CMK10

I worked in an Enterprise Airport locations several years ago (PHX). It was our policy to fill up all cars that were returned, regardless of what level the fuel gauge was on. Maybe I'm naive but I still hope Hertz will do this too.

exerda

I seriously doubt it. I've had plenty of rentals where it's clear Hertz didn't touch the fuel level. If the gauge was under "full," they told me just to return it the same...


Tip the attendant? You have got to be kidding.


I have recently experienced a dispute with Hertz over fuel, where they billed me for gas in the middle of a rental. I called and spoke to several people, both at corporate and at the local station, and got nowhere.

I had to dispute the charge with Amex and get Hertz social media involved to sort it out. And the corporate folks I spoke to were pretty rude--I had to tell one guy to give a PC member the courtesy of not interrupting me when I spoke.

So I think it's going to be pretty strict, and yes, it's incredibly customer unfriendly. It's nickel and diming, and if you think it will actually mean that passengers get cars which are filled to the top, you're deluding yourself. It's a way for Hertz to make a few more dollars figuring (1) many customers won't even notice the charge; (2) many who do won't bother fighting it; and (3) they will end up denying some who do fight it anyway.

Dave Noble

How is it "nickel and diming" ( the whine any time a company ends up dealing with an issue that shoulnt have needed dealing with )

If the renter drives > 75 miles, then no issue
If the renter drives <= 75 miles and puts fuel in the vehicle , still no issue -- the number of times I have had a problem getting a receipt from a petrol station has to be close to zero )

The only people impacted that I can see are those that would drive short distances , not refuel and the kick up a stink and throw teddy flying if the location was to later charge for fuel

For those driving short distances and want to save time on returning, a fixed fee of $14 is not too unreasonable for being able to avoid hunting out a petrol station

The only ones being "nickelled and dimed" would seem to be those that were trying to get away with free fuel

The receipt policy has existed in AU/NZ for a while and have not had any issues with it at all. Given that the needle is not good for showing a change on a short drive, how is it unfair? It actually seems a fair approach

exerda

Because they will charge it automatically for under 75 miles, and clearly have the expectation that:

1. Some drivers will return after hours or won't have the receipt immediately available;
2. Some drivers won't notice, and Hertz pockets the $14 even though the car was filled up;
3. Some drivers won't bother fighting the charge even though they filled the car up;
4. Some drivers won't fill it up, increasing the likelihood the next driver will have to pay, too (as I have yet to experience Hertz actually topping off a car prior to rental and am under no illusions they're going to magically start doing so now).

Having had to fight Hertz for an unjust fuel charge within the past month, I can say it's not a painless process. Between being on hold for over an hour total just to talk to impolite CSRs and having no notice from Hertz of the charge at all, I found the whole process disgusting.

This doesn't surprise me, though. I've yet to find Hertz to be particularly customer-friendly for anything... like when they charged me for mileage on an unlimited miles rental (and ultimately, that required a credit card dispute to resolve).

If I wasn't required to use Hertz by my employer, I'd have switched long ago for their behavior, FWIW.

Dave Noble

No, it will charge it if not receipt for fuel is presented - extremely different

Perhaps thank the people who drive without refuelling and then argue that the guage reads full so thats all that matters for the company initiating a verification

aztimm

I just received this email from our corporate travel group:

cestmoi123

I know it's not really feasible at this point with Hertz given the number of vehicles and number of different models, but I really like how Silvercar handles this. They get the telematics feed from the cars over the cellular network, which indicates fuel level at any given time, and then bill you (at the current market rate) for the net change in gas over the rental. No need to refill the car if you don't want to (you'll get charged market rate), and no issue of "I drove 20 miles, refilled it, and put 3 gallons in the tank" when you rented a Cruze. Of course, Silvercar just has one vehicle model (Audi A4) so it's a lot easier.

zhutch

If they intend to enforce the policy the way Avis does, then it will be automatically tacked on to the final bill when the mileage is entered. They have no reason to ask for a gas receipt. The first time i had a rental under 75 miles, i had no idea about the policy until i got my final bill. I couldn't figure out why it was $14 higher right off the bat and was running late for my flight. Thankfully, the next day i called Avis and told them i had refueled the car and they took it off.

docbert

Only time will tell how Hertz implement it, but at Avis it's added automatically and the person doing the return has to manually remove it.

Again presuming that this is done the same way as Avis then corporate-based fuel rates are not affected. Drive 40 miles, don't refill the car, and you'll be charged for 40 miles at whatever the per mile rate is for fuel, not the full $13.99.

exerda

We'll see. I suspect they'll do it just like Avis has...

I think this is a solution in search of a problem, anyway.

Dave Noble

The problem is people not refuelling on grounds that needle still shows "full" - problem exists

sosafan

If upon return they notice that it is less than 75 miles and ask for a receipt,
then I agree with you.

If upon return they notice that it is less than 75 miles and they automatically charge you unless you say, "wait a minute, here is the receipt", then there is a big issue and that is consumer unfriendly. A huge number of people who did fill the tank will get charged the fee inappropriately. Some fraction of those will go to the trouble of trying to get the fee removed and some fraction of those will have more trouble.

flyerfmaz

I rent a car almost every week for business and am sick and tired of being shortchanged on gas, even though the needle is on the "full" mark. Gas gauges are notoriously inaccurate and non-linear. If this will put a halt to the problem, I'm all for it.

I don't, however, see how this will do anything except irritate customers -- and it smells like a money-grab by Hertz. A smarter solution is probably electronic fuel metering -- done correctly and fairly, it will nab the gas cheapskates every time.

That being said, electronic gas metering has been unfairly used by some rental car companies as a way to nickel and dime customers to death, by charging customers for tenths of a gallon in difference rather than a way to catch the fill-up cheaters.

So, I suppose this all may come down to the fact that the rental car companies are far more interested in shaking down their customers for more cash than they are being fair and honest. And I have NO doubt that, under the less-than-75-mile-you-need-a-receipt policy, Hertz will simply pocket the fees and leave cars short of gas.

As a side note, what Hertz (and maybe the other car rental companies) may fail to realize is that their "loyalty" programs are borderline useless. I have no reason to be loyal to Hertz. They hand me crappy, high-mileage cars that have often been smoked in, and with windows so dirty I sometimes have to clean the car myself. I am, however, loyal to my business clients and will find a rental car at the most reasonable rate possible regardless of the rental company. I also gather points in loyalty programs that DO matter (such as airlines), and will look first for rental car deals that throw bonus points on my Southwest account. I've been on a Hertz binge lately because I get 2400 Southwest points for each rental -- and with 4 rentals a month that's almost 10,000 points (or about one free airline ticket a month).

docbert

It depends how they promote it. Avis/Budget do a pretty good job of telling people about it at the counter (for those that actually go to the counter), and many (but not all) locations put a big blue post-it note on the front of the contract that have the details about it in big print (like this one)

I can't help but believe that doing that causes more people to fill up on the short rentals than they would have otherwise, which likely means more cars being returned (nearer to) full - and that's a win for us.

However if they just treat it as a money-grab and don't promote it then obviously there's no change in the incentive for people to actually fill the car (except frequent renters who got hit with the charge previously and know about it).

lotus918

No matter how you spin it, sounds like just another way to shake people down for $13.99, a dollar amount most folks won't bother contesting ..