The boss of UK car hire firm Green Motion has denied endorsing the overcharging of customers in the face of a BBC investigation.
The probe allegedly found evidence staff at Green Motion were given incentives to charge heavy fees for damage – some of which was pre-existing.
One motorist reportedly said he was charged £1,200 for a dent mechanics said would have only cost £150 to repair.
Green Motion International CEO Richard Lowden told BBC Inside Out: “We are not aware of any franchise that is incentivising their staff to find damage.
“This is not something that we’re familiar with nor would we endorse nor accept.”
But a whistleblower claimed staff at the branch he had worked at exploited customers for profit.
“We pretty much saw the people coming through the doors as ‘how much can we get out of this person?’,” the former Green Motion employee reportedly said.
“Pretty much the more money we got out of them, the more we made for ourselves.
“I knew that sometimes a scratch wasn’t even there – but I knew that if I charged them, I would then get a commission and a bonus. I was just focused on the cash really.”
The whistleblower said that after a customer paid for the damage, the car would not always be sent for repair.
“Usually, if there was a new scratch on the car we would charge the customer for it and we would actually rent the car out again, probably the next day or even the same day, a few hours later.”
That could mean staff might try to charge the next customer hiring the vehicle for the same damage, he added.
Green Motion said there were inconsistencies between different franchises and some had been given “a little more free rein than they should have over the years”.
It said it had since lowered its damage charges and customers would now have until 10am the following day to report any pre-existing damage on the vehicle.
Some people have received a full refund from Green Motion since the investigation began, but others may remain out of pocket, according to the BBC.
Lowden added in a statement: “The BBC Inside Out programme reports concerning allegations from a person who claims to have previously worked at one of the Green Motion franchise locations in the UK that staff were offered cash incentives to seek out damage on returned vehicles in order to unfairly charge customers.
“The BBC declined to share full details of the allegations with us before their programme was aired. As soon as we have them, Green Motion International and the UK master franchise holder will undertake a full and thorough investigation of the franchise operation in question.
“If any wrongdoing is found on the part of staff or management, decisive action will be taken. This may include termination of a franchise agreement.
“Under the terms of their agreement, franchise holders are permitted to incentivise good operational efficiency amongst staff, but they are absolutely not allowed to incentivise them to wrongly charge customers for damage. This goes completely against our customer service policy and undermines confidence in our brand, so we must ensure no staff employed by UK franchisees engage in this dishonest practice.”