Hertz Car Hire Sydney, 2 days, 72 KMs, $646 charge

[JohnK]

Quite annoying! Haven't rented from Hertz SYD, but have rented from Hertz and Avis all over the country often (and occasionally Europcar, Budget and Thrifty) and not yet had an issue, thankfully!

Thankfully I have never had an issue either.

I've never understood how you get photos that are comprehensive enough and detailed enough to show either no damage, or damage that is there, in any clarity.

The photos taken from my Samsung Galaxy S3 are not that detailed enough to show everything.

 

[Alanslegal]

Bloody Hertz I am telling you :evil: I rented a couple of months back from Hertz Sydney Downtown and never again. They found the tiniest mark on my vehicle upon return, the first visual inspection the attendant did not see and said the car was fine. Upon his return with my receipt, they spotted that tiniest of mark. I disputed the damage. I was informed by the manager that they would review the issue and advise me of the outcome before taking any funds from my credit card. I received no advice, no email, no telephone call, no letter advising me of their decision. They unilaterally deducted funds from my credit card. I emailed them and asked for more information. Hertz did receive the emails because Hertz relpies automatically with receipts. No response to date, this is almost three months later. Emails were further sent to Presidents Circle and Hertz Corporate, again no response. I am happy to paste my email here but basically I asked for further information about the damage and actual costs of the repairs. No response, not even an email reply saying "hey thanks, we received your email, reviewed the matter and sorry we can't help you".

I was planning to rent every weekend since May but stopped using them following a poor experience from all levels of that organisation. Now my Presidents Circle status will lapse, and as much as I had very good and regular upgrades with them over the last two years, their poor service at this time dramatically changed my opinion of them. It is all good to reap the rewards during good times but true character is shown during periods of bad time. Hertz has shown their true colours by not responding to any of my emails at all levels.

Thanks to my annual travel insurance policy with TID, they paid out my car rental claim.

 

[AdMEL]

It seems there is a management/cultural issue at Hertz in Sydney!

 

[carwashhair]

I make them mark all scratces and take photos as well when I pick the car up....how do you prove you took the photos at the time of pick up, and not later, eg after you caused the damage?

Because those photos on your camera of you with a coughtail beside a resort infinity pool certainly don't get taken after you cop a $4k excess claim!

 

[drron]

Sounds like it has happened a lot at Hertz Sydney.Shouldn't you all get Consumer Affairs involved?If there are several complaints re the same problem surely they would act?
In LAX I got ripped off with Dollar so I emailed the Californian Attorney general.It got sorted and got a follow up email from the AG thanking me as they discovered many more had been scammed.Though of cours I will never use Dollar again!

 

[klavdy]

It's really interesting and encouraging to hear of others having similar issues with Hertz at Sydney Aiport.
Dodgy doesnt come close to these underhanded practices, it sounds polished and well rehearsed.
Are they in cahoots with a friendly repair mob? Do they just whack a figure through on a body shops letter head to their mates ?
It'd be a nice little earner.
No emails of quotes, no offers to settle, no option of disputing the claim according to Hertz Sydney Airport, just put an extortionate and inflated claim through on your credit card.
I've been onto Amex and have opened a dispute, we'll see where it goes.

 

[markis10]

It's really interesting and encouraging to hear of others having similar issues with Hertz at Sydney Aiport.
Dodgy doesnt come close to these underhanded practices, it sounds polished and well rehearsed.
Are they in cahoots with a friendly repair mob? Do they just whack a figure through on a body shops letter head to their mates ?
It'd be a nice little earner.
No emails of quotes, no offers to settle, no option of disputing the claim according to Hertz Sydney Airport, just put an extortionate and inflated claim through on your credit card.
I've been onto Amex and have opened a dispute, we'll see where it goes.

You will eventually receive details in the mail from the Hertz claims department, it's out if the hands of the branch.

 

[lovestotravel]

It seems there is a management/cultural issue at Hertz in Sydney!

Yep there is!

1 - Book an X5 twice (different days) as a President's Circle member and get there and "oh sorry we don't have that, would you like an X3" instead, for the same price....... :shock: Ended up getting something cheaper but 20 mins in the office is a waste of my time! Be proactive to one of your most loyal customers (not anymore)

2 - Book a mystery vehicle - Get assigned a Kia Van (well that's my fault I guess) but anyways, ask for something else and they have "nothing else" Yet $20 extra and you can take ANY car you want - Okay I'll have X5 please...A look of shock on the agents face.........A quick chat to her colleague and you can't take the X5. I dispute this for a bit and end up with a Diesel VW Passat - Which was nice

3 - Book a Corolla and end up with a Corolla - Time and time again - For a 1 or 2 day rental when there are heaps of other better car available - Yep nice upgrade - Thanks Hertz Sydney Airport
3a) - Ask for my upgrade at the counter and one of the Manager's refuses to budge - Duly noted for future rentals

4 - Old cars, most of the regular fleet are so damaged and scratched and have 20000-40000km on them

Sydney Airport Hertz is the worst run location I have ever had to deal with, and that includes several Italian Hertz offices!

