Complaint Review: Hertz Car Rental-Reagan Nt'l Airport - Arlington Virginia

All I wanted was a car for 3.5 days in the Washington D.C. area. Instead, Hertz took 16 hours from my life that I will never get back. Because they accepted my bid from Priceline for the rental, I was treated like scum. By that I mean that I was deliberately issued one of their “shop cars.” That is, I was given one of their cars that was supposed to be in the shop. It even had written across the back window in blue grease pencil, “broken right tail light.” They parked in a darkened parking space hoping I wouldn’t notice. I didn’t until after I drove off the property.

Then, I noticed the cracked tail light. I didn’t know for sure if it really worked and I had three concerns: 1) It didn’t fully work. 2) The glass/plastic would fall out as I turned a corner. 3) I would be pulled over by the police. My idea was that Hertz could simply swap out my current car with a different one at a pre-determined time the next morning. It would be a simple fix.

I called Hertz using the corporate number on my reservation/contract cards. A recording said that because of my reservation number, corporate Hertz would NOT talk to me about my reservation. (I have learned that they code Priceline, hotwire and other online deals with these numbers.) The local office is in charge of these reservations and often is the final say on accepting these reservations. Hertz’s dirty little secret is that we are not “real” customers. Often they overbook us, hence the need to use “shop cars” when they oversell car reservations.

So, I tried to use the local number that I found buried in those weird cards given to me with my reservation. This number had several extensions that I was to hit if I had a problem with my reservation. The last one, 831 always ended up with lost and found. Three others were rarely answered. At around 10:30 that night (I had received my car at close to 7 pm and started calling at 10 pm) I had a live person. This person could understand my contract number. But, suddenly she couldn’t understand the spelling of my name (which was on the contract) until I repeated it 6 times. I asked her why. She said because she was in a room with a lot of other people on the phone.

I didn’t hear any noise in the background. I told her about my car swap idea. She said, “no, that will never happen.” Then, she pretended once again to not hear me. I suggested that she use her headphones which would eliminate that issue. Then she asked me to repeat my first name 5 times. I asked to speak with her supervisor. For this request as with my swap out idea, she had no problem hearing me. She said I could be connected at any time. I said, “great, how about now?” She said, “no.” I couldn’t be connected until she had completed a report about my issue and she would never do that. Again, I would like to note that she was hearing me fine now. I asked her to do the report. She again refused and hung up.

Multiple calls for the next 90 minutes or so yielded nothing but recorded Hertz ads, a hold into nothingness, or lost and found. So, I called Priceline. Someone in another country politely put me on hold while they researched my issue with their supervisor. The gentleman came back on line and said no, as his supervisor reminded him, per his manual, only Hertz could help me and I should call them. He connected me and I once again reached lost and found.

It was near midnight now, I called the emergency road crew which is charged with helping you when your car breaks down or you are in an accident. They are a first rate group although they couldn’t understand why I didn’t talk with the local office who they said was open 24 hours. I had no answer for that. They also thought my idea to swap cars made sense. After multiple calls, I convinced them to come and get my broken, unsafe car. They expedited a tow truck and logged an incident report. 40 minutes later, the tow arrived. His supervisor called before to make sure I was aware that he was on his way. The process was both courteous and professional. They had offered to give me a ride to the airport. They assumed that because the desk was open for 24 hours, I would receive a car immediately. I voiced reservations about this plan multiple times, but ultimately gave in just to get this ridiculous issue over with.

The tow truck driver dropped me off. I walked into a dim garage. It was 2:10 in the morning. I had to walk through the shadows across the garage to area where the darkened reservation desk sat by other rental car companies’ darkened desks. No one was there. The Reagan Airport was closed until 4:30 AM. There was no shuttle, no skyway to the closed terminal. I was on my own in a dark garage and in a strange city. Shadowy people walked through the garage. OK, now I was afraid. Still hopeful that I would find a Hertz employee, I went to the second floor as I was told that was where I was supposed to return the rental I no longer had possession of. I also saw a sign that stated that Hertz was in the process of moving operations from the first floor to the second. I found a Hertz office desk on the second floor which had a light on over it, but no one was there. It was not anything like a check-in counter, rather a simple desk. I checked it multiple times over the next hour in the hope that someone would come. No one did.

