Hertz - Bad Experience at ORD 12/4

Arrived at Hertz at 11:40 a.m. on 12/4 and didn't see my name on the Gold list, so I got in line for the Gold Counter.

I'd say there were at least 50 folks in line as well. The line went from the Gold counter all the way to where the buses dropped you off in front of the name board. No one knew what was going on. We just got in line.

One little detail here is that it was about 20 degrees and windy, so waiting outside was not exactly pleasant.

We sent a co-worker to the regular Hertz line in the other building and he reported that the line there was over an hour. But it was indoors, so he was staying put.

We inched forward for about 40 minutes, when we finally made it into the Gold building. HEAT!

We were about 8 people from the counter when a Hertz employee asked for a drivers license and directed us to wait in a parked bus by the Gold building. Those who gave up their licenses eventually got them back along with a rental agreement. Overall, it took 50 minutes to get the car, something that normally takes 30 seconds.

No one ever said what the problem was. The response of collecting licenses was an idea, but also blatantly unfair as "line order" was not maintained. (I actually benefitted, but other people were P.O'ed).

This has never happened to me with Hertz, and frankly, I was shocked. I expect good service with Hertz, as I will pay more with them to get it.

And yes, I'll be writing a letter. It's unacceptable to not tell folks what's wrong and then not have an acceptable plan b for your best customers.

ORD is average at best when things are running smoothly. Cars are often in poor condition, upgrades are a joke, shuttles run way to infrequently compared with other rental companies and employees are substandard.

I'm usually out of there in 15-20 min (after fighting for an acceptable upgrade) My name has at least always been on the board. I couldn't imagine dealing with the situation you describe.

I would definitly contact Hertz asking for an explanation, You should at least receive a customer satisfaction certificate for $40 or $50.

Sounds like they just ran out of cars or couldn't get the returns turned around fast enough. The winter storm last Friday was probably a contributing factor.

A colleague and I ran into the same problem on December 4th, but our experience with Hertz only got worse as the day went on. We're both PC, but were sharing a car in her name. After finally getting a car, we drove it about three west on I-90, stopping at the "plaza" located above the tollway to get a Starbucks. Upon returning to the car, we couldn't get the key into the driver's door to unlock the car. (It was an Explorer, the key didn't have a fob, and there was only one lock on the vehicle...on the driver's door). We returned to the plaza, called Hertz, and told it would take them two hours to get someone to the car to help us out.

We stayed in the plaza for about an hour, finished our coffee, and had lunch. After an hour we decided to try the lock again. Miraculously, it opened...the sun had come out and had apparently melted the ice in the lock.

We thought about exchanging the car, but really didn't want to go through the hell we had just experienced at O'Hare Hertz an hour before. That was a mistake.

When we returned to the car at 5:00 p.m., the lock was frozen again. Now it was dark, even colder, and very windy. Again, we called Hertz and were told that we'd have a two hour wait. We tried using a lighter to heat the key but the wind was so strong that we couldn't keep it lit, and I doubt we could have warmed the key enough anyway. The "helpful" Hertz agent we called suggested "rubbing the key on the pavement" to warm it up enough to melt the lock. Clearly, this agent had never lived in a cold climate. :-)

At around 6:30 p.m. a man in a small pickup truck came to our rescue. He wasn't able to free the lock using a tool that he inserted into the door, but was able to grab the handle inside the car using another tool to open the door.

At 7:00 p.m. we returned to Hertz at O'Hare to exchange the car. Guess what? There was still a line running down the sidewalk at the Gold counter, and still the same chaos we had experienced 10 hours earlier. This time we went to the "normal" counter instead, where the agent (a manager, actually) took nearly 45 minutes to exchange our car. She had to call people (presumably in Oklahoma City) to "get the paperwork right" for the exchange, then had to locate a car for us. She actually gave us a bad time about having an Explorer since we had only reserved a "C" class car, tersely reminding us that as PCs we should expect only a one-car upgrade. I thought this was extremely rude, given the problems we had early in the morning even getting a car, and then all the problems (nearly four total hours waiting for roadside assistance for the two calls) we had later in the day.

She was not apolegetic in the least. She blamed the snowstorm for all the trouble, even though the snowstorm was now three days old. (Why the heck can't Hertz hire some transient workers to clean snow off cars after a storm?)

I had similar "long line" experiences (minus the preceding snowstorm) a couple years ago at Hertz O'Hare on three different occasions a couple of years ago. My impression is that the management at O'Hare Hertz just don't give a damn. And, that's likely because the company treats its employees like crap, is my guess. I really hate O'Hare, including the Hertz operation there.

Normally I only use hertz, but this sounds like a real problem. Are any of the other car rental companies any better at ORD?

Thanks,

raz

Normally I only use hertz, but this sounds like a real problem. Are any of the other car rental companies any better at ORD?

Thanks,

raz

I've rented about 20 times from the ORD Hertz in the past couple of years, and the chaos on 12/4 was the first I've experienced.

The upgrade issue can be a problem. I'm only a 5 Star, but I still never expect to actually get the dreaded Chevy Cavalier/Cobalt, and I do about a quarter of the time. I've had good luck as well. Upgrade from compact to Mazda 5 pseudo-van on 12/4 and a Subaru Tribeca (gas hog, but very comfy) the week before.

When we returned our car a few days ago, we were reprimanded for using a PC discount code. She said that it was a blackout period and we were not suppose to be able to use the code.

I told her, well if we could not use the code, then the computer wouldn't have let us make the reservation. How do you explain that? Of course she could not. I asked her why she was being so rude as to reprimand a frequent customer, but she of course was silent.

When picking up the car, I counted 6 Avis buses before a single Hertz bus arrived.

There's something wrong with that location.