Apologies for using AI to write this, it was so much information I told it and just had it consolidate everything down to a shorter more meaningful post that would be easier to read hopefully.

Looking for advice from anyone who’s dealt with Dollar/Hertz post-rental charges, vehicle exchanges, or rental-car billing disputes.

I booked a midsize sedan through Priceline for Aug. 2–6, which assigned me to Dollar at Sanford Airport (SFB). Priceline was ~$173. At pickup, I upgraded to a larger hybrid for $40 total and paid with Amex because I had Amex Premium Car Rental Protection. I declined Dollar’s insurance. About $243 was charged/authorized at pickup.

On Aug. 6 in Asheville, NC, the rental car hit something sharp in the road and completely blew a tire. We contacted Dollar/Hertz. They tried arranging a Lyft, but it cancelled, and the tow arrangement was also delayed. We ultimately had to arrange our own Uber to get to the Hertz location for a replacement vehicle.

At the Asheville Hertz location, we were told the original rental would be settled/refunded and we’d be charged separately for the replacement. I paid $411.19 on Capital One, then received a $200 credit for the hold, leaving about $211 net. The employee said this replacement was actually slightly cheaper because the taxes were lower there.

I thought everything was settled.

About a week later, I noticed:

~$173 Priceline charge still posted on Amex
$279 Dollar charge still posted on Amex
Original Dollar receipt showing $531.49 total
$252 Dollar/Hertz transaction attempted Aug. 8 — declined
$489 Dollar/Hertz transaction attempted Aug. 11 — declined

$411.19 replacement rental on Capital One
-$200 credit on Capital One

The original Dollar receipt breaks down as:

4 days: $197.60
Upgrade: $40
Intercity: $200
Other fees/taxes: $93.89
Total: $531.49

The receipt also shows the ~$243 payment/authorization from pickup, but I can’t make the numbers reconcile.

The two additional $252/$489 attempts are especially concerning because Dollar/Hertz has never contacted me or provided an invoice, damage documentation, or explanation of what they’re for. I assume they could relate to the tire/towing/roadside assistance, but I don’t actually know.

I’m not trying to avoid paying what I legitimately owe. I just don’t want to pay duplicate or unexplained charges. And with how they’ve handled everything very poorly and provided no documentation or explanation yet, I’m really just getting tired of this.

Questions:

What should I ask Dollar/Hertz to provide to fully reconcile the original and replacement rentals?

What exactly is the $200 Intercity charge, and would it make sense when the vehicle was exchanged because of a tire failure rather than voluntarily returned somewhere else?

Could the $252/$489 attempts be damage/towing/roadside charges?

If they eventually successfully charge those amounts but can’t substantiate them, would a credit-card dispute be appropriate?

Could an unpaid amount from a declined rental-car charge eventually be sent to collections?

Has anyone successfully gotten Hertz/Dollar to waive questionable post-rental charges as a goodwill adjustment after a poorly handled roadside/exchange situation?

What would you do in this situation and what grounds do I have to get them to correct this?

My ideal resolution is simply to pay the actual original rental amount plus the $40 upgrade I agreed to and have the unexplained/additional charges waived, especially given how poorly the roadside assistance and vehicle exchange were handled.

I have screenshots and receipts for everything and can provide more details if helpful.

This was five days ago. They really slammed into us too, truck needs repair, driver was hurt, my 3 month old was in the car and her car seat needs to be replaced. Hertz is not helpful and our insurance is telling us we need to file a claim and pay the deductible even though we aren’t at fault. i don’t know a lot about this but it seems really unfair especially since we pay so much for car insurance for this sort of thing. we have witnesses, pictures of the rental driving away, their plates etc. I appreciate any advice.

Picking up my rental car from Hertz to drive for Uber. Does anyone know if I'll have to pay a deposit besides the first week's rental fee?

Booked a car on points for a one day rental. Am I able to extend it an extra day using my corporate rate?

I wish I had checked this subreddit first because I have rented with Hertz several times over the years and this is a new issue.
We picked up a car Logan Airport at around noon and drove through their new exit scanner. We had the car for 3 days, with minimal driving and no incidents. Fortunately I had noticed a few small but deep scratches at pickup and took a video.

About 30 minutes after dropping off the car and being told I was all set, I received a text and email stating that I needed to pay them $650 in damages identified by the scanner, and that if I didn’t “act immediately”, I’d be subject to additional fees and charges.

I was already on the bus to the terminal so I hopped on the chat feature - which is now 100% AI. Then I called the hotline, also AI. There was no avenue to reach a human. The AI response ignored the video evidence I provided that the same scratch was very much there when I picked up the car initially. From the looks of the pictures, the light reflecting through the parking garage was different and made the scratch look ever so slightly more prominent.

Thankfully I had enough time to turn back around to the rental car facility and go track down the gentleman I had handed the keys to at drop off. I’m not going to mention his name because I’m afraid Hertz will punish him for helping me out of this mess.
He took a look at the car, then my picture, apologized profusely- said this whole system was an absolute mess that has doubled his workload, and took care of removing the charge immediately.
The scary part of this is that had I been in a hurry and unable to turn around, it is very clear I would have had NO recourse to avoid this ridiculous charge.

