@Zipcar trying to charging me £300 for a chest of drawers left in a car i hired - i didnt see one!!

[mohamed]

I am trapped in a totally insane battle with Zipcar over a mysterious chest of drawers found in one of their cars.

On July 21, 2023, I rented a Zipcar Flex, picking it up at 18:57 and returning it by 19:52. I was going to dinner with friends and the only items I carried with me being my handbag and a bottle of wine.   I picked up a friend on route and we left the Streatham/Norbury. On exiting the car, I encountered an issue with locking it, and I had to seek assistance from zipcar to resolve this matter.
 
To my surprise, several days later (around July 26), I received a call from the Zipcar call centre, claiming that I had left an item in the vehicle. I firmly denied leaving any item and repeatedly requested information about the said item's nature and location. Unfortunately, the call centre representative could not provide any concrete details, and it was suggested that the item might have been left by a previous user and that I may not have noticed it. At no point during this interaction was I asked to retrieve the item or told what it was or where it was found. No information whatsoever.
 
Considering that almost a week had passed since my rental, I found it puzzling that I was only informed about this alleged item now, without any prior notice or opportunity to address or discuss the situation. I was left in the dark about where the car was located, whether it was in the same state I left it, and whether anyone else had accessed the car during the intervening five days.
 
Since then, I received no further communication on this matter until today, August 24, when I received an invoice for an exorbitant amount of £300 labelled as 'Large Item Removal & Disposal.' Shockingly, the email indicated that the money would be deducted from my account in just five working days. This is utterly unacceptable, as no evidence, such as photographs or descriptions of the item, was provided to support this charge.
 
I want to emphasise how absurd this situation is. Zipcar is attempting to unilaterally deduct a significant sum from my account without presenting any concrete evidence to me. With no proof to anyone, they are planning to deduct a large sum from my account. When I called and complained, they also immediately suspended my account. 

After I complained - several times - they sent some photos of the said item and a vague description of how the item was seen in the car by one of their operatives the same night. Please have a look at the photos which show a chest of drawers which covers the entire back seat of the car and the boot and required that the seats be laid flat.

The reason I did not report it is because it was not in the car that I picked up.  It is an item that takes up the whole car!  I could not have missed it, nor could my passenger. Zipcar provide no evidence of the time or location of the car. The photos are very carefully cropped to ensure that the location of the car is not identifiable. There is no explanation of the missing six days from when I borrowed the car to when they called me.  There is no evidence at all apart from their say so.

Then of course, in their emails there are the subtle threats - we are going to contact our insurers. We have reviewed the matter and are confident that charges are correct. What was the review - a bunch of men in suits saying we need to improve our bottom line? They feel that they can say and do whatever they like and that's that. Look at the photos. The chest is drawers is not mine and it was not in the car when I borrowed it, nor was it in the car when I arrived at my destination and exited the car. How do I prove this? Or how do I access Zipcar's systems to find out exactly who had access to the car from 21 July to 26 July, and find out where those photos they sent me were taken and when?
 

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[BankFodder]

You probably need to stop worrying about this.

Call your card issuer/bank and inform them that you want a block on any payments made from your card to that company. Get a reference number. Confirm this in writing. Read our customer services guide.

Monitor your account for any money which is taken.

Write a letter to the car hire people and inform them simply that you have no knowledge of the item which apparently was left in the vehicle and that you are not prepared to pay any invoice and that if they feel that there is money to be recovered then they should issue court proceedings immediately and you will deal with it before a judge.
Tell them that you have instructed your bank/card issuer not to make any payments to them and that any attempt to take money from your account will be met with immediate complaint to the bank and a request for a chargeback. (Point this out to the bank as well)

Send this letter – without all the narrative stuff that you have included above in your first post. Be brief and to the point.

Keep us updated. If it goes any further then of course we will help you. I don't envisage much problem. You may even find the whole thing quite interesting.

The only difficulty for you is that it may have destroyed your relationship with Zipcar if you use them very often – but you will have to deal with that as it comes.

I would suggest a couple of weeks that you send them an SAR. If they have this down on your data file then if you want you can make a claim against them for inaccurate data processing and that might be worth the money to you as well. Especially if you can show that this has caused distress and inconvenience in that they have blocked your access to the Zipcar service on this basis.
 

[mohamed]

Thank you. I've taken your advice and written to my bank. I didn't know it was possible to stop continuous payment authorities in this way. Just waiting for a confirmation response from my bank and then I'll write to zipcar.

 

Thank you again

[BankFodder]

But telephone the bank as well

Continuous payment authorities: it is your right to cancel

WWW.FCA.ORG.UK

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Find out your rights when cancelling a continuous payment authority and what to do if your bank does not allow you to do this.

 

 

[dx100uk]

yep go ring your bank now on their phonebanknig number and cancel the continuous payment authority to zipcars set up using your debit crd number ..DO NOT CANCEL THE CARD.. that does not work to cancel existing CPA's, they MUST understand this. some don't 

simple as that then forget about the issue ....nothing zipcar can then do.... ignore them 

block and bounce their email address

 

dx

 

[mohamed]

Thank you for the replies.

To update: Zipcar attempted to withdraw the £300 but because i'd stopped the continuous payment authority as advised, they were unable to. Zipcar subsequently sent an email asking me to update my payment details or agree a payment plan. I have just ignored this.

 

 

[dx100uk]

[BankFodder]

I think that you should send them one letter refusing and putting it on record that it was not your chest of drawers.

They must look elsewhere for their money.

I think it is worth showing a paper trail and that you are responsive