I was late getting to the airport last week and there were several cars in front of me for check-in. the check-in guys at hertz were going as quick as they could, but I figured it would take about 20 minutes to get to me. as such, I decided to ditch the car and leave the contract and keys on the drivers seat and make a mad dash to the bus to get to the terminal.

I assumed the contract would be closed out and I could grab the receipt online, but when I checked a few days afterwards, the rental still wasn't closed out. there was no receipt online and the 800 number gold desk didn't have the receipt information either. additionally, I saw authorization requests for extra rental days on my cc - they weren't approved yet, but pending authorizations.

A quick call to the airport location I rented from fixed the issue and the rep closed out the contract based on my word for the number of miles written and the amount of gas, but I wonder if this is standard procedure.

Just because i'm not there to get a receipt and talk to the guy who checks in my car, why wouldn't the rental be closed out?

Next time either

A) Take the keys and give them to the bus driver, so that you have multiple people checking to see your car has been turned in.

Or

B) Take the keys and contract to the counter at the terminal (if there is one) for the same reason.

Yeah, usually I drop off the keys at the customer service counter, or if I leave them in the car, I call them when I get to my gate at the airport to make sure they noticed my return. Haven't had any problems thus far... ^