Woodford Car Hire King Shaka Airport ********** Practices

In December 2018 I rented a Toyota Hilux 2.4D from Woodford Car Hire King Shaka Airport in KZN.

Upon returning the vehicle I was shocked to hear from Woodford that there were damages (cost of R4 600) to the vehicle caused by myself that I would be liable for in the form of two center caps that were missing from the vehicle and damage to the tailgate.

This was extremely pecu**** and absurd given I had not been in any form of accident or collision whilst the vehicle was under my care and not a single mark or scratch from the paintwork was visible reflecting possible impact or collision with another vehicle or object

I disputed this with Woodford and lodged my objection with them. I instructed my bank to block payment of the charge levied for damages. The bank was forced to later make payment to Woodford due to my initial authorization in the rental documents.

On 21 February 2019 I went to Woodford Car Hire King Shaka Airport to try rectify the matter. Whilst there I recorded the conversations I had with employees at the front desk. The employees at the front desk I spoke to were Ryan and Dinesh.

In the recording the employee named Ryan is asked by his supervisor or manager Dinesh whether the claims made by myself are true or not and Ryan confesses that what I have said is true regarding that the vehicle was not damaged by myself.

This discredits Woodford's claim that I had damaged the vehicle and that they were dishonest by their own admission.

Further to this I was alerted by one of the Woodford employees on duty (21 February 2019) in the wooden structure in the parking area informed me that one of the employees who was responsible for inspecting the vehicle I had rented was fired by Woodford for repeatedly taking vehicles from the rental fleet home without authorization.

The employee also asked me whether the employee who had been fired had tried to solicit a bribe from me or not as he was known for such behaviour.

This would ordinarily be inconsequential information to me as a customer but given the circumstances it highlights dishonest practices by the employees responsible for doing an inspection on the vehicle I had rented and highlights an incentive to lie about damages on rental vehicles.

This as the dismissed employee was known for taking rental vehicles home without authorization. The vehicle I had rented may have been one of the vehicles the said employee had taken home without authorization.

In the image of the initial objection statement that I lodged with Woodford Car Hire King Shaka Airport one would notice a hand in the picture of the statement belonging to Woodford Employee Ryan.

Ryan had initially scratched out the fact that I had lost wheelcaps on the vehicle in the statement only to deny then confess again to that what I had said was true when Dinesh interrogated him.