MisterBill

Looking for some advice from a Hertz expert, if there are any out there.

I have access to special CDP rate for retirees of my former company. In the NYC metro area, it gives us a flat rate rental, no mileage charge and no drop charge (if I rent one-way outside the metro area a lower daily rate and mileage charge applies). Works great when going to and from the airport, as you can imagine. I am finding that at one particular HLE near me, it is not getting applied properly, and I am being quoted the rate that charges mileage. The flat rate is definitely valid at HLE locations, in fact I used it at this same business (a towing company) that has the Hertz before they moved it to a different office. And while it's further away (by maybe five miles), other HLE locations further away still get me the flat rate, so it's not that it's outside the zone.

Is there anyone who understands Hertz and knows why this might be happening (and how to fix it)? I don't know anything about the financial deals between Hertz and their HLE franchises (I assume). Can the individual location opt-out of a particular rate? Do they get paid based on a percentage of my rental fee? It's very strange that I cannot get the correct rate to apply (and it's in both directions, if I rent at the airport and drop off at this location, it also gets the wrong rate). I actually stopped into a different (and corporate) HLE location the other day (not as convenient for me to rent from, unfortunately) and asked the guy there, and he had no idea and said that he learned some stuff from me). I could call Hertz, but I'm not sure that I'd get anyone knowledgeable enough to say anything other than "that's how it's coming up". I doubt that asking at the location I want to rent from would help me, they're not the friendliest there, anyway. Fortunately, I do have other options, but I'd need to Uber there since I would not be able to get a ride there.

Thanks for any insights that anyone can share.

m907

I don't think anyone will eb able to give you an exact answer. It could be a franchisee (especially if it's a towing company, or that location is short on cars and they want to disincentivize one-ways, or maybe it's just an IT glitch. Hertz's systems flat out don't work half the time.

91StealthES

I've had a local HLE in the LI suburbs use an excuse that there was an issue with my profile being invalid as the reason my CDP not working. I am not sure what my profile has to do with entering a CDP code, but he basically charged me a higher rate and also insurance (insurance is included in my CDP). It wasn't worth the hassle to fight with him, nor Hertz after the fact.

All the other HLEs, I never had an issue with.

MisterBill

Thanks. I haven't had a problem with their systems before, which is why this is strange. In any event I was near my other rental location option today so I stopped by, and they were quite nice and it turns out the drive isn't as bad as I thought it would be for my wife, so I'll just rent there instead

guv1976

Is that HLE a corporate location, or a franchise location? You should be able to find this information on the Hertz website.

MisterBill

That's ridiculous that they claimed the profile had a problem since presumably you had everything set up properly, including the rental.

When I was still an employee and using the employee corporate rate (which was the same pricing as the retiree code is now), I had one HLE owner complain that I didn't have my employee badge when renting a car and threatened not to let me rent at that rate (he was a real SOB, but I had to play nice). Then, when I picked up a car in NYC after a cruise and did not have my badge since I was coming home from vacation, the woman at the corporate location flat out refused to let me rent at the corporate rate. She changed it to a higher price and told me to have it fixed when I returned it. Of course, the HLE guy (same one as I had the problem with) didn't know how to change the rate, so I ended up having to call Hertz, and they fixed it for me and refunded the difference.

Fortunately, the employee at the location I will rent from now seems very nice and had no problem with my rate (she looked up my reservation).

MisterBill

Oddly, they all show up as corporate, even the one at the towing place and this one I'm going to use which is at an auto body place.

I just discovered something interesting. When I searched for locations near me (not searching by city name), it did not show the location that had the incorrect rate, even though it is closer than other locations it was showing. So, it almost seems like their location database is screwed up, and it doesn't really know where it is located.

And that is clearly the problem here. I pulled up the location and clicked on the map. Check out where their system things is it! I'm surprised it even allowed me to rent from there!

guv1976

If you have any documentation showing your retiree status, I recommend that you bring it with you whenever you wish to rent using your former employer's retiree rate code. The major rental-car companies are now taking steps to cut down on fraudulent use of favorable rate codes, and are within their rights to require proof of your entitlement to use those codes.

I recently rented from Hertz at my local airport, utilizing my alma mater's "leisure" rate code, which both employees and alumni are entitled to use. At the Hertz counter, I was asked for proof of my affiliation with the university. Fortunately, I had brought along a certified copy of my university transcript, showing the conferral of a degree. (I had also been asked for the same when renting from Avis/Budget at the same airport, again utilizing my alma mater's leisure rate code for Avis/Budget.)

MisterBill

I actually had a picture of my former employee badge on my phone but just checked and couldn't fnd it, so I took another picture and saved it. My health insurance card actually has a company logo on it since it's a corporate Medicare Advantage plan. Also, on the Beneplace page where they have the Hertz rate, they address this (note I have never been asked for my old email address).

Important: As of March 1, 2018 xxx no longer issues badges to their Retirees. So no ID is required, but xxx Retirees will need to input their old email address with xxx in order to proceed with discount. In the event you feel the retiree CDP# is being used fraudulently please send an email.

bwiflyer01

By any chance, was it the HLE in Great Neck on Northern Blvd? I had an issue with them back in 2022 when they left me a voicemail claiming my CDP wasn't valid (it was), then changed the email on my Hertz Gold profile so I wouldn't get an email when the changed the reservation to remove the CDP. I contacted Hertz security and filed a complaint.

Dave Noble

If you work for the same organisation, then you should be able to obtain the details from the company