I've been a Hertz Gold customer for over 20 years and never had a hint of a problem, until now. I also get good rates in Australia though the organisation I am affiliated with. I am always fastidious about the condition of a car when renting, ensuring there is no undocumented damage (as best I can in dimly lit garages). I always take photos (including the instruments) before, during and at the end of each rental, but haven't needed to refer to them, until now. I regard myself as a careful driver and have never had an accident or even a speeding ticket in any vehicle (including my own).
So, I was a little taken aback with the treatment I received when returning a rented SUV to the Sydney International Terminal early one morning last week. As usual, I had several photos of the vehicle, although a couple were less clear than I would have liked because in was pitch black in the parking garage where I picked the vehicle up.
When I pulled up at the depot, a Hertz employee pounced on me and started checking the vehicle for damage (in a dimly lit garage). While I was unloading my bags from the rear of the vehicle, the Hertz employee was studying the car’s bonnet. He then pointed out what he said was a slight dent at the front centre of the bonnet, and I said I couldn't really see anything, and in any case nothing happened to the car on my watch.
Well, nothing I could say made any difference to this fixated person, and he promptly annotated the agreement document to the fact that previously undocumented damage had been found and that I would have to pay for it. I documented my views including that I had many photos and would certainly contest any charge for damages. When I later enhanced and scrutinised all the photos, I still couldn't see any damage.
I didn't have to wait long to find that my credit card had been charged with the vehicle LDW excess. However, I thought I'd wait a day or two until Hertz formally contacted me with their decision on this "damage". A couple of days later I received a sheepish email (with a smiley face) from Hertz saying that all charges for this “damage’ had been removed. I can only conclude that the parking garage returns team were completely incompetent or running a scam or Hertz local management were pressing to achieve more "results" and higher short-term income.
In my case all it's done is to lose Hertz my business. I wonder how many others have suffered a similar fate when returning a rental car to Sydney airport.
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