justinslot

Annoyed enough by the $150 fee to register here and vent and maybe get some advice.

I rented a Nissan Pathfinder from the Hertz in downtown Orlando (the one at the Amtrak station.) I went to St Petersburg for three nights, and by the third day I was getting a persistent low tire pressure reading warning in my back tire. So thinking that they'd just put air in it or something, I took it to the Tampa Airport Hertz location (the only one that was open on a Saturday afternoon) where they said they'd prefer to just swap my bad tire rental for another one, it's simpler and they would want to do a full mechanical assessment of the car anyway. Easy peasy, they had another Pathfinder there, I switched cars and I was back on my way. No hint that there would be any additional fees associated with a switch.

Today I get my bill for the car I dropped off last night and there was this $150 fee on my bill. The only thing I can think of is the Orlando Hertz place is attempting to charge me to have their defective vehicle towed back to them? The woman I talked to on the main Hertz phone number tonight said I would have to talk to them about the fee, which makes me doubt I am going to be able to get the money back (I feel like I'd have better luck if the fee was something the corporation was responsible for and not a local franchise.) But I don't understand why if I returned a defective vehicle and got a working vehicle, why would I be assessed anything? Isn't the onus on the Hertz franchise to not give me a bum ride, and to collect their defective cars themselves?

Anyway if anyone has any advice or counterarguments or special phone numbers I can call, I would appreciate it. I'm Hertz Gold Plus Rewards if that matters, and I put this rental on my fancy new SPG Luxury card if there's some benefit there that will take care of a weird fee. Thanks.

writerguyfl

Do as instructed and call the location. That's the only way to find out exactly why you were charged the fee. You seem to be making assumptions (that this is a towing fee) without any evidence.

Once you find out exactly why you were charged, some people here might be able to offer advice. FlyerTalk is a fairly helpful community. But, you'll need to provide accurate information to get accurate advice.

Auto Enthusiast

As you saw, corporate stores can freely interchange vehicles. It sounds like maybe they thought you damaged the tire and are trying to charge for the parts and labor to replace it.

justinslot

Well I know (or I think I know) that it's a towing fee because that's what it's described as on my bill:

FUEL PURCHASE OPTION 53.80
CONCESSION FEE RECOVERY 53.46
VEHICLE LICENSE FEE 3.75
CUSTOMER FACILITY CHARGE 24.50
MOTOR VEHICLE LEASE TAX 18.18
TOWING 150.00
ENERGY SURCHARGE 1.49
TAX 6.50% 23.86

(Tried to post a jpg of my bill but I don't think I have enough posts to upload images.)

But I guess you're saying just because it's described as a towing fee, it doesn't mean towing was actually involved and the fee could be describing something else. But yes, I will call the place I rented it from. Just annoyed that I have to.

But that would have to be the Orlando Hertz making that assumption right? The people at the Tampa airport didn't question me at all.

Both locations are corporate sites according to the Hertz website, FWIW.

AutoSlash

Just contact Hertz customer service at 1-800-654-4173. They are open from 7 am - 7 pm Central time, Monday - Friday. They will get it sorted out for you. Someone at one of the locations obviously screwed up and coded the towing incorrectly.

It may take a bit of explaining of what happened to get it fixed, but they will make it right in the end. We agree that it's annoying and never should have happened.

justinslot

Long and at times frustrating call with Hertz tonight, where I had to get satisfaction from a supervisor, and that took some doing too. They kept telling me the car had been reported as abandoned and I was like "no, what the heck? I literally watched a Hertz employee drive my old car away." The supervisor was able to peer into some other system where there was a police report that the car had been pulled over after a mild chase and there were drugs and alcohol in the car. At that point I was like "okay, that was not my car." But the supervisor said he had the police report, and the towing charge was from when the car had been left at the side of the road after somebody presumably got arrested. "When did this happen?" I asked, incredulously, but somewhat hopefully. It happened on 10/5...and my rental was closed out on 10/4.

So I'm getting my $150 back, and a $50 gift card in the mail, and I don't have to resent Hertz anymore (since I'm a captive audience--they're the only ones with a rental desk at the Orlando Amtrak station, and I'm one of those weirdos who doesn't fly, and I love Disney World.) It took some doing though. Weird story...I wonder if someone broke into the little dropoff box for returning keys at the train station and had themselves a joyride with my second car.

jackal

Glad to hear of the positive outcome, and thanks for coming back to report it--too many "hit and run" new posters post a vent and then never come back to tell us how it ended.

I know we're a flying-centric community, but please know you're welcome here, and hopefully you'll drop by from time to time and find some useful information. BTW, we do have a dedicated Amtrak forum -- https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amtr...t-rewards-399/ .

justinslot

(Link snipped because I don't have enough of a post count to even quote a link.)

Thanks for the welcome, I'll certainly be around from time to time. I don't fly domestically (because usually there's a train close enough to wherever I need to go) but I have realized there are a few places in the world that I want to visit that are only reachable via plane and I'm going to need the cheapest way to reach those places on at least business class (under the theory I'll probably hate flying less in the nice section of the plane, and just like I never take the train long distance in coach I will certainly be far more comfortable in a lay-flat seat for a lengthy international route.)