Feeling panic, I called the number for rental issues and its five extensions multiple times. I never got an answer. Finally, I called the emergency roadside service. It was 2:31 am. This time I was told by them that there was no 24 hour desk. The person left at 2:30 am. I could only wonder how this person managed to be invisible. They asked me if I felt my unsafe. I said, “Yes.” This person offered to call me a cab. I didn’t believe that she would do it, but I said, “yes, please.” She said that Hertz would pay it, but of course they couldn’t actually pay it now, I would need to get a receipt and ask them later. I didn’t care, I wanted out. She offered to pay one night’s hotel, but I said that I had a hotel, I just wanted to get back to my room. She called back a few minutes later promising me a cab in about 15 minutes. At that point all I could say was, “I don’t know what to say.” What I meant was I didn’t know why Hertz had done this to me instead of simply swapping out the car and I didn’t know if I could believe her. I called two members of my family who were not local and told them where I was in case I didn’t make it back to the hotel. They were very upset.

I called the cab company who answered promptly. (This is the company Hertz should benchmark for customer service.) The driver arrived as promised but I couldn’t find him. I was frightened, waiting for my purse with tablet, wallet and phone to be stolen. I was defeated. Talking on my cell phone, he coached me through the garage to where his cab sat. This was a completely different area then where I had been dropped off. He was very nice and assured me that Hertz would make everything ok. I bit my lip.

It was 3:30 am when I arrived back at my hotel. The desk clerk look at me puzzled, “where is your car?”

“I didn’t get one,” I answered. He looked at me shocked.

I finally fell asleep after 4 am. I had plans at 8 am that morning. I slept through them. I finally awoke about 9:30. I took a shower before I once again began to deal with Hertz. After 6 calls, I finally got through. Three of the prior calls I was put on indefinite hold without speaking to anyone, the others didn’t even get that far. My 7^th got through. I don’t know why. The person I spoke to upon learning my name, didn’t ask for my contract number. She mentioned that everyone knew that the airport office closed at 2 am. (This is the third different time regarding the office hours given to me.) The claim was also made that it was a little confusing because Hertz was moving from the first to the second floor of the garage. The fact that she didn’t ask for my contract number indicated that they had something written up, likely beyond the incident report from roadside service. I was put on hold for 10 minutes. The person came back on hold and told me that either one of two people whose names were provided, would call me back. They were allegedly supervisors. It was 11:50 am. I had first tried to fix this issue at 10 pm.

I had lunch plans and WALKED out of the hotel to lunch. The hotel graciously cancelled my parking charge for the previous night. I handed them a badly soiled parking voucher which I had spilled diet Pepsi on. You see I bought the soda from the front desk at 1:30 am so that I could be alert when I drove my new rental car home. I thought I’d sealed the bottle when I put it in my purse and got into the tow truck for the ride to the airport. Not so, it dumped Pepsi over my entire purse’s contents. I discovered this while talking with Hertz about the cab the night before. Several items in my Coach purse were ruined.

On my way to lunch I longing looked at an Enterprise rental office just around the corner from my hotel that I had no previous idea was there. I reached the restaurant and proceeded to have lunch with my adult daughter. Just after 1 pm, my cell phone rang. It was one of the previously named supervisors. The restaurant was very noisy so I walked outside with the call. The Hertz manager claimed to be totally unfamiliar with any issues with my car as if she had no idea why she was calling. She asked me where the car they originally gave me was. OK, this was the last and final straw. I told her in a firm voice that Hertz had now had possession of this car for 12 hours, much longer than I’d ever had it after renting just the previous night.

I mentioned to her that I was tired of being punished for using Priceline to secure the reservation. She said, “Oh, that’s not true. We don’t do that. But, I can’t give you any discount or refund because you booked through Priceline.” Her logic was beyond ridiculous. I realized that somehow, I had entered Hertz hell and I wasn’t sure if I could get out. She said no car for me unless I gave her names of every employee I had talked to or dealt with. She did throw out the word sorry just before she made her demand, but somehow I believed that her interest was solely in blaming others when it was clearly a corporate and local management issue. I lost it. I admit it. Sleep deprived after traveling cross country the day before and being left at a garage in the middle of the night, I was finally MAD. I chanted multiple times; “Get me a car.” I chanted this over her repeating the demand that I give her names. I’m not proud of it, but I was shaking and felt like I was going to have a heart attack, I was so upset and stressed out by the lack of empathy or concern. This was harassment. I hung up.

She called back and due to concerns for my own health, I handed the phone to my adult daughter. This supervisor continued to make demands for names and explicit detail about all that had transpired. She forgot to throw out the word sorry this time. Maybe it was my daughter refusing to back down, I’m not sure, but she finally asked for my hotel address. This was the identical location where Hertz had picked up my car early that same morning and included in the incident report she had in front of her. I told my daughter the address. The supervisor demanded to know if the hotel was on a Street, Drive or Boulevard. I didn’t know and begged her to check it. I still had not been in town even 24 hours. The Hertz supervisor claimed to not have any computer access so I had to do it. Why did she think I had computer access in a restaurant? It seems less probable that I would have a bank of computers with me in a restaurant booth. But, this is how Hertz “customer service” people think: you service them.

