Cizgi Rent A Car $133 Credit Instead of Refund – Rental Fee Dispute

Between 05.09.2026 and 09.09.2026, we rented a car from Çizgi Rent a Car under reservation number 2026498 for 4 days and paid a total of USD 544 by credit card. The Renault Clio HB petrol automatic vehicle was delivered to us at the Istanbul Airport office, and the license plate was stated as 07-CMG-4** on the delivery document. On 06.09.2026, a traffic accident occurred near Çine, Aydın, and the vehicle was towed away from the scene, after which we were unable to use the vehicle again. This was not a normal early return voluntarily made by the customer, but rather a situation in which the rental service was effectively interrupted because the vehicle became unusable due to the accident. We could not benefit from this vehicle in any way for the remainder of the rental period. After the accident, we communicated with the after-sales service department through Çizgi Rent a Car’s WhatsApp business account. The company explicitly confirmed in writing, “We have received the accident report. You will not be charged anything,” stating that they had received the accident report and that we would not be charged any additional amount related to the accident. Despite this, no replacement vehicle was provided, nor was any other solution offered to allow us to continue our journey. However, Article 5/i of the company’s own rental agreement clearly states that when the rented vehicle cannot continue its journey due to an accident or technical failure, the lessor is responsible for enabling the customer to continue their journey. We submitted our written request for a refund for the rental days we could not use via WhatsApp on 20.09.2026 at 14:20. Although the company again stated that no amount related to the accident would be charged, it did not refund the rental fee for the unused days and instead informed us that a credit balance of USD 133 had been added to our account for use only on future reservations. We did not request such a credit balance and do not accept it as a substitute for a monetary refund. Furthermore, the basis on which the USD 133 amount was calculated has not been explained to us. The contract clearly states a daily rental rate of USD 136 and a total 4-day rental fee of USD 544. Despite this, no transparent explanation has been provided regarding how many days were calculated, which unit amounts were used, or what deductions were made. Our request is clear: we ask for the amount corresponding to the remaining rental period that we were actually unable to use after the accident to be recalculated transparently and in detail, for the company to provide us with a written explanation of the method used to determine the USD 133 amount, and for the refundable amount to be returned to the same credit card used to make the rental payment, meaning the original payment method, rather than being provided as an internal company credit balance.