To make a long story short, the Hertz office at RDU (Raleigh-Durham) was decided after the fact that they would NOT let the counter staff upgrade me from a F to an L (mid-size SUV), so they retroactively changed my rate to a L class booking. When I returned the car and realized they had charged me the higher rate, I spoke to the location manager and he insisted that the trainee at the counter should not have given me the upgrade, so there was nothing he could do about the rate change, other than give me a $50 credit (which did not come close to covering the difference).
Not the treatment I'd expect as a President's Circle member!

The gory details...
- I had originally made a reservation for a L class (mid-size SUV), hoping to get upgraded to a full-size SUV. It was a Sunday afternoon and the lot was jammed packed. However, the staff insisted that I was not entitled to an upgrade because PC upgrades are only a one car-class upgrade in cars booked classes A-F (is this true???).
- So... I spoke with the counter rep (who apparently was a trainee) and he confirmed with his manager that if I made a new F reservation ($103 cheaper per week), that they would upgrade me from the F to a L (mid-size SUV). They printed the contract for a F rate with the license plate number of the L vehicle and away I drove off the lot. This was even a different vehicle and stall than the original L contract.
- When I returned the car a week later, and I found that the higher rate had been charged, I spoke to the location manager and he explained that the trainee should not have upgraded me from a F to a L, so they voided that F contract and put me back on the L rate/contract. Apparently the manager I spoke to was the same manager that the trainee had been speaking with behind the scenes the week before.
- I politely insisted to the location manager that I had a contract for the F rate with the L class vehicle and that was the contracted rate. He in turn insisted that they were fully within their rights to void that contract and charge me the L class rate because they won't upgrade from a F to L.
- The location manager called the sales manager at home and they agreed that they would not honor the contracted rate and that I had to pay the higher rate. They would however offer me a $50 adjustment but "that's it."

I'm sorry for the long rant, but it's a little therapeutic to get this off my chest. My questions:
- Are upgrades really only good on cars booked A-F? I've searched the PC material and this forum and not seen or heard anything about this.
- Do I have any recourse at all? They are apparently deadset on charging me the higher rate, so I'm wondering if I should appeal it with my credit card company since I drove off the lot with a contract for a different rate.
- Has anyone else heard of anything remotely similar? The manager's steadfast insistence that they would not honor the contracted rate was galling. I intend to write to the Area Manager, but based on my interaction with the location manager I have very low expectation of this actually getting resolved.

Thanks!