Hertz Apologizes, Promises Refund

Dear Ms. LeBlanc:

Your inquiry regarding damage to the Hertz vehicle which was rented on September 1, 2010 out of our Barajas Airport, has been sent to my attention for further review. Thank you for the opportunity to review your concerns in greater detail, I appreciate your patience in this matter.

Ms. LeBlanc, we apologize for any discrepancies regarding the damages to the vehicle. We have already reached out to our European Operations Manager directly regarding this matter. Your comments have provided us an opportunity to identify where improvements are necessary. We will ensure that our locations are providing full and accurate documentation to support any damage charges.

Due to the circumstances that transpired, a credit of 386.60 EUR is being issued and will be processed to the account billed. The adjustment is being made at this time, but may not appear on the next monthly statement due to billing cut-off dates.

Ms. LeBlanc, we assure you every effort will be made to prevent a situation of this kind in the future. Your business is valued, and we hope you continue to use Hertz for your rental needs.

Sincerely,

Lawanda Huff
Senior Team Performance Leader, Customer Services
The Hertz Corporation
P.O. Box 26120
10401 N. Pennsylvania Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK 73120
U.S.A

Spain Is For Wine Lovers

I was just looking at the photos from my recent trip to Spain and this one made me want to go right back.

Yes, that’s a wine rack in a supermarket with Freixenet cava at 5.25 euros and decent red wines from the area for less than 1 euro a bottle.

And all I managed to get back in my suitcase was a bottle of wine from the Bierzo region and a big chunk of the Galician cheese called tetilla — both long gone now. Adios.

Hertz Investigation Determines Hertz Is Right

The central irony of my dispute with Hertz over its bogus claim of damage to a car I rented in Spain is that I chose Hertz because I considered it more reputable than its competition.

Sadly, not so much.

Yesterday, I received an email at 9:39 a.m. informing me that “Hertz Claims Risk Management in Spain is being asked to make an investigation” of my allegation that the $500 damage claim is false. Today, at 10:34 a.m. I got another email informing me that “We regret, the office in Spain has advised the damage charges are valid and the correct vehicle was rented and shows damages to the vehicle.” (Perhaps it’s more grammatical in Spanish.)

Anyway, that was a quick investigation. But then it saved a lot of time that the investigators would not talk to me or correspond with me directly. And when I called Hertz customer service about this most rapid investigation, I was told that I have no further recourse with Hertz and I will get no further explanation. The customer service representative told me (a tad impatiently because I keep asking all these pesky questions) that I can dispute the charge with my credit card company, which of course I have already done.

So, just to summarize:

Hertz won’t tell me how the photos it provided of the “damage” were time-stamped six hours before I returned the car — as confirmed by the time of return noted on Hertz’s own invoice.

Hertz won’t tell me why it has no photo of the car’s hood, although the company claims there was 196 euros worth of damage to the hood.

Hertz won’t tell me why its photo of a side mirror that it claims I damaged shows a mirror that is shaped differently than the mirror on the car I rented, as I can prove with my own photographs of the car.

Hertz won’t tell me why someone added a description of the alleged damage to a document I had already signed, as I can prove with my own carbon of the original document.

Hertz won’t tell me why its investigators don’t want to see the 16-page refutation of the damage claim that I sent to American Express.

Hertz won’t tell me why its investigators won’t talk to me, confirm that they’ve even seen the evidence I gave customer service or answer my questions.

Oh, Hertz. Can’t you just pretend you made a mistake and that you really weren’t trying to steal from me? Nobody would believe it, but we’d all feel a little better.

JetBlue Offers One-Day Sale

JetBlue is having a one-day “Pop-Up Sale” today, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010.

The fares are valid for travel Oct. 12 to Dec. 15, 2010 with Thanksgiving week blacked out. For many routes, availability is limited to certain days of the week, usually Tuesday and Wednesday. Although JetBlue will start flying Nov. 17 from Bradley International, no sale fares are offered for Bradley.

There are some decent fares from Boston and New York, however. For example, the $79 one-way fare between Boston and Fort Lauderdale comes out to $179 round trip when taxes and fees are added.

Hertz Hits Your Blogger With False Damage Claim

The Hertz car rental agency at Barajas Airport in Madrid is billing me nearly $500 for damage to a rental car. The evidence? Photos that are time-stamped six hours before I returned the car and a blatantly altered document attesting to the car’s condition.

One of the photos is at left, showing the time stamp of 13:17, or 1:17 p.m., on Sept. 6, 2010. Here’s the damage claim from Hertz that states — correctly — that the car was returned at 19:04, or 7:04 p.m., on that date. (I also have a photo of the car taken early in the afternoon in Ponferrada, four hours north of Madrid.)

And I have to say, I’m a little embarrassed that my salvation from these bogus charges will probably rest as much on the mistakes the Hertz franchise made in supporting its false claim as it will on the measures I took to protect myself from it.

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