Almost 500 euros for a scratch on Mallorca: what a fixed damage table means, and how one renter got the money back

You return the car, hand over the keys and fly home. A few days later, 487 euros of your deposit has not come back, for a scratch you can barely see in your own photos. That is what a tourist told Mallorca Magazin on 5 September 2026: the rental company did not send a repair invoice, but a price list that set the amount in advance. The company says its terms allow exactly that. The renter got his money back anyway. Here is what happened, what a damage table is, and what you can ask for if it happens to you.

What happened on Mallorca

According to Mallorca Magazin, which took the story from its sister paper Ultima Hora, a German tourist had rented a car on the island. After the holiday the company tried to keep 487 euros of his deposit for a scratch in the paintwork, which he describes as minimal and which he had photographed. He says he received no workshop invoice and no independent repair estimate, only a price list from the company showing the amount. The paper did not name the company.

The company rejected the criticism. It told the paper that damage is assessed under the rental terms the customer accepted when booking, which set fixed amounts for different types of damage. For that reason, it said, a workshop invoice is not needed, because the agreed damage table applies.

How the renter got the money back

The renter did not wait for the company to change its mind. He disputed the charge with his bank, which ran a chargeback and returned the full amount. He also reported the case to Spain's consumer affairs authority, the European Consumer Centre and the tourism ministry in Madrid, and asked them to check whether the practice complies with consumer protection rules. He told the paper that it is much harder to pursue a complaint from abroad, which is why he went through every channel at once.

What a damage table is

A damage table, or damage price list, sets a standard price per type of damage: a scratch on a door, a dent in a bumper, a chipped rim. It replaces the question "what did the repair cost?" with "which line of the table applies?". That can be faster for the company, but it also means the amount may have little to do with what a garage would charge, or whether the car was repaired at all.

Whether you are bound by such a table depends on your contract and on national law. A table that you were never shown before signing, or a standard price far above the real cost, can be questioned. Our guide to a claim based on an estimate, a price table or a repair invoice explains what to ask for in each case, and the article on unfair terms in car rental contracts shows where EU law sets limits.

Not an isolated case

Claims for small marks after the return are among the most common car rental complaints in Europe. The European Consumer Centres network reported that more than 20% of its car rental cases in 2023 involved alleged damage that the consumer disputed. In June 2026 the European Consumer Centre in Germany described a tourist on Tenerife who was billed 711 euros for a barely visible scratch on a headlight, much of it taken straight from his account. The centre pointed out that the burden of proof lies with the rental company. Read more in who has to prove rental car damage.

What you can do

Start with your own evidence. Photos and a short video of the car at pick-up and return, with the date and time, are what turn your word against theirs into something a bank or consumer centre can check. The pick-up checklist helps you cover every side of the car.

If an amount is kept or charged, write to the company and ask what it is based on: the table and where it was in your contract, photos of the damage, and proof that it was not there before. If the money has already left your card, read what to do when damage is charged to your credit card and contact your card issuer quickly, because chargebacks have time limits. The letter templates give you a starting point, and our guide to a damage claim in Spain lists the Spanish complaint routes.