I rented a car for 4 days from Green Motion in FARO in March 2025. I drove the car to a secure and covered parking lot in Monchique and back. Two 60-75 min drives and that is it. No nicks, no dents, no scrapes. Yet, I found myself charged for a scratch which I didn’t put there.
At the time of the vehicle pick-up, I was told by the Green Motion representative that “Green Motion was not an agency that harasses its customers and only VERY noticeable scratches and dings more than a certain size are recorded”. Till he told me this, I was taking pictures of every single scratch and ding on the car / bumper and was told that I did not need to do so. Any scratches that I recorded in my photos and which were not recorded in their system were brushed away as insignificant. Clearly, their representative LIED to me.
Next on return, I am told that I caused a scratch on the rear bumper. In the attached pictures of the supposed damage – you wouldn’t be able to spot it.
I protested this but the person at Green Motion who filed the vehicle return report knew that customers on return journeys will be pressed for time and was wholly unhelpful.
On my return flight to the UK, I researched Green Motion in more detail and found to my dismay that they are exactly the sort of FRAUD CAR RENTAL AGENCY that one needs to steer clear of.
Search for "Green Motion BBC or Green Motion Guardian@
Can you believe how commonplace this occurrence has to be for mainstream newspapers (such as The Guardian) and channels (such as BBC) to pick this up?
Next, lets get to how this was prosecuted. Of course, no contact information at Green Motion had been provided at the time of car return by that unhelpful representative. So on my return to the UK, I wrote to every single Green Motion email I can find. No response. Almost a month later, I am notified that I will be charged a penalty amount and 5 mins later, the money has been charged to my credit card. I send another round of emails and protest vehemently. The response is a canned one to the tune of “you signed the agreement, we are entitled to do so”.
In summary, I am out several hundred pounds for damage that I had nothing to do with and wasn’t given a chance to present my case. The whole case reeked on UNETHICAL BUSINESS PRACTICES and I came away feeling that I had been extorted.
