Convenience can cost you!

Beware when you return your rental car.

We all love the convenience of just dropping off your rental car walking away and leave to get on your way to a flight we have to catch. So, did we until this week.

Fact: We rented a car from Hertz on June 3rd in Colorado Springs for business and dropped it off in Denver June 4th with a full tank of gas. The amount charged at pick up was $94. Today we receive a charge of an additional $511 on our credit card, including 18.8 gallons of gas for $89 for this rental and 676 miles driven. Luckily we have our boarding passes and receipt for filling up right in front of the rental car return at the airport.

Response 1: We called Hertz billing - of course somewhere overseas. Not comprehending what the issue was and politely reading a script about being sorry and that we received the correct rate. Instead of being transferred to a US representative we were hung up on three times. Calling the Denver airport location with their phone number landed us overseas again. We did receive someone on the line who told us:

" Oh yes, this car was rented out again after you dropped it off, but your contract was not closed out so you got charged for the next guys rental. You have to wait about 7 business days until this can be adjusted besides this you have to provide proof of all this."

Response 2: I went only to twitter connecting with Hertz. Previously when they charged two cards on file twice $1500 for the same two months rental they were good at helping. This time I received the response "WOW that's not cool" and that was it.

Now everyone renting a car from Hertz knows when you drive off the lot they check your driver's license to match with the rental record and car you are in. How can a complete stranger drive off the lot with a car being charged to my credit card? How can a car be rented out without the prior contract being closed out?

The charge is not my only concern. What if there is damage to the vehicle? What if this person raked up toll charges? What if he left the car a mess and I get charged another $200 cleaning fees? I don't want to speculate, but to me that almost sounds like someone from within took the car and "enjoyed it for the week".

Mind you, we rent cars in different locations on a monthly basis and about 8 - 9 times a month for travel purposes spending about 35K per year with Hertz and have Presidential member status - I guess it does not matter when it comes to customer service. It remains to be seen what Hertz will do or how they may respond or not.

So our lesson learned is... maybe be old-fashioned and go to the counter to make sure everything is done properly. Even though you will eventually get your money back it will cost you time and aggravation otherwise.