They are claiming damages that already existed in the vehicle. During checkin, scratches and marks were visible and generally described to the side of the car (with poor quality images). During checkin, I’ve recorded all on video and pointed to those exact damages (zooming in on the same exact spot – Video recorded on 20/04/2026 15:36h – Exhibit A). Local staff said they were not a problem and were minor scratches, that should not be reported/input in the system. During my return, I was told by the local staff that everything was in order and I was encouraged to leave the station, which I normally did. After having left, I was surprised by an email/invoice from Roadsurfer claiming allegedly new damages during my rental (same exact damages from Video – Exhibit A). I called support and they said it was impossible to contact the Station by phone.
I was still in Hannover and immediately went back to the Station, and showed the pickup video (Video Exhibit A) to the local team and the Regional Manager for North Germany, Gerhard Hamoser (occasionally there at the moment). The team immediately acknowledged the mistake from their side but did nothing to reverse the situation. They basically said once the false claim was in their system, there was nothing they could do. Now my holding deposit is locked and pending. Im facing a potential charge for a well documented pre-existing damage. Local staff acted at least in bad faith, possibly committing fraud. At the station, I was forced to call the police department in Hannover and documented the case as well (Exhibit B). Im ready to take legal action against Roadsurfer, and also forward this case to tax authorities for further investigation. If this is a repetitive behavior against other customers, it may indicate Roadsurfer can be potentially holding deposits illegally by making inadequate claims, and generating illegal operational cashflow against defrauded customers. If that is the case, intentional fraud and operational negligence should also trigger a huge red flag for banks, investors and creditors of this company.
https://i.redd.it/esu9vt4r9fxg1.jpeg
Posted by dnlfrz
8 Comments
What timeframe are we talking about? Contact the company, I’m pretty sure it will be cleared up if you have documentation and you’re bringing pretty big guns here.
Is it your first time renting a vehicle? Every company does exactly the same, pretty much everywhere (at least in Europe).
When the insurance contacts you, send what you have and the deposition you made at the police and it should clear the situation.
Don’t expect this to change anything to the way they work, investors or credit 🤣
What kind of insurance do you have? Pretty much the same thing happened to me once. Them claiming scratches, a missing fork or a tea-stained cup (which was already that way, but such a minor thing it didn’t even occur to me to claim it as damage on pickup).
We got into an argument and then the guy said something like „you have full insurance anyway so why do you even bother“….
I think it’s their way to get their damages repaired?
Standard rental company behaviour. You are prepared so I won’t give a shit.
I also had similar happen to le but the worst of it was in the shop doing the once-over before leaving. The guy told me, “check everything”, so I walked around making video and got to the rear right where th bumper looked a little wonky, I saw the guy watching me so I poked it to push it back in and POP the whole bumper sprung off to midway!!! He yells, “whatdjyado???” and fortunately we had eye contact just as I had touched it and it busted, so rather than get flustered I stood up and said, “you were looking right at me, and I have the camera recording, so you know this was hanging by a thread and didn’t do anything”, so he just shook his head and fixed it “properly” with some metal twine. They were gonna charge me for that, for sure, when I came back, and most likely not even fix it anyway. Too bad ppl have to be like this.
So you rented a car that had damages that were not in the system.
U didn’t fill out a form where u tell them that they existed.
U bring it back.
New ppl see the damages that are NOT in the system and so as they are told and report that intern in a form
The system that they fill has its own desk and they can’t stop that
U show them that they were wrong and the admit to it
I don’t see a problem yet. They maybe can’t because there system is shit and they really can’t stop that in their position. The desk now needs time to check that you have proof that those damages were there before.
Maybe…just wait.
Also, refund of deposit takes time anyways.
Just chill, send them a mail with a deadline, consult a lawyer if u wanna be safe. But right now I just think a bad system needs to work itself out and u will get ur money.
I have worked for Roadsurfer for a while and can tell you that doesn’t surprise me much. Most damages that are in the system are made by seasonal workers who don’t care too much, so they often put in low afford. Due to massive financial issues the company made some big changes (especially when it comes to damages) and everything got stricter. So every scratch etc is now getting reported and ends in costs. There is a good chance that they add those old damages to new customers now.
It is really fucked up and there is usually very little customers can do. You should definitely send in a copy of the video and demand clarification that it is an old damage and in worst case threaten with legal actions. The process can take several months in which they deposit will stay frozen (stated in the contract) so don’t expect anything to happen quickly.
All that being I worked in a different country and therefore things could be different. But from my experience they might hope to drag it out as long as possible. (Witnessed a few fucked up cases)
Contact the company directly, tell them you‘ll hand this over to your lawyer if they don’t resolve it within 14 business days. Attach the video pointing out exactly how you documented everything and that there‘s obviously zero chances and that they should check this specific return station…..it‘s sth all types of car rental stations try…(or their stations)