Bad Experience with Prestige Carz

[Johndoe20]

Having found them on Carousell, I thought that they’re a reliable company. On top of that, their cheaper rates had me thinking that I have found the best option.

On the day of collection, they informed me that the intended car Volkswagen Golf was out for servicing, gave me a free upgrade to their BMW convertible. I was excited and grateful that they offered me something else so that my plans would not be disrupted. There were 2 of them and they were really helpful as well.

However on the day of return, they informed me that I have been caught speeding on minor roads in their own system. As a result, they will not be returning my deposit for the rental. It wasn’t roads that were regulated by traffic police cameras, but minor roads that you might go slightly above speed limits during the night. There was one that tracked me along Keppel Road where the speed limit was only 50lm/h but it was recorded that i was going at 100km/h. Funny thing was that I was driving above that road, which was the expressway with speed limit of 80km/h. This totally caught me off guard as i have rented from Carro and other companies without any issues as well.

This post is to share on the tactics they deploy to make their money. Hopefully no one else has to suffer the same plight as me. Drive within the limits at ALL times if you want a cheap rental from them. The employees were friendly though. No issues at all with that.

 

[LWZ]

so it is a speeding fine issued by the company and not the police ??

 

[reddevil0728]

so it is a speeding fine issued by the company and not the police ??

I think it’s more of a contractual withholding of deposit for breaching of contract

 

[jim889]

Having found them on Carousell, I thought that they’re a reliable company. On top of that, their cheaper rates had me thinking that I have found the best option.

On the day of collection, they informed me that the intended car Volkswagen Golf was out for servicing, gave me a free upgrade to their BMW convertible. I was excited and grateful that they offered me something else so that my plans would not be disrupted. There were 2 of them and they were really helpful as well.

However on the day of return, they informed me that I have been caught speeding on minor roads in their own system. As a result, they will not be returning my deposit for the rental. It wasn’t roads that were regulated by traffic police cameras, but minor roads that you might go slightly above speed limits during the night. There was one that tracked me along Keppel Road where the speed limit was only 50lm/h but it was recorded that i was going at 100km/h. Funny thing was that I was driving above that road, which was the expressway with speed limit of 80km/h. This totally caught me off guard as i have rented from Carro and other companies without any issues as well.

This post is to share on the tactics they deploy to make their money. Hopefully no one else has to suffer the same plight as me. Drive within the limits at ALL times if you want a cheap rental from them. The employees were friendly though. No issues at all with that.

do you have a copy of the contract and wat did it say about this issue?

 

[Sebasticles]

shag leh hhaahahah

 

[Johndoe20]

so it is a speeding fine issued by the company and not the police ??

Nothing to do with the police at all. I'm pretty sure Traffic cameras are set up to maintain speed limits throughout the day because of safety reasons, whereas certain roads have speed limits as a guide when traffic gets heavier. But to these companies, they exploit holes here for their monetary gains. Its just ridiculous to be told that I was speeding for such reasons.

 

[Johndoe20]

I think it’s more of a contractual withholding of deposit for breaching of contract

Yep. Exactly, contract says speeding will cause forfeiture of deposit. When I signed that, I assumed that to be those of traffic police limits. Which I can totally understand. Just putting this here as a warning to others.

 

[reddevil0728]

Yep. Exactly, contract says speeding will cause forfeiture of deposit. When I signed that, I assumed that to be those of traffic police limits. Which I can totally understand. Just putting this here as a warning to others.

Were they able to provide proof?

 

[Johndoe20]

Were they able to provide proof?

Yep, the cars are tracked. Everywhere you go

 

[anthonydiablo]

If I only managed to stumble across this when I rented from them a mere couple of days after you posted this, I would've saved tons of money.

I also rented for them, for 2 days. Similarly, I booked the VW Golf & also was upgraded to a BMW convertible for free as the VW was at the workshop. As I was an 'inexperienced' driver, i was told to pay $1.5k deposit although it was a tad steep, I complied as it was considered a luxury car.

First day of rental was uneventful, nothing much happened then. The second day, the infamous BMW warning chime sounded, showing that the engine temp was overheating, so I immediately told the rental company that I was facing this problem. He told me to drive back immediately, which I complied & I ended the rental late at night, leaving the car at their place.

