Driver says he was charged for rental car damage he doesn’t think he caused

CHARLOTTE — Mickey English and his wife were off to Atlanta for a concert and some other fun.

“Didn’t want to put the miles on our car,” he said.

So he rented a car from NÜ Car Rentals in west Charlotte.

“I kind of walked around it. I saw some little scratches and things,” he said.

English didn’t say anything, but, when he returned the car, the worker did.

“And he’s like. ‘There’s a chip out of the window. This was not this way when this car left.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know,’” English said.

So the business charged him $1,600 for the damage.

“I was almost in tears, I couldn’t even talk straight,” he said.

English says he really thought the chip was there before he rented the car, but he couldn’t prove it.

“Me and my wife just felt so beat up, we said let’s just pay it,” he said. “I just wanted to go home.”

NÜ Car Rentals told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke when customers rent cars, it gives them a link to photos of the damage the company already knows about. If the customers see anything else, the business asks them to upload their own pictures -- or show an agent -- before leaving the lot.

Bottom line, no matter what rental company you use, make sure you walk around the car and document damage -- no matter how small -- before leaving the lot. Sure, it takes time, but it’s important.

And if you get stuck with the tab like in this case, see if your insurance will cover it. Stoogenke contacted English’s insurer for him and English says it worked.

“They’re covering my whole $1,600 claim which I thank you Jesus for that, I thank you and Action 9 for that, because I don’t think it would’ve happened any other way,” English told Stoogenke.

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