A potential class action was filed against RelayRides Inc., which does business as Turo, a car rental website. The class action alleges that Turo charges additional “admin fees” whenever a contract term is violated, on top of the actual charge for the violation.
“Because the ‘Admin. Fees’ have nothing to do with any damage RelayRides may suffer from a customer’s breach of contract, the ‘Admin. Fees’ are a windfall for Defendant,” according to the complaint.
The class action states that “RelayRides is in the business of connecting customers seeking to rent an automobile with automobile owners seeking to provide their personal or business automobiles for rent.” In other words, Turo runs a business similar to Airbnb, except instead of renting rooms or houses, it rents cars.
Any car rental through Turo is subject to its service agreement, which the class action points out charges additional “admin fees” of various amounts depending on how a customer breaks the agreement, such as “returning a vehicle late, driving more miles than permitted, returning a vehicle without enough gasoline, not paying tolls, incurring tickets or fines, returning a vehicle in an unclean condition, having pets in the vehicle, or smoking in the vehicle.”
The Turo class action lawsuit contends that those admin fees are illegal under California law. The complaint alleges that the “admin fees” charged by Turo are a form of “liquidated damages,” and a California statute provides that liquidated damages are only allowed when they are “presumed to be the amount of the damage” of the breach of the contract. The class action states that since the actual damages are already included, the extra damages are illegal and also violate consumer protection laws.
Plaintiff Prov Krivoshey says he’s a member of Turo and first rented a vehicle in January of 2016. The vehicle he rented was allegedly damaged, and Krivoshey was charged more than $500 in “damage costs” to the vehicle owner, a $75 “appraisal fee,” and a $150 “admin fee.” The class action complaint argues that the $150 admin fee “bears no relation to any damages anyone suffered” and is simply a way for Turo to collect “extra revenue.” Krivoshey claims that he paid those fees to Turo under protest, so it would not affect his credit score.
The Turo illegal admin fee lawsuit seeks to represent a Class of all persons who rented a car through RelayRides or Turo and paid one or more “admin fees” either 1) before November 2015, or 2) after November 2015, if the person opted out of Turo’s arbitration provision.
The complaint states that Turo added a clause making arbitration mandatory if a consumer does not provide notice to Turo within a certain time frame. The class action requests a court order stopping Turo from collecting those extra admin fees, and also seeks “to recover as damages and/or restitution all Admin. Fees heretofore paid by members of the plaintiff class.”
Krivoshey is represented by L. Timothy Fisher, Scott A. Bursor, Annick M. Persinger, and Yeremy Krivoshey of Bursor & Fisher, P.A.
The Turo Illegal Admin Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Prov Krivoshey v. RelayRides Inc. d/b/a Turo, Case No. 3:16-cv-01637, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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14 thoughts onTuro Class Action Lawsuit: Car Rental Website Charges Twice
Turo is a joke. The guests ruined my vehicle and turo didn’t want to fix it and says that it was my fault for providing an unsafe vehicle. When my vehicle was signed off by the dealership with a full thorough inspection. And turo negated what the dealership has said and never provided an auto damage adjuster to look at the damages. They owe me money for what there guests has done to my vehicle
I was discriminated against by Turo my money was tooken after they told me I was approved.. and then I was blocked out and my account was debited….also they did a background check on me without my consent.
I rented a vehicle through Turo from the 21st of March 2017 until the 8th of April 2017 (19 days) which came up to approximately $576 (discount included).
When I received the vehicle from the owner, it was in terrible condition. It had countless damages all over the front bumper as well as the left and right side of the vehicle. Fortunately, I took photos of the damages in front of the owner upon receiving the vehicle at the Fort Lauderdale Airport.
After returning the vehicle at 05:30am on the 8th of April to the owner in the exact same condition that it was in when I received it, the owner walked around the vehicle and we parted ways after I shook his hand and thanked him.
At approximately 11:30pm on the same day, I had received an email from the Turo Claims Department with the subject “Damage noticed following your rental”. I immediately responded to the email in order to ascertain what damage I was being accused of causing. I also sent a message to the owner through the Turo application asking him to explain what damage he is talking about.
The owner advised that there was some paint damage (scratch) on the rear bumper near the trunk and uploaded pictures to the page. After I saw the pictures of the apparent damage which could have occurred while the vehicle was in his possession from 05:30am until 11:30pm (18 hours) I told him that looks superficial and can be wiped off with WD40, a cloth and some rubbing. He admitted to applying acetone to the rear bumper which as we all know is a paint remover.
Turo had deducted $500 from my account as a deposit for the “damage”.
After countless emails back and forth between myself and Turo Claims Department, I received an email from Turo stating the following:
“We wanted let you know we obtained an independent appraisal of the damage claim. The attached appraisal includes an itemized list of repairs and photos of the damage. The final stage of the process is for Turo to collect the total amount due.
The total cost of this claim is $172.47. Please see the attached estimate and photos for your records. Since you declined coverage, you are responsible for the full amount of charges below:
Appraisal amount: $22.47
Appraisal fees: $75
Processing fees: $75
Based on the low amount, we will be happy to waive our processing fee, reducing the total to $97.47
We have already charged your card for $500, so we have issued a refund of $402.53. Thank you for your initial payment.
