So I had reserved a B at MHT last weekend (4-16 thru 4-19) and I go to the desk and they give me a huge upgrade to a basic Impala w/ NL. The car had 19K miles, no problem... NY plates which is kind of annoying but w/e. I didn't need the NL, I know how to get to I93 from MHT, I know my way to Maine etc... I really didn't go anywhere unique, so I never used the NL.

I return the car and I get the bill and included was 4 days of NL. I am like ...... I signed a contract on 4-16 and made absolutely sure that the rate was the one hertz.com gave me, and it was... I thought when you sign the contract you keep the yellow copy and bring it back with the keys, which I did, but they said they lost the original and didn't charge me what was on the cars (yellow) copy. the person gave me a new contract that charged me for the NL, but the car was the same. I pretty much accused the hertz peon of trying to stiff a 21 yr old, and said it was BS that I have to pay for something i didnt ask for, or even use!

I guess my question is: can Hertz charge you for the NL on an upgrade even if you don't want NL and said you didn't want NL on your rez?

In the end 2 other hertz people needed to calm me down and they took off the 50 dollar extra charge. I feel like emailing hertz customer service and saying what the hell?

If you didn't ask for NeverLost and they gave it to you, they should not be charging you for it. You were right to stick to your guns and demand that they take it off. It doesn't matter if you reserved a B and got a Audi, you pay for what you reserved and in your case that is a compact car and not a Full size with NL.

For future reference, if your protest at Hertz in MHT doesn't work, you could email Hertz CS and have it taken off your bill.

If you reserved a B-class vehicle and Hertz upgraded you to that Impala without asking, no you shouldn't pay for upgraded vehicle or the NL that came with it. You'll notice that when you make a reservation online, depending on what CDP is used you'll see 'Your rate is guaranteed' on the final confirmation screen before you submit your reservation. You show up, the location has to honor the original rate unless you specifically ask for a better vehicle etc.

There's definitely several ways to deal with issues like this. I don't understand how it could have escalated to where it did. Explain quietly and politely that there's a problem with the bill. Point out that you reserved a B-class and was given the Impala without asking and it just happened to come with NL. Explain that you didn't ask for any upgrade and you definitely did not want the NL system

If the agent doesn't like it ask to speak with the manager or lead hand. If they're busy or might take a while then politely agree to wait. If the agent doesn't cave before he gets there, introduce yourself to the manager and explain the situation. If the manager cant resolve your problem (v.rare), leave the location and call Hertz Customer Support.

Getting yourself worked up that much over mistaken NL charges doesn't do anything to help your case. Stay calm, cool and collected. You're in the right so make them realize it.

Ah, once upon a time Hertz included NeverLost in all their cars, whether the customer wanted it or not. In the spring of 2001 I got a Mercury Sable from my neighborhood location for a 2 day rental to visit Baltimore. As soon as I sat down, smack! I bumped my knee on the navigation system protruding between the seats. When the car was started, the annoying box woke up and said, "Welcome to Hertz Neverlost, powered by Magellan." I knew my way to Baltimore, and once I got there I suspiciously eyed the black cable snaking under the dash. Realizing I couldn't get this knee-banging monster out, I called Hertz back in NY. They apologized and said I could return the car in Baltimore and exchange it for another without NeverLost free of charge.

I thought about what a waste of time that would be and politely declined. As I was driving around Baltimore, guess what, I got lost, and wound up using NeverLost to guide me (in apparently a somewhat roundabout way) to my hotel. When I finally got back to NY, the rental agent apologized that the NeverLost box banged by knee and gave me a discount for the inconvenience.

Ah, the good old days when such "amenities" were free. By the way, why did a car registered in NY bother you? I personally like seeing the "exotic" cars we have here. Very rarely it seems will a NY location have a NY car.

Okay, so I was within my boundaries to argue it, good. The reason I was getting angry, was the hertz peon kept arguing with me and wouldn't stand down when she was wrong, so I got a little boisterous. She must of had a learning disability, I kept saying the same thing and she kept saying "I am not wrong, you got NL $13/day etc..." and "why do you need a manager?" I thought she was an ESL but she had no accent.. so idk the manager finally showed up and seemed on the ball, I explained the situation and she (manager) said "alright I will deduct the charge." I have worked in different sectors of customer service for the last 6 years of my life and if someone is disputing something and I am not sure, I get a superior or someone who can answer the dispute, I sure as hell don't argue till i am blue in the face w/ the customer.

I am originally from NJ so I dislike NY, its a rivalry thing. (mostly with NYC).

If I had been in your situation and travelling I would have had my own Garmin Nuvi with me. So that probably would've helped my argument, since I'd have to be an idiot to pay for NL on top of that...

Also I agree with lardiop. I know it can be difficult to keep your cool when the agent employs the "Customer is always wrong" attitude (which is standard training at U-Haul, I speak as a former employee), but keeping your cool only makes the agent look worse to other customers (which makes them think twice and hurts business) and raises your position. If you descend to their level, most people automatically sympathize with the agent rather than you, who is clearly in the right. Not saying you should be overly concerned with what others think, just that staying cool and collected is an easy way to keep the leverage on your side.

And a final note, having been a young renter all my life (not 25 yet) I know how it can seem like the rental companies are against us. I've always maintained my cool and had professional transactions with car rental companies, and many of them have upgraded me to cars I'm not technically allowed to drive, likely because they didn't realize I was still under 25.

They cannot charge you for NL unless you reserve it or you specifically ask for it. The reason why it was probably so hard to get it off is because the person that rented to you is probably on final notice.

Counter personnel get credit for selling NL and they get desperate when they are performing poorly. Don't get too upset with her...what she did was wrong but she is under a lot of pressure. I was a branch manager for Hertz and it didn't matter if you had 50 compliments that month...if your numbers didn't make it then you were getting written up.

As a young renter under 25, I sympathize with you as when I first started rentals, I use to get that sort of treatment and it sucked. getting treated like you don't know any better and trying to squeeze every dollar out of you. The one thing I can say is this, if u don't work for a major corp, try to join AAA that way you can become a Gold Member. I work for AT&T and I became a Gold Member @ 24. The way I'm treated now is night and day. compared to then. Glad they reversed the charges on that dubious NeverLost charge and hope ur next rental goes much smoother.

This was my fifth rental with hertz my previous four were fine. Rental #4 was dicey but a hertz manager waited on me and was very nice about the whole thing. I had a situation where I booked a midsized and received a Kia Rio w/ 47K miles w/ no price change, so I went and asked for a midsize or bigger and they offered me a "grandma quis" and I said I will be driving on snowy/icy back roads and RWD would not go well. so he hesitated and gave me a very low mileage loaded mariner w/ AWD at no extra charge, but he understood my problem and wasn't being inept. I think he was being real generous because all they had was five cars on the lot when I walked out to the car.

In my experience, Hertz is pretty good at tacking on all sorts of random, unjustified charges to the bill (e.g., NL, fuel service). Fortunately, they're also good about taking them off when you contact the corporate office.

That said, I often have to refuse cars with NL because of the knee-banging issue -- my partner is 6' 3" and in most cars the NL is in his way. Come to think of it, in most cars the darn glovebox is in his way.