JS
Feb 23, 05, 10:54 pm
There was a Seinfeld episode where Seinfeld made a reservation for a full size rental car and all they had left were compact cars. Seinfeld said, "You can take the reservation, but you can't seem to hold the reservation." If you've rented enough times, I'm sure you're familiar with that (although it seems to happen in the other direction more often). At least they just charge you the compact car rate and you do have a car which should be OK unless you have a lot of passengers.
I had a similar problem with an after-hours reservation, but this was much more serious than getting a car that is smaller than what I wanted. I got no car at all! I posted some of this information in the topic about Hertz wanting to charge $2.50 just to make a reservation. This topic has all the gory details plus Hertz' written response.
I had a flight into DUJ (Du Bois, PA) arriving at 7 PM on a Saturday. This location's office hours are 9 AM to noon on Saturday (odd hours to be sure), so I called Hertz and asked them if they would make an after-hours reservation. Not all rental locations will do this, but I was informed that I could make an after-hours pick up at this location for an extra $8 (on top of a very high rate I should add).
When I arrived at 7 PM there was no one at the counter. I waited 20 minutes and then called Hertz. They said there was nothing they could do. I pleaded with them to call someone who works there and come give me a car, but they said they had no after hours number. I found ads in the airport for two hotels, and neither one had a shuttle, and they both said there were no taxis in Du Bois.
I laid down on the floor and eventually fell asleep (I was prepared to sleep there all night). Just before midnight, the airport manager woke me up and said I had to leave because he was closing the airport. I explained my situation, that I basically have nowhere to go. It was cold outside (this was in January), so I guess he felt sorry for me and had an employee drive me to a Holiday Inn. He said the Holiday Inn has a shuttle but not at this hour. I wish I had known this earlier; I could have gotten better quality sleep in the hotel rather than on the hard floor.
I called Hertz customer service on Monday and told them that I made this reservation but no one showed up, leaving me stranded in this airport in the middle of nowhere (DUJ is literally in the countryside).
One time I made an after-hours reservation with Avis and they no-showed on me. At least Avis sent me two $25 certificates for the error. Hertz offered nothing but excuses.
Hertz's reply is as follows:
Thank you for your recent inquiry to Hertz Customer Service regarding your February 5 reservation in DuBois. We appreciate the opportunity to review your concerns.
The Hertz location in DuBois is an independently owned and operated franchise. As such all business decisions and adjustment requests must be authorized by their management. As a representative of the #1 car rental company, licensees are expected to provide the same level of courteous, professional service as any other Hertz facility, and to meet our standards of quality and maintenance control. We are sorry if your rental experience did not reflect such a commitment, and the appropriate management will be notified so that corrective action may be taken.
Any further inquiries regarding this matter should be directed to their main office at the following address:
blah blah blah
Thank you again for contacting us. We appreciate your business and look forward to the opportunity to serve you again.
The franchisee's reply is as follows:
I apologize there was not a representative at the Hertz counter in Dubois, PA on February 5, 2005 at 7 p.m. to meet your reservation. The hours of operation at that facility on Saturdays are from 9 a.m. to noon. I do see in your reservation where you were quoted the $8 after hour fee. However, when that reservation was booked and received at our local office it was on a standby request basis. Our local Dubois office was not contacted in order to confirm it with our personnel and see if one of our representatives could meet the after hours request.
Once again, I apologize for your inconvenience and hope that we can be of assistance to you in the future.
The franchisee's e-mail was in a Microsoft Word document, and Hertz corporate's e-mail was actually a picture of a letter, in .tif format. I had to re-type the whole thing here. :rolleyes:
Is Hertz run by morons? They screw me over and won't even offer a $-off certificate, and now they want to charge you $2.50 to make a reservation? Do they need the $2.50 in order to hold on to a reservation that a customer makes in good faith? Unbelievable! :td:
I had a similar problem with an after-hours reservation, but this was much more serious than getting a car that is smaller than what I wanted. I got no car at all! I posted some of this information in the topic about Hertz wanting to charge $2.50 just to make a reservation. This topic has all the gory details plus Hertz' written response.
I had a flight into DUJ (Du Bois, PA) arriving at 7 PM on a Saturday. This location's office hours are 9 AM to noon on Saturday (odd hours to be sure), so I called Hertz and asked them if they would make an after-hours reservation. Not all rental locations will do this, but I was informed that I could make an after-hours pick up at this location for an extra $8 (on top of a very high rate I should add).
When I arrived at 7 PM there was no one at the counter. I waited 20 minutes and then called Hertz. They said there was nothing they could do. I pleaded with them to call someone who works there and come give me a car, but they said they had no after hours number. I found ads in the airport for two hotels, and neither one had a shuttle, and they both said there were no taxis in Du Bois.
I laid down on the floor and eventually fell asleep (I was prepared to sleep there all night). Just before midnight, the airport manager woke me up and said I had to leave because he was closing the airport. I explained my situation, that I basically have nowhere to go. It was cold outside (this was in January), so I guess he felt sorry for me and had an employee drive me to a Holiday Inn. He said the Holiday Inn has a shuttle but not at this hour. I wish I had known this earlier; I could have gotten better quality sleep in the hotel rather than on the hard floor.
I called Hertz customer service on Monday and told them that I made this reservation but no one showed up, leaving me stranded in this airport in the middle of nowhere (DUJ is literally in the countryside).
One time I made an after-hours reservation with Avis and they no-showed on me. At least Avis sent me two $25 certificates for the error. Hertz offered nothing but excuses.
Hertz's reply is as follows:
Thank you for your recent inquiry to Hertz Customer Service regarding your February 5 reservation in DuBois. We appreciate the opportunity to review your concerns.
The Hertz location in DuBois is an independently owned and operated franchise. As such all business decisions and adjustment requests must be authorized by their management. As a representative of the #1 car rental company, licensees are expected to provide the same level of courteous, professional service as any other Hertz facility, and to meet our standards of quality and maintenance control. We are sorry if your rental experience did not reflect such a commitment, and the appropriate management will be notified so that corrective action may be taken.
Any further inquiries regarding this matter should be directed to their main office at the following address:
blah blah blah
Thank you again for contacting us. We appreciate your business and look forward to the opportunity to serve you again.
The franchisee's reply is as follows:
I apologize there was not a representative at the Hertz counter in Dubois, PA on February 5, 2005 at 7 p.m. to meet your reservation. The hours of operation at that facility on Saturdays are from 9 a.m. to noon. I do see in your reservation where you were quoted the $8 after hour fee. However, when that reservation was booked and received at our local office it was on a standby request basis. Our local Dubois office was not contacted in order to confirm it with our personnel and see if one of our representatives could meet the after hours request.
Once again, I apologize for your inconvenience and hope that we can be of assistance to you in the future.
The franchisee's e-mail was in a Microsoft Word document, and Hertz corporate's e-mail was actually a picture of a letter, in .tif format. I had to re-type the whole thing here. :rolleyes:
Is Hertz run by morons? They screw me over and won't even offer a $-off certificate, and now they want to charge you $2.50 to make a reservation? Do they need the $2.50 in order to hold on to a reservation that a customer makes in good faith? Unbelievable! :td: