I am writing to share my experience with a car rental scam in Australia while I was studying there. I have been advised by the Help Desk to post this to the forum. I rented a car from an Australian company called East Coast Car Rentals. My rental vehicle was in poor condition and suffered a serious mechanical failure as I was driving it when the axle (more specifically the cv joint, which connects the wheel to the axle) failed, causing the wheel to separate from the vehicle and causing me to lose control of the car and almost crash. This could have caused a serious and potentially fatal crash at a higher speed.
The company then charged me $5,500 (AUD) for the damage, saying their rental agreement made me liable for any damage to the vehicle, regardless of fault or cause. At the time I was shaken from the incident and assumed the insurance I had purchased as part of the rental package from Auto Europe (through Driveaway Holidays) would cover it. But when I tried to file a claim, Driveaway Holidays directed me to a fine print clause buried in the back of their voucher agreement, which I was not made aware of at the time I purchased the insurance and read through the main terms and conditions, that the “comprehensive” insurance would not cover damage to the undercarriage, roof, or other major parts of the vehicle.
I tried disputing the charge with Barclaycard (I filed a dispute shortly after I returned from the rental office since I firmly felt I should not have to pay anything, even if I could get reimbursed). I contacted the rental company contesting the charge, and after a month of being stonewalled, warned I would be taking legal action if the money was not returned. In response, the company told me they had just had somebody inspect the vehicle (one month later) and claimed to have determined I hit something and was at fault. I was emailed a number of docked photographs and a sloppy, incoherent paragraph, which I have included as an attachment.
Barclaycard told me that since the company was claiming I was at fault, Mastercard’s dispute resolution process required me to offer proof there was a problem with the vehicle in order to remove the charge. I filed complaints with a number of consumer protection agencies in Australia, but my only option for a resolution was to go through the legal system, which proved to be the second part of my horror story. After a lengthy, drawn out legal battle, full of many irregularities (I have full audio recordings of both hearings and can provide clips so you can see what I mean) I was told that it was my responsibility to find a way to prove I was not at fault for the incident or the rental company could hold me liable no matter what, without having to offer any proof that I was at fault in any way.
This decision is not in line with Australia’s Consumer Protection laws (which I researched extensively over the course of my legal battle) and completely disregards them. It is illegal for rental companies to hold consumers liable for damage when the customer is not at fault or when the company cannot prove that it is their fault. But these laws do not seem to mean very much.
I am not seeking a resolution to this since at this point, I know there is not much you could do to resolve this. I am seeking assistance in publicizing this and getting it in the press. It is something I hope to have carried by some major news outlets and was hoping you could assist me in doing this. My experience touches on and relates to a number of issues of concern to international travelers that need to be publicized.
First, I want to publicize what this rental company has been doing. It has a long track record of unscrupulous business practices and there is quite the paper trail online about it (though many review sites seem to be flooded with suspicious looking positive reviews). Here is one forum with 7 years’ worth of complaints about them, many of which are similar to mine and highlight charging for no-fault damage and unsafe rental vehicles: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g255069-i482-k4593002-East_Coast_Car_Rental-Cairns_Cairns_Region_Queensland.html
Second, I want to publicize the dangers awaiting travelers renting cars in Australia. This company is not alone, and such scams appear to be alarmingly prevalent there. I am aware of many other companies similar to this one. Some of my housemates rented a campervan that broke down because the oil hadn’t been changed. The car rental industry is normally full of scams to watch out for, and I’ve read articles on your site that highlight some of them. But Australia really does seem to stand out. Unsafe rental vehicles, rental contracts that hold consumers liable for damage regardless of fault or cause and insurance packages riddled with loopholes that render them worthless are widespread. There have even been incidents where international travelers have been killed by defective rental vehicles.
Australian authorities have done little to address this, as my experience with the legal system clearly demonstrates. I am hoping that spreading my story through the press and drawing attention to this problem will pressure the Australian government to take this problem seriously, as they have failed to do so.
