#Hertz #CarRental #UpgradeCharge #Refund #CustomerService
Hey there! ๐ It sounds like you’ve had a frustrating experience with Hertz and their unexpected upgrade charge. No worries, we’ve got you covered with some advice on how to potentially get your money back. Let’s dive in and explore your options.
Understanding the Situation
First off, it’s important to understand exactly what happened and why you were charged an additional $762 for the rental. It seems that when you picked up the car, you selected a 7 seater Ford Expedition, which was considered an upgrade from the 7 seater SUV you had originally pre-paid for. However, this upgrade charge was not clearly communicated to you at the time of rental, leading to confusion and frustration later on.
Contacting Hertz Customer Service
You took the right step by reaching out to Hertz customer service to inquire about the additional charge. Unfortunately, their response that you had signed the papers and the upgrade amount was listed on there may seem discouraging, but there are still avenues to explore.
Options for Getting a Refund
While it may feel like an uphill battle, there are several options you can consider to potentially get your money back:
1. Escalate the Issue: If the initial customer service representative was unable to provide a satisfactory solution, consider asking to speak with a manager or supervisor. They may have more authority to address your concerns and offer a refund.
2. Dispute the Charge with Your Credit Card Company: Since you were not adequately informed about the upgrade charge and feel it was not justified, you can consider disputing the charge with your credit card company. Many credit card companies offer protections for unjustified charges, and this may be a viable option for you.
3. Leave a Review: Expressing your experience with Hertz, including the lack of communication about the upgrade charge, in a public review on platforms such as Google Reviews or Yelp can sometimes prompt companies to reach out and make amends.
4. Seek Legal Advice: If all else fails, you may want to seek legal advice to understand your rights in this situation. While it may not be the ideal route, having legal guidance can provide clarity on your options for pursuing a refund.
Tips for Future Car Rentals
In the future, to avoid similar situations, here are some tips to keep in mind when renting a car:
– Always carefully read and ask questions about any additional charges or upgrades before signing any rental agreements.
– Consider taking photos of the rental agreement and any documents you sign for your own records, in case any issues arise later on.
– If you’re unsure about any terms or charges, don’t hesitate to seek clarification from the rental company’s staff.
We hope these suggestions help guide you in seeking a potential refund for the unexpected upgrade charge you incurred with Hertz. Remember, it’s always important to advocate for yourself and remain persistent in resolving any discrepancies with service providers. Good luck, and we hope you’re able to get your money back! ๐ช๐๐
All you can do is continue to escalate with Hertz until they refuse to take your calls any longer. You may get some of the charge reduced. If not you can try suing them but they have huge legal teams so I wouldn’t place very high odds on your success.
My wife has been ripped off twice by believing verbally. These customer service reps at the airport must get some sort of commissions for upgrades.
As long as you’ve digitally signed, they’ve got you. We’ve tried a charge back and it was denied.
Youโre fucked unfortunately.ย
Hertz does this often and unless you catch it up front and fight them to eliminate the upgrade or ย youโre SOL.
PS – Fuck Hertz as a staff, rental company, and as a muthafuckinโ crew!
What does the little slip of paper they gave you as you drove away state? *That’s* what you authorized.
Classic rental car bullshit. Theyโll let you grab any car and not tell you itโs above what youโve reserved. You can try contacting the customer service but itโs a crap shoot.
This is tangential, but possible educational…
Are there any car rental companies that don’t suck?
It’s a frequent point of debate in discussions around EVs and trucks that people shouldn’t buy larger trucks or non-EV vehicles in general, and only rent them when longer distances or hauling are involved. I get the idea, but with all the rental horror stories here on PF I can’t imagine it’s actually a good experience long-term.
Hertz is a slimy scammy company and now you know that. I once rented a car with them and used my own EZPass tag. I never opened their special box with their special EZPass tag in it.
Lo and behold I get the bill and there’s a $130 charge for opening and using their EZPass tag. I had to fight tooth and nail with them, even presenting my own EZPass bill showing all my tolls on my own tag during the rental period before they refunded me their fraudulent fee.
They are fraudsters and deserve to be fined out of existence.
