Please pardon
the rather long back-story, I made it as concise and clear as
I could.
In Autumn 2007 I, my wife Judy, and her 87 year old Mother,
Francis went on a three week vacation trip to Italy. I had
pre-arranged on the internet to pick up a rental car from a
company called auto-europa/Sicily by Car at our arrival
airport in Naples. We landed very late in the evening of 28
September just as the car rental offices were closing, just
managing get the car lease taken care of. The rental
charges were paid by my mother-in-law Francis on her credit
card and I was designated as the driver of the vehicle. We
took a shuttle bus to the dark car lot and finally located the
car.
After starting the car I found that I could not engage in
reverse gear. Though this was unacceptable, the rental office
had closed and my only option was to drive to my hotel. Upon
arrival at the hotel the vehicle was escorted into a secure
and gated parking lot by the hotel manager and remained there
until the next morning, at which time I contacted the rental
office and explained to them that "reverse" gear did
not work and was advised to return the vehicle to the airport
where it would be exchanged. The Hotel manager was also
unsucessful in engaging reverse so he opened the gate, helped
us push the car out of the spot it was parked in, and I drove
the car back to the airport to be replaced with a properly
functioning vehicle.
After our travels we returned the “second” car as
pre-arranged to the auto-europa office at our departure
airport in Pisa. We arrived back home in the U.S. on Oct 22.
On November 2, 2007 I received a letter from auto-europa
stating a claim for the amount of Euro 253.75 + VAT 20% had
been charged to my mother-in-law’s credit card for “accident
and/or damage" to the original (faulty) vehicle; the
one had we exchanged at the Naples Airport on 29/09/07 as
described above. While I would have vehemently disputed the
claim had it been on my credit card, Francis didn't fully
grasp the situation, and thinking this was just a legitimate
charge from our vacation in Italy went ahead and paid it. I
decided at this point the best thing to do would be to let it
go, thinking it had been resolved.
In August, 2008 I received another letter from auto-europa
dated July 22, stating that: “a violation was detected
during the period you were in possession of the vehicle you
rented with our Company from 28/09/07 22.19 to 17/10/07.
Please, find herewith attached a copy of the hereabove
mentioned fine. We wish to inform you that we proceeded to
charge you, on your credit card, for the amount of € 50,00 +
V.A.T. 20% relevant to the file handling fee plus the postal
fee as per authorisation you signed on the rental
agreement.”
The ticket states that on “2007/10/13 at 14:56 we were
electronically detected driving in a restricted area without
authorization, Via G. Garibaldi – Varco, Sienna”.
According to our records we were, indeed, in Siena on October
13, 2007. We arrived in town early in the day and drove around
until we found a spot in a paid parking lot. We know that at
14:56 we had been on foot for some time and have receipts to
prove this with both the date and time marked.
At that point we decided to request that CIBC VISA protest the
Auto Europa charge on my mother-in-law’s card. They tried,
but as it was proving extremely difficult to establish that we
weren't responsible for the charges she did not protest
further and paid the charges. At that point Francis changed
her credit card and we felt she was safe from further
harassment.
On February 13 this year I received a letter from a collection
agency stating that this debt had been referred to their
office for collection, and:
“Unless you notify this office within 30 days after
receiving this notice that you dispute the validity of this
debt or any portion thereof, this office will assume this debt
is valid. If you notify this office in writing within 30 days
from receiving this notice, this office will obtain
verification of the debt or obtain a copy of a judgement and
mail you a copy of such judgement or verification. If you
request this office in writing within 30 days after receiving
this notice, this office will provide you with the name and
address of the original creditor, if different from the
current creditor.”
They reference the debt as follows:
COUNTRY: ITALY
CITY: TORINO
VIOLATION: 007 - DRIVING IN A RESTRICTED AREA WITHOUT
AUTHORIZATION
LOCATION: VIA G. GARIBALDI – VARCO
PLATE# DB004AB
DATE: 2007/10/13
FINE: $131.90
This collection notice -- to me -- is absolutely and
completely out of the blue. My wife and I have worked
extremely carefully over the decades to earn and maintain what
is a pretty stellar credit rating (792 and 807 FICO
respectively) and I am aghast that a collection agency is
contacting me for ANYTHING.
How do I fight this? On the one hand, I’m reluctant to deal
with a collection agency at all but I’ve certainly found
transatlantic multi-language communications have proved – at
best -- frustrating and less than useless. (As alert readers
will note, the first infraction took place in Sienna and the
second was purportedly in Turin. These cities are 436
kilometers apart).
I DO have a copy of Francis’ VISA payment for the alleged
“fine” -- made to AUTO EUROPA MULTE FIN PALERMO (posted on
August 5, 2008). What should my first step in fighting this
be? I do only have about two weeks left to dispute this before
it will be assumed by the collection agency as a valid debt.
Philip