Service problems at DCA today?
 

Did anyone else have service problems with Hertz at DCA today? I had a reservation for 11:00, showed up at the Gold booth about 11:10 and found a large line and my name not on the board. The line grew while it barely moved, I finally left at 11:45 without a car or ever reaching the counter. I counted 25 unhappy gold customers waiting to get into the tiny gold booth when I left to take the Metro.
Phone calls to Hertz were no help, they said they couldn't reach the location on the phone although there four employees plainly visible inside the booth.

Not a very good example of customer service to a President's Circle customer.

I'm going to go back tonight to try to get my car, Customer Service on the phone is very nice but the airport location is still unreachable. The Emerald Aisle is looking better and better.

Just a followup. Customer service said a car would be available this evening so I went back to the airport at 7 PM, no name on the board, still a line at the gold booth. Went dowstairs and waited to eventually speak to a manager who after an additional 20 minutes offered to put me in a van, still no cars.

After more than an hour additional wait total I went to over to the National counter who had me in a nice car in 8 minutes from start to finish.

I don't think President's Circle is worth much with Hertz if they can't come up with one single car in Washington DC in over 9 hours. I'll be booking National from now on and have a choice of cars.

I rent there all the time and generally receive great treatment. The station's main problem is that it is not physically large enough for the peak volume and the number of cars it moves.

Saturday evening I was chatting with a DCA manager who indicated that Monday was going to be tight with all the 4th of July carry-over rentals. I even returned my car Sunday evening instead of my normal Monday to give someone else a chance. If anyone got a blue PA-tagged Outback with leather and a sunroof, you're welcome!

Came into DCA on Sunday about 3PM with a res for a Full Size and got a 500. The location was jammed with cars, stacked up all over the place. I returned the car on Monday about 1PM and did not notice anything unusual. There were very few cars left but that was to be expected on a Monday afternoon. I must admit that I did not notice if there was a crowd around the booth.

I have always had very good luck at this location and have used it almost exclusively since Avis stiffed me there about a year ago. As far as customer service is concerned, I got no response and no action at all from Avis to an email and a letter.

I guess that I better be prepared because the OP has shown us that the same thing can happen with Hertz.