Hertz - No Cars Available??

I have been trying to get a car for 6 hours for 11/3 at Houston's Hobby airport for 3 weeks now at Hertz. The website says there are non available. I called the 800 # and they told me no cars available. I was told there are cars available downtown if I wanted to take a taxi downtown and then I could return it to the airport.

My question is, what happened to serving your best customers? I am a President's Club member. If there are cars available at another location and people WANT to rent from Hertz, why don't they just move the cars from one location to another? I don't get it. The customer service rep I spoke to told me to try Avis or Budget. Hertz has the sale...why give it to your competition? :confused:

I thought if you were PC, you had guaranteed availability...from their own site:

http://www.hertz.com/goldupgrade/

"Guaranteed vehicle availability on just two hours’ notice"

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/emember/join/index.jsp?targetPage=clubsBenefitsView.jsp&contentPage=sumGoldbenefits.jsp

I have been trying to get a car for 6 hours for 11/3 at Houston's Hobby airport for 3 weeks now at Hertz. The website says there are non available. I called the 800 # and they told me no cars available. I was told there are cars available downtown if I wanted to take a taxi downtown and then I could return it to the airport.

My question is, what happened to serving your best customers? I am a President's Club member. If there are cars available at another location and people WANT to rent from Hertz, why don't they just move the cars from one location to another? I don't get it. The customer service rep I spoke to told me to try Avis or Budget. Hertz has the sale...why give it to your competition? :confused:

Not acceptable. Tell them that you are PC. You should have guaranteed availability. Theoretically you should be able to show up and have guaranteed availability. But certainly through reservations I know you do. Let me check out the TOS again.

Hertz#1 Club Gold - President's Circle
An Exclusive Level of Service - earned with 40 or more rentals annually. The benefits are designed to make your rentals more rewarding:

* Guaranteed vehicle availability
* Guaranteed one-car-class upgrades
* 25% bonus on Hertz #1 Awards® Points
* 600 Awards Points after every 15 qualifying rentals
* Special savings with limited blackout dates that can be used anytime
* Includes all the benefits of Gold service

It sounds to me like you may have lost your PC status and are now Five Star. If they are telling you that no cars are available then you are not PC in the system. There is absolutely nothing special that anyone has to do to find you a car if you are PC. If the status is there then A-F will automatically become available to you. There is no 'override' function or anything of the kind that needs to be done. The only thing that would still show no cars available is lack of status.

Book it for 3 days, return when you need to, only charged for one day, no problem. My guess is if you make a 3-day booking there will magically be inventory, because this has happened to me on more than one occasion. (I suppose your scenario may turn out to be an exception, but it doesn't hurt to try.) It doesn't explain why it you aren't getting a res if you are PC, but try it. Since 11/3 is just a daily rental, there's no real harm, midweek daily rate is midweek daily rate, period (although some days it can be higher than others, true). But returning early is not a problem, they will only bill for how long you kept it.

Book it for 3 days, return when you need to, only charged for one day, no problem. My guess is if you make a 3-day booking there will magically be inventory, because this has happened to me on more than one occasion. (I suppose your scenario may turn out to be an exception, but it doesn't hurt to try.) It doesn't explain why it you aren't getting a res if you are PC, but try it. Since 11/3 is just a daily rental, there's no real harm, midweek daily rate is midweek daily rate, period (although some days it can be higher than others, true). But returning early is not a problem, they will only bill for how long you kept it.

Not entirely true. Yes, shorter rentals are declined when reservations reach certain levels. However, returning will usually revert to a full standard rate and that can be quite expensive. In some cases, you may be charged for all three days and it will simply state on your receipt that you were charged your original rate, for all days, because an alternate rate would have been higher.

I saw people do this at HLE where they would book a 3 day rental at $45 a day and when they returned early it would be $89 / day.

Not entirely true. Yes, shorter rentals are declined when reservations reach certain levels. However, returning will usually revert to a full standard rate and that can be quite expensive. In some cases, you may be charged for all three days and it will simply state on your receipt that you were charged your original rate, for all days, because an alternate rate would have been higher.

I saw people do this at HLE where they would book a 3 day rental at $45 a day and when they returned early it would be $89 / day.

Fair enough. I'm sure you'd know much better than just my few experiences. It's not like I've done this dozens of times or anything, but on the times I have, both airport and HLE, there was never a difference in the rate when I returned a day early. I've returned after one day and after two days. It's a risk I'd take, probably, in the situation that the OP describes. Although really, if the OP is PC, then that's the part that should be fixed it seems.

I thought if you were PC, you had guaranteed availability...from their own site:

http://www.hertz.com/goldupgrade/

"Guaranteed vehicle availability on just two hours’ notice"

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/emember/join/index.jsp?targetPage=clubsBenefitsView.jsp&contentPage=sumGoldbenefits.jsp

If it is anything like the guaranteed one-class upgrade they are susposed to give PCs then it is worthless.