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Littleton woman says she got billed for hail damage to rental car... when it never hailed

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Editor's note: Contact7 seeks out audience tips and feedback to help people in need, resolve problems and hold the powerful accountable. If you know of a community need our call center could address, or have a story idea for our investigative team to pursue, please email us at contact7@thedenverchannel.com or call (720) 462-7777. Find more Contact7 stories here.

LITTLETON, Colo. — Springtime in Colorado and hail damage to cars tends to go hand-in-hand. But a Littleton woman reached out to Contact7 with a hail damage repair bill from her rental car company when she says it never hailed.

“There was no hail in my area,” Yvonne Magana said.

Magana was in a collision in her own car, and while it was in the shop, she paid for a rental from Enterprise. After 17 days she returned it to the Broadway location in Englewood.

“(The manager) came back in and told me there was hail damage on the car,” she said. “When he showed it to me I told him I didn’t see anything. But he said ‘well, it’s there you just can’t see it.’”

She then received a bill in the mail for $845.90 to pay for repairs.

“No hail whatsoever,” she repeated, showing Contact7 photos of the rental in a car-port that would have protected the vehicle regardless.

The Farmer’s Almanac website noted there was rain and some drizzle in the area that day. Denver7’s Jason Gruenauer and several other crews were on assignment in Highlands Ranch that day and none recall any hail whatsoever.

“Apparently there’s been quite a few customers having the same thing happening to them,” Magana added.

In a list of mostly positive Google and Yelp reviews, there are two reviews that mention similar complaints. They rented cars from the Enterprise on Broadway and Chenango and were charged for hail damage when they claimed it never hailed.

“It’s not fair and quite frankly, it angers me,” Magana said.

A spokesperson for Enterprise corporate said they were looking into the claim, "including a careful review of all documentation and past rental contracts to identify any possible damage that existed prior to this customer’s transaction."

That spokesperson went on to say that "customers are financially responsible for any damage or theft that occurs during a rental transaction, regardless of fault or negligence."