I think it's time to quit Hertz

frfly172 said:
Hertz and enterprise seem to be in competition to see who can upset their customers more. Booking on the national booking service doesn’t guarantee a car will be there when you arrive.
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Hasn't for decades... Long enough for this joke to work in the 1900's.

 
Hertz has a strategy of reporting cars stolen and then never advising the PD when the car is recovered. Hertz rents those cars out to unsuspecting customers who are pulled over and detained for operating a stolen vehicle when a plate scan or plate check shows the car as stolen. In some cases it took hours to get it cleared up -- just the way you want to spend your vacation or business trip.
 
I just looked into renting a car from Hertz (I am in the middle of an overcharge dispute with Enterprise).
They want to add $4.99/day for roadside assistance. eg: changing a flat or remote door unlock.
IIRC, that was always included. At least, I was never asked to pay that and I never needed those services so I can't say for sure.
 
JOhnH said:
I just looked into renting a car from Hertz (I am in the middle of an overcharge dispute with Enterprise).
They want to add $4.99/day for roadside assistance. eg: changing a flat or remote door unlock.
IIRC, that was always included. At least, I was never asked to pay that and I never needed those services so I can't say for sure.
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It’s usually not included but if you have AAA or roadside assistance included with your own car insurance, it usually extends to rented vehicles.
 
Had a good experience with Budget yesterday.

The only slight negative is the counter is permanently closed at this airport (I asked neighboring counters) and you have to follow the counter sign instructions; go to Avis’s - which means a longer line.

And I was impressed with the number of add-ons to the bill which they offered, a cafeteria listing of over 10 items maybe 15? that you could purchase; I declined them all.
 
Every now and then I do something smart. Not often, but enough to keep life interesting. I rented a car for Oshkosh last year. I picked it up at KMKE parking garage, which is dark and dingy. On a whim, I decided to photograph every paint chip on the outside. The outside was remarkably clean. The inside was a different story. The cloth seats, all four, were deeply stained. Not dirty, but very stained. On another whim, I took some pictures of the seats. When you go through the exit, the last thing you want to do is stop to have the gate agent make a note of damage. There are people behind you, and besides, you have places to go. So I flashed my papers at him and went north.

Everything went fine. Car ran great. I turned it in and thought nothing about it. Until a month later when I got a letter from Budget saying I owed them $150 for cleaning the interion. That was an interesting amount. Not enough that it would really cause rage, but more than I wanted to pay. So, I uploaded my pictures to their website and waited. That was the end of it.

I wonder how many times they billed customers for cleaning those same seats. And clearly, they don't pay much attention to the cars when they come in or they would have seen the seats and billed the guy who actually made the mess.
 
LesGawlik said:
Every now and then I do something smart. Not often, but enough to keep life interesting. I rented a car for Oshkosh last year. I picked it up at KMKE parking garage, which is dark and dingy. On a whim, I decided to photograph every paint chip on the outside. The outside was remarkably clean. The inside was a different story. The cloth seats, all four, were deeply stained. Not dirty, but very stained. On another whim, I took some pictures of the seats. When you go through the exit, the last thing you want to do is stop to have the gate agent make a note of damage. There are people behind you, and besides, you have places to go. So I flashed my papers at him and went north.

Everything went fine. Car ran great. I turned it in and thought nothing about it. Until a month later when I got a letter from Budget saying I owed them $150 for cleaning the interion. That was an interesting amount. Not enough that it would really cause rage, but more than I wanted to pay. So, I uploaded my pictures to their website and waited. That was the end of it.

I wonder how many times they billed customers for cleaning those same seats. And clearly, they don't pay much attention to the cars when they come in or they would have seen the seats and billed the guy who actually made the mess.
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A customer finally complained about the stains, and they shot out bills to everyone who had rented it in the last couple of months to see who would pony up?
 
Oh, yes forgot to mention I inspected the car very closely before accepting, then video the entire car (glass and interior too) when returning. So crazy we have to do this. So wrong they have no one available to sign off as 'clean' at return.
Also, if you do have a problem (glass chip, 3/4 tank) upon pickup you have to walk back in a quarter mile round trip to notify them, no way Avis is going to answer the phone on a Budget car.
 
I've done oneway from local Enterprise office to local Enterprise office Culpeper to suburban Charlotte and back this year to get my plane up for annual and back. The only rough part was the idiots in the Mooresville, NC office who despite having my reservation for a car didn't think it was worth telling anybody that they didn't have any cars available the day I reserved it. I had to go to another office the next morning.

Note that they won't (or make it very expensive) to rent one-way from the "major" Airport locations (like trying to book CLT -> CJR).

Having status bumps at National, Avis and Hertz, I usually fire off reservation requests at each to see who's the cheapest. More often than not of late I end up at Avis, though they managed to **** me off at the last two rentals. They have this "great" system that tells you when you arrive at the destination what space your car is in and you can just go direct to the exit and scan a QR code on your phone. Yeah, this has never worked for me.

At BDL, I go to the space, hop in the car and I can't check out. Turns out the wrong car was in the space. The guy says to look around for the car I'm supposed to have. Can't find it. Go inside to the counter and waste time getting a new car issued.

Avis at DCA is an unmitigated nightmare. They're not in the rental car center but in a tiny parking lot off Route 1 next to a Holiday Inn. The app gives me no useful information on where this is or how to get there (you have to find the off airport bus which picks up in roughly the Uber pick up area). It tells me to go to the "Preferred Counter" or the "Zone 2 booth." Neither of which appear to exist when I get to the lot. They give me an SUV (not what I rented) that reeks of cigarette smoke and has one tire low on air. Despite all the stuff that is supposed to be in my profile and automatically applied, they play twenty questions with me on insurance and fuel plans. THe lot is so tight my wife said she wouldn't have attempted to navigate out of it.

Of course, nothing equates the the Hertz meltdown I had at LAX once. Apparently, Priceline spazzed out and sold several hundred highly discounted rentals and they couldn't deal with the crush of people trying to get cars as a result.
 
Avis at PHL. I photographed a dent with paint chip before I left the lot. I returned it 3 days later. One month later I get a letter that I damaged the car during my rental period. Oddly, the rental period stated was a few days BEFORE I picked the car up. I sent them my receipt and a pic of the dent and pointed out the RUST where the paint used to be. I said I took the pic when I started the rental and commented how could rust have progressed that fast if it happened during my rental?! Zero logic. Never heard back.
 
I'm hoping the next bogus charge I get from a rental company will be successfully challenged, and charged reversed as I will have photo and video evidence of the vehicle's condition. Amex has been very very good to me about challenges I've made in past.
One thing about videos...how to prove when it was captured? With photos I can swipe up to see metadata but not sure about videos (iphone). A screenshot of photo & metadata would be helpful. With video all I can screenshot is very first image of the video (and metadata).
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
One thing about videos...how to prove when it was captured? With photos I can swipe up to see metadata but not sure about videos (iphone). A screenshot of photo & metadata would be helpful. With video all I can screenshot is very first image of the video (and metadata).
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Email it to yourself with the subject line “**** <insert rental company name here>”?
 
Another Steve Lehto vid on Hurts.

They admit the renter did not have possession of the vehicle during the time of a traffic violation (red light camera) but refuse to waive the fee. So they can get you for fees before you actually rent a car!
He shares other ludicrous stories too.
(did not see posted already, apologies if so)

 
I just that Tom Brady is hawking for Hertz. Considering their last go-around with an NFL player one would think.... I know, coat, hat, and close the door when I leave..
 
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