My $200 floor sander caught fire in the middle of a rental in Austin

I rented one of those big belt sanders from the hardware store to refinish my living room floor last Saturday. About 20 minutes in, I smelled something weird and looked down to see smoke pouring out of the motor housing. I yanked the cord and dumped a bag of sand on it because I panicked, but the rental place said I still owed the full damage fee. Has anyone else had a power tool just die mid-project and had to fight the store about who pays for what?

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gonzalez.reese24d ago

Bag of sand? That's a bold move, I respect the creativity. Honestly the rental place probably has a clause for "mystery fires" that they only break out when the machine decides to self-destruct. I mean, next time just tell them the sander was trying to smoke signal for help and you were just helping it out. But yeah, fighting those places is like pulling teeth, they always win because they've got the paperwork on their side. Maybe just try to blame the sand quality next time, idk.