ComplaintsforVillage Rental

• Initial Complaint

  08/21/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I rented a bucket lift from this location on August 19,2023. I returned the truck as of August 21,2023. During the review of information on what is needed to be done to return the lift. It needed to be cleaned and returned by the alloted time in the morning. If not I would be charged another day. Due to unforeseen issues I had to use a friend to drop it the night before. This resulted in the deposit being taken. Due to the contract stating this. Well they didn’t state any of this before the rental, during the time they requested a $1000 more deposit than the quote was sent to me. This has now charged me $1498 for an invoice of $498. Nothing was explained at time of rental and they never explained they could come get the trailer or drop it off. This is terrible business practice and would like this to rectified for the future to inform that this is part of the contract and part of the steps of return. If I knew I could call them then I would have but they had nothing stated before that this was wrong. The gate stays only truth past the gate. They didn’t allow me to tow it to return it at the 8 am I was getting there. They did it and gave me no option to fix it. It’s my rental till 9 am

  Business response

  08/24/2023

  On 8/14/23 at 1:04 pm **** called our store to reserve a bucket lift. We emailed a copy to him. On 8/18/23 at 2:16 pm we called **** to remind him and confirm the reservation. This may be the reason **** thought we were going to have everything ready when he arrived. We only load when the customer arrives to our store because the trailer must be attached to the tow vehicle before we can load the equipment on it. On Saturday 8/19/23 at 9:51 am **** arrived to the store and we opened the contract. The contract was for a rental that was due back Monday 8/21/23 by 8:30 am. On Sunday 8/20/23 at 8:16 pm our security cameras show two vehicles, a SUV and pickup truck arrive in our north parking area. The truck is towing the bucket lift on the trailer. We are closed on Sunday – all gates are closed and locked. The truck, when parked, was ten feet from our 5’ wide by 3’ tall sign on the gate that states “WE ARE CLOSED. RETURNS ONLY WHILE OPEN”. The SUV was also in view of the sign. Three people proceeded to detach the trailer from the truck. When they were finished it appears they looked at the sign, then one pointed in the direction of our security camera. They seemed to have a short discussion and then left our business.
  
  On the front page of the contract that all customers sign (1.5” above the signature line) are the following sentences; “I understand that returning equipment outside the fenced area is not allowed while we are closed. Should I choose to do this I understand that I will forfeit the deposit I paid and no money will be returned to me and additional fees may be due based upon time out”. Any item left outside our gate/fence while we are closed is subject to theft. We do not allow it. To enforce our rule we keep the customers deposit.
  
  The replacement cost for the trailer and bucket lift that **** rented is approximately $56,000.00. Just as easily as **** and others detached the trailer from the tow vehicle and left it unsecured someone else could back a truck to the trailer and leave our property with it. Does **** have the money to replace the stolen items?  Perhaps he has insurance, does he have the money for the deductible? The current replacement time to have a new bucket lift delivered is approximately one year. So we would have a one year period of no rental income while waiting for delivery.
  
  After we informed **** by telephone that we were closing the contract with no refund of the deposit he returned our call and left a message. He stated that the reason he left the items outside the gate while we were closed was because the truck he picked it up with had broken down and he had a friend with a truck that could return equipment. While viewing the security video it appears the same truck that picked up the lift Saturday morning was the same truck that returned the equipment Sunday night.  

• Initial Complaint

  05/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Unprofessional and deceptive experience. Rented a lift that broke down in 5 minutes of use due to dry rotted clips holding a wire in place. We went up and the wire broke loose and was cut by the lift and we were stranding up there for 3 hours until they came out to lower the lift. We requested insurance on the machine upon initial communication and a copy of the contract on 2 separate occasions before the lift was delivered, they never sent it and apparently ignored the insurance. They delivered the lift with no signed contract of the details we discussed, basically they can make up anything and charge your card any amount so be careful. They charged us around $2500 total, rental $500 and two $1000 deposits and they are talking about additional charges after repairs are complete which apparently are still not done almost 6 months later. I attempted a back charge through **** bank but the bank said they had to honor the charges even though no contract could be validated? Show me a sign agreement of our conversation with this contract. Being fully responsible for the machine was not discussed. Insurance was requested. This company has a pattern of behavior that is criminal. Just look at the reviews from other customers on google and others. I only agreed to the rental of $500. They took out $2500 to date. I want a $1000 back and consider this matter settled.

  Business response

  05/13/2022

  The customer refers to insurance not being offered to him. We call it the Equipment Protection Plan and do not offer it on bucket lifts, we never have.  Therefore the customer is responsible for any damage and repairs needed. We delivered the bucket lift in the afternoon of November 11, 2021 at the customer’s request since they were starting the job early Friday morning. The customer was not on site to sign the paperwork. The bucket lift was operational at that time. The customer called on Friday 11/12/2021 to say they were stuck in the upright position. Our delivery driver went to the job and manually lowered the bucket lift. We did not document what time that call came in. Everyone that I discussed this situation with at Village Rental said it did not take us three hours to respond. At this time the bucket lift was non-operational due to electric wires being severed. Our mechanic made approximately 30 wire splices to get the machine working again to get it on a trailer to return to our store. Our delivery driver stated that it looked like “something was dropped on the track and cables to cause the cables to break and come apart”. When I looked at the damage I determined that it may be beyond our level for repair due to the complex damage done. We took the machine to ******** ** ******** **** for repair in November 2021. The machine was repaired and ready for us to pick up on May 12, 2022. The repair invoice was $5,797.23, of which $38.46 was for new decals and a light which was not attributed to the damage done. The reason for the approximate six months to repair the lift was Covid issues at the repair facility and getting parts (this brand of lift is manufactured in the United Kingdom).
  
  The customer stated to us that they had a video of the dry, rotted clips. We requested twice to review it and it was never presented.
  The bucket lift was purchased new by us on 4/16/2019. Doubtful that the clips would be dry rotted at that age.
  We own ten lifts from this manufacturer, the oldest being purchased on 12/18//2013 and never had an issue with dry rotting.
  The customer was charged $561.75 for the rental and delivery. $1,907.98 was charged on the customer’s credit card as down payment for repairs until we received the final repair invoice. We believe that we are owed an additional $3,850.79 for the remainder of the repair costs.
  This lift was unavailable for rent for approximately six months, denying us income. 

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