There are references in this article to some government consumer ministries
etc.
Can anyone advise if there is a website (or multiple websites), or other
sources, where the results of such consumer complaints are published (i.e.
after investigation), as one possible means of checking out some of these
companies prior to entering into a rental contract with them?
RQ
"Tony Bailey" wrote in message
news:4265cb9e$0$4657$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au...
> Travellers stung in car firm's collapse
>
> Wednesday, April 20, 2005
>
> Young travellers have been left thousands of dollars out of pocket
> after a national campervan rental company collapsed, and the case has
> highlighted complaints of fraud by firms who target interstate or overseas
> backpackers.
>
> The Northern Territory's commissioner of consumer affairs, Richard
> O'..., said the problem was damaging tourism and has called for
> national regulation of the rental sector.
>
> NQ Rentals was placed in receivership this week by a court order.
> Fair Trading offices around the country have fielded complaints, in some
> cases stretching back 10 months, from tourists whose credit cards had been
> debited by $5000 by NQ despite having safely returned vehicles.
>
> Problems are believed to be widespread. A 2003 report for the
> Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs warned that unfair contracts,
> massive overcharging for repairs and fine print allowing unlimited charges
> to credit cards put consumers at a disadvantage. Of 600 complaints between
> 2000 and 2002, half came from interstate or overseas tourists.
>
> Mr O'... said: "Some of them don't even know their credit cards
> have been accessed until they get back to their country."
>
> The report proposed outlawing such practices, a mandatory code of
> conduct and licensing that included checks for financial solvency. But no
> changes took place.
>
> The Queensland Minister for Fair Trading, Margaret Keech, said her
> office received 51 complaints about NQ and delays in the refund of
> deposits.
>
> Florian Dirscherl, 38, was told by NQ's Darwin depot last June that a
> $5000 bond for a four-day hire would not be refunded until money was sent
> from its Cairns head office. A month later the German traveller had not
> got a cent and contacted Northern Territory Consumer Affairs, which
> recovered the sum after two months.
>
> Yoshinobu Kawahara, 36, hired an NQ campervan in Darwin in December
> to travel to Sydney. "The guy at the Sydney depot checked the campervan
> and said it was fine and we would be returned our bond in a few days," he
> said. He has not seen his $5000.
>
> Samriti Goyal, an English dentist, 25, had $2000 taken from her
> credit card without consent after hiring a car from a Sydney firm. Five
> months later it has not been returned despite her "distressed and
> frustrated" international calls.
>
> NQ customers seeking bond refunds must deal with its receiver, PPB
> Business, and liquidator KPMG. But consumers come last in the queue of
> creditors.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Tony Bailey
> Mercury Travel Books
>
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