hertz.es

No more rentals at Hertz ...

For 30 years I have been renting cars worldwide on a regular basis. I also control the car rentals in my company on four continents. So far I have had good experiences with Hertz. Until now! Ordered a car at Madrid airport ("Gold Plus - Five Star"). Shortly after car pick-up, I noticed that a rear distance sensor was faulty and regularly triggered false alarms. Car returned. Long wait again. Only one employee on site for office and vehicles ("back in 10 min"). Car exchange finally promised, but for smaller one than booked and payable, after protest then finally got a car of the same type. When returning, the employee went around the vehicle and checked the condition "meticulously". Nothing found in the apparently damage-free car after the first round of “inspection”. Then another round. Then he pointed to some dirt on a rim and said the rim had some damage that I would have to pay for. I couldn't believe it, but it shouldn't be fun. Did I make photos when I took over the car? Of course not, because there was no damage at all now and then. The employee was not interested in the fact that the dirt could be removed with a finger. He had already taken his photos and claimed EUR 66 + VAT. The credit card would simply be charged accordingly. I asked the employee to confirm my protest in writing, which he refused to do. I asked the employee to give me his full name, which he also refused. I only received a preliminary statement with an additional item "damage". Since there were obvious circumstances of fraud, I went straight to the police station at the airport, which is also located in Terminal 1. I was received kindly there and told that I was not the first one to deal with that kind of matter. Rental cars are a matter of trust. Fraud destroys trust, even if the amount swindled is small. In any case, under the experienced circumstances, I will neither privately, nor will the company I run rent cars from Hertz again.Update on 28/01/2022: After a longer email communication with the local agency and the customer service, including the analysis of photographs and another inspection of the vehicle, I finally received the following message from Hertz: "I am happy to inform you that you were correct and the vehicle was not scratched but dirty. We request a refund of the wrongly charged amount immediately and apologize for any inconvenience caused."Considering the apology from Hertz and assuming that the local agent worker is held accountable by Hertz for causing this problem, I give 2 stars instead of 1. It would have been 5 stars without the offence when returning the car.

Date of experience: Jan 09, 2022