The First Rental Car Accident

When we rent cars in foreign countries, typically, Greg is listed as the driver. Depending upon the cost, I will sometimes be the “additional driver”. I fully admit he is a much better driver than I. This year, while in Colmar France, Greg forgot to take his passport when we picked up the car. A passport is required in most counties when renting a vehicle. Some places will take a copy, many require the original, like Colmar. So, I signed up as the primary driver this time and we couldn’t add Greg as the additional because he didn’t have his passport.

We rented the car from Expedia for a weekend to get out into the wine country of France’s eastern side. Thursday night (5/22) the Hertz agent gave us a brand-new car with only 6 km on it. The car was lovely, but I was nervous driving a brand-new car in a foreign country. Our first location was the small village of Eguisheim. As I was turning toward the parking lot, I scraped the tire on the curb. Not just the tire, but the hub cap too. Eeee Ghads! Damage. Holy crap, how much is this mistake going to cost us?

Getting further out into the countryside was easier. We had a great time in the EcoMusee d’Alsace where traditional half-timber houses had been disassembled all over the county and reassembled in this one amazing park with a lumber mill, a forge, a pharmacy and other cool buildings. We loved the tractor parade too. The next day we went to the Domaine Gueth Winery where we had an incredible experience. You can read about breaking down boundaries in the story

At the completion of the rental paperwork, we discussed the procedures for returning the car. The agent told us that Monday 5/25, the day it was due back, was a bank holiday and the office would be closed. This was not on our radar, so we hoped she’d tell us to keep it until Tuesday. No such luck. Instead, she told us to park the car on the street (the gate will be locked) and place the keys in the brick drop box. So, when Monday came, we did as we were told, took photos of the car including the damaged wheel cover, and walked back to the apartment.

Then, we waited for Hertz to send an email showing receipt of the car and bill for the damage.

And waited.

And waited.

When the following Thursday (5/28) came and we still did not have an email, we knew we had to call to get it resolved. So, we made an international call to the Herz local branch where we rented the car. The agent told us that they had the car, first relief, and then said, “not good” “damage on the wheel”. They needed to have the shop inspect it and said “…we will invoice you tomorrow or the next day [when the damage is calculated].”

So, we waited.

And waited.

And waited. No email. No phone call. No notification. We still did not have PROOF that the agency received the car. We didn’t have proof of the condition the car was received. Our anxiety was building with every passing hour. Could it have been damaged further sitting on the street? Were they a slimy company who was going to “find” more damage to charge us because we were stupid “rich” Americans? Hundreds of scenarios played in our minds, day and night.

On Monday (6/1) a week after returning the car, we began scouring the rental agreement and third-party insurance policy we bought. We had looked at the French documents before, but this time we translated it and carefully read the 37-page documents for every nuance. Our anxiety had us second guessing many phrases as we “what-if-ed” all the possible worst-case scenarios.

In my email on Thursday (6/4) was NOT the completed rental paperwork, but a third notice from Hert to review my experience. So, I laid into the company giving them a 5/10 for the horrible communication experience we were having. Our time in this region would be ending on Tuesday (6/9) and the last thing we wanted was to deal with this Hertz agency from another country.

Finally, on Monday (6/8), the day before we needed to leave the country, and two weeks after returning the car like we were told, we trudged the half mile to the Hertz agency. Sitting on the street, right where we left it, was the new car. We walked around it with eagle eyes. No, there wasn’t additional damage.

In conclusion, we learned several valuable lessons with this experience.

1. This was how the French do business. They do not have a sense of urgency. The car was returned and paperwork would come when they needed the car again.

2. NEVER, EVER will we return a car on a day the agency is closed. An immediate inspection and receipt of return is absolutely required from this day forward.

3. ALWAYS have car insurance. Each country has different ways of doing it with wildly different costs associated with the coverage, but ALWAYS having it will be the way we do business in the future.

**We had third-party insurance through Expedia. We submitted a claim for the wheel damage, not the parking ticket. Our claim was settled a week later as we continued our journey.

Then we went inside and waited for an agent to be free. It was the same agent who had rented us the car. We explained that we were still waiting for the final paperwork. She was surprised that we hadn’t received the paperwork and she began pulling it together. We waited patiently. She showed us the parking ticket we had somehow acquired (€26) plus the wheel charges and taxes totaling €235. No other damage. No other charges. No arguing. No anger. It was all a matter of fact. We paid with our credit card as we sighed in relief that it was over.

We Took a Risk