Hertz

Pros: Has a lost and found department.
Cons: Lost items of any value don't find their way to the lost and found.

I left an $800.00 digital camera on the back seat of my Hertz rental when I returned it to the Savannah Airport. It never turned up in lost and found. I know...what kind of idiot leaves stuff in their rental car!? That's not a reason to get ripped off.
The manager assured me the car was properly cleaned and prepped before it went out again. I can only conclude that some Hertz prep people have nice collections of "lost" items at home. Why bother with the charade of having a lost and found department when lost items find their way into Hertz employees homes.
It's disappointing when management works so hard to cover a dishonest employee's butt. It makes you think they're all in on these kinds of thefts together.
Remember the guy who left a $500,000 violin in a NYC cab? The cab company got the violin back to its owner. Moral of the story: you can trust New York City cabbies more than Hertz employees

Pros: Pros? There are pros with this company?
Cons: Disgraceful customer "service."

Renting from Hertz was a long, laborious task. The day after I returned the car they "found" some damage to the bumper...hmmmn, no one noticed at the time of return. When I protested I went through 4 or 5 different people on the phone, was told to call back, left messages that were never returned, and then they slapped another $450 on my credit card. It is several months later and this situation is still outstanding.

Pros: was a good deal through hotwire.com fast, friendly support
Cons: trying to scam me out of money, closed on Saturday for support

My experience with Hertz wasn't bad, until I got my receipt. We went on a family vacation, everything was normal, nice car, good service. We had an early flight (6am departure) and dropped the keys and form into a drop slot at the Hertz counter, nobody was in yet. Today I received a letter from Hertz telling me they charged my card $124 for gas. We rented a SUV through Hotwire, and got a great deal. It was a Ford Explorer and I Think the gas tank was about 22 gallons, which is what I get if I divide the $124 charged by the $5.49/gallon price on the receipt. I called them today to dispute this claim, since we had just filled up the car about 10 miles from the Airport, but their office is closed on Saturdays apparently.
Updated 4/5/04 I just called Hertz and the very helpful customer service associate credited my card back without a fuss, and even apologized, as in said "I'm sorry". This is a bonus, but I'm highly suspicious that they did it in the first place.

Pros: Hertz customer service was great with resolving problems. 
Cons: Had a malfunction with the security system on our vehicle. 

On the third day of our vacation, our rental vehicle had a malfuntion with the security system.  The car wouldn't start and the engine shut down.  Hertz customer service tried resolving the problem over the phone, sent an emergency vehicle to assist.  After that didn't work they sent a cab to pick us up and go to the airport for a new vehicle, as it was after hours and all the other offices were closed.  We got a new vehicle and had the cab fare reimbursed within a short time. 

The biggest PRO was after I realized I left my cell phone in the 2nd rental car.  The lost & found customer service agent found the vehicle, put a hold on it, had it searched and found my phone!  I was so relieved.  They also overnighted my phone back to me without a fee.  In spite of fluke with the security feature malfuntion, I would definitely rent from Hertz again.  I thought my phone and MP3 player loaded with awesome music was a gonner.  Not so, thanks to Hertz and honest employees. 

Pros: good service, fast returns
Cons: none

Rented a car online from the hertz website, which at the time was the cheapest out of all the rental car agencies. Arrived at the airport in Jackson, MS. I got upgraded to full size for free, they had no economy cars left, and got an additional 10% off for my AAA membership. Returning was fast and easy, It was all in all a good experience.

Pros: outstanding service
Cons: not enough info abt model groups

I work for National/Alamo/Guy Salmon car rental so i went ahead to book a Mercedes E-class on staff rate(£210) for the weekend. Next day my sixth sense suddenly aurged me to find out rates for same model elsewhere. Only then i found out that Hertz's rate for the same time was £165, which ofcourse made me cancel my staff rate booking with National/Alamo/Guy Salmon and book with Hertz.

I called Hertz twice to find if the rate was really true. The service i received from their reservation dept was outstanding compared to National/Alamo/Guy Salmon.

I would recommed Hertz compared to National/Alamo/Guy Salmon.

Avoid using National/Alamo due to their poor service level. Avis for being really expensive.

Pros: I absolutely and positively have nothing good to say about these people. They are inept.
Cons: I would never recommend them to anyone.

Hertz was recommended by the airlines and we were excited at how easy it was... we gave them the reservation number and we were ready to go. We brought the car back and dropped the keys off at the quick-return box. When I went online for my receipt, I discovered they charged us $100 extra as a misc expense - no explanation. An email from the Customer Service told me since we didn't return the keys they were charging us $100 for a new set and if I didn't like it, I should call the rental location. Good luck. First I called and they put me on hold for a manager. It's long distance, and ten minutes later I'm still holding. So I call back and the manager is nowhere to be found, but he'll call me back. It's a good thing I'm not holding my breath! I'm so angry that they lost the keys and I have to pay.

