Ontario man informed he might need to pay $1,000 for injury to rental automobile he by no means drove

TORONTO —
An Ontario man who went to pick-up a rental automobile and seen it has been damaged into stated the corporate informed him he might be on the hook for $1,000 when he reported the injury.

Toronto man Rares Pateanu stated he tried to hire a car on Saturday from car-sharing company Zipcar so he might choose up groceries at Costco.

The 65-year-old stated when he went to get the automobile from an underground parking storage, he seen one window was damaged and that wires have been uncovered underneath the steering wheel. 

“I put two-and-two collectively and realized it is a break-in,” Pateanu informed CTV Information Toronto on Monday. “It seemed like they tried to wire the automobile in some way, however clearly they didn’t succeed.”

He stated he instantly known as Zipcar to report the injury and that’s after they notified him his account could be suspended. 

“They have been treating me like I’m chargeable for this break-in,” he stated. “Why would I need to break right into a automobile that I paid for and have the important thing for?”

He stated he was informed to submit images of the injury and that the corporate could be in contact.

When he received dwelling, he stated he acquired an e-mail from Zipcar notifying him he might be answerable for the primary $1,000 in damages. 

He stated he was informed his account would additionally stay suspended for a number of weeks whereas they investigated. 

“Telling me I is likely to be answerable for $1,000 is massively insensitive and really awful customer support,” Pateanu stated. 

He additionally was not reimbursed for the $40 it price him to hire the automobile within the first place. 

“The circumstances right here have been blinding apparent,” he stated. “There was no reasonableness anyplace within the course of.”

When CTV Information Toronto contacted Zipcar on Monday to ask concerning the state of affairs, they instantly reached out to Pateanu to apologize.

Zipcar reactivated his membership, reimbursed him the rental charges and added $125 of credit score to his account.

The corporate additionally informed CTV Information Toronto they’d “study from this incident and work to enhance the expertise for all members shifting ahead.”

Pateanu stated he is glad with the decision, however stated it “should not take the intervention of a significant information group to be handled pretty.”

“However ultimately they did the best factor.”