Car rental companies are quietly charging unsuspecting customers thousands of dollars in so-called damage fees — often weeks after the car has been returned. These charges are frequently unsupported, barely documented, and nearly impossible to dispute unless you know exactly how the system works.

In one case, a customer returned a rental car in Denver — no issues, no incident, nothing unusual. Then came a $3,000 bill in the mail. The reason? Alleged hail damage .

The roof and hood are often where hail damage occurs, and ironically, those are the areas most renters fail to photograph.

There were no photos provided at the time of the return. No damage inspection report. No conversation with a manager on the spot. The only justification given weeks later was that the company pulled weath

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