hockeyinsider

I pre-paid for a car, 72 hours ahead of my pick-up time, at a corporate branch in an airport. I received a call from the branch manager that they're out of cars and probably won't have anything. I quoted the language about guaranteed, 48-hours availability for President's Circle customers. He said he would try his best.

If there's no car, can I collect compensation or get Hertz corporate to reimburse rental elsewhere?

AutoSlash

The short answer is that yes, you should be able to get them to reimburse a rental elsewhere if they can't provide you with a vehicle. They may also be willing to give you some sort of compensation if they cannot. The fact that you are a PC member gives you further clout and ammunition, and my guess is that the manager will try his best to find you a vehicle even at the expense of someone else since they try to keep PC members happy.

All of that said, if they are extremely short on vehicles they may not have many options, and they're not going to automatically offer you money to rent elsewhere, even though they really are supposed to. You may need to do a bit of arm twisting with customer service in order to get what you want, but in our experience, your success rate should be high if you're willing to put in a bit of effort.

One thing to mention which may be obvious--DO NOT cancel your existing reservation, even if they tell you they cannot supply you with a vehicle. It's proof that you had a valid reservation that was not fulfilled, and you may need that when corresponding with customer service.

Also, when corresponding with the location manager, mention that you would like them to contact the area manager to see what can be done since you are a PC member who is a very frequent renter. The location manager is probably not going to want his area manager on his case, so he/she may work extra hard to get you something.

Lastly, you may also find this article on our website helpful:

AutoSlash | What happens if the rental company is sold out?

hockeyinsider

Thanks for the detailed response. I wonder if it would be reasonable to suggest paying for my flight in lieu of compensation or a rental with a competing company. I need to drive from the airport to another city, about 4 hours away. Flights are about $180 one-way and the rental car is about $160.

AutoSlash

You could certainly try, but my guess is that you might get pushback for that given that it's sort of an asymmetrical swap. Granted, you're accomplishing the same thing in the end, but I could see where the rental company not viewing it the same way. My gut says that you can probably twist their arm to pay for a one-way renta that is identical to your original, but not a flight.

3Cforme

May I ask what class car, and at what airport?

hockeyinsider

I don't want to reveal my identity. I know I'm the only President's Circle customer at this particular airport branch.

Auto Enthusiast

So if the price difference is so small, why bother renting the car in the first place? Are you taking a group of people with you, who would otherwise each pay $180 for a flight? Are you going to add sightseeing or other detours beyond the 4 hour straight-line distance?

hockeyinsider

Well, I need to drive back in a few days' time.

Auto Enthusiast

Then why 2 presumably expensive one-ways? Why not roundtrip? Is parking scarce at your destination?

hockeyinsider

Too expensive. Plus, I need a car where I'm going. I was going to rent a car there and drive, if they'd pay the flight.

It will be interesting to see how the 48-hour guarantee is handled. I've only invoked it once before, but it was no issue and they confirmed it right away. To be told they likely won't have a car with 72 hours notice is discouraging.

jackal

I don't think the 48-hour guarantee has anything to do with this situation.

The 48-hour guarantee allows a PC member to reserve a car at an otherwise-sold-out location as long as the reservation is made more than 48 hours in advance. (That is intended to give the location 48 hours to either source a vehicle from another location or figure out how to handle the additional demand.) As a PC member, I've seen availability to reserve a car when logged in that did not appear for other friends or for me when I accessed Hertz.com while logged out. You don't need to do anything special to "invoke" the 48-hour guarantee; simply log in to Hertz.com and go through the reservation process, and vehicle classes that are "sold out" will appear to be available to you (it might only work on normal economy-through-fullsize classes; I haven't investigated it heavily).

Once a location accepts a reservation, regardless of how or when that reservation was made, they are bound to honor it--especially if it's prepaid. I've heard legal advice from both perspectives whether a reservation is a legally-binding contract (some say yes, some say no), but regardless, Hertz's internal policies do not give a location the option of simply refusing to honor a reservation. They are either to provide you a car or provide you with reasonable alternate arrangements (transportation to another location with a vehicle, transportation to a competitor with a vehicle plus reimbursing any difference in rate, transportation to your hotel while they wait for a vehicle to become available, etc.) plus compensation (usually a discount on a future rental). Of course, Hertz being Hertz, the implementation of that policy is lacking, but between escalating to successively higher management authorities (location manager, area manager, regional manager, etc.) and working with customer service after the fact, you can usually either get a vehicle or get something for your trouble.

hockeyinsider

I don't know if that is always the case. The only other time I invoked it, Hertz.com showed no availability for the airport branch. I found a President's Circle customer service number, called and spoke to agent. Five minutes later, after she called the branch, I had a car reserved for me. I posted the President's Circle number on Flyer Talk but it was deleted by a moderator. Stupid me, I never saved it.

cestmoi123

Check your PMs.

hockeyinsider

Well, it got a little interesting. Around 9 p.m. last night, I received the automated Hertz email with the make, model, license plate and stall of my car. Great, except it was a 2-door compact when I reserved and pre-paid for a full-size car.

I called the Hertz President's Circle desk -- a Flyer Talk member was kind enough to give me the number -- and the agent didn't know why I received the 2-door compact. She shared my frustration, but said the branch was closed. Then she said she couldn't help me further because since I pre-paid I had to speak with the web reservations desk. Ugh.

I get transferred, but the old agent never told the new agent anything. So, I had to go through everything, again. Ugh. The new agent from the web desk said the President's Circle Desk agent was incorrect and could have helped me. I shouldn't been transferred. Ugh. So, now, one agent is blaming another. Ugh. I was then told an email was being sent to the Hertz area manager. I told the agent I would be up until 10 p.m., if the manager wanted to call me.

On a side note, I asked both agents about the 48-hour "guarantee" for President's Circle customers. I was told explicitly that I was right that any car class booked at least 48 hours ahead of time is guaranteed. However, neither agent could tell me the policy if the branch fails to deliver.

About 10 minutes later I received a telephone call from the branch manager. He said I have a car, but it won't be the 2-door compact. I asked him why would you assign it if it wasn't my car? He didn't have an answer. I asked him what kind of car will it be. He didn't have an answer. He apologized and that was that. So, we'll have to see what I get today. I rented about 30 times from this branch in 2017 so I've been a good customer. Unfortunately, all of their staff quit recently, leaving the manager to manage a branch with no staff. The manager has never been that great compared to the staff that quit. (I always book full-size and almost always receive an Impala, Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, or Ford Expedition. Sometimes I get a Cadillac or a Mustang.)

hockeyinsider

So, I ended up getting a Chevy Malibu. I guess Hertz considers them to be full-size these days. Pretty basic Malibu with only XM radio -- no heated seats, no leather. Very basic car. Lots of scratches on the exterior. I'm guessing the closest branch sent their worst possible full-size.