Getting a car with a 2-hour delay
 

My Hertz airport pick-up location experienced issues with the preparation of several cars and my car was delivered over 2 hours beyond the booking time, ie at 3:01pm instead of 1:00pm as booked. Please note that I was at the location well in advance of my booking time, and my credit card was charged at 12:48pm.

As the rental car rental agreement mentions 1:00pm of April 22 as "RA due", I specifically asked the Hertz representative at the location to confirm in writing that in fact the car is due by 3:01pm on the return date. and that there will be no additional charges if the car is returned by 3:01pm. She confirmed this only orally.

Would anybody be able to advise me if I should trust her oral reassurances that I can keep the car those extra two hours, which would be convenient to me, without incurring additional charges? Please note the return date is tomorrow.

Thanks!

I can't predict what will happen tomorrow, but I would not have left the facility until the rental agreement was updated to reflect the actual time that the car was made available to you.

Sorry I wasn’t accurate. The delay is fully reflected in the system and in the RA. The “RA Out” is marked as 3:01pm, even if the “RA Due” still oddly says 1:00pm. Would that be enough to give me the right under the RA to keep the car for those extra two hours, or will I have to fight to dispute an extra charge?

You should have no problem then. The Hertz rental day is a 24-hour period. And I believe that Hertz, like the other majors, allows a 29-minute grace period upon return, so you'd probably be OK as long as the car were checked back in by 3:30 pm. But should definitely not be a problem with a 3:01 pm return.

But do you actually need to keep the car until 3:01?

Thanks for your reply!

My flight is at 3:55pm, the airport is pretty small, and has no airline lounges, and I’m traveling with a carry-on. So I’d rather not get to the airport 3 hours before my flight if I can avoid it!

As long as you return by 3:30, the rate will automatically adjust. But it must be *scanned* by this time. If it's a small airport, there presumably aren't agents checking cars in, so take the key inside to the counter and ask for a receipt.
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I thought the 29 minute grace period went out the window years ago.... Might be mistaken.

I haven't rented from Hertz in quite a while. But I've rented from both Avis and Budget in the past five months (they share a counter and a fleet at my small airport in Upstate New York), and on both rentals, the 29-minute grace period was confirmed. (I actually made use of it on my last rental.)

I was told at the counter when I got the car that there was no 29-minute grace period. I found that surprising, but I played it safe, and I kept a target time of 3:01pm, based on our exchange above.

I’m glad to report a happy ending of my rental adventure. I returned the car a bit after 2pm and there was no additional charge.

In fact, a few hours before returning the car, United canceled my flight due to the intense storms on the east of the US. I had to drive 2 hours and return the car at a different airport. Believe it or not, I got no drop-off charge either.

I still intend to write to Hertz customer support to complain about the 2-hour delay.