Dave Noble

The location was requiring that the person pay for the extra feature if the person wanted the car with the extra feature. The person had not booked a Jetta with Snow tyres


The pricing of vehicles as indicated shows a similar priced vehicle - it does not seem that it was a downgrade from what was booked. The location was not obliged to provide an upgrade to a vehicle with snow tyres

It may or may not have had a reservation for a car with snow tyres that day, but does seem like a feature that I can understand the location holding back vehicles for those that have booked that particular feature

Rental_Guy

Out of curiosity, have you read the form with the classification of cars at Hertz. Basically as you're scrolling down that page each category is considered an upgrade from the previous. For example, B is an upgrade from A. As I've stated , Hertz is a business and this is how they run it. The Durango is larger than the Kia serrento yet, it's classified the same. The nissian Altima is larger than the Maxima (in terms of leg room) yet the maxima is an upgrade.
what I'm trying to show is that there's no methood to the madness, and me nor any other FT member can explain it to you.

jim32190

cestmoi123

You mean the wiki here? Apart from the fact that isn't maintained or run by Hertz, you think it's a straightforward ranking from lowest to highest? Got it. So, if you booked yourself a Chevy Suburban (T6, PFAR), and arrived to find a Ford Fusion Hybrid (E6, ICAH), and were told you were getting an upgrade, you'd be pleased with your upgrade. After all, the Fusion is farther down the list than the Suburban, so it must be an upgrade, right?

The point I'm making is that SUVs are a parallel track to sedans, not entirely on top of them, and it's not entirely clear how the two tracks line up. If they weren't, Hertz could just stop buying Luxury sedans for the fleet, buy more Rogues, and tell everyone who booked a Luxury sedan that they'd been "upgraded."

cestmoi123

The person had booked a Jetta. Fundamentally, if the location doesn't have what was reserved, then the choice of an alternative should, within reason, err in favor of the customer's preferences. Was a crime against humanity committed here? No. It was, however, clearly bad customer service.

If it did, then the staff were obviously happy to screw over that renter, since they were perfectly willing to send the vehicle with snow tires out with the OP, so long as they got some upsell money (and the associated commission for the desk staff) out of him.

Dave Noble

No - unless it was a 'reserve exact model" reservation, the person made a booking for a class of vehicle ( Standard car - group D )

The Jetta that was there was not of a type that the customer booked - it was a vehicle with a specific modification for those needing a vehicle with snow tyres

By now I expect that the OP's rental has finished - if he wants to complain, writing to customer service seems the way to go

cestmoi123

I'll be more precise, then, if you prefer, but the point still holds. "The person had booked a Standard Sedan (class D). Fundamentally, if the location doesn't have what was reserved, then the choice of an alternative should, within reason, err in favor of the customer's preferences."

The Jetta was a Standard Sedan (class D). Snow tires are like satellite radio, they're an add-on feature that some cars have, and some don't. It's a feature that Hertz, of its own volition, added to the car in the hopes of driving increased revenue.

If Hertz had had two Jettas, one with snow tires, and one without, then there would have been no question: ask if he wants snow tires for $20/day, he says no, give him the car without snow tires, and everybody's done. They didn't have two Jettas, though. So, they had the choice of giving him the closest approximation of what he had booked (and wanted), the Jetta with snow tires, or pushing him to a different vehicle which some might view as an upgrade, but many wouldn't.

Again, legally, Hertz could have just said "either pay the extra $20/day for the Jetta with snow tires, or get a car elsewhere." This is an issue from a customer service perspective.

Dave Noble

It is not possible to tell for certain what choices without snow tyres the location gave - the OP only stated that there was nothing better - it reads that he took a Chevrolet Trax, not that that was the only option given

cestmoi123

We can reasonably assume that, if they had offered something that was clearly better (i.e. an F sedan or larger), the OP would have mentioned that.

Dave Noble

It doesn't seem that he was only given a vehicle group that was lower than booked

cestmoi123

He was given a vehicle in a group that I would argue is lower than what was booked (as a B4, should rank above a B/Compact but below a C/Intermediate, and certainly below an D/Standard), but isn't officially "ranked" vs. what was booked, and was clearly inferior (from the customer's perspective) to what was booked.

Dave Noble

But what does Hertz claim the category is in relation to the booked class? that is what matters as far as whether hertz acted correctly

cestmoi123

As I've noted a number of times in this thread, I haven't seen anything from Hertz that defines how the ranking works across the SUV-sedan divide. Within sedans, it's clear: Economy<Compact<Midsize<Fullsize<Premium<Luxury. Within SUVs it's broadly clear (Midsize<5 Pax Standard<7 Pax Standard<Large<Premium Extra Capacity), but there's some uncertainty (would a 4WD 5 pax be an upgrade or downgrade from a 7 Pax 2WD reservation?).

Comparing between sedans and SUVs, though, is murky, and I haven't seen anything from Hertz defining that. Absent clear disclosure, the reasonable person standard prevails, and it certainly doesn't support the assertion some have made in this thread that any SUV is automatically an upgrade from a sedan.

Dave Noble

That still doesn't answer the question of whether it is an upgrade/same level as defined by Hertz

looking at midsize SUV for a dummy booking, it seems that Jetta allows for 5 adults , 2 Large Suitcases and 1 Small Suitcase whilst the SUV allows for 5 adults , 2 Large Suitcases and 2 Small Suitcases and is also more expensive

There doesn't seem to be anything stating it as an upgrade, but the cost and capaicty doesn't suggest to me a downgrade

In the end, the OP can complain to customer relations if he wishes to and see what it says

cestmoi123

Which is exactly my point. Hertz hasn't defined how these categories interrelate, which undermines their ability to make a claim post hoc that this wasn't a downgrade.