midwife1021
Dec 5, 06, 11:08 am
I haven't really mentioned this to any forums yet, but it seems like we keep getting crummy service from Hertz so I thought I'd let you know so that I might get some input, see if this has happened to anyone else or just to let you know.
August 2005 my husband and I took our 3 kids to DC to visit family, friends and see some historical sites. We rented with Hertz because of 1) Neverlost 2) Reviews of awesome cs from other people 3) A really great deal on a Navigator.
The reservations clerk I spoke to a few months prior mentioned that by renting a Navigator, I would be given #1 Gold status for 1 year as a courtesy and that as such I was to go to the #1 Gold counter to pick up my rental.
I called the day before we left to verify the reservation and make sure that a Navigator would be ready for us. "No problem," I was told, "Your reservation is all in order and there is a Navigator reserved for you". Ahh. Sounded great!
When we arrived, the bus driver insisted that we were to go to the regular counter. There were maybe a handful of patrons in the regular rental area, which appeared pretty nice with comfy seating and courteous clerks. I get to the counter in about 2 minutes, and the clerk apologizes to me for my wait and states that I have to go to the #1 Gold desk. Argh, OK. Fine. Haul husband & 3 kids over to the dinky, dirty, small (with no seats) #1 Gold building & desk. Waited for about 20 minutes while the patron ahead of me argues about something with the clerk and finally leaves, seemingly in a foul mood. *gulp* Thats NOT a good sign. The clerk was as unfriendly as possible, and after I hand him my reservation information he taps away at his computer keyboard and announces "We don't have a Navigator. You will get an Aviator". Uh, no...I specifically reserved a NAVIGATOR because of the passenger capacity and the lower price. He insists that there is no Navigator and that Im just going to have to deal with that...and he also tells me that the Aviator rental will cost me MORE. I was fuming. I explained as nicely as I could that this reservation had been confirmed yesterday and that an Aviator simply was not acceptable. This man was the wall. He was not very nice, and was growing agitated at me for not accepting the Aviator. I asked to speak to his supervisor and he said NO!! :mad: I guess I caused enough stir, because a woman finally came over and asked what was going on. The desk clerk guy said "We don't have a Navigator and she won't take an Aviator". and then he walked away. She did some searching and typing in the computer, started calling up people on the walkie talkie and finally offered us an Expedition. Now, the expedition was pricing out at about $200 more for the rental than the Navigator which concerned me. She said that they would not charge the difference to me and would offer me $20 off the week of rental. She said that their computers showed that a Navigator would be returned either that evening or early the next morning. She told me that they would bring the Navigator to me as soon as one came in the next day. Fine. I agreed because we were already behind schedule as it was. I explained that we would be staying in Charlottesville (about 1.5-2 hrs away), and she said that was not an issue.
When we got out to the car, I was wanting to do a quick once-over to make sure there was no damage. They said there was no need to do that, they had already taken care of inspections blah, blah, blah (that should have been a huge red flag to not believe them, especially after all the hubub we had been through to get a suitable vehicle). I eyeballed what I could see as the desk clerk guy loaded our luggage into the rear of the SUV. We got on the road to Charlottesville with me still feeling a little disgruntled.
We stopped for dinner about an hour later, after a smooth drive. My 2 older sons kept complaining that their arm rests were sticky. When I went to check it out, there was an unwrapped sucker that had been shoved into a cupholder and the back armrests looked as if the sucker had been ran across the armrests--they were indeed very dirty and sticky. Grrrr.
I went to the back to take out a few things for my youngest son, when I noticed that the rear right tail light had been completely busted out. I was starting to get the feeling the Hertz people were jacking us around and that the dang Navigator would mysteriously never show up.
The next day, I called the IAD Hertz office to check on the Navigator and talk to them about the dirtiness and the light. They said no problem--the Navigator would be arriving to us around 1pm. They said that the light was probably damaged on their lot, no big deal. I had not purchased any extra insurance, so this worried me a GREAT DEAL. But I figured that if they were saying that it was damaged on their lot then they knew well and good that we caused no damage to the vehicle. We waited around for the vehicle to come, and it never came. I called the next day and was told there was a delay and it would be coming THAT day. I told them to call my on my cellphone when they were in C-ville so I could meet them for the trade. It never happened. I called again a few days later and was told that it would be coming that day too. Guess what? It never came.