A few days later, the told me to report to the office to collect my deposit. Then at the office,
I was informed my deposit was voided & I had to pay up to $2k for fixes to their engine etc.

I was told that I was caught speeding of up to 110km/h along TPE. I admit, I was indeed speeding, but come on, 110km/h isn't that bad to the extent of the engine overheating. I didn't even rev it past 4k RPM.

So, I was slapped with a $2k repair fee, and my $1.5k deposit was burnt away. But well at least they provided a 1 day waiver for my early termination of the rental.

So do your own due diligence & avoid being caught in my & Johndoe's situation.

 

[Johndoe20]

If I only managed to stumble across this when I rented from them a mere couple of days after you posted this, I would've saved tons of money.

I also rented for them, for 2 days. Similarly, I booked the VW Golf & also was upgraded to a BMW convertible for free as the VW was at the workshop. As I was an 'inexperienced' driver, i was told to pay $1.5k deposit although it was a tad steep, I complied as it was considered a luxury car.

First day of rental was uneventful, nothing much happened then. The second day, the infamous BMW warning chime sounded, showing that the engine temp was overheating, so I immediately told the rental company that I was facing this problem. He told me to drive back immediately, which I complied & I ended the rental late at night, leaving the car at their place.

A few days later, the told me to report to the office to collect my deposit. Then at the office,
I was informed my deposit was voided & I had to pay up to $2k for fixes to their engine etc.

I was told that I was caught speeding of up to 110km/h along TPE. I admit, I was indeed speeding, but come on, 110km/h isn't that bad to the extent of the engine overheating. I didn't even rev it past 4k RPM.

So, I was slapped with a $2k repair fee, and my $1.5k deposit was burnt away. But well at least they provided a 1 day waiver for my early termination of the rental.

So do your own due diligence & avoid being caught in my & Johndoe's situation.

I’m so sorry to hear of your situation. They must have employed this tactic to make money from so many other customers. I can’t believe you lost $3.5k in just 2 days of rental. That’s absolute madness. Or was it just $2k in total?

 

[reddevil0728]

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sin...-complaints-about-deposit-forfeitures-3550436

 

[iduncheckmail]

tsk tsk , Same as bluesg speeding . All renters

 

[anthonydiablo]

I’m so sorry to hear of your situation. They must have employed this tactic to make money from so many other customers. I can’t believe you lost $3.5k in just 2 days of rental. That’s absolute madness. Or was it just $2k in total?

I've lost $1.5k in deposit + $2k in repairs, so $3.5k in total lost by me.

I've saw the news yesterday – CASE has given an alert to the company. Hopefully I can bring it up to the Small Claims Court to hopefully get my money back.

 

[iambeanster]

I'm so glad this company finally got flagged up!

https: //forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/can-car-rental-companies-forfeit-deposit-because-of-speeding-based-on-in-car-tracker.6836303/#post-144823873 (this was me last year)

Didn't name the company as I didn't want any repercussion. Spoke to lawyers before and they warned me that if the company took the internal speed trackers to the TP, it can be used against me. By then the time and effort won't be worth it, so I dropped the case. Hopefully you guys have it better!

 

[mompuncher]

Having found them on Carousell, I thought that they’re a reliable company. On top of that, their cheaper rates had me thinking that I have found the best option.

On the day of collection, they informed me that the intended car Volkswagen Golf was out for servicing, gave me a free upgrade to their BMW convertible. I was excited and grateful that they offered me something else so that my plans would not be disrupted. There were 2 of them and they were really helpful as well.

However on the day of return, they informed me that I have been caught speeding on minor roads in their own system. As a result, they will not be returning my deposit for the rental. It wasn’t roads that were regulated by traffic police cameras, but minor roads that you might go slightly above speed limits during the night. There was one that tracked me along Keppel Road where the speed limit was only 50lm/h but it was recorded that i was going at 100km/h. Funny thing was that I was driving above that road, which was the expressway with speed limit of 80km/h. This totally caught me off guard as i have rented from Carro and other companies without any issues as well.

This post is to share on the tactics they deploy to make their money. Hopefully no one else has to suffer the same plight as me. Drive within the limits at ALL times if you want a cheap rental from them. The employees were friendly though. No issues at all with that.

Hi John,

I was trying to find a way to PM you but apparently there isn't one! Could I pick your brain for a little? I am currently going through the same thing.