Nowadays, online car-hailing has become one of the important components of flexible employment, and many people choose to rent a car to run online car-hailing.
Recently, Mr. Pan from Changsha reported to Red Star News that he rented a car from Changsha Yage Automobile Service Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yage Automobile) to run online car-hailing for less than half a year, and the car was suddenly towed away by a third-party car owner. One month after returning the car, the car rental company gave a car damage fee of 2,800 yuan and deducted it from the deposit.
Mr. Pan's case is not unique. Red Star News noticed that many online car-hailing drivers on social media complained about the "lantern damage assessment" of car rental companies, and there are also many judgments of similar disputes on the Chinese Judgment Online.
Photo according to IC photo
On April 26, a staff member of Yage Automobile told the Red Star News reporter that the company used the standard of the 4S shop to assess the damage, and the price was much higher than that of the repair shop;
"That's how a lot of car rental companies make money, and all they make is car damage money and liquidated damages. Mr. Fang, who runs a car rental company, said that this method is actually the usual "routine" of some car rental companies.
"Give it a try" ride-hailing drivers:
The running water is locked, and the rental car company deducts the rent from the account every day
Mr. Pan said that he had previously posted on the 58.com platform, saying that he wanted to be a commercial car driver, and Yage Automobile took the initiative to contact him through the platform, and later he found out that he was doing online car-hailing.
Mr. Pan, who had no other job at the time, decided to give it a try to "make the transition" - although he had a petrol truck at home, he felt that the gas bill was not as cost-effective as the electricity bill. In the end, he signed a contract with Yage Automobile for half a year, rented a Dongfeng Venucia D60, and paid a deposit of 8,000 yuan.
Mr. Pan said that he only had to pay a deposit of 3,000 yuan at the beginning, and then deducted 1,000 yuan from the running water every month, and the monthly rent was 4,650 yuan.
In cooperation with the Kurama travel platform, Mr. Pan's daily sports car flow is locked, so he cannot withdraw money directly, and the car rental company deducts the rent from his account every day.
The rental company deducted the rent from Mr. Pan's account every day
"In January, I ran to 12,000, and in February I only had eight or nine thousand. After deducting so much money, plus the cost of electricity bills of more than 1,000 yuan per month, it can't make much money. Mr. Pan said that the car rental company has requirements for running water, and he goes out early and returns late every day, and after meeting the requirements, he can also run orders from other platforms. "Some people fail to meet the standards, and the company will be found to be in breach of contract, and the car will be towed away directly, and a penalty will be deducted. ”
The car disappeared only to know that the car belonged to a third party
One month after returning the car, he was notified that he would pay 2,800 yuan for car damage
Mr. Pan said that on March 2 this year, when he went to the parking place to prepare to leave the car, he found that the car was "missing". At this time, Mr. Pan learned from the staff of the car rental company that the property right of the car was actually owned by a third party, and the third party had a financial dispute with the car rental company, so he towed the car away.
In the car rental circle, this model of car rental companies is often called "intermediary companies", while car rental companies with their own cars are called "asset companies".
Since then, Mr. Pan has not seen the car again. Yago gave him two options: change to another car to continue the contract, or return the car.
Mr. Pan, who had the mentality of "give it a try", immediately chose to return the car and signed the return application form. The application form shows that he had paid nearly 7,000 yuan in the deposit at that time, plus more than 1,000 yuan in the remaining flow, and a total of 8,656 yuan had to be refunded to him.
However, a month later, Mr. Pan did not receive a refund, but was notified by the car rental company that he would deduct 2,800 yuan for the damage.
The Red Star News reporter consulted Yage Automobile as a relative and friend of Mr. Pan, and Mr. Wang, a staff member, explained that this was the damage to the car inspected by the owner (a third party) and the company's money, so it was not negotiable. The company's own car inspection will be faster, and it will be fairer. "This standard is given by the car side, which is the same as the standard of the 4S shop, for example, a noodle is 400 yuan, but it can be done at most 200 yuan at the repair shop. The boss demanded strict implementation of this standard. ”
Mr. Wang said frankly that Yage Auto will not repair and paint the small scratches after collecting the money, and will directly lease it to the next driver, and will only repair it before returning the car to the owner at the end. In addition, Mr. Wang also said, "If it were me, I would definitely not be a [driver]. That's what companies do to make money. ”
The deposit has been paid, the account is in the hands of the car rental company, and the other party also said that "if you are not satisfied, you can go through legal procedures". On April 6, Mr. Pan and several other drivers who had the same experience went to the car rental company to "quarrel for a day". Because he cherishes the car more, the car damage is less, and the other drivers have more than 4,000 yuan. In the end, after the coordination of the police, the company agreed to set the car damage at 1,000 yuan.
Refund application form signed by both parties after negotiation (actual signing date is April 7)
Another staff member of Yage Automobile who is responsible for the refund told the Red Star News reporter that it has been negotiated with Mr. Pan, and the money has been refunded, and the car belongs to the owner.
What happened to another driver:
After deducting the 4,000 yuan deposit, nearly 1,000 yuan will be paid
Chen Liang, who rented a car in another city and ran online car-hailing for half a year, also encountered a similar situation.
