Jeffrey of Fernandina Beach, FL, writes:
On
July 31, 1999, I rented a station wagon from AAA Florida Car Rental Inc.
to be returned August 3, 1999 for a total price of $94.07 which I put on
my Visa debit card.
Unbeknown
to me, they rented me a car with an expired license plate sticker.
During the time I had the car, I received a few tickets for this
problem. The police officer told me to give the tickets to the car
rental company.
When
I returned the car, they signed on the contract that the car
"checked in okay". At this point, I informed them of the
tickets and they said they would take care of it. No apology for renting
me an illegal car.
When
checking my bank statement, I saw that on August 3, 1999, $94.07 was
deducted from my account for the car, which was correct. However, on
September 3rd, 1999 an amount of $225.00 was deducted from my bank
account going to AAA Florida Car Rental. THIS WAS NOT AUTHORIZED!
I
contacted the car company and I was told the $225 was for the tickets. I
informed them firstly that it is illegal to take money out of someone's
bank account without the person's authorization, and secondly, that it
is illegal to rent a car with an expired license plate sticker and that
it is the car rental company's responsibility, not mine to pay for the
tickets. They told me that they would credit to my account the
$225.
After
continuously going to my bank and checking my account and seeing that
the car rental company was not putting the money back in, even
after calling them approximately
10 times in a three-week period, I have decided to
contact Consumer Affairs.
How
is it possible for this company to get away with this, and how can I have the money they took out of my account without my
authorization put back into my account?
The
first thing to do is to send a certified, return-receipt-requested
letter to the company repeating what you have said here and requesting
that they refund the money. If they do not, you should go to Small
Claims Court and sue them. You do not need a lawyer and the
process is relatively simple. Just go to your local courthouse and
the court clerk will assist you.
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