Amusing little story about a minor rental car company that installed GPS in all its vehicles, and added fine print to its contracts to say that they will dock clients $150 each time they exceed the posted speed limit. One customer was unamused when they lifted an extra $450 off his debit card, and is taking them to court. http://www.newmassmedia.com/nac.phtml?code=new&db=nac_fea&ref=16435 ----- Coming to small claims court: Roadrunner vs. Acme Rent-a-Car. By Colleen Van Tassell Published 06/14/01 James Turner is taking Big Brother to small claims court. Turner's taking his own car. Big Brother's driving a rental. A rental outfitted with a high-tech device that tracks your every move. One that records your speed. One that enables rental car agents to rip off unsuspecting drivers. ... When Turner signed Acme's rental agreement last October, he didn't notice the warning at the top of the contract that read: "Vehicles in excess of posted speed limit will be charged $150 fee per occurrence. All our vehicles are GPS equipped." ... When he returned to New Haven on a Sunday night, he drove to an ATM to get some cash and discovered his account was drained. There were three mysterious $150 withdrawals. ... -- Eric Michael Cordian 0+ O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"
He signed the contract, he should pay up. It all looks perfectly fair to me. Of course, if he can afford a decent lawyer, the courts will be tied up for months with debates on the reliability and audit trail of the system that checks the cars speed - I hope for their sake that that company are well-versed in the kind of thing discussed in the Risks list :-) Ken Eric Cordian wrote:
Amusing little story about a minor rental car company that installed GPS in all its vehicles, and added fine print to its contracts to say that they will dock clients $150 each time they exceed the posted speed limit.
One customer was unamused when they lifted an extra $450 off his debit card, and is taking them to court.
http://www.newmassmedia.com/nac.phtml?code=new&db=nac_fea&ref=16435
-----
Coming to small claims court: Roadrunner vs. Acme Rent-a-Car.
By Colleen Van Tassell Published 06/14/01
James Turner is taking Big Brother to small claims court. Turner's taking his own car. Big Brother's driving a rental.
A rental outfitted with a high-tech device that tracks your every move. One that records your speed. One that enables rental car agents to rip off unsuspecting drivers.
...
When Turner signed Acme's rental agreement last October, he didn't notice the warning at the top of the contract that read: "Vehicles in excess of posted speed limit will be charged $150 fee per occurrence. All our vehicles are GPS equipped."
...
When he returned to New Haven on a Sunday night, he drove to an ATM to get some cash and discovered his account was drained. There were three mysterious $150 withdrawals.
...
-- Eric Michael Cordian 0+ O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"
participants (2)
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Eric Cordian -
Ken Brown