Bonanza36

Long time lurker but first time post. Maybe others have had similar issues with Hertz and their lack of accountability.

Hertz Rental Cars has been fraudulently billing me for a cancelled Hertz reservation since May of 2013, and threatening me with collection. This reservation was cancelled with Hertz on March 19, 2013. I have a confirmation # for the cancellation. I have also a printout of the internal RES Processing system confirming the cancellation for this reservation, together with an email to me indicating same. The original quote for the reservation was $719, out of SFO.

After cancelling my reservation with Hertz directly, I subsequently rented a Hertz car through Priceline for the business trip to SFO for the exact same time period, and it was paid for in full. The price for the same car was $192. Upon arrival at SFO, I presented the agent with a copy of my Priceline reservation and pre-payment.

Upon returning the car at the end of the rental period, the clerk on Beach Street in San Francisco demanded $719.45 for the rental. I again provided a pre-paid Priceline receipt and confirmation for my rental in the amount of $192.28. I refused to pay for the same rental car twice, and left.

Hertz subsequently, knowingly and fraudulently billed my credit card for this non-existent rental. They could see in their records the original cancellation and the new prepaid reservation. After an investigation, my credit card company reversed these fraudulent charges to my card. Hertz never bothered to dispute the credit card findings.

Over the last three months, Hertz has been sending me the $719 bill directly and threatening me with collection.

I have sent many emails to their billing and customer service department with no response whatsoever from Hertz.

After receiving a collection notice, on Friday, August 9, 2013, I called Hertz billing department at 800-654-4173 six times. Each time the rep transferred me to a collections rep named “Sheila”. Sheila did not pick up her phone, and her voice mail extension was full, so no message could be left.

I have written the CFO in NJ with no response. I am also filing complaints with the Department of Consumer Affairs in my home state of Florida. Hertz is in the process of moving their headquarters to Florida.

Any other advice?

Often1

Need some details. And, perhaps an explanation of why you say that you are a first-time poster when there are posts by someone with the same handle regarding a nasty encounter with TSA.

Was your original reservation with Hertz prepaid or did it carry a penalty or in any way prohibit duplicate reservations, e.g. the PL trick? You can always cancel, but the question is whether you still owe for the rental.

Let's take this step-by-step and start with the details.

Bonanza36

First of all you are correct. Apparently there are 3 other posts by me several years ago that I forgot about.

Yes, 3.

What PL trick? When I called for the original quote, I told the Hertz rez agent it was too high. She cheerfully offered to "save" the quote in the system, and said I could call back and cancel it. I didn't prepay the original quote and did not give her any cc info.

Once I checked PL, I called back Hertz, cancelled and received the confirmation code for the original reservation. I then booked with PL.

Clear now?

3Cforme

HQ location isn't relevant. Your transaction is with the local location. If you rented and returned in California, the rental is governed by CA law. You can Google for CA Attorney General or bureau of consumer affairs.

Elola

I think I know what happened here, when you cancel a reservation with Hertz and book another for the same day, the first reservation will still appear in the counter rep's system with an "X" noting the cancelled status next to it. Since many people accidentally cancel reservations the CSR is still able to access and rent using that res.

What I think happened is that the OP went to the counter, gave his name to the CSR, he/she searched by name and pulled up the first res returned for that name, which in this case happened to be the cancelled one.

When the OP returned, the location asked for payment for the rental, which was for the amount of the cancelled res.

Should the CSR have been more careful to look for the "X" next to the res? Absolutely. Should the OP have looked at his contract and verified the rate before leaving the lot? Absolutely.

OP-if you've truly tried as many times to seek reparations from Hertz as you describe, contest the charge with your cc. However, what apparently happened to you is quite common and if you present the facts to Hertz the same way you have here anyone working in Hertz CS will realize what happened in less than a second and adjust your bill.

Often1

1. OP says that he already disputed and "won" his chargeback dispute. Now, Hertz is invoicing him and has sent the matter for collection. So, there's nothing to dispute left.

2. OP - Take a look at your original reservation (the one you cancelled) and the reservation # on the invoice which you don't believe is correct. If the reservation #'s are the same, what is suggested above is what happened.

3. With that information, call Hertz. Take a deep breath, lose the "fraud" stuff and all of that and explain that you cancelled reservation #X and that nonetheless the local agency issued the car under that #, not the PL. So, you'd appreciate it if they would credit the charge (presumably you've paid PL.

4. If you get voicemail, leave a message w. your name & # and nothing more. If voicemail is full, try at different times of day.

5. Bear in mind that if you really did accept a vehicle under the original #, you've got a hard road to hoe, so you will need to depend on goodwill to get this done.

6. When you've solved this, make sure that this was not, in fact, reported as a "refered to collection" on your three credit reports.

Bonanza36

Maybe this is what happened, I have no idea. Even though I showed the counter clerk my PL reservation number on my iPad, he must have pulled up the cancelled res. This is not my problem.

I suppose its the customer's job to ensure that Hertz's QC system is in place to make sure they don't rent anyone a car on a cancelled reservation, when there is a perfectly current pre-paid one in the system?

The cancelled reservation took place on March 19, 2013. My travel did not occur until the first week of May. I had forgotten about it. How would any reasonable person think to double check a counter agent error almost two months later?

I wonder how many airlines would let me go ahead and board a flight when a reservation was cancelled nearly two months previously?

As far as the "fraud" comments, I believe they are valid. When I returned the car, the Hertz clerk knew what occurred and even printed out the internal cancellation for the original reservation. I kept a copy. The cancellation number matches the one in the email from March 19th.

Even though he saw the PL prepaid in the system, he kept telling me "I had a problem" and put the $719 charge through without my card, signature or authorization.