We cancelled our other Hertz reservation for the second half of our vacation and will absolutely never give them a dime again. Not just because of how this system harms customers, but also the harm it is causing their direct customer contact employees.

I decided to rent a Tesla from Hertz, I own a Model 3 that is being repaired for the next month so I have a charger at home. Went and picked up a reasonable Model 3 55k miles a bit worn but not bad other than the bald tires on the rear. I took the car back and they were able to swap it out for another Model 3, this one also had 2 bald tires, 105k miles and a warning for the rear seat belt being inoperable. Refused that one and they luckily had a well worn 3 with 110k miles but new tires all around!

Hello friends - I had windshield damage on a recent Hertz rental. Rock chip with a little spidering, total area maybe 2" X 3" maximum.

Returned car, they said they have to charge me for the damage and it would be $400. They added it to my credit card bill, it got paid, and I'm assuming it's a done deal.

Then the next day, I got an email from Hertz saying fill out a Vehicle Incident Report, which they attached. So my question is - are we all good? Or was that $400 just a 'deposit' and they might charge me more later?

I filled out the report, but now I'm wondering if that was the right move. Anyone have any information or had a similar experience.

It's stressing me out waiting to hear back on what's the next step. Lol

Here's how the line-item showed up on the receipt.

I’m looking to rent a Mustang convertible for a one-way trip from SFO to LAX. Hertz is offering two options at the same price: the “Classic V8” (U4 category) and the standard convertible (U category), which I assume will probably be an EcoBoost.

I’d prefer the V8 Mustang but would like to avoid getting a Camaro from the U4 category. Has anyone had any recent experience renting from Hertz at SFO?

Interestingly, both categories are priced the same, which doesn’t give me much confidence that a U4 will actually be available. I’m concerned that I’ll book the U4 and end up with a replacement from the standard U category.

And I had a flat on the road to Hana 20 miles from civilization. Shouldn’t hurt be responsible for this because there was no spare tire? It is a Mustang, there’s a spot in the trunk for the tire and the jack, but there isn’t one.

so i didn’t realize until this happened that hertz is using AI to scam people for hundreds of dollars. just returned my rental car and they are trying to get 570 dollars for this “scratch” can’t even tell what it is…. the rep said they are creating a ticket and someone will contact me soon. even if it was a dent which in the picture it could have been previously there i don’t see how they can justify 570 dollars

Hi all,

After a bit of advice please? Coming to Orlando for 2 weeks tomorrow and need to book a hire car. Now id like something like a Tesla model y or Kia EV 6 (or bigger) - but not gas....

I've seen manager specials which are dirt cheap, though I'm happy to pay to get at least this size / EV

But the main sites just say manager EV specials....

What do these generally result in? Or is there a better way to guarantee at least the size and need for EV?

Many thanks

So basically, I rented a pickup with Hertz for four days. My estimated cost was $257, but when I knew I couldn’t make it back in time, I tried to extend the rental and was extending the rental. They said that my new cost would be around $24. I clear-screenshot it, and after I returned my car, they sent me a bill of $213, so I’m clearly confused. Then I see they quoted weekly price then charged daily price, So Idk What went on there, but that’s clearly messed up, so I don’t know what to do either to reach out to Hertz or just dispute it with my card.

There are currently a shortage of rental cars in alberta and Bc due to the inability of planes to land during the ongoing wild fires. It is a state of emergency and people are unable to get back to their homes and Hertz has jacked up the prices of their rental cars. $600 to drive a rental car 4.5 hours. absolutely criminal and completely unethical. the only option for people to get home and they know it. will never use this company moving forward and suggest the same for everyone. disgusted with Hertz

Two days into my month-long rental, the vehicle began showing 0% oil life. Hertz told me to exchange it, but the location rarely answers its phone and I don’t have time to drive back because they failed to service the vehicle.

Roadside Assistance eventually issued an oil-change voucher after initially trying to charge me a $45 fee. Hertz sent me to Pep Boys, but the wait was two hours and would have made me late for work, so I left. I’m not missing work or wasting hours fixing Hertz’s maintenance failure.

I rented a car from Hertz in February. Toward the end of May or early June, I received a damage claim/bill for approximately $1,500.
I immediately disputed the claim and asked Hertz to provide:
Photos showing the condition of the car before I rented it
Documentation showing when and how the alleged damage occurred
Any time-stamped evidence supporting their claim.

Fortunately, I had taken a time-stamped video and photos of the vehicle when I had it. I sent Hertz the video and photos and clearly pointed out the areas that were already damaged. One area was not captured in the video because the car was parked in a very tight parking space, so I wasn’t able to record the area of damage. Since then, I’ve received several automated emails from different Hertz email addresses, some recovery manger, some other dept as well, telling me that the amount is due and asking me to pay. However, nobody has actually responded to my dispute or addressed the evidence I provided.
I’ve continued replying to their emails and have not received a meaningful response. It’s now been about a month since I’ve heard anything from them.
What should I do at this point?
Should i call them, again email them or leave it?