I had something stupid like this happen to my while visiting the UK. There are two Avis offices at Heathrow, one in a parking garage and one a short shuttle trip up the road. These offices do not share reservation systems as theyโre separate entities. Not knowing that, I waltzed into the parking garage office, coming off a sleepless red-eye and said โHello, reservation for DaemonPrinceofCorn, please.โ Gave my ID and credit card, the guy says โAh yes, I see your reservation for 12 days here.โ *He proceeded to book and charge me for a walk-in rental just before Christmas.* As I was basically a zombie, bad at math anyway, and back then the exchange rate was higher, I was like yeah, that ยฃ1200 hold seems reasonable. Iโm sure itโll drop off.
It never came off. I went to return the car and Inwas like wait a second, I prepaid this for like ยฃ350, why are you charging me ยฃ1200? They told me Iโd agreed to it and we were pushing being late for the flight back to the US. We called customer service and figured out what happened and weโre issued a refund for everything beyond the initial ยฃ350. If Avis hasnโt been forthcoming, we would have protested the charge with the credit card.
I had this happen to me at Hertz in Orlando. The rep took me to a line of cars and said pick the one you want. I picked one that happened to be a hybrid. She just said sure. No mention of any upgrade fee or anything else. No mention that it was a hybrid.
I went back to them after getting the receipt and pointed out that their rep had not informed me of the additional fees and I wasn’t aware the car I chose came with additional fees.ย
They refunded me the upgrade fee since the agreement I signed at the counter with the price stated and the receipt didn’t match. So they didn’t have my signature on the additional fees.ย
Not sure if this can help you. Good luck! Hertz is going downhill fast.
Hertz is a scammy company. Avoid them in the future.
Dispute it. Those fuckers charged me an extra $1000 to drop the car off in a different location than I picked it up, including an airport surcharge, NONE of which was in the fees listed in the documents I signed with them. They finally refunded me.
I keep hearing awful things about Hertz. Definitely staying away at this point.
Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty are all the same company and they are all more con artists than legitimate rental companies.
Sorry, they got me recently too.
Last time we (almost) rented from Hertz, it was at the Las Vegas airport. I was quoted $349 online, and called to confirm there were no โextra chargesโ.
Long story short, they tried charging me $680 before the deposit because โfeesโ. They acted so surprised that I refused, repeating โbut you have had this reserved for months. You might not find a car last minute!โ. Walked 50 feet to my left to enterprise and got a car for $350. They had literal dozens to choose from.
They got me too, last time they wouldnโt even give me a copy of the contract until I returned the car, probably because he did some shady things as well, promised 250 a day for a car ended up being over $700 for the final bill because he added that I wanted an upgrade, but he told me my car was out of stock and he was giving me an upgrade for free
For my last airport hertz rental, they were out of cars in the class I selected. And rather than just giving me a car in a higher class for the same price as they should have, they tried to get me to pay for an upgrade.
I declined, and got the upgraded car for the same price within about 15 minutes.
I bet this what happened here.
Many years ago I had an issue with hertz where they overcharged me about $700. After getting bounced around customer service for weeks, I emailed Laura Smith who is the head of customer experience at Hertz, with all the relevant details and the resolution I was looking for. Within a couple of days it was resolved
I remember going to pick up my rental car at the airport and they asked if I’d like to upgrade to an SUV for a bit more money. I was traveling alone and at most driving 1 other person around so I said “no thanks”. They then told me all they had was SUVs and to enjoy my trip.
They should definitely tell you what you are paying and if anything will cost additional…
>I’m frustrated because NOTHING was communicated to me about this upgrade beforehand
…except in the document that clearly communicated it to you beforehand.
In situations where a business has tried to rip me off, I Google their regulatory agency (in this case, the FTC) and file a complaint with them. Does it always work? No, but they have to justify their actions to the federal government and provide documentation to support their decision. Then a representative at the agency has to sign off on their decision, or demand they reverse the decision. If they have too many of these “unjust” decisions, the government can fine them or even stop them from conducting business in the state or entirely. If one company has too many complaints, the government can demand they change their practices.