By contrast Melbourne City Downtown is great, well the Manager isn't that outstanding IMO but the staff are great and they have a better fleet of cars with far better ugprades

Hertz Sydney Airport just doesn't care, the staff are hopefully (mostly) and they just rely on the regular business renters who will continue to use Hertz because it's Hertz


I have started to rent from Europcar in Sydney and have had far better treatment/vehicles/upgrades with far less status

 

[lukenet]

I got done with Hurts SYD APP for fuel. I did fill it, but not full enough for them. I got stung $70 something dollar charge. I think they would have struggled to put 5L in the tank as the gauge was on the F when I dropped it off. It was only a micro car, I think the tank only takes like 45L from empty.

 

[AdMEL]

Yep there is!

1 - Book an X5 twice (different days) as a President's Circle member and get there and "oh sorry we don't have that, would you like an X3" instead, for the same price....... :shock: Ended up getting something cheaper but 20 mins in the office is a waste of my time! Be proactive to one of your most loyal customers (not anymore)

2 - Book a mystery vehicle - Get assigned a Kia Van (well that's my fault I guess) but anyways, ask for something else and they have "nothing else" Yet $20 extra and you can take ANY car you want - Okay I'll have X5 please...A look of shock on the agents face.........A quick chat to her colleague and you can't take the X5. I dispute this for a bit and end up with a Diesel VW Passat - Which was nice

3 - Book a Corolla and end up with a Corolla - Time and time again - For a 1 or 2 day rental when there are heaps of other better car available - Yep nice upgrade - Thanks Hertz Sydney Airport
3a) - Ask for my upgrade at the counter and one of the Manager's refuses to budge - Duly noted for future rentals

4 - Old cars, most of the regular fleet are so damaged and scratched and have 20000-40000km on them

Sydney Airport Hertz is the worst run location I have ever had to deal with, and that includes several Italian Hertz offices!

By contrast Melbourne City Downtown is great, well the Manager isn't that outstanding IMO but the staff are great and they have a better fleet of cars with far better ugprades

Hertz Sydney Airport just doesn't care, the staff are hopefully (mostly) and they just rely on the regular business renters who will continue to use Hertz because it's Hertz


I have started to rent from Europcar in Sydney and have had far better treatment/vehicles/upgrades with far less status

Notes to self:

1. Steer clear of Hertz in Sydney!

2. Never book a mystery car!

3. Don't expect to receive an X5 if booked!

I agree that Hertz Melbourne Downtown is generally pretty good, though the last time I rented from them my car was not ready and had to wait 15-20 min. Offered an upgrade though from a Corolla to a Hyundai Elantra or ix35 - declined both, as I dislike Hyundais. We'll see if how they are this weekend - booked Camry with an upgrade coupon to SV6.

Melbourne CBD Avis and Budget pretty good too. On the other hand, my experiences at Melb CBD Europcar and Thrifty have included some terrible service.

I'm looking forward to driving the new Mercedes C Class when Europcar get some.

I got done with Hurts SYD APP for fuel. I did fill it, but not full enough for them. I got stung $70 something dollar charge. I think they would have struggled to put 5L in the tank as the gauge was on the F when I dropped it off. It was only a micro car, I think the tank only takes like 45L from empty.

How far from the airport did you fill it? 5 L of fuel will get you 50km or more in a micro car!

 

[Princess Fiona]

A little OT but noticed on picking up my hire car from Avis PER tonight that it isn't full I'm going to call them tomorrow and see what the story is.
I suspect that the last rental was a bit like my usual ones here ie. to and from airport plus a very minimal amount of Perth city driving. FWIW I always fill up at the last servo before the airport even although the fuel gauge has barely moved. Some car hire places have started charging for fuel if you have driven a minimal amount of K and can't produce a fuel receipt.

 

[opusman]

I'm sure everyone has a dodgy rental car story.

My favorite is renting a car from Avis at El Calafate in Argentine. Fuel guage was on 5/8 when I picked it up. Pointed it out to the guy and he said "oh yeah it's broken, don't worry about it". And yes, the fuel guage stayed stuck on 5/8 for the whole rental.

