Consumer complaint received 2018-11-19
Company: Media Collections, Inc
State: FL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
Greeting, Back in XX/XX/XXXX I rented a car form XXXX in XXXX, XXXX ( Cars are garaged in small dark basement ) and after returning the car in XXXX ( cars are garaged in opposite conditions outdoors ) their have been trying to collect from me pre-existing " Regular Wear & Tear '' items - most of these are even obvious by looking at the pictures that they sent in their report. 

For months, I have been trying to get someone at XXXX to put some logic for what their are trying to charge me for, I have asked them to do a little bit of a research on their end but so far they have not be willing to make any effort to assist - In my email below from Mon, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX I provided details about : 1- ) the inconsistencies in their process " no agent walked me to the car '' ; 2- ) tiny parking spaces and poor lighting conditions of their parking garage where I picked up the car ; 3- ) the research that I have done, I have worked with other rental car agencies to analyzed their report and what they are trying to charge me for ( more details on the email that I am attaching ) Since the bill was generated in XXXX, I tried to reached out to the consumer protection agency in XXXX but they have advised me to contact an agency in the country that I reside ** I kindly would like to know if your agency can help me or if you can tell me who I can reach out to for help! 

I addition to the emails to XXXX and to the Consumer Protection Agency in XXXX and am also attaching the report that shows the ridiculous minor wear and tear items they are trying to make me paid for XXXX CONTACT INFO : ( Our ref. No. : XXXX ) **Emails : XXXX ; XXXX ** Address : Swords Business Park, Swords, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX CONTACT INFO : ( They recently received the claim - Account XXXX ) ** Name : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX : XXXX XXXX Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX. XXXX, OH XXXX ** Phone : XXXX ** Fax : XXXX Thanks you very much for your kind attention and have a great day! 


XXXX THESE ARE THE EMAILS THAT I HAVE SENT TO THEM SEEKING RESOLUTION & FURTHER INVESTIGATION **** -- -- -- -- -- Forwarded message -- -- -- -- - From : XXXX XXXX XXXX Date : XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX Subject : XXXX : Second Invoice XXXX To : XXXX Damage XXXX XXXX XXXX I just received a second invoice " XXXX '' I already communicated with your team and ask for a higher manager to contact me and nobody did. I reiterate my position : I am more than 100 % that I did not cause these damages and I will not be not paying for them. There are several inconsistencies in your rental process plus charges that other reputable rental companies and even other XXXX locations dont even bother to consider. 

