DENVER — Vacation is supposed to be relaxing, but one Florida family's trip to Colorado was anything but that after their rental car was stolen. That was just the start of their problems.
Amanda Hebbeler still has the rental car keys from her Colorado vacation last May, a souvenir that brings back painful memories from what started as a picture-perfect weekend getaway.
"We went out to Garden of the Gods. Perfect weather, perfect experience," Hebbeler said.
Things went downhill fast, though, when she and her boyfriend discovered the next morning the car they had rented from Ace Rent-A-Car had been stolen.
They later saw on the news that their rental car had been involved in a police shooting.
"That was a little bit of a shock," Hebbeler said. "So, we immediately contacted ACE, tried getting them on the phone trying to figure out what we should do. We would be told that a manager was going to contact us immediately. Never happened. And to this day, we still don't have a resolution. I've sent probably 15 emails to them, I've put in a Better Business Bureau claim, I've contacted their general support line, I've contacted this specific location in Denver and really still no resolution."
Hebbeler said she had hoped ACE would help them with a new rental car, but instead they had to take Lyfts and get a same-day rental from another company, which was much more expensive.
"When you call in and you say something as serious as someone being murdered in your vehicle and there's not a response ever, I think that kind of speaks to how they position themselves and in their customer service," Hebbeler said.
Hebbeler said she received no response from ACE Rent-A-Car until last week when a demand letter came in the mail for $15,000 in damages, which she believed her insurance company would be handling as part of the claim.
"I'm just a little apprehensive to give them any money," Hebbeler said.
An ACE representative later said they would accept $1,000 for the deductible, according to Hebbeler.
"I'm confused as to why it started at $15,000, then went down to admin fees and a deductible and then went down to a deductible," Hebbeler said. "It just seems like they're trying to get money from us, but not really answering any of the questions on why we should be paying them instead of our insurance company."
ACE Rent-A-Car is no stranger to customer service complaints, with an F rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Hebbeler said after she filed a BBB complaint, ACE agreed to issue a $60 Amazon gift card for one day of the rental, but she believes she deserved a full refund for the way she was treated.
"It's $150, which is a small amount to this large company, but I was hung up on, I think, probably 12 times. I would be put on hold, the line would drop. They would say that they were going to help me. They would hang up on me," Hebbeler said. "I just feel like even though it's a small amount of money, it just wasn't fair how we've been treated and how we continue to be treated."
Contact Denver7 went to the office near Denver International Airport to get some answers. Employees there referred us to corporate, saying they were working on a response.
Hebbeler said she received a call Tuesday afternoon from an ACE corporate representative agreeing to give a full refund and to clarify the deductible expense payout.
"Within one day of you guys reaching out to them, we already have way more urgency than we've seen in the last several months," Hebbeler said. "So, I don't think that we would be there without you guys helping us. We really appreciate you getting involved and trying to make this right for us."
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