Thu, 8. October 2009
Taken For a Ride by Mercury
I have hired vehicles, without damaging them, for over forty years for business and pleasure and I have never been badly treated - but I had always used companies such as Hertz, Avis, Eurocar and Budget. This time I unfortunately chose a company called Mercury, in Lichfield, Staffordshire. I began to have doubts about their probity on pick-up day, when I was charged 110.99 pounds after receiving a written quotation of only 110.00 pounds. My mild protestation was dismissed and - because it was not a large discrepancy - I let it go. Nevertheless, I realise now that it was an indication of dirty tricks to come.
On picking up the vehicle, the Mercury man was at pains to draw attention to an existing scratch on the car body but he completely avoided showing me the wheels. Conversely, on returning the vehicle, the Mercury man avoided a detailed look at the car body but went straight to the front passenger wheel and 'discovered' a 'slight scuff mark' - which he was surprisingly able to say was fresh. He then surprised me even more by immediately quoting (from memory) the exact price to repair a 'slight scuff mark' on a wheel.
Despite returning the vehicle in the same condition in which I received it, Mercury 'quoted' an extra 45 pounds, to repair a 'slight scuff mark' on a wheel, that I did not cause. A deduction was made from my account after I left. I was not born yesterday. The Mercury man was able to find a 'slight scuff mark' on a wheel within a few seconds - after glossing quickly over the rest of the car - and was able to immediately quote a 'repair' price from memory. It became difficult for me not to come to the conclusion that he knew he would find this particular 'slight scuff mark' before I even drove back into the yard and that it must have been already there when I picked it up.
When I later checked my bank statement, I found that they had actually taken out 51.75 pounds, so for the second time in three days they had quoted me one amount and then charged me extra. Even if I had been responsible for it, 51.75 pounds was far in excess of the actual repair value for a 'slight scuff mark' and they apparently charged me for an unnecessary full replacement part. A 'slight scuff mark' on a wheel is fair wear and tear for a vehicle which already had nearly 5000 miles on the clock and (like the existing unrepaired scratch on the body) would not prevent the vehicle from being re-hired.
Conclusions: This was an unpleasant experience. Mercury were a bad choice of company. I was ripped off and overcharged. I cannot recommend hiring a car from Mercury Rent-A-Car in Lichfield, Tamworth or Burton, UK.
POSTSCRIPT added 23rd December 2009:
I followed up with Mercury after returning home. They treated my six messages with contempt. I received two semi-illiterate one-sentence replies. Both were anonymous. Their message seemed to be: "up yours" .
I also followed the matter up with my bank, who investigated Mercury's actions. Twelve weeks after the money was syphoned out by a Mercury employee, St George Bank and/or Visa determined that Mercury were wrong to make the deduction. They back-charged Mercury and refunded the money to me. I never received an apology from Mercury.
Memo to Mercury Rent-A-Car: When you eventually stumble across this blog, "up yours" too. With spikes on.