Who is resposible for car damage?

Often when renting a car, the customer is asked to sign a small piece of paper with a car diagram on it to verify the car damage the agent has noted and/or the customer promises to report any further damage before they leave the lot. We often have conflicts over who is responsible for things that go wrong on a car. The engine is generally the car rental's responsibility and most car rentals will refund an oil, washer fluid, belt, light bulb replacement bought by the customer. A ticket for expired license plates will also be paid by the rental company. Gasoline, flat tires, dents, scratches, rock chips, broken windows, keys, remote controls, traffic/parking tickets are deemed the customer's responsibility whether damage and/or loss is the customer's fault or not. A stolen car requires a police report and immediate notification if customer wishes to relinguish buying the company a new car (Stolen cars usually turn up within a few weeks).

All the companies I know have rules against responsibility of items left in a car when it is returned. Yes workers do steal things customers leave behind in their cars. We do have a lost and found box, but much stuff is thrown in the trash can before reaching the lost and found box. Calling within hours after returning the car, you are more likely get the lost item back because the car might not had a chance to to be cleaned yet and the item probably would still be there. Calling weeks after returning a car will likely get a no answer. Workers who steal will usually quit the job rather than return the item that was stolen when the customer demands the item back.

My most stressful situation with lost items was a coach calling for 20 shirts he left in the trunk from a track meet. He was sure they were in the trunk. I was told they were not there so I call back saying they were not found. He is positive that was last place he saw them. I apologized for not finding them and hang up. Hours later I am told the shirts were found, but one coworker took some home and the rest were thrown in the trash, plus the workers didn't feel like digging them out. I ordered those shirts dug up and brought over or I was going over to the washing area to get them myself. Next I called the manager to ask what to do. Do I call this person to tell him we have some of his shirts or say nothing? I ended up calling the owner playing with his kids at home to tell him how angry I was. He said he would buy the man more shirts if he couldn't get the stolen ones back. So the workers got the shirts out of the garbage, especially after the owner called over asking who stole the shirts. I called the coach back stating they were found hours ago and moved to another area, which is why they were not found in the trunk. The shirts we can gather from my coworkers will be mailed as soon as possible. Then I wrote his address. He claimed 22 shirts were missing now. Whatever. I said he can call the owner if he had any other issues with the shirts, like torn or stained up. Post later. Genie out.