Hertz - damage and excess time questions

[Myrna]

Hubby rented a Hertz car for a week from a Sydney suburb Hertz agency while he was in Australia last month. He accidentally damage the bonnet of the car which he told the office when he returned the car - repair assessed by Hertz to be just over $700 and it was charged to our Amex plat card. We are in the process of putting in a claim with Amex. However, Hertz also charged hubby for one additional hour for returning the car late. This was not true, and we will be writing to Hertz to dispute the amount of over $30 plus GST etc. While this is a not a significant amount, it is a matter of principle and honesty. We have receipt of petrol garage showing when we purchased petrol and photos taken of the dashboard showing the time when we returned the car. The car was due back 10am. We returned the car around 9:05am but no attendant was there to check us in. We went up to reception and told them about the bonnet damage. They said we did not return the car until 10:35am. Question: we could not find an email address for Hertz to send this complaint / dispute. Does anyone know where to look, or have a relevant email address? On the website, there are only telephone numbers, we want it to be in writing. I may have to phone to get the email address? Thanks for any suggestion.
This was the first time after many years we decided to rent from Hertz (Amex plat benefits) and it was a huge disappointment. So, not likely to do it again.

 

[prozac]

This is the email I used successfully when I had an overcharge on a Europe hire. It is the Hertz Australia reservation email - Hertz Reservations <[email protected]>

 

[QF WP]

I've used the form on the Hertz website, click here and then click on "A past rental - billing questions and comments/feedback". Make sure you are signed into your husbands account and it will pre-populate some of the sections.

 

[Myrna]

Many thanks to QF WP for moving the thread.

Thanks to Prozac and QF WP for your replies with helpful suggestions on how to contact Hertz. I will certainly do these. Much appreciated.

 

[Myrna]

Just want to update. I have contacted Hertz as suggested by Prozac and QF WP about the additional hour charged by Hertz in Sydney. However, we have not had much joy. After a week, we received a reply from a Hertz no-reply (!!!) email address in the UK (I guess because we live in the UK and have a UK amex plat card which gave Hertz gold status). The reply was not signed by a person, appeared to be generic in that if a car was returned more than half hour (grace period) than a full hour would be charged.
As I said, while the one hour charge was not a significant amount of money, it was the matter of principle which we wanted to pursue. Any suggestion how to go about escalating this - either Hertz Australia or Hertz UK? Thanks.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Are you hertz gold?

 

[Myrna]

Are you hertz gold?

Yes, both of us are Hertz gold - from Amex plat charge card in the UK.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Yes, both of us are Hertz gold - from Amex plat charge card in the UK.

[email protected] has been of great help to me previously.

 

[Myrna]

[email protected] has been of great help to me previously.

Thanks, Dr Ralph. I have sent an email to the above email but no word yet. Will wait and see. I have read in another Hertz thread that 2 members having some issues with billing and they phoned and got results. I may have to do that next week if nothing from hertz.

Edited: Sorry, just got a reply from ausgold saying they have forwarded our email to hertz Australia customer relation department! Well, maybe they just pass the ball around.

 

[JohnPhelan]

Hubby rented a Hertz car for a week from a Sydney suburb Hertz agency while he was in Australia last month. ............We returned the car around 9:05am but no attendant was there to check us in. We went up to reception and told them about the bonnet damage. They said we did not return the car until 10:35am.

So you went to the Hertz office when you returned the car? Did they not give you a receipt for the rental? (Which would have the time stamped on it.) And normally they would also fill out a damage report.....

 

[Dr Ralph]

Did they not give you a receipt for the rental? (Which would have the time stamped on it.)

Normally they email everything.

 

[Myrna]

So you went to the Hertz office when you returned the car? Did they not give you a receipt for the rental? (Which would have the time stamped on it.) And normally they would also fill out a damage report.....

