Returning A Vehicle

Created by Gavin Howard, last modified on Apr 07, 2021

When a customer returns a vehicle, you will perform the Vehicle Return Checklist. This includes: recording the new odometer reading, the fuel level on return, the current status and state of the equipment that the vehicle has and the overall condition of the vehicle outside and inside.

Once we've recorded all that information on the paper Pickup (Hire) Agreement, we can then enter that information into the booking system and process the return, which will allow the system to automatically calculate what refund or additional charges are to be taken or given back to the customer.

So we can get to the Return screen by clicking 'Return' from the dashboard. And the return form will give us a summary of 'Charges on Pickup'; any 'Notes' that have been made at pick up and/or throughout the rest of the hire period; we then move on to the 'Extension Charges' panel, which will give us an overview of any extensions that have been made to the hire period and whether those extensions have been paid in advance or are still outstanding.

'Outstanding/Unauthorised Time On Hire' - the next panel allows the system to calculate whether or not the vehicle has been returned on time. If not a late penalty will be applied otherwise, as in this case, no penalty.

'Fuel Levels' allows us to record the current fuel level of the vehicle and whether or not a fuel recovery charge needs to be applied. So you can see there the Fuel Recovery Charge is $35 per quarter tank that the return fuel level is adrift from the pickup. In this case, it was full, so no fuel was required. We still need to record whether or not the fuel receipt has been sighted as that's evidence that the vehicle has been filled with the appropriate fuel and at a local service station.

Next we move on to 'Km Charges'. Dependent on the hire rates and periods, the system will automatically calculate what rates to use, how many free kilometres there are with a particular hire period and therefore what charges, if any, need to be added to the hire. When entering the odometer reading from the vehicle, just double-check that the number that you've entered is a sensible one. One of the most common errors is a typo in the odometer, so at this stage, if we can double-check ~~that, ~~that will save a heck of a lot of issues further down the line. ~~So, ~~we've travelled 12 kilometres at 39 cents per kilometre, there are no free kilometres with this particular hire and so an additional charge of $4.68 has been added to the 'Return Charges'.

Next, the system will calculate whether any excesses need to be charged if there has been any 'Damage to the Vehicle'. So, again, the system will calculate this based on whether the customer took out the Insurance Reduction Excess policy, and based on their age, if I just click yes to that, you'll see that immediately $550 has been applied and that's because it's taking into consideration the deposit that's already held, which is $200.

*'Single Vehicle Accident / Vehicle Impoundment'. *If beyond the damage to the vehicle, no other vehicle was involved and/or the vehicle was impounded, click 'Yes' to apply the Negligence Excess, which is an additional $2,000 in all circumstances. So the Insurance Excess Reduction policy does not reduce the Negligence Excess cost. In this case, there was no damage so I can leave them both as 'No'.

'Damage Map' - Had there been damage, we would have recorded it on the *Pickup Agreement *as part of the vehicle check-in;  to enter that damage in the system, we would select what kind of damage and then the position on the vehicle.

So if it were passenger side, front wing...

And by selecting it again, it allows us to add further description of the damage.

So then we move on to the Equipment Checklist and we should have recorded this on the pickup agreement already. So this allows us to just transfer that information from paper into the system.

So, if any of the items are missing or damaged, the system will calculate and add the appropriate replacement cost. Should we record that there have been changes either damage or loss to any of the equipment.

Then we move on to 'Vehicle Condition'. Has the vehicle been returned dirty outside? Has the vehicle been returned dirty inside? Does the vehicle smell of cigarette smoke or other unpleasant odours?

If the answer to any of those questions is 'Yes',  a $65 Cleaning Charge will be applied and that's per item. And that's because the levels of cleaning are different.

Then one final question about 'Tyre Puncture Repair'. Has the customer had a tyre puncture during their hire, that needs to be charged?

If they've taken out the Insurance Excess Reduction policy, this covers them for tyre punctures and so there will be no penalty applied. If however, there has been a puncture or if the spare tyre has been used, the system will record a tyre puncture repair penalty.

Which brings us to the 'RETURN Charges Summary'.

And as you can see, the system has now applied a late one hour rate and that's because of the length of time that it's taken me to run through  the form, which obviously is a lot longer than it would normally take to fill it in,  so we now need to refund that $34 because obviously that's not the customer's fault.

So a real life scenario, that happens on a fairly regular basis is that a customer may have returned the vehicle on time, but has been held up in the queue, getting to the Hire Shop Counter. In that case, a refund would also be appropriate.

So to add a refund, I click the plus button. I enter a reason and enter the amounts of the refund.

Just click outside the box to allow the system to calculate and you'll see that the - $34 has been applied and the final total to recharge is $19.68. There has been no damage and so we are refunding the deposit, the system then takes the charges from the deposit and this final figure is the one that you are agreeing to put through the cash register returning $180.32 to the customer.

Finally, if there are any 'Vehicle / Return Notes' you need to make about the customer or about the vehicle, this is a good place to put them, so those notes will be associated to the return of the vehicle.

Enter your name and your Team Member ID.

Save & Print Return Agreement'.

And print the Return Agreement document and then click 'Finish'.

At which point we get a summary of the complete hire.