

Then tell them that this letter which you are sending is also a letter of claim giving them 14 days to produce the disclosure. Calculate 14 days from now and that will take you a few days over the deadline. Tell them that by that date XXX date you will see them in the County Court for breach of their data protection obligations.

Only do this if you are prepared to do it. I would suggest that you sue them for £50

[BankFodder]

It wouldn't affect it at all. It would have the effect of getting them to produce your documents PDQ and it would also make them realise that you are a bit serious

[BankFodder]

12 hours ago, Ams1996 said:

Thanks for response. I will have a think about it within the deadline. 

 

If I were to go to the county court, What would be be the next step regarding the money being taken in the first place and the no investigation etc etc 

 

This whole thing is starting to drag on and if you simply think about it within the deadline and then at the expiry of the deadline you decide to send a letter of claim, then that allows it to go on for another 14 days.