Rental Vehicle Complaints Advice
Last updated:
July 2010
New Zealand Government departments generally cannot take on individual complaints regarding rental vehicles or other tourism goods and services. However, if you are concerned about the goods or services you have received in New Zealand, the following options are available.
Charging Complaint
For problems with charging by a rental vehicle company check with your card-issuing bank to see if you can apply for a charge-back. A charge-back is a process whereby a card-issuing bank may exercise its rights under its agreement with an international card organisation (i.e.: Visa, MasterCard) and reverse a card transaction. This process is subject to strict rules, so it is best to get in contact with your bank quickly. You’ll have to make the claim in writing, usually within 60 days of the original statement’s date.
If you disagree with your bank’s decision not to chargeback, you are also able to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Banking Ombudsman. Please visit https://www.bankomb.org.nz/eng/Make-a-complaint for more details.
If your bank is in Australia or the United Kingdom you should contact the ombudsman in the appropriate country:
For more information about rental vehicle companies’ obligations, the following documents include details of agreements with the Visa and MasterCard:
Safety Complaint
If your complaint regards safety, you should contact the New Zealand Transport Agency, who is responsible for commercial licensing. Please visit http://nzta.govt.nz/about/contact/complaint.html for more details.
Quality Complaint
If the operator you wish to complain about has a Qualmark licence, you could contact Qualmark to inform them of your complaint http://www.qualmark.co.nz/feedback.php.
Some consumer complaints can be handled by the New Zealand Disputes Tribunal. The Tribunal has the power to make a decision and order redress in a dispute. For more information see: http://www.justice.govt.nz/tribunals/disputes-tribunal
The Fair Trading Act requires that business may not make false or misleading representations about goods or services. The Commerce Commission investigates some breaches of the Fair Trading Act, for more information see http://www.comcom.govt.nz/FairTrading/FairTradingcomplaint/Overview.aspx.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigates misleading or deceptive advertising. For more information, or to make a complaint see http://www.asa.co.nz.
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