Hirebuddies withheld deposit without reason
I hired a camper van from hirebuddies. They charged an extra £400 because it was for Glastonbury. But then they took the whole £1500 damage fee and are still withholding £300 without any reason. They have been saying for 5 months now that they will send a copy of a photo of damage and a receipt for the repairs but still nothing has come. We didn't cause any damage. Here is a sample letter I wrote to them.
"I am absolutely amazed at this. We have acted in accordance with the agreement, we have acted reasonably and in fact I think it is reasonable to expect you to pay us compensation and/or a full refund.
I cannot open the file you have sent. Please send a version that I can open (tif, gif, jpg, bmp format) or tell me what common program can be used to open it.
1. The table was returned to the collection driver in the same condition as it was when it was delivered. The delivery driver disassembled it and as no manual was provided neither he nor we could work out how assemble it into a bed or back to being a table.
2. You will note from the document I signed on receipt of the vehicle that the water filler cap lock was broken when I received the vehicle.
3. I have no idea what you are referring to as I cannot see the photo. I assure you that we did not damage the rail and I cannot imagine how something as robust as that could have been damaged.
4. I was told when I hired the vehicle at a rate approx 50% higher than the normal price, that this was because the lender expected it to be dirtier than normal. I think that the £300 premium should cover this cleaning. We did clean it however and had intended to do further cleaning on it. On dropping the vehicle off the driver said that, contrary to our agreement, he would be collecting it at the end of the week. I was very surprised to receive a call from him at 5pm on the Tuesday saying that he would be here at 6pm. That gave me one hour to do the best cleaning I could.
We agreed that the van would be delivered to us promptly at 8am on the Thursday. I called you at 9.30am explaining that we were still waiting. I was told that you (the guy who answered) were too busy to investigate and that I should wait for a further 2 hours before calling back at which point he would find out what the delay was. Finally the vehicle arrived at around 11am. You left a family including children sitting at the door with bags packed waiting for 3 hours without even offering any confirmation that it was on its way or attempting to find out what the delay was. We only wanted it for the long weekend. We were due to be at Glastonbury at the time the van arrived. We lost half a day of our 5 day trip i.e. 10%. For this I am due at least a 10% refund i.e. £110.
The delivery driver told us that we had to use special toilet paper, that this should have been provided and if we had to buy any more then you would reimburse us. Where exactly did you expect us to buy this toilet paper in the middle of a field in Glastonbury when we were already half a day late and you hadn't given us any details such as this in advance? Actually you told us the day before to expect a Chausson Flush and that if we wanted any information on it we should use Google. The vehicle that arrived was a Ford Rimor Superbrig and not a Chausson Flush at all.
The only manual provided was written in a foreign language and did not cover much of functionality. The van had an on board computer for controlling gas, water etc. Again no manual was provided and the instructions that the computer displayed were in a foreign language so on two
No mechanism was provided for getting water into the van i.e. no water carrying container and no funnel.
The vehicle was left hand drive. We were not informed of this in advance. I have never driven anything of this size before and explained my concerns on booking. This is why I was so keen to know in advance what kind of vehicle it was, why I said I'd prefer a 5 birth, and why I wanted the van delivered at 8am. To give us a vehicle which is left hand drive was extremely dangerous and irresponsible, particularly for roundabouts, left turns and entry to motorways. I feel that in this respect you put our lives at risk and that you were certainly in breach of contract.
As for your assertion on the phone that you have proof in the form of dog hair that a dog had been on board, this is clearly a lie or proof that you used the vehicle after collecting it from me, as Glastonbury don't allow dogs and searched the van on entry and as you delivered it late and collected it early we had no opportunity to put a dog on board, and don't own one anyway.
In summary, having been given a vehicle that was dangerous to drive, with no water, no instructions and no toilet paper we had a very unpleasant hiring experience for which I feel entitled to a full refund. I certainly don't feel that I owe any money for you collecting the van ahead of the agreed time so before it had been cleaned, and for you not inspecting and reassembling the vehicle prior to taking it away. Please refund my deposit in full immediately."
Hi Riggy. This may not be the one, but it seems quite reasonable:-
