STOP PRESS: Car hire firm employee spots minor scuff

My piece at the end of June about hire car company scams has elicited a response from my reader. He writes:

“That’s interesting in that we hired a minibus from Europcar over Easter. Main problem was that it was not what we ordered.
“However, when we got back they claimed that there was a minor scuff on a side door panel which was minute and could have been there when we took it, as it was odd how the man spotted it so quickly.
“That cost me nearly £250! Unfair as firstly they were never going to repair it and secondly it probably would have disappeared with rubbing compound.
“Don’t think I would use them again.”

Back in March I told my reader that I had calls from a “company” on numerous occasions which consisted of a pre-recorded message from a fellow in a fairly clipped English accent who excitedly told me I was eligible for a new, free gas boiler paid for by the Government.
If I would like to discuss this, press “2”. If I would like to cancel future calls from the company, press “9”. Yeah, right.
Good news - they stopped at the end of May. It may be a coincidence but I reported every one of the 25 calls received to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).
Bad news – a new version of this unsolicited and unwanted verbal spam started this month.
This time with a real person on the line, a woman with a Scottish accent who said we could be entitled to a Government grant for a new boiler if ours was more than five years old. When asked who she was calling from, she mumbled something unintelligible.
I have reported the call to ICO – and would suggest you do the same.
Call 0303 123 1113 or look them up online at ico.org.uk and report the call.