Consumer complaint received 2019-11-11
Company: Cedars Business Services, LLC
State: OR
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
Upon arriving at the car rental kiosk ( XX/XX/2013 ), the gentleman behind the counter informed us that we had to purchase insurance, and that because we did not book directly through XXXX, we did not see this disclosure. Our original XXXX quote was for XXXX XXXX ( attached ). We ended up with a XXXX XXXX bill ( which converted to {$920.00} on XX/XX/13 ). We are not disputing this charge, even though we were bait and switched. 

When we went to the parking garage to pick up the car, the gentleman at the desk took his portion of the paperwork and told us where the car was ( which wasnt even in the spot he told us ). He NEVER did a walk around with us OR offered us a walk around. The security cameras will show this between 14:41 hr 15:30 hrs. 

Upon returning the car ( XX/XX/2013 ), the gentleman ( a different person ) did a thorough walk around. He showed us three areas of damage. We told him they were already on the car. He made a call, and told us all but one was previous damages. He pointed to a ding on the drivers side door that can only be seen when the light hits the spot just right. I told him we did not cause the damage because we never even noticed the spot while we had the car and the spot was barely visible in the dimly lit parking garage. I asked what was going to happen and thats when he pretended to no longer speak or understand English and pointed upstairs. 

We were smart enough to take a picture using a XXXX XXXX cent piece, which is the exact size of a US XXXX XXXX  piece. The picture attached shows that the spot is maybe 1/5th the size of a quarter. 

Upstairs at the rental kiosk the lady told us the fleet manager would have to take a look at the damage. She said we would be contacted. We have NOT been contacted at all since we'd left XXXX. We left XXXX on XX/XX/2013. We also dont know how to get ahold of the company, because it was a XXXX company ( XXXX ) affiliated with XXXX. And as stated in the first paragraph we were bait and switched upon arrival. 

This was our first foreign vacation and we were nervous and inexperienced. We did not speak any XXXX so we were easily duped. Regardless, we maintain we did not cause the tiny ding and should not lose our deposit over basic wear and tear on the vehicle. 

We provided all the evidence to the credit card company and the credit card company refunded our deposit. Since we did not hear anything from the rental company, we'd believed the matter was closed. Sometime afterward, the rental company turned in the " deposit '' to collections, which has consequently placed it on my credit reports. We have had our attorney contact Cedar Financial but Cedar Financial quit communicating with our attorney. 

Again, we do NOT dispute that we'd rented the car, but we do dispute that we'd damaged the car. And when nobody could prove it, it becomes an erroneous claim. Also, I believe this company is notorious for this scam on others. See the link of reviews regarding this company that I'd found : XXXX XXXX XXXX As you can see in the attachments, we believe this debt is fraudulent and should be removed from the credit reports.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation