Couple claims car rental firm left them stranded in JB after air-con complaint, company says 'something fishy'
A Singaporean couple's short getaway to Johor Bahru turned into what they described as a "shocking and frightening" experience after their rental car was allegedly taken back without warning, leaving them stranded.
Stomper N told Stomp that she and her husband had rented a car from RentMyCar SG in Yishun for a trip to Malaysia from Aug 8 to 11.
She said they collected the car at 10.30am on Aug 8 and, while stuck in a Causeway jam later that day, realised the air-conditioning "started blowing hot air".
"We messaged the company politely, thinking they'd appreciate a heads-up and maybe offer to swap the vehicle or fix it later," N said. "Instead, we were told to drop by a workshop to go and fix the air-con problem."
Not wanting to spend the first day of their holiday waiting at a workshop, the couple decided to let it go for the time being.
'They broke into the car and drove it away'
The next day, the couple went to Angsana Mall in Johor Bahru for lunch, shopping and a pre-booked two-hour massage from 5pm to 7.30pm.
During that time, they were offline.
"We did not purchase a Malaysian SIM card or activate auto-roaming, so we were only reachable when connected to Wi-Fi," said the Stomper.
N claimed that while they were getting their massages, RentMyCar SG staff "broke into the car without our knowledge or consent and drove it away".
Inside the vehicle were all their groceries, shopping bags, valuables and personal belongings.
"When we discovered the car missing at 7.30pm, we were in total shock," she said. "Then we received a chilling message. They were threatening to dump our belongings at the carpark where we last parked our car."
According to her, the company refused to meet them back at Angsana Mall and instead directed them to the basement carpark of 1 Tebrau Residences.
"They demanded we get there quickly, stating they did not want to wait," she said. "This decision removed us from a public environment and placed us in a more secluded, unsafe situation."
'One of them shoved my husband against a wall'
The Stomper said that they met with three 'aggressive' men.
"Their tone was confrontational, their body language threatening, and one of them even physically shoved my husband against a wall," she said.
"To avoid any escalation, I told my husband to hand over the car keys even though our rental was valid until Aug 11."
She added that the company kept their $100 deposit and later demanded an additional $3,550.
"We paid a total of $490 for the rental," she said. "The vehicle was returned in good condition, with no scratches, no breakdown, and no damage. The air-con problem was a pre-existing fault we had reported."
The Stomper said they had no choice but to take a Grab to Larkin and hired a Malaysian cab to return to Singapore.
She added that they have lodged a report with the police and the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case).
"I believe this story resonates beyond just our incident as it highlights the vulnerabilities Singaporeans face when renting vehicles overseas and touches on the importance of clear consumer protections across the Causeway," N said.
"It's a cautionary tale for the thousands who travel to JB each week."
Company's response
In response to a Stomp query, RentMyCar SG disputed the couple's account and said the vehicle's air-conditioning was working.
"The customer in question claimed the air-con for the vehicle they rented was blowing hot air while they were in customs on the way to Johor," a company spokesperson said.
"We had called them immediately and also provided a workshop for them to get the air-con checked. After which, they said to just compensate them. We called them several times on the first day but there was no response at all.
"On the second day, they claimed to have gone to the workshop but couldn't wait as the queue was long. We checked our GPS and they had not visited the workshop at all.
"We tried calling them more than 20 times and there was no response. Our breakdown team arrived in Johor at Angsana Mall with a replacement car just in case at around 5.20pm on that day. We called them again, no response.
"So we informed them we would be taking the car to the workshop to get it checked. We drove for about an hour to and from the workshop - there was no issue with the air-con. Workshop checked, no issue as well."
RentMyCar SG said they then returned to Angsana Mall and called the Stomper's husband again at about 7pm and received no response.
"So, we suspected something fishy as we had been calling for two days and there was no response from them after they claimed that it was a sauna in the car," the spokesperson said. "And they wanted to claim compensation. We told them we were going to repossess the vehicle. And still no response.
"We wanted to remove their items from the car and leave them at the lot but didn't do so as it was highly likely their items would have gotten stolen.
"Our hirer and his wife called us back around 8pm asking where their car was. We told them what happened and our reasons. They started yelling at us and claiming now that the air-con cooling was now just 'mild'.
"We knew that they were lying as the air-con was working fine. We suspected that either they had sublet the car to another hirer and were also trying to cheat us into paying them compensation.
"We agreed to hand over their items at a confirmed location. Once they had cleared the car, the hirer refused to hand over the car keys stating that we can 'collect at workshop' while standing away from us. We had to ask him several times before he relented and handed over the keys.
"As we have had encounters with hirers like this before, we went ahead and lodged a police report the next day on Aug 10."
Case assisting
When contacted by Stomp, Case president Melvin Yong said: "Case confirms that we have received a complaint against RentMyCar SG pertaining to the rental of a car from Aug 8 to 11, 2025 for a trip from Singapore to Malaysia.
"We are currently assisting the consumer.
"Consumers who encounter disputes with vehicle rental companies can approach Case for assistance."
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