Please help a tourist - added photos and estimate

[yagil_tzur]

https://twitter.com/YagilTzur/status/407984665513820160/photo/1

I am a tourist which recently got back home after 2 weeks RV rental in which we traveled through Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon, Yosemite. The travel was great. the US is amazingly beautiful. During the travel, I scratched the RV. The damage is shown in the attached photo. I was charged $1100 for the damage. As I have no experience with RVs, I'm struggling with the question whether it is a reasonable or exaggerated amount? (especially as the RV rental company, probably pays much less then a private owner). Any opinion will be appreciated as it may help my case.

[Effy]

Why are you being charged for paint 2x? And what color to match? It's white.

[mike_brez]

If the insurance covered side damage it would of had some before I left. Seriously I don't think the price is to bad if it needs any type of painting. If it can be buffed out its way out of line.

[OhhWell]

Unfortunately, I think you are hosed. You probably would have had to have taken it to a couple places and got estimates before turning it in. Even then, there could be language in the contract to negate that helping you out. Also, looking at the pictures, I wouldn't have expected that high of a bill either.

Something to be aware of when renting for sure. I can't believe the insurance doesn't cover the top, front and bottom. Isn't that convenient when those are the areas most likely to get damaged in simple mistakes....

[doxiemom11]

Having worked for an insurance company I can tell you that a door ding from a shopping cart routinely cost about $600 to have repaired on a car. In view of the bills I saw for repairs, that amount is not out of line. Also when they paint, they paint out in a larger area than just the damage to blend the paint so that the new and old paint lines are not visible. From the photo the scratch looks superficial and like it could be buffed out??? That would not be near as expensive.

[demoon]

And all of those rental units that are for sale are totally blemish free? Right.

[phnguyk]

yagil.tzur wrote:
https://twitter.com/YagilTzur/status/407984665513820160/photo/1

I am a tourist which recently got back home after 2 weeks RV rental in which we traveled through Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon, Yosemite. The travel was great. the US is amazingly beautiful. During the travel, I scratched the RV. The damage is shown in the attached photo. I was charged $1100 for the damage. As I have no experience with RVs, I'm struggling with the question whether it is a reasonable or exaggerated amount? (especially as the RV rental company, probably pays much less then a private owner). Any opinion will be appreciated as it may help my case.

Ripped off.

[kalynzoo]

If it had been a rental car from a major rental company you would have been charged for the time the vehicle is out of service along with the repair costs. Additionally, when I had a paint scratch repair on my rig the shop painted the entire section, not just the scratch, to assure a matching repair. Personally, the repair cost sounds reasonable. JMHO

[B_s_Bunch]

I would really like a job watching paint dry:W

[et2]

The question is - what were the terms of your rental agreement? If you signed anything agreeing to "their" terms then your question is a moot point. I'm going to side with the rental company as I'm sure they have everything in writing to protect their property and associated damage from renters.

So many people drive these things away without any further consideration or knowledge of how they work. Then when they screw it up they expect leniency on the repair costs. Buy one for yourself and see how much it really takes to keep it in good condition. That includes driving it.

[Francesca_Knowl]

The thing I'm chokin' on is that business about "the roof/bottom not being covered" by the insurance you bought for the rig. (see quote below)

This I don't get at all...what insurance policy- especially for a rental- makes that kind of exception, coincidentally of course only affecting the areas you damaged????

yagil.tzur wrote:
I had all the possible insurance, but roof including cab over is not covered by any insurance, nor is the bottom

[RayGToo]

yagil.tzur wrote:
The question is not whether they can justify it, but whether it is a fair estimation for such damage. Since the credit card company does not get itself involved in damage estimates, I'm on my own now. I'm basically at their hands now.

A "fair estimate" is a very subjective question.

For a professional repair facility/body shop, yes that is a "fair estimate". I dinged a bumper on a car a few months ago and I got a bill for $850.00. Again, the labor costs being what they are, that was the bulk of the bill.

For a self-repair job, a "fair estimate" would be a fraction of that number. By having the professional repair facility fix the damage, you're going to pay through the nose. That's just the way it is. There is a lot of overhead involved in those businesses, and they will (in theory anyway) have to restore it to like-new condition.

When you have an RV valued at several tens of thousands of dollars, and even upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars, no repair of any kind on an RV will be cheap.

Good luck.

[I_am_still_wayn]

Also, you have to pay for loss of use, or in other words, the loss of rental income while the unit is being repaired.

[yagil_tzur]

The question is not whether they can justify it, but whether it is a fair estimation for such damage. Since the credit card company does not get itself involved in damage estimates, I'm on my own now. I'm basically at their hands now.

[RayGToo]

Looks like the labor costs are what they got you on. I'm sure they will be able to justify those hours too. There is a lot of time involved in prep work. You or I could have repaired the damage for far less money, but we don't get that option, and if they're doing the repairs themselves, $110.00/hr is a pretty standard rate. JMHO.

[yagil_tzur]

I had all the possible insurance, but roof including cab over is not covered by any insurance, nor is the bottom