Vehicle-rental company Ez Wheels has been accused of unlawful business practices for allegedly forcing a client to pay for damages that he was not liable for.
The client, Thamsanqa Mkhize, has accused the company of unlawful practices after he was allegedly forced to pay for wheel caps and cracks on the bumper.
Mkhize, who rented a Volkswagen Polo 1.4 Trendline, said the vehicle was already damaged when he hired it 2022.
He said he rented the vehicle for a year because his credit score was not good enough to buy a car.
Last weekend Sunday Independent published an article about a disgruntled employee complaining about being unfairly dismissed from Ez Wheels. This was after the employee sent incorrect information to a client. But the woman said this was a strategy to get rid of senior staff in order to save and make more profit.
Mkhize, who terminated his contract, said the company allegedly came with all sorts of stories to force him pay for the damages. He said that as a result, the company deducted more than R8 000 from his bank account.
Ez Wheels’ operations director Paul du Plessis confirmed Mkhize was a client but denied the allegations.
“The client was made aware of the damages and the costs of repairs. An authorised debit order by the client was debited from his account. No debit orders can be loaded onto a clients account without the client accepting and authorising the debit order via personal cellphone,” said du Plessis.
Asked to produce the pictures of the vehicle before and after it was rented to Mkhize, Du Plessis did not respond to his email. When contacted via WhatsApp, he said: “Please don’t WhatsApp me, I only respond on email.” When told to check his email, Du Plessis said he would respond in due time.
In an email sent to the company on August 15, Mkhize expressed his unhappiness about a debit order, adding that when he received the vehicle in 2022, it did not have proper wheel caps and that the bumper was already damaged.
“You cannot force me to pay for the damages that were not caused by me. I need that money back into my account before the end of the day tomorrow (August 16, 2023). Failure to do so, I will have to hand the matter to my lawyers. I will also expose your company for its bad practice. This is not a request, it’s a demand,” read the email.
However, in a response to the email, Ez Wheels said it had investigated and looked at the paperwork and found that Mkhize was not liable for the wheel caps, and that the company was investigating the cracks on the bumper.
On August 25, the company told Mkhize that the monthly fee that had gone off on August 15 was used to cover the damages on the rear bumper which cost R7 919.29 and valet amounting to R750.
“The total of the above was R8 669.29, and the monthly fee was R8 650. There was a shortfall amount of R19.29, However this was written off as a goodwill and there is no refund due to you,” said Ez Wheels.
Disappointed and angered by the response, Mkhize told the company that he would report them to his lawyers and all platforms on social media.
Mkhize said the money was deducted unlawfully and without agreement.
“This affected me to the point where I even struggled to pay for the first instalment of my new car after I terminated my contract with them (Ez Wheels). I had to find another means to pay the first instalment,” said Mkhize.