Beware of Orlando’s Rip-Off Gas Stations

The Orlando Sentinel reports that two gas stations near Orlando International Airport have refused to comply with a local ordinance requiring them to post gas prices that are visible to passing drivers. The story says:

Even though it’s been a year since Orlando passed a law to force the two notoriously high gas stations closest to the airport to post their prices, there’s still no way for potential customers to know the cost of a gallon of gas without pulling up to the pump.

The price the stations were charging on Friday: $5.79 a gallon, in an area where the lowest prices are now around $3.50. Of course, travelers returning to the airport with rental cars need are the ones getting ripped off.

The stations face fines of $250 a day for non-compliance with the sign ordinance. But since they’re charging more than $2 a gallon above the going rate, it’s probably a whole lot more lucrative to continue violating the ordinance. The city says it could shut down the stations by putting liens on them and foreclosing, but it’s not clear how likely or how speedy a resolution that might be.

Here’s hoping there’s punishment in Hell or the next life for the people who abuse travelers like this, but meanwhile let’s keep calling them out and warning each other on the Internet.

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

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.

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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Weekend Car Rentals From Alamo: $20 A Day

Alamo is offering weekend rentals for as little as $20 a day, plus taxes and fees.

The rate for compact cars is $20, mid-size $24, full-size $28 and premium $30. Cars may be picked up as early as 9 a.m. Thursday and must be returned by the pickup time on Monday. The offer is valid from August 19, 2010 to September 20, 2010, and reservations must be made 24 hours in advance. Use rate ID: 7015392.

For example, you could get a Nissan Versa or similar compact car at Bradley International Airport from Friday to Monday for $60, plus $26.92 in taxes and fees for a total of $86.92. A premium vehicle — a Buick LaCrosse or something similar — would total $123.31.

Weekend Car Rentals: $15 Per Day (Plus Taxes And Fees)

Budget car rental is offering compact cars for $15 a day, Thursday through Monday. You must reserve by Sunday, May 9, for a rental before June 30, and the rental period must include a Saturday night.

Taxes and fees are, of course, extra. For example, a compact car rented from Thursday to Sunday at Bradley International Airport will cost $45 for three days, plus 26.37 in taxes and fees for a total of $71.37.

Travelzoo, which is promoting the deal, has a nice summary of the details. Budget has all the fine print. Use code R222505.

Cheap One-Way Car Rentals From Florida

Tom Parsons of Best Fares recently published a great idea for a spring vacation: take a one-way flight to Florida, rent a car for as low as $10 a day (plus  taxes and fees) from Alamo and drive it back home.

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Where Rental Cars Are Cheapest

With the price of rental cars eating up an increasing share of our vacation budgets, Hotwire has released a handy list of the 10 cities in the United States where rental rates are lowest:

1. Orlando, FL
2. San Diego, CA
3. Honolulu, HI
4. Las Vegas, NV
5. Seattle, WA
6. San Francisco, CA
7. Tampa, FL
8. Los Angeles, CA
9. Phoenix, AZ
10. Miami/Fort Lauderdale, FL

The ranking is derived from the rates available via Hotwire for the month of January.

Branching Out With Priceline For Rental Cars

My husband and I have been using Priceline for years to bid for hotels. Today we took the plunge and used Priceline’s opaque bidding engine to book a rental car, and we got a terrific deal.

First we booked a very nice beach resort on the Big Island of Hawaii for a heavily discounted $104 a night, including taxes, well under half the lowest rate on the resort’s Web site. This was the culmination of a carefully researched and implemented bidding strategy aimed at getting into that particular resort, although we knew we might end up at another. (We figured we could adjust to any resort-level beach hotel.)

When we got the hotel confirmation, it included a link to bid on a rental car. We low-balled with a bid of $12 a day for a compact car, and got that, too. With taxes and fees we’ll pay$136 for the whole week, a savings of 70 percent on the rental company’s best Web price.

I’ve long resisted using Priceline’s blind bidding for rental cars, in part because of strong brand loyalties. I want to pick the company. But Priceline uses only major companies, and the deal in this case was extraordinary. I think I’ll be trying this again.

Convenience, Fees And Rental Cars

When the travel industry tries to sell us “convenience” or “peace of mind,” I think it’s  fair to assume that we are being hosed. 

My latest brush with “convenience” came in the form of a sticker on the windshield of an Avis rental car in Norfolk, Va.: “Your car is enabled with etoll. Just drive through!”  Smaller print revealed that we’d pay not just for the tolls but also $2.50 a day for every day we used the thing. Which we didn’t.

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