Do I pay for expired plates on a rental?
March 7, 2017 6:45 AM Subscribe
Months ago, I rented a car and drove it for two days. I received two tickets: one for parking during street cleaning (my bad) and one for expired plate stickers, which I didn't see during the initial walkaround. Am I on the hook for the charge for expired plates?
The rental CSR told me they would handle both charges. Yesterday, I got a letter indicating that the rental company paid for and billed my card on file for both infractions plus fee. Should I dispute the charge or just let it go? I have photos of the plates and tickets.
The rental CSR told me they would handle both charges. Yesterday, I got a letter indicating that the rental company paid for and billed my card on file for both infractions plus fee. Should I dispute the charge or just let it go? I have photos of the plates and tickets.
Of course, charge back the expired-plates portion on your credit card.
posted by JimN2TAW at 6:48 AM on March 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by JimN2TAW at 6:48 AM on March 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
It's up to the owner of the car to keep the registration up-to-date. There's no way in hell you should be charged for the expired plates and the registration. Charge-back with extreme prejudice.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:49 AM on March 7, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 6:49 AM on March 7, 2017 [9 favorites]
Presumably your lease agreement places at least some responsibility on the rental agency to provide you with a vehicle that is fit for service. A car with expired plates, or plates that expire during your rental period, cannot be legally driven on the street and is therefore not fit for service.
My shock and awe counter-offer would be to demand a complete refund of every dime you paid them on those grounds.
posted by Naberius at 6:55 AM on March 7, 2017 [27 favorites]
My shock and awe counter-offer would be to demand a complete refund of every dime you paid them on those grounds.
posted by Naberius at 6:55 AM on March 7, 2017 [27 favorites]
My shock and awe counter-offer would be to demand a complete refund of every dime you paid them on those grounds.
Yep. They rented you a car that was not legal. They should never have rented you that car, and I'd be full guns blazing and covering the charges alone would not be enough for me. I'd be escalating that to area manager level and up instantly unless they apologize and sort this immediately.
posted by Brockles at 7:04 AM on March 7, 2017 [32 favorites]
Yep. They rented you a car that was not legal. They should never have rented you that car, and I'd be full guns blazing and covering the charges alone would not be enough for me. I'd be escalating that to area manager level and up instantly unless they apologize and sort this immediately.
posted by Brockles at 7:04 AM on March 7, 2017 [32 favorites]
I can not believe the action taken by the rental car company. Of course you should not pay anything for the tag ticket. If it is a national rental car company I'd like the name so I can send them a note about their action.
posted by JayRwv at 7:08 AM on March 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by JayRwv at 7:08 AM on March 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
I agree absolutely with Naberius. Not only is the ticket not your problem, but the fact that they rented you a vehicle that was not road-legal means that, at a minimum, they should be refunding your entire rental charge.
It's up to you how much you want to fight for that, but you have the grounds for a very solid argument, and I wouldn't be surprised if you got a rapid counteroffer of "let's forget about the tickets."
posted by 256 at 7:24 AM on March 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
It's up to you how much you want to fight for that, but you have the grounds for a very solid argument, and I wouldn't be surprised if you got a rapid counteroffer of "let's forget about the tickets."
posted by 256 at 7:24 AM on March 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
How could you have rectified the situation, even if you did notice the plates were expired? You're not the owner. There's literally no way for you to fix this. It's their problem, and I also agree with Naberius. You should not pay for that rental. If it were me, I would not only dispute the entire rental charge, I would also ask for a free rental or some rewards points from them for the hassle.
posted by kevinbelt at 7:28 AM on March 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by kevinbelt at 7:28 AM on March 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'd do a chargeback on my card immediately, call them and what the fuck them all the way up the supervisory chain, and then if you receive anything short of a complete falling all over themselves apology, if it's a national brand, I'd write a strongly worded letter and perform an executive carpet bomb.
posted by phunniemee at 7:36 AM on March 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 7:36 AM on March 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
My guess is that whoever handled the tickets at the rental company didn't look too closely at the specific violation, didn't get (or notice) a memo from the CSR you spoke to, and that this is a mistake rather than an attempt to screw you over. I'd call again and demand an immediate refund of the expired plate fine plus the extra fee. I doubt you'll have to do a chargeback.