He told the Red Star News reporter that he waited for a month for the damage assessment order, and then had to pay money, and the surface scraping repair fee of a chassis power battery was 3,500 yuan, which in his opinion was "ridiculously high". According to the loss assessment form, Chen Liang had no deposit left, and he had to pay 945 yuan.
Chen Liang's loss assessment order
Chen Liang told the Red Star News reporter that he rented a new energy vehicle from a local car rental company in September last year, with a monthly rent of 3,650 yuan and a deposit of 4,000 yuan, and returned the car on March 10 this year. He calculated that he hadn't made any money in the past six months, because of a car accident and car damage, he even had to post it upside down.
The car rental contract provided by Chen Liang shows that the car rental company will inform him of the vehicle maintenance quotation within 3 to 5 working days, and if he does not accept it, he can repair the vehicle by himself, during which he should bear the temporary rental fee of 300 yuan per day.
But by this time, the company had already rented the car to someone else. The chat records show that the staff asked Chen Liang to "connect with the car rental master by himself".
Scratches on the chassis battery of Chen Liang's rented vehicle
"I showed the photos to the masters of the car repair shop, and the masters said that it was normal scratching, just the surface, and they didn't need to repair it, and they could be repaired for 300-500 yuan. I saw on the Internet that there were drivers who returned to the car whose chassis scratches were more serious than me, and only a few hundred yuan were deducted. Chen Liang said that in fact, he had already dealt with the scratches on the car before he returned the car, and there were some small problems that he thought that even if he deducted a lot of money, he had not paid attention to the scratches on the chassis since he took the car.
At the same time, he also questioned the floating fees of insurance.
Slight scratches on the body of the car rented by Chen Liang
After coordination with the traffic management department, Chen Liang was still unable to reach a consensus after negotiation with the company, and is suing the other party. A staff member of the car rental company told the Red Star News reporter that his company would also sue Chen Liang.
Through Tianyan checking, the car rental company selected by Chen Liang was established in May 2022 and has been involved in 11 judicial cases since April 2023, almost all of which are vehicle lease contract disputes.
The staff of the car rental company said that they rented Chen Liang a brand new car, which was repaired and maintained in the 4S shop throughout the whole process, and the damage assessment standard was set by the 4S shop, so the price was different from the market.
But Mr. Chen denied the claim. He said that when he got the car, he had already traveled thousands of kilometers, and he went to a repair shop instead of a 4S shop when he got the car for repairs.
Insiders:
Many "intermediary companies" do not intend to continue as a going concern
Mr. Dai, an "old driver" who has rented a car and run an online car-hailing service, told reporters that most of the online car-hailing drivers he knows are renting cars to make a living, rather than using their own cars to run. In Mr. Dai's view, many people now regard online car-hailing as a transition to their work, and if they want to try it first, they often choose to rent a car, but they also encounter the "routine" of renting a car.
Mr. Dai said that the "routines" of car rental companies are far more than "holding a magnifying glass" to find car damage, and there are often various "routines" in the overlord contracts of car rental companies. "For example, drivers are required to complete various indicators, including the time of departure and the location of departure. You think it's enough for 10 hours a day, but in fact he only counts the number of hours he takes passengers. ”
"Nine out of 10 drivers don't look closely at the contract. When recruiting, it is said that the salary is high, but in fact, many people cannot achieve the task and cannot run. As a car rental company, Mr. Wang said the same.
As far as Mr. Wang knows, there are many car rental companies that advertise everywhere, and some drivers have to pay a cash deposit of 10,000 yuan, and the company always has a way to deduct it in the end, and the driver can't prevent it. The contracts are all beneficial to the company, and the driver's compliance requirements are very demanding.
"They make at least two or three times as much profit as we do. Mr. Fang, who runs a car rental company, said he knew that many car rental companies were playing these "tricks", but he "disagreed" with such a money-making model. Mr. Fang said that his company did not quote a 4S shop for car damage, but a repair shop, and would recommend the driver to find a repair shop by himself.
Mr. Fang runs a "car rental asset company", he told the Red Star News reporter that many "car rental agencies" have no intention of continuing to operate, and some drivers run better, such as running more than 10,000 yuan a month, the more they have to "find faults" and deduct money for various reasons.
However, Mr. Fang mentioned that the car rental industry is becoming more and more "volatile". Since the second half of last year, one of his rental car companies has seen its occupancy rate drop from 100 percent to 50 percent, and is disposing of vacant cars in batches.
Fu Jian, director of Henan Zejin Law Firm, said in an interview with Red Star News that car rental companies may set up many "routines" and traps in the contract. For drivers, they should be vigilant, take precautions, read the terms of the contract carefully, pay special attention to rights and obligations and liability for breach of contract, choose a car rental company with good faith and good reputation, and if there is a dispute, the evidence should be retained and resolved through negotiation or litigation.
Tan Mintao, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongwen (Xi'an) Law Firm, believes that the definition of car damage fee needs to be discussed, and it depends on how the rental contract between the two parties is agreed and how to bear it, and all the responsibility cannot be transferred to the renter. The renter must read the relevant contracts and materials carefully, do not believe in verbal promises, and do not sign the contract text that is unfavorable to him.
Red Star News reporter Hu Yiwen Intern Shi Zixiao Photo provided by the interviewee
Editor: Pan Li, Editor-in-charge: Li Binbin
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