Lessons to learn from rental horror stories

— -- Bob Silvy has a caution for travelers picking up and returning rental cars: Check the vehicle closely or you could be held liable for damage caused by others.

Silvy, of Parkville, Mo., just ended a nearly six-month dispute with Thrifty Car Rental, which sent a letter requesting $700 for damage to a van he returned to the Atlanta airport in January — damage he says he had nothing to do with.

He says the van was returned undamaged but that Thrifty wouldn't listen to his side of the story. His auto insurance company, Geico, stood behind him and refused to compensate Thrifty. When USA TODAY contacted Thrifty for comment last month, the rental company changed its position. It said that Silvy did not damage the vehicle and that it would refund $448.46 paid for the rental.

"What galls me is that Thrifty said it didn't have to prove I caused the damage," says Silvy, a vice president for publishing company American City Business Journals. "It made me think, 'How many other people have been unfairly charged?' "

Many frequent car renters complain that, like Silvy, they've been charged for damage that didn't happen during their rentals. But the burden of proof is on them to show otherwise, and some say the disputes can take months to resolve.

Car rental companies say such situations are rare, however. They say they can make mistakes. In the end, they say, more renters acknowledge damage than dispute it. "Ideally, car rental companies properly note and track all vehicle damage," says Laura Bryant, a spokeswoman for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. "However, with millions of car rentals booked every week, it's possible for our industry to sometimes miss things, particularly during a rush at the airport."

Thrifty spokesman Chris Payne says proving who caused damage "can be tricky, and to the person renting the car, it may seem in many ways circumstantial." But Thrifty's rental agreement clearly states that renters are responsible for a vehicle while it is in their possession, he says.