ELAL

Mid November I was flying back to Europe in a state of panic and emergency, to be at the side of a very close friend who's 33 year old wife, had unexpectedly suffered a severe complication during childbirth (she eventually very tragically died 7 days after giving birth, leaving behind a whole family of young orphans).

Due to the panic and stress I mistakenly returned my Hertz car to Avis.

I only found this out when Hertz emailed me that the car is overdue, I explained the situation to Hertz, they were first sceptical of my story as Avis usually hands the car over within a few hours (these mistakes are very common). I personally drove to JFK 2 weeks later tried searching for the car in the Avis parking lot with no result,.
After 4 weeks Hertz emailed me that the car had been located at the Avis maintenance garage.

Hertz kindly offered me their condolences and wrote that they will not be charging me for the extra days, (very decent company it seemed).

Last Friday I landed at EWR, my name was on the screen, I collected my car from the president circle lane and headed to the exit. At the exit I was told I could not exit as I had been PERMANENTLY SUSPENDED for returning a car late.

Although shocked I assumed this was a mistake, I emailed Hertz gave the full story, I mentioned that Hertz understood the situation and hadn't charged me for all the extra days, I even included a picture of the mother lying in coma with the baby on her, I was sure this was auto triggered by the system and would be solved swiftly including an apology.

To my dismay Hertz are refusing to back down, my pleas that I am a loyal president circle member, that only under extreme circumstances and state of mind made a minor error when returning the car, seem to be falling on deaf ears.

I fell very hurt and treated inhumanely!
Any ideas what I can do to solve this?

guv1976

Have you asked Hertz if they are willing to lift the suspension if you reimburse for the extra days?

The bottom line is that if Hertz does not want to do business with you, they do not have to. You'll just have to move on.

Going forward, I suggest always requesting a receipt when you return a rental car. Had you asked Avis for a receipt, you very quickly would have discovered your mistake, and probably could have corrected it before any harm was done.

Good luck!

bworrell

You can open a new Hertz account with a new DL if you ever move again....

seacarl

Given how Hertz has treated you, why do you want to rent from them any longer? Move on to Avis, National, Sixt... You can probably request a status match.

oopl

Dump Hertz

notquiteaff

First of all, I am truly sorry for your loss.

Since you seem to have their initial response in writing, I would send a brief letter to the CEO of Hertz. In one short paragraph explain why you made the mistake. Thank them for their initial response (and include a copy). Then tell them about the subsequent experience, offer to pay for the cost of your mistake (despite what they initially said) and ask for your account to be reinstated, so that you can continue to be a loyal customer.

(I�d be tempted to include a snarky comment about you being grateful for not having been arrested for stealing the vehicle, but that might be counterproductive )

If that doesn�t work, move on - the major competitors, Avis and National, are arguably not worse and for many people actually preferred.

rufflesinc

Unless I'm misreading this, I don't think they're orphans since the father is still alive

TProphet

It's Hertz. You should be grateful that they didn't have you arrested, and are best served by never renting from them again.

raehl311

And that's clearly the important takeaway here...

Eujeanie

This was a very sad story, I'm so sorry, but didn't the Avis people know right away it wasn't one of their cars when they scanned it to give you your receipt?

steveholt

So sorry to hear about this tragic case. You made an honest mistake. If Hertz is responding to that by permanently banning you, the best thing you can do is go elsewhere.

jmw

Sorry for your loss.

You are lucky you didn't get arrested at immigration on an outstanding arrest warrant for grand theft auto.
You are lucky Hertz is writing off the large financial losses, most likely mitigated by your past business.
They've decided the risk of a repeat incident in the future is too high. Past history doesn't matter.

If you poke the dragon too much, someone new and higher up at Hertz might notice, change their decision, and decide to seek a civil judgment against you for the losses.

I'd take debt forgiveness with a lifetime ban if offered.

It's time to move on. Hertz is in the rear view mirror.

notquiteaff

If they are like Hertz, they may not always have someone handle arriving cars right away. I am often told they would deal with it shortly and email me the receipt.

I wonder how long it took them to figure out where the car belonged. The OP said “After 4 weeks Hertz emailed me that the car had been located at the Avis maintenance garage”, but I can’t imagine that Avis kept the vehicle for four weeks. More likely that it took Hertz that long to get back to the OP.

Eujeanie

Isn't it Hertz that has been in the news recently for sending the cops after new renters for "stolen" cars when they had been sending them out without properly closing out the prior renters?

Unfortunately I've got a Hertz rental coming up later this year, fingers crossed someone comes up with a lower price.

notquiteaff

Yes.

Lawsuit filed against Hertz for wrongful charges of car theft