MarciaLF

I am elite with Hertz and National and switch off between the two. I had a 10 day Midwest rental with a different pickup/dropoff, so I carefully went through my affiliations and coupons to pick the best deal. I had a reservation (two months in advance) to pick up a car at the Bloomington, IL, airport and drop it off in Grand Rapids, MI.

The day before my trip, I received my usual confirmation from Hertz. However, it was useless. I arrived at BMI at 10:00 pm to be told there were no cars! The clerk had nothing else to say to me. I got on the phone with the Hertz Gold desk and was told it was up to the location manager to get me a car from another location and then get me there. They refused. I asked for a supervisor on the phone and was told the same thing. Then I was asked if I wanted to put in a complaint to Hertz (of course!!).

Finally, I had to rent a car from Avis. All they had left was an economy car that barely moved and it cost me $100 more for the rental. All I have received from Hertz is an email apologizing for my "inconvenience." I had already rented from them half a dozen times this year and have been Gold for years.

I am appalled at this customer service and can't imagine EVER using Hertz again. I urge you to think twice before you do. If there's a problem, there won't be any help from Hertz.

Marcia

MojaveFlyer

I presume you're at least Gold with Hertz? Geez, that's shoddy behavior, I have always assumed that the least Gold would get me is the car ready when I arrive.

YoYoGodMom

I think Hertz should cover any difference you paid in this case (especially if rate is guaranteed).

Last time we reserved a minivan from Dollar for a promotional rate. When we arrived at SFO, they ran out of minivan and probably all similar cars. The manager apologized and then offered something equivalent from Budget and told us to get reimbursed via mail. Since we had 6 people, we got a 7 passenger SUV and paid at least 50-75 dollar more per week for two weeks.

Moreover, we planned to drive to L.A. and then Las Vegas. The new contract didn't allow the car to be out of state but our original contact did. So we had to rent another car for two days and parked the first one in LAX.

In the end, we submitted all three rental documents and parking receipt and explained the whole situation. We not only got what we asked for but a few hundred dollars more (probably to cover the extra trip between L.A. and Vegas) ^

exbayern

One very hot and steamy summer night a few years ago there were several of us wandering the aisles of the Hertz lot at MSP, muttering 'what is the point of being PC/5 Star/Gold?'

There were no cars, just a very upset rental agent who said that it had happened several times that week and that he was ready to quit.

Faced with at least a half dozen top tier renters, he did pull cars for later arrivals and hand over the keys. It did take about an hour for this to happen, and only due to incoming returns.

I have arrived at MCO and found zero cars with both National and Alamo in past, hence I only use Hertz there now.

STAM4NICK

That is too bad the Gold phone agent could not call the location desk agent or location manager and talk them through the steps to get you another car per your Hertz rate. I would have tried to hand my cell phone over to the desk agent--here she wants to talk to you.

Plus BMI of all airports -- how popular for Hertz can that place be?

openflync

My company had a special deal with Hertz that you could access by their 800 reservation number.

The problem was that when you went to pick up the car, you had to give the reservation number. If you gave them your name, the local agent was free to screw you around, and did they ever.

After a few of those experiences, I went over to the the Emerald Island and have never looked back.

MarciaLF

The agent at BMI refused to talk to Hertz. He said he wasn't a manager and the manager of the location -- though aware of the situation -- didn't want to come down or talk to anyone at corporate!

I have yet to get anything from Hertz other than another "sorry for the inconvenience" letter. They should at least credit me for the difference I spent.

This is not how you treat your Gold and I have not booked Hertz for my upcoming rentals.

Marcia

crabbing

not to come to hertz's defense here, but running out of cars can happen very easily. people might not return their cars on time, one or more cars could require service, the regional office goofed and failed to ship the amount of cars needed, or that location might have given away all of their cars to walk-ins without keeping enough for the reservations.

it happened to me just last month, at an HLE. i called to make sure they had cars, and was told everything was fine. by the time i got there, i found myself waiting for an hour with 5 other people. the bright side was that i apparently was the only gold, so i got dibs on the first car coming in.

but what should set hertz apart from other agencies is customer service. one option if you're unhappy with the avis economy, that might be too late for you, is to stop by any hertz along your route and ask to change to what you reserved. they should, of course, still reimburse you the difference.

Tummy

Something similar happened to me and Hertz didn't reimburse for the difference. They only sent me 2 coupons for $25 each good towards a future rental when my out of pocket cost difference was around $300. I was Presidents Circle at the time as well.

STAM4NICK

I guess suggesting to the phone agent to hang up with you or put you on hold and make an outgoing call to the location you were at was out of the question? Being so late I am sure the desk agent was tried and you too!

MarciaLF

I was never given an option to wait for cars -- they didn't expect any until at least the next day;

The Hertz gold agent on the phone had (and the supervisor whom I also spoke to) had no interest in talking to the location;

Three weeks later (and many calls and emails), I've still gotten nothing but a "sorry for the inconvenience."

I have not rented Hertz since and I can imagine ever doing it again. There is no excuse for this.

Marcia

ironmanjay

this is how companies loose customers for life...it happened to me once with national and i have never rented from them again ever.

ChopSuey

Sadly, some Hertz locations will only call another location (or their garage) if you are a President Circle member. YYZ once ran out of vehicles (all they had were SUVs) and they called their garage and sent me a vehicle of my choice ASAP.

STAM4NICK

I think this is about satisfying the customer on the spot -- ok so they ran out of cars, it happens -- find a solution....the desk agent and phone agent should have worked together to find a solution no matter the status level of the customer -- it is a customer, they are paying---you satisfy them with their want - a rental car.

All too often I find customer service people are not results oriented (i thought that was a requirement of the job)---if they get stumped on a question they just fob you off the a made up answer or refer to someone else to call you back who never does to get you off the phone because they can't be bothered to satisfy you. WHen something goes to a supervisor its because the first agent could not provide a solution.

It is a gaff on Hertz's part to not offer a solution on the spot or take an hour to resolve---I think that is a reasonable exception any car renter would have. Am I right?

purpleskiesfly

This sounds like a Seinfeld episode -
'so you can take the reservation but you don't have to keep the reservation?'