Doc Savage

You have GOT to be kidding. OP made a reservation for a given time, and Hertz contracted to provide it. They are obligated to give him a car at least as good as they agreed at the time they agreed.

Even though MIA is a third world country, the are nominally still in the US and expected to follow US rules. The absurd attitude OP experienced from the rude counter person adds insult to injury.

hg‎

I had booked full. It seems MIA is notorious about this, what would a complaint do (other than an apologetic reply) ?

hg‎

Not the Ferrari, but yeah to the Mercedes. My preassigned car this week is the Volvo S60, which technically is part of the Prestige collection, along with Mercedes, Infiniti, Cadillac, etc. I think this is just a training/customer service issue. Perhaps MIA gets a bigger share of privileged tourists which has desensitized the staff.

cordelli

I'm so glad I can be so entertaining with my sucky logic.

The fact remains, the OP did not get the Mercedes. I'm fairly certain they would not have gotten it at most any Hertz location.

No matter how much people feel the need to tell me that my logic sucks.

They aren't giving a Mercedes for a full size rental.

Not really sure when a reservation became a legal and binding contract, but that's another story.

While Hertz does not intentionally overbook, they do run out of cars like every other rental agency. Hertz has stated policies to follow if a car is not available in 30 minutes. It's not to just give them any car on the lot.

The OP has yet to say how long they had to wait, which significantly alters the story based if it was five minutes or five days.

Really, please quote me what laws or US Rules Hertz broke because they did not have a car available at the time? Can't wait to see what other fictional responses come back on that one.

GW McLintock

I agree with you. Unless you do a pre-pay reservation, the only proof that Hertz has that someone will show up is simply your name and info; there's nothing stopping you from not even coming. If that was a binding contract (simply pushing submit without even providing a CC #), Hertz would have a lot larger issues to deal with than not giving a Merc for a FCAR res.

-J.

hg‎

Sorry. The wait was not long. I was given no estimate, just told to wait. It ended up being maybe 10 min max while they radioed back and forth. I made no complaints of the wait time, nor of the fact that I was given full size.
I would have been happy to wait around if they'd just said hold up we're cleaning cars.

*However* This was on monday morning around 9 - 9:15am. I'm generally a fast walker so I was the first to the counter. By the time I left there was a significant queue behind me.

I think that even the most positive of folks would find themselves conflicted when they're told to pay up or wait until a car becomes available.

Whether it's legal/allowed/in the contract is besides the point. Gut feeling says that's not right.

Doc Savage

Oh, for Pete's sake, you started a whole thread FOR A 10 MINUTE WAIT????

Pretty evasive wording in the OP.

C'mon.

/thread

Hey mods, we need a "disgusted" smilie.....

hg‎

I never complained about the wait. That wasn't the point of this.

SKYEG

....
Honestly, if I booked a Full size and had to wait even 5 minutes for it because it was not available, and they did not offer to give me something better when they have it available I would be pissed. Especially being PC.

I've received many a mercedes for a full size rental, lots being free.

I book a car expecting to drive out of there, not to wait because of unavailability.


Also, if the agent was being snarky towards me when I am the one that has to wait, I would be even unhappier.

Doc Savage

You said that you sat around and waited, the you just told us you stood at the front of the line the whole time.

You certainly suggested that the length of the wait was substantial. A lot of the time, 10 min is standard for renting a car. Whether the wait was a substantial amount of time is of the essence in your complaint about not getting the Mercedes. What you experienced here was simply a slightly clumsy attempt at upsell, which a lot of companies attempt these days.

hg‎

Sorry didn't mean to. I just thought the upsell or wait thing was strange. The ladies at the desk were definitely having a bad day though, that stands.

SKYEG

I don't know exactly what the OP was trying to get at but if I book a car, I expect it to be available. If not, they better give me a car equal or better and get me on my way, or at least treat me like it was their mistake not mine.

SKYEG

OK now I just saw that it was a 10minute wait.

For a 10 minute wait, I would not mind as long as the agent was apologetic and acknowledged the fact they overbooked. It seems the OP received some bad customer service and of course the 10 minute wait is much worse than it seems as the bad service affected his/her mood.


I will note not to book at MIA, as they seem to always pop up on threads with bad service.

I still think OP should have received the Mercedes. I receive them just by asking, so he definitely has more of a "right" to get one for free as there was an inconvenience involved(especially since he is a PC).
On a side note, I am so full from eating those Ritz mini cheese crackers, will pay for it at the gym tomorrow. Good night

hg‎

I agree, but just a clarification: the front desk wouldn't give any estimate, she just said "upgrade right now or sit and wait until a car becomes available". I'd assure you would be livid for the first 9 min as well.

cordelli

Dozens of posts over three days about what an evil company Hertz is, how they are breaking some unknown US rules were violated and the rest because the OP had to wait a whopping 600 seconds for them to finish washing the car.

It's no wonder company representatives are so few and far between on Flyertalk anymore.