Completed a 4 day rental at PHX yesterday and it was, well.....a bit chaotic. I am a GOLD/Five-Star level member. Given COViD times I figured there might be some hiccups, but thought I would share details of my experience for others:
1 - booked a "Dream" car (BMW 7 series) as I thought I would giver Hertz a bit of extra dinero in these difficult times AND the rate wasn't crazy high. Having not booked that sort of car before I thought there might be a bit more a premium experience. As a 5 Star member I already like how "touchless" and quick the pick-up process is, particularly in these times;
2 - arrived to pick-up area and my name not on the gold board. Went to desk - where there were about 10 people in line. My reservation was for 3 pm - it was 2:55 pm. Wait was long as apparently many folks who were also Gold were not on the board. It was about a 20 minute wait and I was ask the desk. They seemed perplexed - "are you a Gold?" - yes, 5 Star. "is this a Dream car reservation" - yes it is. Oh....hold on.
3 - waited 10 minutes (thankfully they had some seating). We are in the garage and it was 107 degrees. After 10 minutes the agent comes to me and says "we are looking for the keys" - ok.......
4 - after another 15 or so, she finds the keys and comes to me to let me know the car has not been washed - ok.....
5 - while waiting for the wash, an elderly women who is also waiting (before me) approaches the desk and asks "do you have any bottled water by chance ?". Response - "....Miss, we are in bankruptcy so there is no water." Well, alrighty then ! Suck it up in PHX summer
6 - car finally arrives and the harried agent says she now needs to make a photocopy of my license. Ok - but I am a 5 Star (lots of rentals last year) and my license hasn't changed, so....
7 - ultimately get in car about 4 pm, more than an hour after I arrived to pick-up
8 - upon return, have an interesting "surprise". Rental price was about $100 per day for the car, all in estimated cost around $365. I pull up to do normal express drop-off and there is no agent to be found. Walk to the office in the garage and told ".....you need to pull the car out of normal drop-off line and drive it around the garage to the office so we can do a walk-around. This is a Dream car and that's how it works...". Ok - didn't know that (not sure how I was to know that). Thankfully car not parked-in, so drive to the office. They now tell me "no need to do a walk-around, just give us the mileage...." - alrighty then ! They print receipt and it is over $500. I show them the estimated price and they say ".....as a Dream car you were capped to 75 miles total. You drove over 250, so that is the added cost". 75 miles total for a 3 night/4 day rental in PHX....what ?? I don't say anything but step away and review the original reservation and printed contract. While the printed contract confusingly just says "75 miles", the original reservation clearly says 75 miles per day - which makes alot more sense. I wait in line and re-approach an agent. Some friendly back and forth (more bees with honey than vinegar) and they adjust it to 225 miles so I have a much small overage. Thankfully I arrived plenty in advance of my flight so time was not an issue.
Overall - not a great experience. No tantrum, no "i'll never use Hertz again", but multiple lessons learned thru this experience. "Keep it Simple" is the mantra for future rentals.
Thanks
Grunion