Victory

It pays to persevere. Since January I have been doing battle with National Car. They have debited my credit card with two amounts 162 pounds and 65 pounds. The 162 was for a parcel shelf which they said I had stolen from a VW Passat I hired from them whilst I was in the UK for New Year, the 65 was for a scratch on the wing of a car which I had used on a recent trip to the UK.

After many phone calls and emails victory is mine, they have conceded on both counts and are re-crediting my credit card with the money. On the missing parcel shelf I pointed out to them that I had (a) phoned their office to report the parcel shelf missing (b) on returning the car to the airport I was then flying to Miami and (c) I live in Spain and drive a Ford C Max, so what earthly use was a Passat parcel shelf to me. I also threatened to write to the Daily Mail, involve thir customer complaints department and if all else failed I would involce the Financial Ombudsman.

The second incident involved the dispute of a scratch on the wing of the hire car, which was reported to them even before I had driven the car away from the airport. After numerous phone calls and emails, today I received a very polite email from them apologising for any undue inconvenience and that they are recrediting my card with the 65 pounds. So don't let the big boys get away with it. Victory is mine, on that note I am going to have a small scotch I need to build up my alcohol tolerance in readiness for the forthcoming nuptuals.