I have emailed customer service numerous times with copies of the cancellation, prepaid PL reservation, cancellation numbers and PL confirmation numbers. No response. I have called and went into VM hell at least 6 times.

I know people make mistakes. We all do. But based on what they knew at the time the car was turned in, it could have been resolved right then and there. The agent acknowledged the money had been paid through PL and rather than try to resolve this, he simply charged me twice for the same rental. After admitting their error, they then put the burden of proof on me.

That's where the fraud part comes in. They knowingly charged my CC having all the facts at hand at the time when the car was returned. Furthermore, they never responded to the bank's CC dispute. Finally, knowing that the CC company reviewed the facts of my dispute, and reversed the CC charges, they knowingly have billed me directly threatening collections.

Does this sound like a company that deals in good faith? If its not fraudulent, how would you characterize it?

darben

Bonanza36

I agree with you almost entirely the part I have a problem with is " The cancelled reservation took place on March 19, 2013. My travel did not occur until the first week of May. I had forgotten about it. How would any reasonable person think to double check a counter agent error almost two months later?"
Your job is to check the contract you are signing.

The fact you may be in a hurry or other excuses does not wash with me. You are trusting a low level commission hungry employee to do everything right and in your favor. Think about how much grief and time not taking a minute to check the contract has cost you. I check the contract every time. I Take pictures of the car every time. I get gas receipts every time. Those are the issues always cropping up so I try to prevent them. EVERYONE SHOULD READ THE CONTRACT before leaving

dgwright99

Broadly agree with this, BUT consumer protection will often trump the contract in a case like this. The OP had a reasonable expectation, (and has documentation to prove it) regardless of the rental agreement. CA AG is going to be the OP's best bet here if talking to Hertz doesn't resolve the issue.

darben

I am not saying he is wrong. I am just saying he helped cause his grief and could have prevented some grief to himself.

Further thought is that he should be checking his credit reports to make sure this has not caused a credit problem

Elola

Thanks for the correction, I was reading off a tiny phone screen and missed that detail. Your advice to the OP is spot-on!

Bonanza36

You're making inaccurate assumptions. Where did I say I was in a hurry?

No, I'm not trusting a low level commission hungry employee to do his job, though you seem to infer that it is an accepted practice. I do not expect error free transactions, nor something be done in my "favor". In fact, I'll stipulate that it was probably a simple error at the time of pick up.

What I am trusting is for a company to own up to their mistakes. They were, in fact, paid for their rental, and they know it. Apparently they simply wish to be paid twice, despite of evidence to the contrary.

Any failure on my part to audit and compare a 6 page 3x8 computer printout in a 5pt. font to a cancelled 9 digit RR number from March with the active RR number on my PL confirmation in May does not abrogate their responsibility to resolve the issue. Nor does it make the consumer culpable for their QC errors. Sheesh, I'm renting a car, not getting a mortgage from Snidely Whiplash.

Hertz's threat to turn me over to collections without responding to me, or my CC company after the charge was reversed is heavy handed.

The fact that you feel the need to take pictures and get gas receipts is telling. Renting a car, or buying any other product or service should not be a game of "gotcha".

There is a reasonable expectation of any company correcting their acknowledged errors.

Caveat Emptor should not the overriding principal. I have a cancellation # and a paid receipt for the rental. I complied with my side of the contract. Hertz needs to step up and defend their position to double charge a customer, or remove the charges.

Even if it was totally my fault accepting a car on an expired RR#, would they not at least say they would refund the other $192 they received under the PL prepay, or in your estimation, does my failure to catch their error entitle them to keep both rental charges?

A Google search shows how Hertz has had numerous issues with consumers and regulators, going back to the 1980's. There is a litany of complaints ranging from charging for fuel when a car was returned full, claims of damage and demand for reparations showing up months after the rental period was over, to a class action settlement for overcharging and overstating repair costs on damaged vehicles.

In the bigger scheme, my issues are small potatoes. Hopefully this post will save someone else the aggravation. I wonder how many other less experienced travelers get treated this way and simply pay up?

Elola

It wasn't a matter of comparing the reservation ID (which is different than the RR#--that's for the rental) on the rental to the reservation ID you had, it was a matter of comparing the price on your contract (which is in very bold print) with the price you were expecting to pay. I know that if I was expecting to have a $0 priced rental (there are no Hertz charges on rentals pre-paid through a 3rd party if you don't accept any additional services) and was handed a contract with any dollar amount, especially almost $800, it would have stuck out like a sore thumb.

I don't think anyone is saying you're 100% responsible nor that Hertz is 100% correct and no one will dispute that this has taken far longer than it should for you to get a resolution; it's just that posts like this that claim fraud, "ripping off", etc. are always met with skepticism. Hertz processes hundreds of thousands of rentals each day, if their processes were truly broken/illegal/fradulent, there would be far more publicity into that fact than the occasional post on an online forum, thus, we question hyperbole.

A main goal of this forum is to educate other renters, while you may have started this post to educate renters about fradulent practices by Hertz, its true value is to serve as another data point for the "verify your contract before you leave" practice.

darben

Bonanza36

Please reread my post you did not say you were in a hurry but I said "because you were in a hurry OR OTHER EXCUSES. Are you telling me you have NO excuse for not reading the contract. I believe you are right but I believe you helped cause your grief by not being proactive

Often1

+1 - As noted earlier, if OP would drop the entire "fraud" rubbish and others would stop egging him on by suggesting that his signature on a contract agreeing to pay a given dollar amount will somehow magically be overruled by a court, he could likely achieve a positive result.

Here, not only will he be dogged by a nearly $800 collection item, but if the item actually is sent off for collection, the damage to his credit can be significant and long-lasting.

This isn't about fault, it's about common sense.