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'Avis charged me £700 to repair damage which should have cost me £250'

A spokesman for Avis Budget said 'fair and transparent prices' were of 'utmost importance' to the company - Bloomberg News
A spokesman for Avis Budget said 'fair and transparent prices' were of 'utmost importance' to the company - Bloomberg News

Car hire giant Avis charged a 70-year-old motorist more than £700 for repair work that should have cost close to a third of that price.

The news comes after a Telegraph investigation uncovered evidence suggesting French rental company Europcar has systematically overcharged 500,000 customers for repairs over a decade, prompting a Trading Standards investigation.

Roger Parkington, a British citizen who lives overseas, hired an Audi A4 from Avis budget at Heathrow Airport in June during a trip to the UK. After returning the vehicle with some damage to the rear bumper he was handed a bill of £717 - which includes a "damage processing fee" of £66.

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An Avis Budget spokesman insisted the prices it charges its customers are in line with repair industry standards.

But the Telegraph showed pictures of the damage to repair aggregator whocanfixmycar.com, which provided a quote from a national body repair firm of £250. The website also showed us quotes for very similar repairs to other vehicles for prices ranging from £150 to £436 - all well below the stated price from Avis.

Picture shows two spots on the Audi A4 hired by Mr Parkington, with scratches on the rear
Pictures of the damage that Mr Parkington was charged more than £700 to fix

Mr Parkington said: “I wasn’t even aware the car had been damaged until they sent us photos of the damage, which looked like the sort of scratch you might get from a supermarket trolley. I was very surprised at the bill.”

He did not have to pay the bill, as he had already forked out £198 for Avis's own "excess waiver insurance" - the extraordinarily high price of which has also been subject to much criticism. Comparable cover is widely availabe for a tenth of the price.

Roger Parkington pictured sitting by a river after having been charged an inflated cost for rental car repairs by Avis
Roger Parkington was overcharged by Avis for what should have been fairly inexpensive repairs

The Avis Budget spokesman said: "On this occasion, the customer took out our zero excess product and therefore did not actually pay for the damage.

"However, having viewed and assessed the vehicle, utilising our independent UK repair standard pricing and quoting systems to generate an appraisal, we feel the quote given was correct to repair the car to the required standard."

She had earlier said that "fair and transparent pricing" is of "utmost importance to the firm", adding: "We utilise repair industry pricing and quoting systems alongside our historic repair costs for each car group."

The Telegraph's lowest quote was for £250, but the firm did say this could be liable to rise once the car was seen. Similar repairs carried out on other cars was done for a range of prices up to £436 - still well short of the £700 charged to Mr Parkington.

A photo showing Mr Parkington's itemised bill for £717 issued by Avis
Mr Parkington's itemised bill for £717 issued by Avis

The Serious Fraud Office is preparing an investigation into Europcar after evidence emerged suggesting secret deals between the firm and its suppliers were netting it profits at the expense of its customers.

A whistleblower, who manages a branch of Europcar in the UK has also claimed that agents are given a bonus of £4 a vehicle for finding scratches on returned cars.

While there is no evidence to suggest firms other than Europcar are engaged in similar practices, consumer group Which? has called for the investigation to be widened to cover the whole industry.

Ripped off by a car hire firm? | Let us know
Ripped off by a car hire firm? | Let us know