Returned the car full, and forgot to mention about the fuel guage. Sure enough, charged afterwards for 3/8 of a tank of petrol!

Luckily petrol in Argentina is cheap

 

[cambriamarsh]

Also with Hertz, check the rate charged is the rate quoted. I've had a substantial difference. While it was corrected on calling I still had to waste my time fixing something their systems should not allow to happen.
Cheers

 

[Clementine]

On a different note, after a hurried return at Tullamarine I got charged by a certain car rental firm for a full tank of gas and told I'd driven over 800kms - when I had only had the car for 5 hours (and driven about 200km)!

I wrote to them pointing out that for this to be true I would have had to have been driving at a constant speed of 168km/hour for the entire time.

It went away.

 

[blackcat20]

A little OT but noticed on picking up my hire car from Avis PER tonight that it isn't full I'm going to call them tomorrow and see what the story is.
I suspect that the last rental was a bit like my usual ones here ie. to and from airport plus a very minimal amount of Perth city driving. FWIW I always fill up at the last servo before the airport even although the fuel gauge has barely moved. Some car hire places have started charging for fuel if you have driven a minimal amount of K and can't produce a fuel receipt.

My one and only rental from Hertz came with only half a tank of fuel. Returned it full, but still charged for a full tank. Took over two months to get a refund, and I still walked away paying for fuel I hadnt used. I've also never seen a dirtier car, trash in the boot and all. And that was after waiting 20 minutes for the car to be delivered because they had none there when I turned up at the booked time.

 

[RAM]

I make them mark all scratces and take photos as well when I pick the car up....how do you prove you took the photos at the time of pick up, and not later, eg after you caused the damage?

Plagiarized from my post on UK car hire - makes Hertz Sydney seem amateurs (take out light bulbs in underground garage) at concealing/charging damage:

2) Many UK hire companies are now Private Equity owned (= VULTURES picking over the corpse) so be prepared. Have a small torch (eg: Hertz London suburb pick-up/drop-off in underground garage with only 1 light in 5 actually there (cost cutting). Walked around car and took 8 photos using the torch to highlight any scratches. Not one of the scratches/dents shown on pick-up report so I got that changed - if I had not used my torch I would not have been able to see them. When returning it 12 days later you were directed to a well-lit area (how odd). They immediately started - you've damaged the car. So I pulled out the camera and showed them the photos (one with the damage report included in it) as well as the adjusted original copy of the damage report I had filled out at pick-up and made them sign, write employee number and stamp.
Same happened the next year with Europcar (damage that is) - despite photos and report they then claimed there were more dents/scratches than I had put on the report (and they'd signed, employee number etc). 45 minutes 'discussion' - they try and delay you so you'll buckle as you fear missing your flight - I pointed out that I knew who owned them and they'd better enjoy their last few days of employment. Finally solved but I sent in the info when back in Oz.

Avis - I hired a particular car - in fact it is the only car in its class (at the time) = so I could be certain of luggage capacity. Arrived at LHR - sorry sir we don't have your car but you can have a similar car (different booking category though an intermediate) that had 70% of capacity. I pulled out my copy of the car class description booked (3 large bags 2 medium bags luggage) and the ICAR page as well (so many issues over so many years) and pointed out that the ICAR was only 2 large and 1 medium - so no it is not a similar car. 25 minutes later a "Full size" car was ready that fitted the bags (2 parents, 3 teens in UK/Euope for 5 wks and going skiing) at no cost.

9) Get a copy of your CC Travel insurance terms and conditions TODAY, take it with you, make sure you know the number to call if you need to. There must be no worse a feeling to discover you are not eligible for coverage because you paid cash not CC for your car hire (for example). Ring while still in Australia to ensure your understanding of the terms is correct. Ask for the person you speak to for their full name and employee ID#, write down the date and time and ideally ask for them to mail something out to you or make a note on your CC contact file about your enquiry. Take a copy of the T&Cs with you.

8 Photos? - each side = one from front quarter panel, one from doors, one from rear quarter panel =3 photos x 2 sides
- front/back - one from about a metre away = 1 photo by 2 ends

If wheel rims are scratched then a close=up photo of each rim (4 photos).

Then rapid walk back inside to counter and mark location of each scratch (yes every one) and dent/ding etc. Now you cannot possibly do justice given size of diagram to put x/s on. One booking had close to 40x's on it. Then get hire car staffer to initial each area and circle it, date it, stamp it and write their employee number on it. That does save you getting caught - even then though see example above where they tried it on. To date - never charged anything on almost 30 years of hiring cars in Aust, UK, Eur and US. Hawaii was a near miss but the "Curse of Lono" was to blame. Big mountain & Apache Attack helicopters crossing your path sure get the heart rate going.

