If it was possible to give ZERO stars, I would.
I have had the worst experience with Hertz Rental Car this year and I want to make everywhere here aware of the problem so they can avoid such issues themselves in the future by choosing a rental car company with excellent customer service instead.
In September, I had to fly out to Birmingham, Alabama to attend a funeral of a family member who had died of Covid-related complications. In preparation of that trip, I contacted AAA to look at their discount and partnership programs, because I'm a member. They suggested Hertz for my car rental needs, so I followed the link to their partner's website.
Through Hertz's online portal, I rented a car to be picked up at the airport where I was flying in, and also opted into a program they offer online called "SKIP THE PUMP AND SAVE TIME", which allows you to pay a flat $$ fee to return a vehicle without refilling it with gas and they refill it for no additional charge. You pay that fee at the counter by giving the counter representative your credit card (the fee can be charged up front OR when you return the car--there was no requirement when it happened, only that the counter reps would take care of it for you on the credit card number you provided them so you didn't have to go stand in line again and wait for service, but could simply skip off to catch your flight without delays).
I paid in advance for a specific car from Hertz (a small, fuel efficient SUV because I'm not comfortable driving big cars or gas guzzlers). However, when I arrived at the airport to pick it up, first I had to wait over an hour in the sweltering heat and humidity for the attendant to "process" the rental (he moved so slowly that people in line were grumbling over it), only to be told by him that they didn't actually have the vehicle I ordered.
Okay, I rolled with it and accepted a Dodge Caravan -- a pretty big vehicle with a pretty big gas tank (20 gallons). On top of that, it had this weird electronic key that had a short in the ignition (sometimes it worked right, other times you had to play with it a bit for it to start up). Again, inconvenient and irritating, but I rolled with it because I knew if I disputed it, I'd end up waiting hours longer for another vehicle, given how slow the guy at the counter was moving.
At the end of the visit, I returned the car with ~1/4th a tank of gas still left in it and went about my business of catching my flight home.
The next day, a charge of over $200 appears on my credit card from this Hertz. They claimed I didn't return the van with fuel and charged me $9.99 a gallon + taxes to fuel it up. Additionally, there was some "MISCELLANEOUS FEE" on top of that, and when I called Hertz to inquire about it, I was told it was for an "upper airport concession fee".
I called Hertz customer service to dispute the charge and explained the situation to the phone representative (read: that the airport counter people didn't charge me the flat fee for the "SKIP THE PUMP AND SAVE TIME" program I'd clearly opted into online and which my rental agreement even shows. Instead, they charged me to refuel the van). I tried to work it out with them to get them to simply reverse the fuel + taxes + "upped airport concession fee" and to simply charge me the flat fee for the "SKIP THE PUMP" program as they were supposed to do. They refused. I escalated it to a supervisor and went through the entire conversation again.....only to be told they would "look into it and get back" to me via phone.
No one ever called me back.
I emailed them at their customerrelations@hertz.com email, forwarding the copy of the contract and explaining the situation to them.
I received no response.
Over the ensuing 3 months, I have called the toll free number an additional 3 times to speak to supervisors and sent the email 5 more times to the same email address. No response to emails at all, and none of them on the phone would honor the agreement or own up to their employee's mistake in not charging the correct fees at the time of rental or even when the car was turned back in. The last supervisor I spoke to today was also condescending when I challenged his falling back on "we're just following the contract" response ("Well, that's what you believe," was what he'd actually said to me).
I ended up having to dispute the charge with my credit card company instead and now am going through the lengthy process of filling out that paperwork.
In the end, Hertz--which holds $24.6 BILLION in assets as of 2019--actually allowed their customer service team to haggle over ~$200 with a customer. Further, they refused to admit the mistake on their end (read: not charging my card for the "SKIP THE PUMP" program I'd opted into on their website and which clearly shows I'd done so on my contract) and correct it that mistake.
Such poor customer service behavior has cost them my business for life. I will never again use or recommend them. read more
