Do you have a gold membership with Hertz? It's free and they give you their "vip" service. When I joined their gold service club and we picked up our rental car at the airport in Florida they check you through ahead of the line in their VIP area and they upgraded us to a town and country instead of a caravan... plus we didn't have to fill out any paperwork because all our info was already in the system. No hassle at the return counter either... We've rented from other companies in POP but haven't tried Hertz there yet. Good luck but I suggest you contact their main customer service dept rather than dealing with the local desk agent... seems like he's on a power trip.
- Thread starter Man?el
- Start date
Car rental problem with Hertz
An ounce of prevention.....
You need to watch your back at all times with car rental companies in the DR. Taking photos of the rental on all sides and interior at the point of pickup should be done. It may be little of nuisance to do at the time, especially after a tiring plane trip and the travel inconveniences, but it will be a wallet saver in the end. Might be good to get the rental office in the photo background. *Another trick to assist you is obtain that day's copy of a national newspaper and make sure the front page of the paper shows along side the rental when a photo is taken. It provides a time stamp (date) of the condition of the rental at pick up.
*PJT did this when his imported vehicle was placed in Customs storage years ago. When the vehicle was collected there was no damage or theft of parts. An ounce of prevention.....
Regards,
PJT
You need to watch your back at all times with car rental companies in the DR. Taking photos of the rental on all sides and interior at the point of pickup should be done. It may be little of nuisance to do at the time, especially after a tiring plane trip and the travel inconveniences, but it will be a wallet saver in the end. Might be good to get the rental office in the photo background. *Another trick to assist you is obtain that day's copy of a national newspaper and make sure the front page of the paper shows along side the rental when a photo is taken. It provides a time stamp (date) of the condition of the rental at pick up.
*PJT did this when his imported vehicle was placed in Customs storage years ago. When the vehicle was collected there was no damage or theft of parts. An ounce of prevention.....
Regards,
PJT
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I believe my Dad has a membership with Avis. They chose Hertz because of the Air France "deal."
On a 2012 trip, we used Alamo's services, they charged me for an extra drop-off fee when not returning to the same pickup location. I said it wasn't disclosed up front as the others did. They reimbursed me.
We'll see what Hertz comes back with this time.
On a 2012 trip, we used Alamo's services, they charged me for an extra drop-off fee when not returning to the same pickup location. I said it wasn't disclosed up front as the others did. They reimbursed me.
We'll see what Hertz comes back with this time.
I would have told him that he would pay the charge when the DR freezes over and if this bozo tried to charge him he would have his credit card company deny the charge. Sometimes with these types of people you need to fight back and back them down.
That's not brilliant......
The minute they find out the complaint came from the Dominican Republic....
They'll burst out laughing....roll they're eyes and DO NOTHING
And they would have laughed in your face and charged your credit card. You can have a dispute via bank/cc company and the merchant would argue that you lost the rug and therefore have to pay, and here is their proof and you have none, therefore you lose. If you get nowhere by complaining to their headoffice, just consider it a lesson learned and move on...
Yes, here's the deal. You leave the car to walk inside thinking that it safe. While inside, el amigo or even the inspector himself grabs just one floor mat. You end up paying, and they "discard" the floor mats which end up being hawked on a busy intersection the next day.
Moral of the story: either don't leave the car until you check out or keep the keys and lock the doors/trunk until you do. If they want the keys, tell them they need to inspect the car first. Let the know you aren't stupid.
The rental agent couldn't care less if you charge it back. It doesn't effect them so they will just process anyway.
Well, the franchise operators may not. BUT the mother company SHOULD. Obviously, a bad experience in one country can lead a customer to avoid dealing with the entire chain, worldwide. That is why mother companies have a number of safeguards to prevent franchise operators from damaging the reputation of their brand.
The factor that may have made the rental so expensive was in all likelihood the drop-off charge (assuming unlimited mileage). There are about 400 Kms (250 miles) between the pick-up and drop-off locations. Presumably they would have to send the car back to PUJ with a driver (and the driver would need to get back to POP), which is certainly expensive to them. By a coincidence another customer may want to pick up in POP to drop off in PUJ, but they cannot count on that coincidence within a short time.
As for the mat, it never ceases to amaze me the EXTRAORDINARY UNFAIRNESS of people around here to anyone representing (however indirectly) the "local" side. Fact is you weren't with the car 24/7 during the rental period. It is perfectly POSSIBLE that your father lost the mat without realizing it. How? Who knows? Possibly a petty thief may have stolen it. Yes, petty-thief steal such things, if they can get away with it. Perhaps the car was left open and unattended for a short time and the thief only had time to take one mat. If anyone washed or cleaned up the car (including your father himself) that is another scenario in which the mat may have (accidentally or not) get separated from the car. There are all sort of possibilities, that are more plausible than the franchise operators or their employees setting up an elaborate missing mat scheme.
The franchise operators are probably relatively wealthy individuals TRUSTED by Hertz with their brand. For the employees, it is at best a high-risk low reward thing, for which they could easily lose their jobs and severely affect their marketability for other jobs. Sometimes, the simplest explanation is the right one: your father accidentally lost the mat (or had it stolen). Why not?
according to the OP the receiving office said it wasn't noted on the form. how can he be charged for a floor mat that the company has no proof was present when he left with the car? I rent cars regularly. it's a toss up on whether or not there are mats.