When we returned the vehicle, the guy checking the car back in pointed out the busted tail light and angrily shouted at us that we were going to have to pay for the damage. I told him that it was reported and we were told that it had occured on their lot. He proceeded to argue with me and follow me to the building!! The desk clerk was the same one we had upon renting the car and he even argued with me!! He offered to take $10 off the total rental for them not delivering the Navigator as promised, and I told him that was a bit too little. I was angry, upset and really disappointed with Hertz. The manager came running over just as I was about to start screaming and crying. I told him what happened, and he apologized deeply for all the crap I had dealt with. He started frantically typing on the computer and reassuring me that he was listening and that he was trying to see what he could do. The check in and desk clerk guy just stood back making these inconvenienced nasty little scowls at me. Finally, he handed me a receipt and said "Now, this is the lowest price I can offer you. He had applied the employee discount and charged us for an economy/subcompact...the total for our week came to just over $160 with all taxes and fees (the quote for the Navigator was around $500). I told him that while I understood that they couldn't write off the entirety of the rental, I was disappointed to have to pay for such horrible service and experience but that I would accept the price he gave me. I also thanked him for his assistance and told him that if the rest of his employees were even a slight bit as committed to customer service as he was, the whole experience would have been 100% better.
Also, since I didn't actually get to rent the Navigator, it cancelled out the #1 Gold complementary membership, so that was nixed too. :td:
We rented from Hertz in San Juan PR 2 months later because they offered the best price on a minivan and the reservation had been made before we even went to DC. They promised me a minivan with Neverlost (I confirmed that reservation the day before arriving as well), and when we got there, the clerk said they didn't have any. But she asked if a 7-passenger Explorer would be an acceptable substitute at the minivan rate (which was much cheaper). I accepted. The whole process took about 5 minutes and the car was pristine, clean and comfy. I decided to give Hertz another chance since our experience in PR was so good. But still, I cannot forget the grief that IAD Hertz gave me!!
August 2005 my husband and I took our 3 kids to DC to visit family, friends and see some historical sites. We rented with Hertz because of 1) Neverlost 2) Reviews of awesome cs from other people 3) A really great deal on a Navigator.
The reservations clerk I spoke to a few months prior mentioned that by renting a Navigator, I would be given #1 Gold status for 1 year as a courtesy and that as such I was to go to the #1 Gold counter to pick up my rental.
I called the day before we left to verify the reservation and make sure that a Navigator would be ready for us. "No problem," I was told, "Your reservation is all in order and there is a Navigator reserved for you". Ahh. Sounded great!
When we arrived, the bus driver insisted that we were to go to the regular counter. There were maybe a handful of patrons in the regular rental area, which appeared pretty nice with comfy seating and courteous clerks. I get to the counter in about 2 minutes, and the clerk apologizes to me for my wait and states that I have to go to the #1 Gold desk. Argh, OK. Fine. Haul husband & 3 kids over to the dinky, dirty, small (with no seats) #1 Gold building & desk. Waited for about 20 minutes while the patron ahead of me argues about something with the clerk and finally leaves, seemingly in a foul mood. *gulp* Thats NOT a good sign. The clerk was as unfriendly as possible, and after I hand him my reservation information he taps away at his computer keyboard and announces "We don't have a Navigator. You will get an Aviator". Uh, no...I specifically reserved a NAVIGATOR because of the passenger capacity and the lower price. He insists that there is no Navigator and that Im just going to have to deal with that...and he also tells me that the Aviator rental will cost me MORE. I was fuming. I explained as nicely as I could that this reservation had been confirmed yesterday and that an Aviator simply was not acceptable. This man was the wall. He was not very nice, and was growing agitated at me for not accepting the Aviator. I asked to speak to his supervisor and he said NO!! :mad: I guess I caused enough stir, because a woman finally came over and asked what was going on. The desk clerk guy said "We don't have a Navigator and she won't take an Aviator". and then he walked away. She did some searching and typing in the computer, started calling up people on the walkie talkie and finally offered us an Expedition. Now, the expedition was pricing out at about $200 more for the rental than the Navigator which concerned me. She said that they would not charge the difference to me and would offer me $20 off the week of rental. She said that their computers showed that a Navigator would be returned either that evening or early the next morning. She told me that they would bring the Navigator to me as soon as one came in the next day. Fine. I agreed because we were already behind schedule as it was. I explained that we would be staying in Charlottesville (about 1.5-2 hrs away), and she said that was not an issue.