Here are the list of inconsistencies in your process that your team needs to consider and investigate : 1. Rental Car Pick Up in XXXX : When picking our car there was only one XXXX Representative at the counter and he did not go to the garage to show us the car around all your rep told us and another customer was : take the keys, paperwork and you can take the car and go. ( the report that you attached confirms that he did not do the walk thru or required my second signature ) The Garage is located in a totally dark basement there is no way for your customers and even your representatives to see minor damages You also need to contact that location and pull previous records for that car to see what those records shows so that you dont try to charge a new customer for an existing minor damage 2. Pictures that you provided : a ) Picture 3, 4 and 5. multiple concerns here : i. There is no way that any customer can see this when picking a car rental from a dark garage basement ii. For any of the major rental car companies an item like this is not listed as it is smaller than the size of a coin you really need to really close to the car to see it XXXX It is really hard to see that even in the daylight time your team in XXXX had to draw circles and arrows and you really expect a customer to see it? trying to charge a customer for this is totally unreasonable! 
iii. No one can really tell if the marks showing in this picture is simply dirt or rubber marks that can be washable iv. For any anyone in the car industry knowing that this is a used car, this is considered a regular wear & tear item ( I did not rent a brand new car this car had been rented to more customers ) b ) Picture 7. 
i. All this picture shows is what seems to be dirt under the bumper ii. Why only one picture when for the previous mark several picture were taken? 
iii. The dirt in the entire picture shoeing is almost the same color than what the arrow is showing iv. If you look at picture 4 which is a full view of the back of the car, you can not see the dirt/damage you are pointing out here it looks like the location in XXXX is trying to dig and find excuses to perform minor/inexistent repairs c ) Picture .8 i. A Crack in the Start bottom @ - do you seriously believe that a customer when picking a car rental is going to check for something like this? Once again, car was picked up in a dark basement in XXXX and you need to call that location and ask them for pictures of this basement ii. To see a small crack like this you really need to look for the right angle iii. How can a customer manage to crack a piece like this? Once again, trying to charge a customer for this is really absorb and unreasonable 3. Additional research ; I did some additional research on your report, I went to two car rental places one from XXXX and one for XXXX and I also when to a dealership car detailing business and they all agreed in the following : These items are minor and must be considered wear and tear items Items are smaller than the size of a coin therefore they are not even listed when cars get picked up and/or returned For the Crack in the start bottom chances to find or look for something like this during an inspection but either customer or inspectors are really small ( they found this kind of ridiculous ) Please have someone in your upper management team looking into all these inconsistences. There are probably other customers that are unreasonable and unfairly been charged in similar situations affecting them and also affecting XXXX I will be one that moving forward if this claim does not get resolved I will not be considering XXXX as my preferred car rental company I travel at least 5 times a year with an average of 4 days per trip this probably does not seem much but if you multiple that by the number of customers that you are unreasonably charging then the lost of business is huge. Furthermore, I am definitely mentioning this experience to my colleges, friends and family so that they can take the due measurements and avoid getting burned which can result in additional loss of business for XXXX. 

I hope you can give reasonable resolution to this matter and most importantly you fix the inconsistencies in your process. Thanks! 

XXXX EMAIL TO THE consumer protection agency in XXXX AND THEIR ANSWER Von : XXXX Gesendet XXXX XXXX, XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX XXXX An : iD XXXX XXXX XXXX : Unreasonable/ Unfair Charges on a car rental from XXXX ( minor ware & tear that is normal for cars driven for thousand of miles ) Dear XXXX XXXX, Thank you for your enquiry. 

The XXXX Consumer XXXX XXXX offers support to consumers who are residents of an XXXX Member State, XXXX or XXXX and are involved in disputes with traders based in another XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX or XXXX. 

As far as we can discern, you are not a resident of one of these states. Therefore, we can not act on your behalf in this matter. 

Perhaps an establishment for consumer protection in your region can be of help. 

XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX : XXXX, XXXX. XX/XX/XXXX XXXX An : XXXX Betreff XXXX Unreasonable/ Unfair Charges on a car rental from XXXX ( minor ware & tear that is normal for cars driven for thousand of miles ) Good morning, I hope this email finds you well! 

I am desperate looking for help! My wife and I visited XXXX with the hope of having great memories from such great country, we did have a wonderful time but we are now having the worst nightmare due to the Unreasonable/unfair treatment that we are receiving from XXXX ( Car Rental ) which are trying to collect {$1300.00} from us for minor ware & tear that is normal for a car that was previously driven for thousand of miles I have been trying to get someone at XXXX to put some logic for what their are trying to charge me for, I have asked them to do a little bit of a research on their end but so far they have not be willing to make any effort to assist - In my email from Mon, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX I provided details about : 1- ) the inconsistencies and their process " no agent walked me to the car '' ; 2- ) they poor lighting condition of their parking garage where I pick up the car ; 3- ) the research that I have done, I have worked with other rental car agencies to analyzed their report and what they are trying to charge me for I have waiting two months for any sort of feedback and they have not provided any but instead their are sending me to collections which is going to have a vert negative impact in my credit history which I have been building for years with nothing negative I kindly would like to know if your agency can help me or if you can tell me who I can reach out to for help! ( I have attached the report that shows the ridiculous minor wear and tear items they are trying to make me paid for -their contact info is in that document and their email is : XXXX ) Thanks you very much for your kind attention and have a great day! 

Respectfully, XXXX XXXX

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief