"Our records indicate you have not returned the car"
#17
Join Date: May 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: UA-Gold AA-Gold, Marriott Lifetime Tit. Elite
Posts: 299
It's happened a few times when I've just walked away presuming the agent saw me and *thought* they were coming to my car next and the flight time was nearing...mistake. When calling they have no clue where the car is and usually takes up to 5-7 days (someone else probably rents/returns it) before it gets cleared up. Thankfully the other party didn't incur any damage.
That said, I've learned to wait for them to scan the bar code and tell them "I don't need a receipt" as it gets auto-sent once they are done and move on to the new car...the email has typically arrived before even walking across the parking lot.
That said, I've learned to wait for them to scan the bar code and tell them "I don't need a receipt" as it gets auto-sent once they are done and move on to the new car...the email has typically arrived before even walking across the parking lot.
#18
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
I would generally not advise wasting more time on the extra 75 mile charge because time is money for you as well, in this case, it is important to clear the discrepancy. Clearly somebody drove the vehicle a decent distance between drop off and check in. Whether that was simply incompetence or an employee providing a free car to someone (or not and pocketing some cash), the risk to OP is that there was an accident or some other illegal act during the time period.
While this would all likely get sorted out in the end, the fact is that it could easily involve being made part of a lawsuit or worse. Just getting rid of that can cost a great deal of time, effort and money. Best to request, in writing, a refund of the mileage overage and to clearly correct the facts in writing so that there is at least a paper trail showing that you reported this.
While this would all likely get sorted out in the end, the fact is that it could easily involve being made part of a lawsuit or worse. Just getting rid of that can cost a great deal of time, effort and money. Best to request, in writing, a refund of the mileage overage and to clearly correct the facts in writing so that there is at least a paper trail showing that you reported this.
#19
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 2
My last rental return experience with hertz wasn’t good. She was checking in car in front of me and said I could go on that she would email me receipt. She did as she told me, but there was an additional 40.00 fuel charge. What.. I filled the car and drove 4 miles to hertz return CVG. Went back & forth with customer service, provided gas receipt, which she said I drove 23 miles after filling. (She was using wrong gas station). They eventually refunded the 40.00, but I’ll make sure to get receipt from now on.
#20
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. / Washington, DC
Programs: AA PPro/DL PLT, PPass, Marriott / Hilton Gold, JetBlue Mosaic, Hertz Presidents Circle, Amex Plat
Posts: 4,628
I've returned cars at DCA when they are staffed and the receipt arrives a few times later indicating I returned it late resulting in extra charges. Now every time I return I ask to have the vehicle scanned and the printed receipt if possible, most of the times the staff is nice and does it, but every 3-4 rentals I run into someone who tries to tell me that I don't have to worry. I had a big argument on sunday with the most rude Hertz agent I've ever seen, who even caused a scene in front of other customers also returning when I said that I was not willing to leave until the vehicle was scanned.
#21
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Arizona
Programs: US Airways, Marriott
Posts: 6
Always keep receipt, and as suggested take a photo. Once I returned a car to Hertz in CLT and a month later saw a $28,000 charge on my AMEX. I called and was told that was the cost of the car I never returned. I had the receipt, and Hertz finally they admitted the car had been rented 3 times since I returned it (which the CSA admitted would be difficult if I had kept the car and wouldn't have happened had I not had the receipt). I hate to say how long ago this happened, but let's say you paid for your cell phone time in minutes.....
#22
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Atlanta, GA
Programs: Delta, BA, SW
Posts: 42
ALWAYS take a time & date stamped photo when you return the car to an unattended car rental return, preferably with the car rental company's sign in the photo. Had this happen at Edinburgh airport - they called me in the US to ask where the car was - they couldn't "find" it. After I sent the photo I got a closed out receipt.
#23
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Southwest
Programs: HAL Platinum, JetBlue, KrisFlyer, NWA, USAirways, Alaska Air
Posts: 105
I worry about these late night returns as well. Very difficult when no one is around. A suggestion for a couple more things you could do just in case this ever happens again. As Picturegal said -- You have your phone. Take pictures. They will have a timestamp on them, which will also help.
To expand on the suggestion:
First photograph every inch of that car to prove it was not damaged when you returned it. (I've even done this in front of a returning agent. A bit aggressive, but still...) Also take a photo of the mileage. That way if anyone takes it you have proof.
Second, photograph from a ways back exactly where you left the car. If there's a number on the parking spot, make sure you get that in the photo. If someone moves the car, that will help you prove it wasn't you.
Third, If there's an agent still working, lock the car and take the keys with you. Insist that the agent take the keys. Record this if you have to. Take a photo of the agent, his/her badge, any clocks nearby. If they say they'll close it out and email you, ask their name, write it down along with what they said while they are watching. A lot of this is psychological. People are funny when you do things like write down what they said and their name. it creates another level of ownership on the solution.
While I know all of this is a giant PITA, it's less of a hassle than what you've been going through. People seem to be very distracted and disjointed these days. Service and travel is nothing like it was back in the old days, (she says, adjusting her shawl, while rocking back and forth in her chair... )
To expand on the suggestion:
First photograph every inch of that car to prove it was not damaged when you returned it. (I've even done this in front of a returning agent. A bit aggressive, but still...) Also take a photo of the mileage. That way if anyone takes it you have proof.
Second, photograph from a ways back exactly where you left the car. If there's a number on the parking spot, make sure you get that in the photo. If someone moves the car, that will help you prove it wasn't you.
Third, If there's an agent still working, lock the car and take the keys with you. Insist that the agent take the keys. Record this if you have to. Take a photo of the agent, his/her badge, any clocks nearby. If they say they'll close it out and email you, ask their name, write it down along with what they said while they are watching. A lot of this is psychological. People are funny when you do things like write down what they said and their name. it creates another level of ownership on the solution.
While I know all of this is a giant PITA, it's less of a hassle than what you've been going through. People seem to be very distracted and disjointed these days. Service and travel is nothing like it was back in the old days, (she says, adjusting her shawl, while rocking back and forth in her chair... )
#24
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 236
Sounds a bit neurotic but I totally understand and do some (not all) of that myself.
Honestly I think what will happen eventually is that everyone (not just cops) will have bodycams recording everything all the time, and your feed can be shared if you want.
You won't have to actively pull out a camera to snap a photo of your lunch, it would simplify many disputes about who said/did what etc., it further feeds into the modern trend of observing others' lives like a constant Instagram feed. The technology is only getting cheaper and more compact, will be totally feasible prly within 10yr.
Honestly I think what will happen eventually is that everyone (not just cops) will have bodycams recording everything all the time, and your feed can be shared if you want.
You won't have to actively pull out a camera to snap a photo of your lunch, it would simplify many disputes about who said/did what etc., it further feeds into the modern trend of observing others' lives like a constant Instagram feed. The technology is only getting cheaper and more compact, will be totally feasible prly within 10yr.
I worry about these late night returns as well. Very difficult when no one is around. A suggestion for a couple more things you could do just in case this ever happens again. As Picturegal said -- You have your phone. Take pictures. They will have a timestamp on them, which will also help.
To expand on the suggestion:
First photograph every inch of that car to prove it was not damaged when you returned it. (I've even done this in front of a returning agent. A bit aggressive, but still...) Also take a photo of the mileage. That way if anyone takes it you have proof.
Second, photograph from a ways back exactly where you left the car. If there's a number on the parking spot, make sure you get that in the photo. If someone moves the car, that will help you prove it wasn't you.