When we got out to the car, I was wanting to do a quick once-over to make sure there was no damage. They said there was no need to do that, they had already taken care of inspections blah, blah, blah (that should have been a huge red flag to not believe them, especially after all the hubub we had been through to get a suitable vehicle). I eyeballed what I could see as the desk clerk guy loaded our luggage into the rear of the SUV. We got on the road to Charlottesville with me still feeling a little disgruntled.
We stopped for dinner about an hour later, after a smooth drive. My 2 older sons kept complaining that their arm rests were sticky. When I went to check it out, there was an unwrapped sucker that had been shoved into a cupholder and the back armrests looked as if the sucker had been ran across the armrests--they were indeed very dirty and sticky. Grrrr.
I went to the back to take out a few things for my youngest son, when I noticed that the rear right tail light had been completely busted out. I was starting to get the feeling the Hertz people were jacking us around and that the dang Navigator would mysteriously never show up.
The next day, I called the IAD Hertz office to check on the Navigator and talk to them about the dirtiness and the light. They said no problem--the Navigator would be arriving to us around 1pm. They said that the light was probably damaged on their lot, no big deal. I had not purchased any extra insurance, so this worried me a GREAT DEAL. But I figured that if they were saying that it was damaged on their lot then they knew well and good that we caused no damage to the vehicle. We waited around for the vehicle to come, and it never came. I called the next day and was told there was a delay and it would be coming THAT day. I told them to call my on my cellphone when they were in C-ville so I could meet them for the trade. It never happened. I called again a few days later and was told that it would be coming that day too. Guess what? It never came.
When we returned the vehicle, the guy checking the car back in pointed out the busted tail light and angrily shouted at us that we were going to have to pay for the damage. I told him that it was reported and we were told that it had occured on their lot. He proceeded to argue with me and follow me to the building!! The desk clerk was the same one we had upon renting the car and he even argued with me!! He offered to take $10 off the total rental for them not delivering the Navigator as promised, and I told him that was a bit too little. I was angry, upset and really disappointed with Hertz. The manager came running over just as I was about to start screaming and crying. I told him what happened, and he apologized deeply for all the crap I had dealt with. He started frantically typing on the computer and reassuring me that he was listening and that he was trying to see what he could do. The check in and desk clerk guy just stood back making these inconvenienced nasty little scowls at me. Finally, he handed me a receipt and said "Now, this is the lowest price I can offer you. He had applied the employee discount and charged us for an economy/subcompact...the total for our week came to just over $160 with all taxes and fees (the quote for the Navigator was around $500). I told him that while I understood that they couldn't write off the entirety of the rental, I was disappointed to have to pay for such horrible service and experience but that I would accept the price he gave me. I also thanked him for his assistance and told him that if the rest of his employees were even a slight bit as committed to customer service as he was, the whole experience would have been 100% better.
Also, since I didn't actually get to rent the Navigator, it cancelled out the #1 Gold complementary membership, so that was nixed too. :td:
We rented from Hertz in San Juan PR 2 months later because they offered the best price on a minivan and the reservation had been made before we even went to DC. They promised me a minivan with Neverlost (I confirmed that reservation the day before arriving as well), and when we got there, the clerk said they didn't have any. But she asked if a 7-passenger Explorer would be an acceptable substitute at the minivan rate (which was much cheaper). I accepted. The whole process took about 5 minutes and the car was pristine, clean and comfy. I decided to give Hertz another chance since our experience in PR was so good. But still, I cannot forget the grief that IAD Hertz gave me!!