EUROPCAR ABSOLUTE WORST CAR RENTAL SERVICE IN S.A.

30 MAY 2018: I rented a vehicle in December 2016 at OR Tambo airport and en-route to Lost City experienced a problem. Whilst driving on the highway, I heard a rattling noise and as soon as it was safe to do so, pulled the vehicle over to investigate. I found that the rear bumper had come untied on the left side and was flapping in the wind. On further inspection, I noticed that the bumper had previously been secured to the vehicle with a cable tie, as a piece of it was still attached to the body of the vehicle. This cable tie, after months/years of wear-and-tear, had now snapped. Since rental cars do not come equipped with a tool box and since we were in the middle of nowhere, we had no alternative, but to carry on to our destination at a snails pace, so that the bumper did not detach completely. Once we arrived at Lost City, we spent hours searching for someone in maintenance who could assist with securing the bumper. Maintenance at Lost City eventually managed to supply us with another cable tie and we re-secured the "undamaged" bumper onto the vehicle. (The broken cable tie was still attached as we had no sharp device to remove it.) When I returned the vehicle 2 days later, the booth assistant did a walk-around, checked the vehicle and signed it off saying everything was in order. Out of honesty and wanting to bring the "problem bumper" to their attention to avoid an accident in future, I reported what had happened to me. I was referred to the office, had to fill in a report explaining what had happened to me, and as a result almost missed my flight back home. A few weeks later, to my utmost dismay and disbelief, I received an invoice for R13,500 for "damages to vehicle". I immediately sent an email to Zandile Buthelezi at Europcar, explaining the whole situation. Zandile promised to investigate and come back to me. Since then, I have dealt with Zandile a few times, each time explaining the situation again, and re-forwarding all my email correspondence. Now eighteen months later, I have had absolutely no response from Europcar. I have received countless emails, sms's and telephone calls from Zandile, and others, regarding my outstanding account. Each and every time I again explain what happened, and forward all my email correspondence to them. Still no response from Europcar. In February 2017, my account was handed over to collections who contacted me telephonically. Again an explanation of the whole story, and again forwarded all my emails to them. Again no response. Received another call from Hybrid Collections in August 2017, dealt with Henry Raphela who forwarded my dispute onto Berenice Aspeling of Europcar. Berenice escalated my dispute to the branch at OR Tambo and promised they would revert with an outcome response. To date, no response from the OR Branch, or Head Office. Last week (May 2018), I received a call from Collections again, saying that together with interest, my account is now R60,000!!! I explained the situation to them. No interest, they just want their money. Today again (30 May 2018) another call from Collections, not interested in listening to my story. They are just collecting for Europcar and I must pay. Why am I being held responsible for something that is not my fault? I did not have an accident. I did not bump the vehicle or damage it. There is absolutely no damage. All I did was bring a fault with their car to their attention, so that what happened to me, did not happen to any further renters of the car. The bumper was being held together with a cable tie. (Is this how Europcar maintenance fixes their cars?) Obviously with years of wear-and-tear, it is inevitable a plastic cable tie will break. Am I responsible for how they maintain their cars? Additionally, how do you justify a bill of R13,500 for a "*****/BOLT" to secure an undamaged bumper. Lastly, I took full-cover insurance to cover me for any incident, a fact that no-one is aware of, since they (EUROPCAR) do not "bother" to respond to their customers. FED-UP FEMALE! My next recourse is lawyers. HONESTY DOES NOT PAY! I will NEVER rent another car from Europcar again.