Below I have attached the statement I was emailed in response to my threat to pursue legal action, which was one of the pieces of "evidence" the company used to accuse me of fault and presented during the hearing. I have many other documents and audio recordings I can provide, including discrepancies in the company's photographs that clearly show how they rearranged the damage to try to make it look like an at fault accident (yes I am serious).
The company then charged me $5,500 (AUD) for the damage, saying their rental agreement made me liable for any damage to the vehicle, regardless of fault or cause. At the time I was shaken from the incident and assumed the insurance I had purchased as part of the rental package from Auto Europe (through Driveaway Holidays) would cover it. But when I tried to file a claim, Driveaway Holidays directed me to a fine print clause buried in the back of their voucher agreement, which I was not made aware of at the time I purchased the insurance and read through the main terms and conditions, that the “comprehensive” insurance would not cover damage to the undercarriage, roof, or other major parts of the vehicle.
I tried disputing the charge with Barclaycard (I filed a dispute shortly after I returned from the rental office since I firmly felt I should not have to pay anything, even if I could get reimbursed). I contacted the rental company contesting the charge, and after a month of being stonewalled, warned I would be taking legal action if the money was not returned. In response, the company told me they had just had somebody inspect the vehicle (one month later) and claimed to have determined I hit something and was at fault. I was emailed a number of docked photographs and a sloppy, incoherent paragraph, which I have included as an attachment.
Barclaycard told me that since the company was claiming I was at fault, Mastercard’s dispute resolution process required me to offer proof there was a problem with the vehicle in order to remove the charge. I filed complaints with a number of consumer protection agencies in Australia, but my only option for a resolution was to go through the legal system, which proved to be the second part of my horror story. After a lengthy, drawn out legal battle, full of many irregularities (I have full audio recordings of both hearings and can provide clips so you can see what I mean) I was told that it was my responsibility to find a way to prove I was not at fault for the incident or the rental company could hold me liable no matter what, without having to offer any proof that I was at fault in any way.
This decision is not in line with Australia’s Consumer Protection laws (which I researched extensively over the course of my legal battle) and completely disregards them. It is illegal for rental companies to hold consumers liable for damage when the customer is not at fault or when the company cannot prove that it is their fault. But these laws do not seem to mean very much.
I am not seeking a resolution to this since at this point, I know there is not much you could do to resolve this. I am seeking assistance in publicizing this and getting it in the press. It is something I hope to have carried by some major news outlets and was hoping you could assist me in doing this. My experience touches on and relates to a number of issues of concern to international travelers that need to be publicized.
First, I want to publicize what this rental company has been doing. It has a long track record of unscrupulous business practices and there is quite the paper trail online about it (though many review sites seem to be flooded with suspicious looking positive reviews). Here is one forum with 7 years’ worth of complaints about them, many of which are similar to mine and highlight charging for no-fault damage and unsafe rental vehicles: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g255069-i482-k4593002-East_Coast_Car_Rental-Cairns_Cairns_Region_Queensland.html
Second, I want to publicize the dangers awaiting travelers renting cars in Australia. This company is not alone, and such scams appear to be alarmingly prevalent there. I am aware of many other companies similar to this one. Some of my housemates rented a campervan that broke down because the oil hadn’t been changed. The car rental industry is normally full of scams to watch out for, and I’ve read articles on your site that highlight some of them. But Australia really does seem to stand out. Unsafe rental vehicles, rental contracts that hold consumers liable for damage regardless of fault or cause and insurance packages riddled with loopholes that render them worthless are widespread. There have even been incidents where international travelers have been killed by defective rental vehicles.
Australian authorities have done little to address this, as my experience with the legal system clearly demonstrates. I am hoping that spreading my story through the press and drawing attention to this problem will pressure the Australian government to take this problem seriously, as they have failed to do so.
Below I have attached the statement I was emailed in response to my threat to pursue legal action, which was one of the pieces of "evidence" the company used to accuse me of fault and presented during the hearing. I have many other documents and audio recordings I can provide, including discrepancies in the company's photographs that clearly show how they rearranged the damage to try to make it look like an at fault accident (yes I am serious).