Pros: none
Cons: screwed by Hertz franchisee in Canada (Hurontario Novotel Hotel, Mississauga, ON)

As a gold members who regularly rents from Hertz on business, I would have imagined that they would stand up for me when a Hertz franchisee in Canada (Hurontario Novotel Hotel, Mississauga, ON) screwed me.

The rental agent gave me an unwashed car and did not bother to do a walk-around (my mistake too since I should have insisted on it). While returning, it was raining but still he insisted on walking around. He then pointed at some ‘scratch’ on the car’s door. When I mentioned the fact that I could not see it, he insisted on its existence and said that I would have to bend and see at an angle. I took the car back home, took a digital photo before returning it.

Later when I saw my credit card bill, there was a charge of $200 from Hertz!

I wrote to them and to my credit card company. Hertz corporate customer service said that they couldn’t help because I had to deal with the franchisee!

Can anyone help ?! Could I take them to small-claims court?!

Pros: Nothing compared to other rental companies
Cons: Customers become victims

I rented a car from Hertz in a southwestern town -- going there solely for business purposes. I purchased insurance since I didn't have personal insurance at the time. My co-worker dented the fender. Hertz refused to cover the claim because someone else was driving. They said they WOULD HAVE if I had just told them the rental was for business purposes. The fact that I told them this afterward didn't seem to matter to them -- It's just one of those messy *legal* facts they'd rather ignore.

Anyway, I've gotten letters from lawyers and collection agencies about every 6 months for the past 5 years. They have refused to go after my former employer (who's really the responsible party, since I and the driver were operating within the scope of the job).

Change 2 letters and the name will fit better: JERKZ!

Pros: absolutely none!
Cons: "con" just about sums up my first (and last) experience with this company

I recently booked a car with Hertz via Opodo's website. Payment was taken from my debit card. However, when I turned up to collect the car, I was asked to show the *credit* card I'd booked with, and since I don't have (or need) a credit card, Hertz refused to rent me the car. I had to make expensive last-minute arrangements for the family to reach the airport -- and nearly had to cancel the holiday altogether. I'm in the process of claiming, of course, and we'll see how well Hertz handle that (I'll report back here). In the meantime, anyone making web bookings should beware that you could end up getting left stranded as I was.

Pros: easy to pay online
Cons: if things don't go right, don't expect anything

I prepaid a rental on the net with this bunch of corporate gangsters

When i arrived to pick the car up with my wife and three children they refused me a car as i did not have a credit card, in fact we do not have a credit card only a debit card which i used to pay online with.
After reading the small print , it says they do not accept debit cards.....well why did they take my money?
After asking for a refund i received a e-mail bluntly stating.... on this occasion no refund is due.

Well so much for customer care, what a joke

Pros: Nothing.
Cons: See Comments.

Do not believe anything that the people in Reservations tell you about rates.  Evidently, they do not know what they are talking about.  Customer Service has jacked me around for $45 credit that even the Reservation Department finally admitted was due back to me based on the information they originally gave me.  All the calls I have made to Customer Service has cost them more than $45 in salary to their ignorant Customer Service reps who only know how to transfer you to someone else and then you keep repeating the information.  
Just BEWARE!!  I should have been prepared for this when we went to pick up our car that was PREPAID and they did not have it available.

Pros: Car was clean.
Cons: Long wait, terrible customer service, chaotic return process.

After waiting in line for 30 minutes (and we were next in line!), we came face to face with someone who looked human, but acted and spoke like a robot. It was very disheartening to wait in line for so long and then be treated like we weren't worth speaking to like human beings. It almost felt like we were being hustled, with the representative trying to upsell us on everything, and giving us no time to ask questions during her rehearsed routine. The return process was very confusing and disorganized, although the representative who finally scanned our car was helpful and efficient (once we got him over to our car). Never again will I willingly rent from this company.

Pros: I didn't find any Pros.
Cons: Won't have your car ready at Club Gold area.
Hertz is "sold out" of cars?

As a Hertz #1 Club Gold member I must say this is one club not worth the dues.  First time renting a car, Hertz didn't have my car at the Club Gold area.  They explained to me it was because Hertz "activates" the membership only after the first rental.  I've never heard of such a thing!  A second time I tried to make reservations to rent a car at the San Diego airport Hertz had NO cars available.  I mean none, zip, zero cars.  A Club Gold member wanting to rent a car for a week from a large car rental company and they don't have any cars? Unbelievable! 

Pros: none
Cons: Untrustworthy, rude and overpriced.

Prepaid online (never do this!) for a trip to Ireland but my schedule forced me to return the car several days early and I was told I would not receive a refund for the days even though I told them about the schedule change prior to taking the car. I should have just cancelled the contract - it would have been cheaper. Their website is deceptive and charged my credit card when all I wanted was to reserve a car. The car was smaller than I had requested. I called to complain and the contact was rude and defensive from the beginning and why not, they already had my money. Never again Hertz!