IMPORTANT NOTE - Have you ever check the car roof? Yes, very rare it is damaged but 2x it has been. So I do not normally photograph it, but be aware.

 

[tonyf]

In the US I left a car after hours and took complete pics of all of car on collection and drop-off. But, did not think of taking pics under car! End result significant CC deduction for underbody damage. Had been driven on local sealed roads for 3 day business hire. Also, on reviewing fine print found a clause that stated insurance was void if any alcohol had been consumed in 24 hours previous to accident. So that would make for a 'fun' business trip!

Also, hired a car in Melbourne once. A vehicle backed into front and caused significant damage. Found insurance did not cover unknown third party accidents. Got hit for repair and cost of care being off road. While fighting this was back in Melbourne and a woman at my client's office overhead my conversation re accident outside their office and told me she knew who did it as she saw their landscaper back into a car as she was leaving for holidays. All sorted in the end but could have cost my business a lot.

On mentioning this to a Sydney client she told me a risk management assessment by her legal advisers recommended that she did not allow her staff to use hire cars on interstate visits due to the insurance limitations. I remember reading sometime back that Tasmania was the only state that specifically legislated against these shonky practices.

MEMO to SELF: Take many pictures of car including underbody and some with car hire person in frame. Also, video idea sounds like a good idea with image of kilometres included in video.

 

[IrishPete]

I've had cars handed over to me wet, either just washed or in the rain - I think what I have done is noted "car wet, unable to see any damage" on the documentation, in front of the staff.

Last year I returned a car at Dublin Airport (can't remember which firm, if someone wants to know I'll look it up) to be told there was a cut in one of the tyres. There was, but hell I've never checked tyres before, so it may have been there when I collected. I do check now. It wasn't hugely expensive, but it was a lesson.

This year, and of course this is a common one, Budget at Dublin Airport charged me in Au$ without asking me. Apart from an ordinary exchange rate, my credit card charged me an exchange rate again (there's a serious problem with Australian credit cards charging you for exchange, when the transaction was in Au$ but took place overseas.) As I hadn't been asked, which is policy and possibly even law, I contacted them through Facebook and it was reversed and re-charged in Euro.

I also pointed out a faint but long scratch to them at pick up, and a couple of other marks, apologising while doing so, pointing out I'd been hurt previously.

But Budget got me anyway - they had written "return empty" on the contract, and in the month I had it I forgot that they had charged me a deposit for the tankfull, so tried to return it empty. So I got whacked with their high fuel cost (which, to be fair, is also covering staff time to do the refuelling - they're a business, not a charity).

A great little Ford Fiesta Diesel, but poverty pack with manual rear windows and no air-con. But very economical.

Went to the UK mainland for a few days and rented the cheapest possible through Hertz at Prestwick Airport, only to be given a VW Scirocco 2.0TD 6-speed manual - super economical - mostly motorway driving and got between 60 and 70mpg (about 4 or 5L per 100km), excellent for sucha big, fast and comfortable car. I'd seriously consider buying one. Of course I can't, because they aren't sold here. (Nor is the Fiesta Diesel I drove). What IS wrong with Australia car manufacturers and importers? And where's the Panda 4wd Diesel?

The Hertz rental was flawless. (So far, I suppose I could still get speeding tickets or damage bills in the mail).

I do tend to think that car hire is now a competition between the customer and the company - we try to get the rental as cheap as possible, and they try to find ways to get extra money out of us. It doesn't seem like a strategy for happy customers.

 

[Mattyana2003]

Expensive strategy, you normally get the same outcome with a yearly insurance policy after three to four days of hire. Of course with insurance your out of pocket until they pay, I am of the prevention is better than cure brigade, especially with preexisting.

I just pay with my ANZ Platinum which gives domestic insurance for hire cars and saves the expense of getting extra insurance from the hire car co or paying for it separately.

 

[JoKe]

No car hire horror stories from me, we seem to have been fortunate so far here in Oz and in UK and USA! Usually book with Europcar and so far no probs. Alamo in the states from rapid city. South Dakota. Excellent customer service. And the Europa staff t the airport in my home town are also great. it seems that the simplest solution to the "damage" issue is if the car rental place came out with a video camera and took a short video or pics of the car in your presence with you in the pic too. And it was date stamped and signed off on by both parties. Surely this would solve many an issue with the wear and tear policy. A truck hire company did this when we hired a removal truck from them years ago. Made perfect sense to us and we were pleased with the process. I know it adds time to the rental process but if in the long run it saves us some bucks it could be a good thing.