Recently I took a business trip to Chicago to visit several clients. While there, I had to rent a car from Hertz, rather than the usual Enterprise Rent-a-car that I prefer.
Here are the reasons I won’t be renting from Hertz again:
1) Much more expensive than Enterprise. It was between $20 and $40 per day more expensive with Hertz.
2) “Top up” fuel is crazy expensive. If you don’t bring the car back full (or don’t pay for the suckers game of buying the tank of gas and returning empty), the charge to fill up the car (or even just top it up) was nearly $8 per gallon! I didn’t pay it (brought the car back full as per usual), but it was really an offensive number.
3) And the item that breaks the camel’s back: If you happen to get a violation in the car, of any kind, they will charge you an extra $30! So I got a parking ticket (not unusual in Chicago) and pay it within a day or two of receiving it. More than a month later I get a bill from Hertz saying that since there was a violation, I’m being charged an extra $30. For comparison, I’ve gotten parking tickets before while renting from Enterprise and never received any additional billing. And no, I’m not a serial violator, but when you’re with a client, you don’t necessarily want to race out to move the car.
So there you are. Hertz is now on my boycott list. Hope they enjoy the time there with their Days Inn companion. As an update, I’ve spent dozens of nights in hotels since the Days Inn fiasco, and I have yet to stay at another one.