Originally Posted by sdillinger

I am a long time Gold Member and FT lurker and am very pissed off.

I logged into my gold account at Hertz.com and selected a rental. I was offered several -regular and prepaid rates. The car I wanted did not have either, so I clicked to see the rate and continue my reservation.

I was about to finalize the reservation when I noticed it mentioned (in a non-obvious- "Hey this is different that what you are used to"- way) the rate was a pre-paid rate.

My gut told me this wasn't good thing. So I (for possibly the first time ever) read all the terms and conditions.

4. Changes to a reservation may be done at Hertz.com using the ‘Modify/Cancel’ option. Any changes to the reservation may impact the rental charges. If a prepaid reservation is cancelled more than 24 hours before the pickup time, a $25 cancellation fee will be assessed. If a prepaid reservation is cancelled within 24 hours or if it is not picked up at all, a $50 fee will be assessed.

Ok. I am mildly annoyed. But live with it. But then I get to this:

16. Gold service is not available on prepaid rates.

WHAT? So, I pay for Gold Service, but if I actually want to use it I have to pay a HIGHER rate? Are you kidding me? And you essentially hide this fact by burying it in the agreement. Nice way to treat your best customers!

The whole- 'you have to bring your voucher to the counter- that is why there is not gold service' is complete bullsh*t. A lame, we-assume-you-are-stupid, explanation that belies all logic.

I ask the online rep how I can pay a HIGHER RATE to get Gold Service I ALREADY PAID FOR. (sorry for yelling). She tells me I can't because they are having problems with the website. Uh huh. If there were a problem that caused me to be undercharged they would have it fixed in 10 minutes.

So, to have the pleasure of paying the higher rate I have to log out of my gold membership- make the reservation- and then call customer service to add my gold number manually. No thanks.

Who thought this up? Who at Hertz said "Yeah that is a great idea!"

/rantoff