The Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria has issued a public warning to consumers under section 228 of the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012 regarding the alleged conduct of Melbourne Luxury Car Hire Pty Ltd (ACN: 618 438 743) (Melbourne Luxury Car Hire).
Melbourne Luxury Car Hire leases high-performance and luxury vehicles to consumers. It is located at 87 Queensbridge St Southbank, and has the website www.melbourneluxurycarhire.com.au.
Customers of the company have advised us that, before hiring a vehicle, they are required to pay a rental fee, and a ‘security deposit’ or ‘bond’, via direct deposit.
This security deposit can range from $2,000 to $30,000, depending on the vehicle. The rental agreement indicates that the security deposit will be returned to consumers within 10 business days after the lease period ends.
Between November 2017 and August 2018, we have been contacted 46 times by consumers about Melbourne Luxury Car Hire, including 10 contacts in May and seven in June, alleging that the company either did not return their security deposit in a timely manner, or at all.
These contacts also include car owners who have leased cars to Melbourne Luxury Care Hire, advising that they have not received payments.
Given the high number of recent contacts and the substantial sums of money that consumers say is disputed (several hundred thousand dollars across the 46 contacts), our Director is concerned that Melbourne Luxury Car Hire may be:
- acting unfairly in not giving security deposits back to consumers who have hired cars in a timely way, or at all, in cases where consumers are entitled to get their deposits back
- offering rental agreements with unfair contract terms, including terms that:
- may be considered penalties, and
- allow only the company to decide whether the rental agreement has been breached
- acting unfairly in not paying lease fees to car owners who have provided cars to the company, in cases where the owners are entitled to those fees.
You should be very cautious before dealing with Melbourne Luxury Car Hire. By doing so, you may:
- be agreeing to unfair contract terms, and
- find it hard to get your security deposit back.
If you lease a car to Melbourne Luxury Care Hire, you may not be paid the fees you are due.
Anybody concerned about their dealings with Melbourne Luxury Car Hire should contact us on 1300 55 81 81.
Download the public warning:
Luxury car hire services supplied by Melbourne Luxury Car Hire Pty Ltd – Public warning notice (PDF, 413 KB)