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Hi Mike
You seem very agitated by this post.
Let me repeat once again, the wait is not an issue. None at all.

Let's use hyperbole to illustrate an analogy.
Say you raise a gun at a random stranger, and you ask them to stand still or you'll shot them. Following this you let the stranger go after 60 seconds of waiting. The chief complaint for said stranger is not "I was made to stand still 60 seconds". His/her chief complaint will be that a gun was pointed in their direction.

Stepping down from hyperbole, the issue is not how long I waited. The issue is that Herz staff made this demand at all.

jmastron

OP was pretty clear that he wasn't upset in the end with the wait, and even those of us who said they should have given him the Mercedes aren't claiming it is a "US rule" -- I specifically mentioned that I've seen low-class agencies threaten customers with hour-plus waits if they don't fork over the upgrade cash (and I then didn't do business with them). I just thought Hertz was above that (and they have been in the cases I've seen).

You're right -- 10 minutes isn't long. It would have been perfectly acceptable for the agent to say "your car is being cleaned; it will be 10 minutes. BTW, would you like to pay to upgrade to this Mercedes?". But she didn't -- no time limit; would it be 30 minutes, an hour, 4-5 hours? She certainly would have known that a car was being readied, but sure seemed to want him to believe it could be a long time. And like the OP, my company wouldn't have allowed that upgrade charge either.

I understand the agents earn commissions for upsells of all sorts, but I (and OP) have come to expect not to get the used-car-salesman treatment at Hertz...but as others have mentioned apparently the MIA agents and perhaps management have calculated that they'll do better acting like a 3rd-tier company. It's up to Hertz Corporate to decide if that behavior hurts or helps the brand...

Do you really think that a reputable rental company, having oversold their compact cars with none coming in on the horizon, and having a more expensive rental on the lot, not booked for a customer on his way (that would be another valid explanation to me) should tell the customer to go pound sand?

cordelli

Pretty sure this post was saying they violated US Rules (though they still have not explained exactly what those rules are)

Again I just be reading a totally different thread. I thought this thread was about somebody who reserved a full size that was being cleaned when they got to the counter and was asked to wait for the car for ten minutes or could upgrade to a higher class of car for a price.

I did not see where it was about compact cars rented, or none available for the foreseeable future, or expensive cars on the lot that were not already reserved by others.

Nobody was told to pound sand, the customer was asked to wait a whopping ten minutes for their car to be ready. And as I also clearly stated, Hertz has procedures if a car is not available and the wait is over 30 minutes for one. I would expect Hertz to follow those procedures and take care of the customer. Those procedures would not give a Mercedes to somebody who reserved a compact for free (though some locations may out of the goodness of their heart). I would assume all the other agencies also have procedures as to what they will and won't do when they don't have cars available.

Not once did I say they should just tell the customer to pound sand.

roymustang

Brother, you're still missing the point. He was, indeed, asked to wait until a car was ready. However, no estimate was given as to how long the wait would be (which is the real issue - I'd be ticked off too, although probably not enough to vent here).

I'd bet any amount of money that had they said "we're busy cleaning cars, and should have a full-size available for you in the next 10-15 minutes", this thread wouldn't exist. Upgrade wasn't even necessary (though it would have been nice, this is still MIA), just communication. They may not be obliged to provide such information, but come on! Why not provide it?

CorSter

I don't blame the OP one bit.

If you rent a car, and the company is out of that car, they give you something else they have on the lot.

A few months ago I rented an Economy Car from Enterprise on the $9.99 weekend special - I got there and the only car they had on the lot was a RAM 1500 - they apologized and asked me if i'd like to drive it at my reserved rate. I'd except the same treatment from any first or second tier rental agency.

holmes87

Just to share my opinion, a lot of people have to understand that MIA is one of the busiest airports in the world. A couple of days ago I was scheduled to pick up a rental t 6AM. My train of thought was its early in the morning and no one is going to be there, should be worry free. Well, yes my name wasn't on the board my car wasn't ready, Gold services was jot open at the time I arrived, and I had to wait a couple of minutes for them to open up. I get to the counter and the CSR politely apologized for the inconvenience that my car wasn't available at the time of pick up, and offered another vehicle, or to wait for the one I reserved to become available. Being that I needed a SUV I decided to ask if they had more options available but they didnt , so I sat and waited. Waited for about 25 minutes, and to say 30 people walked in between 6-630am maybe an understatement. Point is that a lot of people in general expect companies to over exceed individuals expectations. People have to understand that you may not be the only one that needs a certain vehicle at the time of your rental, there are thousands of passengers or general public that rent out of MIA. In the end I only had to wait 35 minute tops so I could get my car, was I mad no, I understand things happen, and expectations can not be met. So next time anyone is out somewhere being at a rental agency or in a restaurant, remember the people assisting you are human beings alike. No one customer is more important then the other.

TRD_808

Exactly. The point is that the OP was told to wait with no estimated wait time given. What if it had been an hour? Is that still "okay"?

That said, I've rented before where they were pretty much all out of cars. Granted, not out of MIA but still.. I was offered a Challenger on my PCAR res since they were short on cars and I guess I'm a young guy so the rep thought it'd be nice. I needed something 4 door but there were no PCARs available so he put me in an SUV (which had a big scratch) so I swapped for a Maxima that had just been washed and parked in its spot. A lot tech refused to let me go back in line to swap cars so he told me to hop in the car, turn on the AC, and he'd take care of it. Now that's what I call service!

I guess it's a judgment call but usually I'd be inclined to believe they'd just hand the keys over to whatever was available so long as it wasn't reserved already. (Save for fancier locations with $$$ cars like the Ferrari)