First Car

First Car Hire Accident ***** Dear Sir/Madam On the 4 January 2019 I was involved in a car accident. I had hired a vehicle from First Car Hire from King Shaka airport. When I app**** for the vehicle I requested full insurance cover. I was given a vehicle that was not roadworthy. After a few conversations with First car they agreed to exchange the vehicle. This was done in the pouring rain. The driver said not to worry as he had checked the vehicle. On the 4 January 2019 we were stationary in heavy traffic. Mr T****shi turned his vehicle to avoid a taxi and swiped the side of my hired vehicle. I proceeded to take photos of the damage to both vehicles, the number plate of the vehicle Mr T****shi was driving and of his drivers licence. I immediately reported the accident to the closest police station. On returning to the First Car depot at King Shaka airport I produced all the photos and the accident report. First Car only refunded my R7,000 deposit after me requesting it on numerous occasions. They refunded the R7,000 and promptly withdrew R8,000. From my account. I have spoken to Rosemary ****man, from First Car on numerous occasions who informed me that the matter was being taken care of. Rosemary ****man also mentioned to me that the vehicle had been repaired of all damage to vehicle including the bumps and scratches that were on the vehicle before I hired the vehicle. She sent me an invoice that they received from the panel beaters. I approached her on the fact that only the side of the vehicle was slightly damaged and they have had the entire car damages repaired, her response was that I need not concern myself as this would be covered by Mr T****shi as he was responsible for the accident. My daughter was very annoyed as this is represents *****. On my request she did not take this matter further. In March 2019 Corel from the attorneys contacted me. She stated that because I did not get Mr T****shi’s address there was nothing they could do. I proceeded to tell her that this was just a loophole for them to refund me my money. She then mentioned to me that the address they had for Mr T****si was incorrect and that the vehicle he was driving was not his. Corel requested the name of the police station where I reported the accident. I checked with Sean Cad**** who was in the vehicle with me at the time of the accident and sent her the details via their receptionist. I followed up a couple of weeks later only to find that the message was not passed on. After a couple further requests Corel contacted me and informed me that they had traced the driver who was a policeman and that they would proceed to contact him. A couple of weeks later when I again managed to get in touch with her she informed me that she was away and the matter had been handed over to one of her colleagues and she would get the person to contact me. I waited a further 2 weeks before I contacted her and this time Corel informed me her colleague was on leave. Unfortunately I lost my cool and responded very angry only to receive a letter a few days later stating that the amount of R7500 from the 3rd party Mr. N Diko will no further be investigated. The amount taken from my account was R8,000.00 and the 3rd party was Mr T****shi not a Mr N Diko. I am a 65 year pensioner and am in no position to just hand over R8,000.00 for an incident that I was not responsible for. I have attached all the correspondence including and the photos I took. A few of my close friends and family members have had similar experiences with the car hire companies and I would be eternally grateful for your assistance in the matter. Please do not hesitate to contact me for further information. Kind Regards Debbie Jennings Rosemary ****man Accident and Claims Clerk *** ***

Corel *** – ***