Best practice says to get the dates and times of people you spoke with and any documentation you were given and file it with the report. I’d file a BBB report too, because I’m mad petty when a business tries to steal my money.
I think you have a really good claim since the upgrade fee was suspiciously similar to the normal fee. Even if you did sign something that says you agree to pay $760, you can argue the add on wasn’t explained to you, you signed assuming you were affirming the agreed upon price.
I worked for Hertz as a rental agent once upon a time. Worst job Iโve ever had and this is why.
This is a sales tactic they train their front line folks to use. They โupgradeโ you while doing as little as possible to tell you how much it costs. The rental agent basically gets to charge whatever price they want for the upgrade, itโs literally a blank space in the POS for them to type whatever number they want to charge you. This is where Hertz makes its money and the agents get bonuses based on how much they can get away with charging for upgrades.
They absolutely are not going to give you that money back. Youโre welcome to fight them on it, I saw many people try in my time there, none of them succeeded. But for them it was 100% profit and they will fight you 5X as hard to keep it.
Iโm sorry this happened to you. This is why I left that jobs, it was either rip people off or lose my job. I chose to lose my job.
You agreed to the charge by signing the paper, you are out of luck
Always read before signing. This is why.ย
I had Hertz try the same thing on me last year. Offering a different car while saying the one I reserved for wasnโt available. Ok fine gimme that then they print out the paperwork for me to sign as Iโm reading I see Iโm getting charged additional amount very close to what I had paid. I called the guy out on it and he was all like yes thereโs an additional fee for this car. I called him out on it for being a shady fuck not ever mentioning the price change. Had him redo it and give me a car that was covered under what I paid. Tried giving me shit that there was nothing available but I could take a lesser car. I argued with him that I made a contract and if he canโt uphold it then I shouldnโt be paying more for something I paid for or having to take something lesser and it was on them to uphold their end.
Frustrating as hell, shady fucks. Always review the paperwork even if there is a line behind you. Ask what cars are covered under what you paid etc.
If you want to get even get their total insurance next timeโฆ
Youโve gotten terrible advice here.
The process for anything like this is the same.
Escalate with Hertz until you canโt anymore. Get their refusal in writing if you can.
Then file a charge back with your credit card company. This is what they are there for.
Additionally:
File a complaint with your states attorney general. I would do this in both states.
File a complaint with the CFPB and the FTC. The FTC has a recent ruling on this kind of behavior.
And file with all three of your reps and see who gives it the most mileage.
Raise hell and see what sticks.
At least they didn’t report it stolen. Like they usually do.
Contact the state attorney general’s office and register a complaint that you were the victim of a deceptive upgrade process and include the Hertz location with all the facts.
Even if you don’t get any money back you will have the deception on record and likely Herz will hear from the AG.
Used to work for Hertz. Theyโre so cheap they refused to pay for actual software for our department (accounts receivable) and gave us some MSDOS monstrosity that didnโt work on my work-provided desktop.
Fuck hertz.
Was this at an airport? If so, reach out to the airport customer service and see if they can help you. That’s bad practice for their rental cars to be scamming their customers
As a fraud agent I can tell you that the non-fraud thing we get the most calls about is vacation rentals and hidden charges. Call hertz, escalate, escalate, escalate, if they wonโt give you the time of day dispute it with your bank (do not say itโs fraud, itโs not and they will decline it)
Thatโs all you can do. Usually they fold because they hope people donโt notice the additional charges.
Same thing happen to me. I prepaid for a vehicle for my Seattle trip, when I get there, they were out of the class that I preserve so they do the free upgrade thing since itโs their fault โthe rep exact wordsโ. After like a month, Hertz sent another invoice saying I am responsible for the upgrade and they already charge it on my credit card. I go ahead and did a charge back and Hertz called me everyday for 2 years, just block their number and I go my way.
I wonder if any local “bait and switch” laws could apply. They sold you one product which you paid for but they charged you more for the same product after the fact. Your local City attorney or state attorney general may be able to help. Many states have consumer fraud help as well. The trick is to get one of them to make an inquiry. After that you could send an email/letter to Hertz corporate counsel asking for the refund before the government case goes too far.