My OperaThe hire car stopped!
Saturday, September 6, 2008 10:01:35 PM
The hire car stopped
I contacted a small car rental firm and hired an old car to drive to a town some miles away. Suddenly the battery lamp lit red. I went on driving, but on my way home the hire car from hell stopped. The battery was flat. I called the rental firm, but no one answered the call. A lorry came by and gave my and the hire car a lift to my home town, for which I had to pay 100 dollars. The hire car firm paid me back only the half of it. Is this right?
It’s not possible for me to say yes or no in a real case like this.
But let us see what we will have to consider. First a hire car with flat battery is not conforming to the hire contract. The rental firm has to check the car for crucial matters like for instance battery, oil, cooler liquid, before they deliver it. They cannot rely on the customer to do that checking. Even if it is not a bad idea for the customer to check the car as far as he/she is able to. And it is not a good idea to ignore a red lamp. But this may not have influenced on your case as the battery most likely was in a bad condition all the time. It depends.
The firm may claim that you should have called road side help to quick start the hire car when it had stopped, which might have been cheaper. But since they did not answer your phone call, it is a possibility that they may have lost their chance to choose remedy for the problem. And what you chose to do may not be regarded unreasonable in the situation.
So I think you may have a right to claim back all the 100 dollars you paid the lorry driver. In addition you may be entitled to some price reduction in the hire price you paid the rental firm, because you have not received as valuable a service as you reasonably could expect. This depends on the circumstances.
See CISG article 50 which is in accordance with general contract law:
If the goods do not conform with the contract and whether or not the price has already been paid, the buyer may reduce the price in the same proportion as the value that the goods actually delivered had at the time of the delivery bears to the value that conforming goods would have had at that time.
I contacted a small car rental firm and hired an old car to drive to a town some miles away. Suddenly the battery lamp lit red. I went on driving, but on my way home the hire car from hell stopped. The battery was flat. I called the rental firm, but no one answered the call. A lorry came by and gave my and the hire car a lift to my home town, for which I had to pay 100 dollars. The hire car firm paid me back only the half of it. Is this right?
It’s not possible for me to say yes or no in a real case like this.
But let us see what we will have to consider. First a hire car with flat battery is not conforming to the hire contract. The rental firm has to check the car for crucial matters like for instance battery, oil, cooler liquid, before they deliver it. They cannot rely on the customer to do that checking. Even if it is not a bad idea for the customer to check the car as far as he/she is able to. And it is not a good idea to ignore a red lamp. But this may not have influenced on your case as the battery most likely was in a bad condition all the time. It depends.
The firm may claim that you should have called road side help to quick start the hire car when it had stopped, which might have been cheaper. But since they did not answer your phone call, it is a possibility that they may have lost their chance to choose remedy for the problem. And what you chose to do may not be regarded unreasonable in the situation.
So I think you may have a right to claim back all the 100 dollars you paid the lorry driver. In addition you may be entitled to some price reduction in the hire price you paid the rental firm, because you have not received as valuable a service as you reasonably could expect. This depends on the circumstances.
See CISG article 50 which is in accordance with general contract law:
If the goods do not conform with the contract and whether or not the price has already been paid, the buyer may reduce the price in the same proportion as the value that the goods actually delivered had at the time of the delivery bears to the value that conforming goods would have had at that time.
