labjr1

I have been a long term executive elite member of National - this week for the first time I had an issue with being overbilled. I have placed 4 calls to billing, received 3 different answers and there was not a single concern over losing a long term loyal customer. I even called the loyalty program and they were happy to register my complaint, but of course could care less if I stay with National. I was actually shocked to learn how little it means to National to keep a loyal long term customer.

My post is simply to alert others that your status and history at National has no meaning to them. When I call Marriott or Delta, my status does mean something and they are always happy to accommodate and at least try to address an issue. National on the other hand could care less. As long as things go smoothly they are a nice company to rent from, but if you have a billing issue - buyer beware!

matrixca7

Did you contact the branch that you collected the car and spoke to the branch manager? I had billing issues several times in the past year and the branch manager was more than happy to correct it for me over the phone to make me satisfied.

Often1

Arguing about billing is a waste of time. Send in a webform complaint, wait three days and then initiate a CC dispute for the amount in question. You will receive a relatively immediate temporary credit and, presuming that you are correct, National won't bother to contest the chargeback and it will become final in time.

Less stress, less time and same end result faster. Needless to say, if you are wrong, you've made a fool of yourself.

LegendMask

I was once was over billed, called customer service, took less than two minutes and issue was solved right away.

tip: call customer service, explain the situation as simple as possible and mostly be reasonable and calm. Good luck

zerolife

I do have to agree that National could improve on customer support quite a bit. In the past when I had issues and called Member Services, they often had to forward the inquiry to the Branch Manager to be resolved. Of course then response time varies based on branch. Seems like the phone support guys & as well as their "supervisors" aren't empowered to do much.

They really need to have an Elite line with better trained / more enplowered agents like many other loyalty programs have

newfbc

The risk here, they place you on the DNR (Do Not Rent) list.

Ron.

Often1

If you've got specific examples of National doing this for legitimate billing disputes, please post them. Otherwise, this is just more urban myth fear-mongering.

newfbc

If National is not assisting, wouldn't one assume they look at the dispute as not legitimate?

I've had a number of billing disputes with National over the years.. they've all been resolved without a chargeback.

Ron.

bworrell

I agree that national customer service is terrible. I've been executive elite for many years, and in the one or two problems I have a year they just are not helpful. The normal customer service seems to do nothing and instead it goes to the branch manager - they usually solve quickly although it's a pain (have to explain everything again, get in contact with someone else, etc).

BugsyPal

Well it just must be *you*, since I've never had a problem with CS from National. This goes from local counter agents and or manager all the way up to member services.

When it comes to billing issues you should go back to the location where the final contract was entered. They are the ones who created the charge and can reverse if necessary. For the record have never failed to have been told or overhear from a counter rep final charges. That and or when I've received an email receipt and questioned a charge by getting the local office on telephone it has always been resolved. This could be anything from a fuel charge that shouldn't have occurred to being charged for an extra day due to supposedly returning late.

corncob

I would be interested in hearing how this overbilling came about. Was it a simple rental? Was it one that you changed reservation type/length/etc? How exactly did they overbill you?

Perhaps they think they have a legitimate case for the bill...

seawolf

What was the nature of the dispute? If, let's say, you were doing a roundtrip and then decided after pickup to do a one way buy dropping the car off 500 miles away from original return, resulting in National charging a hefty one way fee plus charge per mile, then I side with national.

ptownca

Maybe I am lucky, but when I switched to National last year, I've not had one single issue with billing or charges after the fact. This with 48 rentals over 112 days. Aside from better cars, this issue has kept me a happy camper versus very mixed results from Hertz as a PC.

pinniped

I've only had one or two minor issues with National...they were resolved quickly.

It used to be that such resolutions were very straightforward at both Hertz and National, provided your complaint was legitimate of course. One phone call, little/no hold time, quick adjustment, no need for stress/threats of chargebacks.

In recent years, Hertz has completely deteriorated on the customer service front, descending well below agencies that I previously considered "second tier" (Alamo, Budget, etc.). However, I haven't noticed this from National. I've still had pretty good luck with them.

As much as I detest Enterprise and would avoid renting from them at all costs, the National and Alamo operations still seem to work pretty well - better than their competition in the first and second tiers. My biggest fear a couple years ago was the Enterprisification of the National and Alamo brands, but knock on wood that hasn't happened.

troydwhite

Was just overbilled at SeaTac airport this past Saturday. Honestly didn't notice it until I got home on Sunday night and was throwing away receipts.

Had reserved with the Amex Family Pass code for $40, was charged $171.

I called reservations and a helpful rep looked at my invoice, said he could see the original quote, and wasn't sure why I was charged $171. He said there was something he'd never seen, and said he needed to speak with a manager.

I thought maybe something was wrong with the coupon code, but an escalation agent came on the line, said she was reversing the charges, and apologized profusely.

Nobody said anything about the coupon code, or what may have been the issue. I didn't ask.

Was about 4 minutes of my time wasted, but overall resolved to my satisfaction.

Edit: I should add that in all my rentals, this was the only time final bill never matched quote.