posted by jon1270 at 7:41 AM on March 7, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by jon1270 at 7:41 AM on March 7, 2017 [12 favorites]
this is a mistake rather than an attempt to screw you over
Sure, but they put in a robust system to make sure that you'd be billed for any and all parking tickets. Making sure they don't overcharge you without you having to waste hours? Not really a priority for them.
posted by grouse at 7:49 AM on March 7, 2017 [5 favorites]
Sure, but they put in a robust system to make sure that you'd be billed for any and all parking tickets. Making sure they don't overcharge you without you having to waste hours? Not really a priority for them.
posted by grouse at 7:49 AM on March 7, 2017 [5 favorites]
Your rental agreement probably says you're on the hook for tickets you incur, so personally, I wouldn't fight the parking charge or the charge for the rental in the first place, but I would absolutely fight the expired plates charge directly with the rental company, giving them a chance to rectify.
If that request was met with resistance, then I would escalate and request a refund of both tickets since you were told they'd take care of them. (I wonder if they meant "take care of" as in you didn't have to contact the ticketer directly. It's a vague thing to say but no reason to weasel out of paying for a car you rented or a parking ticket you incurred.)
If still no resolution, I would try a charge-back for the full amount with my CC company.
posted by kapers at 8:44 AM on March 7, 2017
If that request was met with resistance, then I would escalate and request a refund of both tickets since you were told they'd take care of them. (I wonder if they meant "take care of" as in you didn't have to contact the ticketer directly. It's a vague thing to say but no reason to weasel out of paying for a car you rented or a parking ticket you incurred.)
If still no resolution, I would try a charge-back for the full amount with my CC company.
posted by kapers at 8:44 AM on March 7, 2017
It's up to the owner of the car to keep the registration up-to-date.
In California at least, it's up to the person driving the car to make sure the car is street legal. I was ticketed for driving a borrowed car with expired tags and I went to court over it. The judge held me responsible for the fine (as opposed to the owner of the car) as I was the person who had possession / control of the vehicle at the time that it was being driven.
That being said, for a rental car I would absolutely fight the charges.
posted by vignettist at 9:03 AM on March 7, 2017
In California at least, it's up to the person driving the car to make sure the car is street legal. I was ticketed for driving a borrowed car with expired tags and I went to court over it. The judge held me responsible for the fine (as opposed to the owner of the car) as I was the person who had possession / control of the vehicle at the time that it was being driven.
That being said, for a rental car I would absolutely fight the charges.
posted by vignettist at 9:03 AM on March 7, 2017
How could you have rectified the situation, even if you did notice the plates were expired?
You refuse to take possession of that car, and tell them to give you another that is street legal.
posted by vignettist at 9:05 AM on March 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
You refuse to take possession of that car, and tell them to give you another that is street legal.
posted by vignettist at 9:05 AM on March 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
you sure that wasn't a traffic ticket, vignettist? CA attaches parking tickets to the vehicle registration, they're the owner's responsibility.
your credit card company will tell you to try and resolve this with the rental company before disputing the charge, so do that first.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:08 AM on March 7, 2017
your credit card company will tell you to try and resolve this with the rental company before disputing the charge, so do that first.
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:08 AM on March 7, 2017
"You refuse to take possession of that car, and tell them to give you another that is street legal."
Of course, if you notice it in time. But if you didn't notice it until after you'd taken possession, it's not like you can go to the DMV yourself and be like "hey I need to renew this registration". The rental company is the one who has to do that.
posted by kevinbelt at 9:12 AM on March 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
Of course, if you notice it in time. But if you didn't notice it until after you'd taken possession, it's not like you can go to the DMV yourself and be like "hey I need to renew this registration". The rental company is the one who has to do that.
posted by kevinbelt at 9:12 AM on March 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
If the CSR doesn't reverse the charge without difficulty, you may find that you'll get better traction if you start tweeting about the problem. Companies pay much more attention to public complaints.
posted by Candleman at 9:31 AM on March 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Candleman at 9:31 AM on March 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
I had a similar but not exact situation with fees and a rental car company last year. I did a (successful) chargeback, so Rental Car Company then sent it to collections. I had to send the same proof of my claim to collections. It was a big hassle, but worth not paying the $105 or whatever it was.
posted by getawaysticks at 1:40 PM on March 8, 2017
posted by getawaysticks at 1:40 PM on March 8, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Etrigan at 6:48 AM on March 7, 2017 [12 favorites]