You should expect this refund to your car within the next 3-5 days.”
I agreed to the above charges and the case was closed however to my surprise, I was charged an additional $362.52 on the 15th of May 2017 which prompted me to contact the Turo Accounts/Billing Department on the morning of the 21st of May 2017. The lady that I spoke to stated that “it is quite strange that we don’t have a receipt on our end for this charge but I will escalate this issue to our Head Quarters and you should expect to hear from HQ within 72 hours.
Breakdown of Charges:
1. Vehicle Rental: $576.00
Trip Fee: $57.60
Total = $633.60 ($492.80 + $140.80)
2. Additional Charges: $960.50
Damage Deposit: $500.00 ($402.53 credited)
Damage Cost: $97.98
UNKNOWN CHARGE: $362.52
Tolls: $7.64
Total = $468.14 ($97.98 + $362.52 + $7.64)
3. Trip Totals:
Authorized Total: $739.22 ($633.60 + $97.98 + $7.64)
Unauthorized Total: $1101.74 ($633.60 + $97.98 + $7.64 + $362.52 + $97.47) = $1199.21
$97.47 Processing Fee was not wavered as promised by the Turo Claims Specialist.
On the application it states two separate trip totals, first one is $1199.21 and the second total is $1594.10 which gives another discrepancy of $394.89.
Did you pursue legal action against them? If so, how did it go?
The car I was renting was damaged in my possession. I agreed to pay to the damage. The owner had it repaired for $620.60. Turo’s assessment was $1504.57 + $150 of appraisal and admin fees, which went up to $1654.57. I even called up the mechanic of the shop who confirmed the total repair cost of $620.60. Turo still wants to go ahead with the charge, insisting that their assessment was for replacing the door, not just repairing, even though the owner only wanted it repaired for $620.60. AKA someone is pocketing the extra $1000. I’m thinking of pursuing legal action.
We have encountered a couple of those said claims. We had photos to back it up. But Turo favored the Owner. They also changed the admin fee to trip fee. The insurance snd trip fee is nearly 85 % more than the average rental. And if you book with the said quote, upon check out, your rate varies 3-5 more without advising or honoring the shown rate. Example: rent a vehicle for $33, at check out, Turo Will bill you $36-37 Plus a trip fee of around $8 Plus insurance, another $8.50 or so. Bringing your daily rental to around $52-53.
They are raking the Market and are not available to discuss anything….only by email. Seems shady, huh?
Going through same bs. Overage of miles, charging me 499.00. A car that was in unsafe conditions with no response to any of my concerns. Then as i exchange car, they decided not to let me rent another car for no apparent reason. Left stranded. No car with kids left to wait an hour at school, mind you they’re only 7 and i paid uber. Complete chaos. Can i join this class action lawsuit. If not, i will pursue legal action pending i find appropriate lawyer to represent.
I rented my car to someone through a website called Turo. It is like an Airb&b for cars. You list your car on the site and they connect you with renters. While a renter has your car, your car is covered through Turo’s insurance. A renter crashed my 2015 Jaguar F-Type, and through a technicality Turo has now stated that they cannot cover the damages to my car. They listed the car and collected a percentage of 26 rentals, yet on this occasion, through a technicality that I was unaware of, they refuse to cover my car. There are many other details that manifest Turo taking advantage of me as a consumer. What should my next steps be to litigate liability toward Turo?
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We wish you the best of luck in your pursuit of justice!
what was that technicality?
Is it too late to be added? I’ve been waiting to hear back from Turo since the 20th of August on a damage claim submitted by the owner. I keep calling and emailing my assigned support contact, but they refuse to contact me back with a status or a final decision. There was mechanical failure with the convertible top on the car I rented in San Diego. When we went to put it down it froze and wouldn’t do anything. The owner claims it was damaged when I can prove a history of issues with the hardtop from previous renters, I have video to prove we had issues earlier in the week and the morning of, and witnesses that will testify to the fact it was mechanical failure and not deliberate malice. On top of that I have yet to be reimbursed for 2 days where I had paid for the vehicle, but the owner had the key and it was undrivable because of the mechanical failure.
Hey Charles, did you hear back from Turo? Did they charge you?
Same here!
How can I be a part of this class action? I am still in a bad situation from an incident with relay rides almost a year ago and am still being harassed by them. Relay rides charged me an extra $500.00 in Admin fees for a damages claim that was also loaded with appraiser charges and more…
not to mention they rented me a car that I ended up having to return on a tow truck after waiting hours on the side of the road due to the inconvenience of being told by the gas station attendant that if I attempted to drive across the bridge to my home it would result in the front end falling off because it was lowered to the ground so far that it was unsafe to drive, and a total waste of my time, money, and ILLEGAL to rent out. Please let me know.
How do I help, turo is in the process of screwing me right now for issues took fee for the overge in miles is causing me headache re the expense removing the pot.oder from my car not to mention the various dings and scratches I have from the last renter!