Hertz - NYC E 40th Street is THE BEST

I personally have had ridiculously good service from the E 40th st location. I currently am put on a project out in New Jersey for work, and since I live in Manhattan, have to rent a car to get out there everyday. My co. has pretty good rates for NYC (~$60/day for a midsize), and they let me keep the car on weekends (since I'd pretty much need it for 6 rental days per week). Anyway, I figured, if I'm renting a car for weeks at a time, why not try to get a Prestige?

I made a reservation for a midsize at that location and went over there to talk to them (this was back in August). I explained my situation- that I drive 80+ miles and spend 2-3 hours in traffic on a daily basis, that I hate Tauruses (Taurii?), and since my rental period is for multiple weeks, I was wondering if they could give me any kind of upgrade to Prestige. I got a REALLY REALLY nice service lady and she said she couldn't do it for free but could do it for $10/day. Then she said, all she had was the FX35 with Neverlost, but that she'd still give it to me (did I say she was REALLY nice?).

It gets better. I convinced her to downgrade my original reservation to economy class, and then apply the $10 upgrade to that. I was actually paying LESS money than my CDP rate for a midsize. (note, she didn't charge me for neverlost or satellite radio)

I kept the car for 7 weeks, paying around $47+taxes per day for a near brand new FX35. I even flew out of town once, and rather than return the car and risk getting something not as good when I got back, I paid out of my pocket to keep it in airport parking.

Last weekend I was forced to return it because I was flying out of town again but coming back to a different airport. When I got back and tried to explain what I had JUST done for 7 weeks, the EWR rep said there was no way she could do that, and gave me a Sonata.

I got home from work in the evening, and decided to see if I could get a Prestige car from any of the Manhattan locations. I first went to the 55th st one because thats closer to where I live, but they were pretty much laughing at me, saying that was the most ridiculous story they had heard and that they couldn't do that. The rep asked everyone around if they had ever seen anything like that and EVERYONE laughed at the $10 price. They said $35 minimum or something. They also said that all they had was a Volco Cross Country, and I didn't really want that anyway so I left.

I decided to try the E 40th street one again, and it was pretty much NO problem at all. The guy laughed, but only because he said I JUST missed the last FX (I had actually seen it leaving as I got there). But he said he had a G35 he could give me. He had me pick up their reservations line and reserve a compact, and then finished the rest for me, again for $10/day upgrade, but total cost less than my standard CDP rate. There were actually two people behind the counter at the time, and neither had a problem with it, and both were all smiles the entire time. I'm keeping this car until Thanksgiving.

I've had AMAZINGLY good experiences with them. I live a block away from the 55th st location on the west side, but will always go back to the east side to them from now on.

Sounds great. FWIW, W 55th St. is the only Manhattan location I've rented from, and they too were excellent.

Good deal. ^

I've had great experiences with E 40th Street too, but only through their parking deals (a really great option for those who have a Hertz car from any location and need to park in the city)... ^

I have actually had terrible experiences at E 40th St. They never give me an upgrade without paying through the nose for it! I have found them to be the rudest, least accomodating location of all the Manhattan locations I have been to and I rent about 50 times a year all throughout the city. While I have decided to avoid that location altogether, I am glad to hear that you had a positive experience there.

On 9/11 I was in NYC for meetings at the World Financial Center (across West Drive from WTC). After a day of meetings downtown then midtown I was going to drive to Greenwich and then New Haven, CT.

Fortunately, my first meeting was at 9:30 and the cab was turned back and I headed back to the NYC Hilton.

I though there was no way Hertz kept my reservation.
After lunch I decided, for the heck of it, to walk to the E. 40th St. Hertz location.

Office was jammed with people trying to get cars (some offering bribes).

When called on I asked if they had my reservation.
"Mr. Billiken, Gold Service, Yes Sir we have your Mercury Sable ready for you."

Was floored that they kept my car for me.

Drove back to the NYC Hilton, got my luggage and started my drive back to CLE. (The drop-off fee was $300 ish which the CLE manager waived.)

I had even more great service from them yesterday. I was still holding the G35 that I got from them a couple weeks ago, but then got a call from the manager saying the car needed to come in for some service. While on the phone, I kind of hinted that I was expecting to receive a comparable car and she assured me they would hold something for me. She even said not to worry about filling up the gas.

I got there at night, and a different manager was there, but he knew the story and was very enthusiastic about taking care of me. They didn't make any changes to my reservation (in terms of pricing), but gave me an FX35...which I like better than the G35. And to top it off, they even gave me a $50 voucher (though I'm not sure when I'll use it since my company pays for everything right now).

Everytime I go there, they get better and better.