Question on Rental Laws
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Question
Honorable Rabbi, shlita, last Thursday, on the eve of Shabbat Parashat Balak, I rented a car from an official rental company here in Bnei Brak at 3 PM for a rental intended to last until the next day at 11 AM at a cost of 150 shekels. From the moment I took the car, it started having ignition problems, and so I set out on my way to the Jerusalem area, with the problems recurring throughout the journey, especially on the way back. I was afraid it would stop working. In any case, when I arrived in Bnei Brak around midnight, the car completely stopped working, and the blame is certainly on the company for giving me a car with a faulty battery (although this can be detected in periodic battery checks). Now the company admits that I do not need to pay for a full day, but in the company, you can only rent for half a day at a price of 120 shekels, which is a small difference, and they claim that in the end, I rented for half a day. My claim is that since I rented for a full day and it worked only half, I should pay half the full day's price, not as if I initially took it for half a day. Moreover, the distress was very great because this is not the first time such a thing has happened to me with a car from this company, but the third time! And each time, it is standing helpless in the middle of the street and asking for help from passersby. Therefore, it might even be said that I owe nothing at all. The rabbi's answer is accepted by all parties in advance. *When the damage occurred, I called the company, and they were unable to provide me with a replacement car.
Answer
The response of the Beit Hora'ah judges:
It is clear that the payment is half of a full day