Hertz car rental are the devil. Wrapped in 500kgs of vile, evil, putrid bullshit.
It pains me that I need to spend my Friday afternoon writing a letter of complaint, instead of packing to go on holiday. This is due to the fact that Hertz failed to provide sufficient information on their website at the time of booking. To further explain:
- Jenn booked and paid for an Alfa Brera for the the dates 13 Feb – 16 Feb.
- This was pre-paid, to the amount of £138.
- Upon arrival at Gatwick we were told that the Brera was unavailable.
- As a replacement, we were first offered a Ford Focus. As we specifically wanted the Brera, we declined. As an alternative, we were offered a less powerful Mercedes CLK which we accepted, in the hopes of moving the situation along.
- Upon trying to complete the arrangement, we were told that a further £217 would need to be deducted as a ’security deposit’ (hereafter referred to as rubbish tax)
- As we were unprepared for this, and did not bring along sufficient resources, we were forced to cancel the booking.
- The booking was canceled, with the £138 due to be refunded.
Nowhere in the terms is ’security deposit’ ever even mentioned, let alone an amount specified.
When we queried this with the lady at the helpdesk (a Ms Lorraine Badger), we were told that the T&Cs mentioned the rubbish tax, and that we obviously didn’t look properly. So now, not only have we wasted our morning, but are also being made to feel like idiots by Hertz staff.
Putting that aside, trying to resolve the situation, I offered to pay the rubbish tax on my card, but asked if I may briefly use a computer with Internet access to move some funds around. This too seemed like too much too ask, and we were actively encouraged to cancel our booking and to go to their competition. Is it company policy to turn away clients and send them to competition?!
Trying once again, we offered to pay cash, but this too was a futile attempt. They don’t accept cash
Not giving up, we arranged for Jenn’s sister to pay the rubbish tax, but was told that she would have to be there in person in order to have her card swiped.
We drove for an hour to get to Gatwick to collect the car, spent copious amounts of money on holiday and hotel bookings, travel arrangements, food, time, leave from work, etc etc. All of this has gone to waste because of the incompetence of Hertz’s booking system.
This chain of events has completely devastated any hope of an adventure away this weekend. I am shocked and disgusted at the lack of effort on the part of Hertz to rectify what is, in my opinion, entirely its own fault.
It seems that while Hertz is completely happy to take one’s money without question, they are not as eager to help fulfill their end of the deal when it comes to providing any semblance of decent service.