I arbitrarily picked “Boulevard.” It proved to be correct. She said she would see about a car. 20 minutes later, she called back and demanded that I return to the hotel immediately to get the car. She said the “could” give the keys to the front desk, but she didn’t want to do that. At this point I am thinking does she think I actually had anything to do today beyond this? Perhaps I flew here for no reason? Disgusted, I expedited my meal and check and we rushed to the hotel where we waited close to 15 minutes for the car. She told me I should be happy because she found me a 2017 car. “So,” I said thinking that my husband has been driving a 2017 car since last May. “All I want and have ever wanted is a SAFE car,” I said. “I don’t care what year it is.”

So, at least she was proud of herself. She suggested at one point to my daughter that she personally deliver the car. “No!” I said. “I do not want to see her. Trust me, it is a very bad idea.” So, I think she may have been in the shadow car, but a wonderful person handed me the keys. She was terrific, thoughtful and I admit, I gave her a hug I was so excited for this ordeal to be over. It was now close to 2 pm.

16 hours just to do what I had originally asked. Mind numbing why Hertz put me through what they did. But, they weren’t totally finished . . .

I returned the car 90 minutes before it was due per my original contract. A nice Hertz guy was talking to me at the rear of the car and offering to help with my luggage. The woman who was supposed to check me out stood at the front of the car. She leaned in and verified that I had refilled the gas which I had. She said something and I nodded. She handed me a slip of paper and said, “that will be $330.” Stunned, I told her, “nope, not gonna happen. I refuse to pay nothing now or ever.” She told me I had to go inside and discuss it with the desk. It wasn’t her problem. I said that it wasn’t mine either and handed her the cards that contained my original reservation. She scanned it and said, “oh, you’re right. You don’t owe anything. Why did you tell me you were Cathy Summers?” I looked at her puzzled. Why would someone else’s name be attached to my car? “It’s your fault for nodding at me and making me think you were her.” But what about the fact that your scan gave you someone else’s name? That’s my fault? The italics are because those were my thoughts, I had no energy to say anything. You can’t argue stupid.

The day after I returned home, I received a survey regarding my experience because I am a Hertz gold member. I was not very positive in general, but the survey told me a lot. It told me that corporate measures and rewards local management on speed of check-in, speed of return and that’s about it. No questions were asked about the quality of car I was given or if the car was anything like I was promised. Nor did it ask about the local policy to screw folks who book on Hotwire or Priceline. Nor did it ask about how no one answered the phone most of the time or you were put on hold the other times they did answer; or even the blame game and rudeness of local supervisors.

During this whole ordeal, I was told at one point, that they answered the local trouble shooting number 24 hours per day, then another employee said that it was answered until midnight, but my experience was not after 10:30 pm at least not by a live person. Hertz hides better than any company I know behind robo answering that directs you to hit a number and/or extension. It is one of their most often used torture devices.

Later that day, I got a generic, insincere email from the Regional Manager that stated:

“Dear Customer,

Thank you for completing the survey regarding your recent rental with Hertz.

As a Gold member, your satisfaction with your experience is important to us. On behalf of our entire team, I would like to apologize for not exceeding your expectations. We will be using the feedback you gave us to implement improvements to ensure we offer a better rental experience for our customers in the future.

Our aim is to resolve your concerns so that we can ensure that you have an extraordinary experience on your next visit.

If I can provide any assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me directly at [email protected].

Sincerely,

JORDAN M RILEY

Location Manager”

In Mr. Riley’s defense, he certainly provided me an extraordinary experience. One that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I told him that I hold him personally accountable for claiming to not know what happened—that was why his employee refused to write up a report—and allowing it to happen.

When I complained that his email was insincere and ridiculous this was his answer:

“I do apologize for what occurred during your previous rental. I looked through the notes for the vehicle and do not see any maintenance issue and did not have a description of what happened in your feedback. Could you explain to me what happened? We definitely do not want our customers to believe that we are ok with renting faulty vehicles if anything is wrong with them.”

I can only believe what I actually experience Mr. Riley, while you continue to deny it ever happened. Shame on you. Shame on Hertz corporate. Shame on the lack of training given your managers and supervisors. Remember there are witnesses, multiple ones. I also advised him to get out of his office so that he can fully experience the hell that is Hertz in Reagan Int’l Airport. (Note: if you pay full price, you may get great “service”. Miracles happen.)