Third, If there's an agent still working, lock the car and take the keys with you. Insist that the agent take the keys. Record this if you have to. Take a photo of the agent, his/her badge, any clocks nearby. If they say they'll close it out and email you, ask their name, write it down along with what they said while they are watching. A lot of this is psychological. People are funny when you do things like write down what they said and their name. it creates another level of ownership on the solution.
While I know all of this is a giant PITA, it's less of a hassle than what you've been going through. People seem to be very distracted and disjointed these days. Service and travel is nothing like it was back in the old days, (she says, adjusting her shawl, while rocking back and forth in her chair... )
To expand on the suggestion:
First photograph every inch of that car to prove it was not damaged when you returned it. (I've even done this in front of a returning agent. A bit aggressive, but still...) Also take a photo of the mileage. That way if anyone takes it you have proof.
Second, photograph from a ways back exactly where you left the car. If there's a number on the parking spot, make sure you get that in the photo. If someone moves the car, that will help you prove it wasn't you.
Third, If there's an agent still working, lock the car and take the keys with you. Insist that the agent take the keys. Record this if you have to. Take a photo of the agent, his/her badge, any clocks nearby. If they say they'll close it out and email you, ask their name, write it down along with what they said while they are watching. A lot of this is psychological. People are funny when you do things like write down what they said and their name. it creates another level of ownership on the solution.
While I know all of this is a giant PITA, it's less of a hassle than what you've been going through. People seem to be very distracted and disjointed these days. Service and travel is nothing like it was back in the old days, (she says, adjusting her shawl, while rocking back and forth in her chair... )
#25
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,608
Had a return at ATL at 4 AM on a Sat AM. E Return = leave the keys and go. The place was totally deserted. I took a phone photo and one of the sign suggesting the customer contact hertz at an email address if no bill is received in 12 hours.
The bill was eventually closed out about 18 hours later. It didn't add a lot of comfort to the experience.
The bill was eventually closed out about 18 hours later. It didn't add a lot of comfort to the experience.
#26
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: BG
Programs: BAEC Silver, TK Elite, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 827
I dropped off a Hertz car after hours at Luton airport in England a few weeks ago and noticed a 130 pound debit on my credit card a few days later. When I queried it, I was told it was a refueling charge as the car was returned empty. It was only a small car which would cost nowhere near this on an empty tank. Luckily, i'd taken a photo of the fuel showing full and had a receipt from the gas station, but its certainly annoying when this kind of thing happens.
#27
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Newton Centre, MA, USA
Programs: DL 2MM Gold, AA Plat Pro; Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium (via SPG), IHG Plat
Posts: 2,192
I dropped off a Hertz car after hours at Luton airport in England a few weeks ago and noticed a 130 pound debit on my credit card a few days later. When I queried it, I was told it was a refueling charge as the car was returned empty. It was only a small car which would cost nowhere near this on an empty tank. Luckily, i'd taken a photo of the fuel showing full and had a receipt from the gas station, but its certainly annoying when this kind of thing happens.
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 12,591
I've had both the late return and fuel charge thing happen more than once at BOS when I return around 5pm. They don't have enough people to check in the volume of vehicles that are coming in, and I'm usually arriving a bit before 5 for a ~6pm flight. The time that they had a separate e-return lane they got it right because someone had an orange road cone that they were using to mark the last car checked in, but when they mix all the returns together and you just walk away, they tend to skip unattended cars and check them in at some random later time. In all cases I've gotten the extra charges dealt with with one phone call or email, but they really ought to have a better system for handling unattended returns by now. A license plate scanning camera at the entrance would be easy and effective and reduce the amount of human time spend sorting these things out.
#29
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 3,696
Third, If there's an agent still working, lock the car and take the keys with you. Insist that the agent take the keys. Record this if you have to. Take a photo of the agent, his/her badge, any clocks nearby. If they say they'll close it out and email you, ask their name, write it down along with what they said while they are watching. A lot of this is psychological. People are funny when you do things like write down what they said and their name. it creates another level of ownership on the solution.
#30
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262