Originally Posted by
Jlove
An hour before I was scheduled to rent at an off-airport location, the agent calls me and says that they do not have any cars available for me to rent, but that I'm "first on the wait list" for returns. Two+ days later and I'm still waiting!
They did have large cars available, which isn't what I scheduled or preferred (unless they pay for gas). They also didn't offer any of those vehicles to me.
This has been frustrating and costly. Do car rental companies have any policies or procedures like airlines - when they're overbooked they compensate you and do what they need to to accommodate you. These guys don't seem particularly concerned. Any suggestions?
What exactly did Hertz say? That the location has *NO* vehicles available, or nothing in the class you reserved? There is a difference and it matters.
How things are handled by rental car places varies; some only guarantee a reservation will get you "something" even if it isn't the class reserved, but often will charge the reserved rate and maybe throw in some extras like gas. Others will not upgrade unless you are willing to pay the difference between reserved class and the one being offered. That is if you reserved a compact and only SUV/large vehicles are available you can have either, but you'll pay the difference.
IMHO National is by far the most flexible, in that they will give upgrades from say Compact to SUV or large vehicle, and even in some cases premium with no change in rate. Hertz, Enterprise and others it is a crap shoot, and often depends upon the mood of manager/counter rep.
IMHO neither Hertz nor Enterprise often will give up anything. If your reserved class is NA, you can choose something else, but they will make you pay the difference. On a few occasions in locations where manager/counter reps know me, have been offered an upgrade without any extra charges.
Back on topic: Why are you waiting two days for a rental car? Did you contact Hertz customer service or a manager to find out why they don't have vehicles/when they expect inventory to arrive? Have you contacted other car rental places in area to find out if they have anything available?
Another thing:
Many if not nearly all off airport rental places rely heavily on returns to manage part of inventory. When people do not bring vehicles back on time (late or extend), it messes things up as now the location is short, and must find vehicles from elsewhere. That or simply tell customers to cool their jets and wait for either returns to come in, and or vehicles that are being sent from other locations (driven by hikers).
In future you might want to consider making a back-up reservation at another local car rental in case the first has issues.