No receipt for the rental was given, after we returned the car. They did fill out a damage report, but no time stamped either. We have got a receipt from the petrol station where we filled up the rental car just before returning the car - this receipt has got the time 8:49am and date stamped. When we returned the car, there was no attendant at the drive way. We went upstairs to the office and told the receptionist about the damage, she filled out the damage report, came downstairs with us to inspect the damage, and that was it. I should have asked questions about return time and take photos of more things. I did take photos of the dashboard showing the mileage when we picked up the car and when we returned it, but the dashboard had no clock. My iPhone stamped the time taken to be 10:03am when we picked up and 9:03am when we returned - clearly we returned the car an hour before the expiry time!

 

[Myrna]

Normally they email everything.

They did email us the receipt for the car bonnet damage (which also tagged on the extra hour). On that receipt they showed we returned the car at 10:25am (car picked up 9:52am seven days before). We returned the car at 9:03am - not 10:25am as they claimed - we bought and paid for the petrol at 8:49am (we have receipt showing this). We were naïve and did not insist on asking for the time of the return.

 

[QF WP]

This is all the proof you need - right there in your first comments.

They did fill out a damage report, but no time stamped either. We went upstairs to the office and told the receptionist about the damage, she filled out the damage report, came downstairs with us to inspect the damage

The receptionist (as their employee) binds the principal (her employer) as she completed the damage report....just asking her should elicit a truthful response (she was the only one there at that time - she opened up the office that day perhaps).

We have got a receipt from the petrol station where we filled up the rental car just before returning the car - this receipt has got the time 8:49am and date stamped.

The distance between it and the Hertz yard is known in distance and therefore, at that time of morning, expected time taken to travel.

I did take photos of the dashboard showing the mileage when we returned it, but the dashboard had no clock. My iPhone stamped the time taken to be 9:03am when we returned - clearly we returned the car an hour before the expiry time!

The dashboard mileage therefore should match the Invoice mileage exactly. Again, it will confirm show the time taken to get from the service station to the yard.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Myrna, just a random thought about the time discrepancy. You don't mention the specific date of the return of your vehicle, but it isn't connected to a daylight savings issue/clock forward an hour issue is it?

 

[Myrna]

Myrna, just a random thought about the time discrepancy. You don't mention the specific date of the return of your vehicle, but it isn't connected to a daylight savings issue/clock forward an hour issue is it?

Hi Dr Ralph, the rental period was 17th to 25th May - after daylight savings.

 

[Myrna]

This is all the proof you need - right there in your first comments.



The receptionist (as their employee) binds the principal (her employer) as she completed the damage report....just asking her should elicit a truthful response (she was the only one there at that time - she opened up the office that day perhaps).



The distance between it and the Hertz yard is known in distance and therefore, at that time of morning, expected time taken to travel.



The dashboard mileage therefore should match the Invoice mileage exactly. Again, it will confirm show the time taken to get from the service station to the yard.

Thanks, QF WP. I have got a phone number for customer relations at Hertz Australia in Melbourne, and will call them.

 

[Myrna]

Update with good news. Thanks to everyone for replying.

Have spoken to a very helpful lady from Hertz customer service in Melbourne, emailed her the photos of petrol receipt and odometers and within an hour she processed a refund. That was excellent customer service. I guess it is best to follow up with a phone call - as they don't answer emails, or if they do like Hertz UK which was useless. Hubby reckoned customer service in Australia has always been much better than that in the UK. The lady who helped us said normally they would help Australians rental cars overseas. So, I think our case was shuffled to Hertz UK for reply because we live in the UK.

 

[QF WP]

Myrna, nice to see common sense prevail...finally!

 

[Myrna]

Myrna, nice to see common sense prevail...finally!

Thanks, QF WP. The refund processed by the very helpful lady in Hertz customer service in Melbourne was received promptly in our credit card. Then yesterday we received an email from Hertz customer relations in the UK saying the refund was paid - useless really because they did not do anything to help us. The Hertz car rental did not give any point in hubby's hertz account - not that we wanted them because hubby said we would not touch Hertz again.