'Too absurd': Car-hirer shocked after $4,600 charge over 'small accident'
One GetGo user got a rude shock when they received a bill amounting to more than $4,600 after the car they rented was involved in a “small accident”.
Posting about what transpired on the SG Road Vigilante Facebook page on Saturday (Feb 25), the user said they “grazed a white Mercedes” while driving out from a parking lot in a car park at Novena Square 2 on Feb 16, having “turned left too soon”.
The user added that they reported the accident to the local car-sharing platform immediately, and continued driving the car until the end of the five-hour rental period.
According to the user, a GetGo representative came to examine the car the very same day. The user wrote: “The finding was that there was a graze to the car and some damage to the paint.”
The car-hirer was also contacted by the Mercedes owner the following day, wherein the latter informed that he was quoted $150 for repairs by a workshop.
“To compensate him, I proposed to pay $288 in total. He agreed and we settled it privately,” said the user.
But the user was shocked to receive a tax invoice from GetGo to pay $4636.80 in damages, which was inclusive of the 8 per cent GST.
This amount comprised a repair charge of $960, compensation for the loss of use of the car for three days, amounting to over $300, and third party damages that cost $3000.
The user, though, found the bill “too absurd to believe”, finding flaws with how the charges were calculated.
They noted that the repair charge was calculated despite the car having not been repaired when they checked it in the car park.
As for the three days’ loss of use charge, the car-hirer said that the car was still available for rent on Feb 18, despite having returned the car at 4pm on Feb 16.
They also questioned how third party damages were calculated given they had settled compensation privately.
Responding to TNP’s queries, the user said they have submitted an appeal form requesting information on how GetGo calculated the charges.
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