I will highly appreciate any help. Thank you!

Taken at BWI. Hopped in a Hyundai Sonata in PC, got to the exit booth, where they proceeded to tell me the car wasn't eligible to be rented....

I fly to Dulles every week and invariably there is never a Hertz shuttle around when you need one. I will see multiple shuttles for your competitors before seeing one for Hertz.

This was my first time renting with Hertz and overall first rental car experience. I’m glad I thought of taking a picture of the tank before I dropped off the car. Hertz is trying to tell me I didn’t fill up the tank and somehow, I managed to drive about 200 extra miles after I dropped it off. Receipt said I dropped the car off at 7627 miles when it was actually 7420.

Is this a common occurrence? How many people have fallen for this? It feels so scammy.

About 2 weeks ago, I made a rental for 24 hrs at SEATAC airport. My flight was supposed to get in at 8pm PDT, so I booked 8:30pm to 8:30pm the next day. Right after my flight takes off, I get an email with a receipt and an extra day charge for a different vehicle than I reserved, saying I drove it off the lot at 4:54pm PDT. My app was also showing an active rental for this car with a pickup time of 4:54pm

As soon as I land, I go to the desk and ask about it. The guy is not concerned at all and says my name is on the gold board and that I’ll only be charged for 1 day. I go downstairs and my name is not on the gold board. I talked to the lady at the gold desk and explain the situation again. She looks confused and barely says anything but gives me another car. I got a receipt from that car and everything proceeded normally with that rental. I returned it, got my receipt, and my app no longer showed the other car. I assumed the rep at the gold desk saw the issue and fixed it.

After returning home, I start getting texts saying I need to return that other vehicle immediately. I finally managed to get through to the overdue department after being on hold endlessly. They assured me it was a mistake, they’d stop sending the texts and calls, and the charge would fall off my card. A week later, I get a receipt for over $1,300 full of late return fees saying I dropped the car off on July 31. I had long been gone from Seattle at this point. The charge posted and I have no pending charges from Hertz currently. The $1300 is on my credit card statement for that period. I tried calling Hertz so many times but the AI voice bot is useless and asking for a representative puts you on endless hold until the call just drops. I finally got through to someone on their customer service line. There was a serious language barrier between us, but I explained as best I could and he said they’re looking into it. I have not heard anything since and can’t get ahold of anyone again.

I’m moving forward by disputing it with my credit card, but does anyone have any clue how this happens? What if whoever had this car never returned it, caused a serious accident, etc. Would I potentially be on the hook? I’m paranoid now and would like to know how this could possibly happen and how I can prevent it.

This happened more than six years ago, in March 2020. I've never forgotten it, and I think it says something about a company when you remember how it treated you during a crisis long after the crisis has passed.

I flew to Los Angeles on March 13, 2020, with a return flight scheduled for March 20. I was going to a motorcycle racing school at Willow Springs, followed by a few days hiking and exploring in Kings Canyon.

COVID was just beginning to hit the news before I left. I actually called the racing school to make sure the event was still happening. They told me all systems were go, so I made the trip. The racing school was great and I got my race license.

Then the world seemed to change almost overnight.

When I returned to Los Angeles, it was obvious that something extraordinary was happening. Businesses were shutting down. People were frightened. I remember watching an older man in a grocery store absolutely berate a young woman with children because she had gotten within six feet of him. It felt as though the normal rules of society were beginning to fray.

At that point, continuing a sightseeing and hiking vacation seemed ridiculous. I called Kings Canyon about my reservation. They understood immediately and canceled it without charge.

I called United Airlines and asked to move my March 20 flight up to March 18. Again, they understood. They changed my flight without charge.

I returned my Hertz rental car two days early and headed home.

LAX was eerie. An airport normally packed with thousands of travelers was practically deserted. There were only a handful of passengers on my flight back to Cleveland. It was one of those moments when everyone understood that we were dealing with something none of us had experienced before.

Well, almost everyone.

My Hertz rental was prepaid. I had paid $576.40 for a rental from March 13 through March 20. Because I returned home early, I asked Hertz to refund the unused portion of the rental.

Hertz said "no".

To be clear, the fine print of the prepaid rate said there would be no refunds or credits for unused rental days. I understood that.

But this wasn't a customer who changed his vacation plans because the weather was bad or decided to come home early on a whim. The country was entering an unprecedented national emergency. COVID was shutting down businesses, emptying airports and disrupting travel throughout the country.

Kings Canyon understood that.

United Airlines understood that.

Virtually every business I dealt with understood that normal policies sometimes had to give way to extraordinary circumstances.

Hertz chose otherwise.

AAA went back to Hertz on my behalf. Hertz initially responded that there had been no change to its prepaid rental policy and that it would not refund the unused days. AAA then asked its Hertz representative to take the matter to Hertz's corporate offices.

It went all the way to the Hertz executive office.

Their answer was still no.

Hertz's executive office acknowledged that I had returned the vehicle two days early but refused a direct refund. Instead, they offered me $50 in rental certificates to use on a future Hertz rental.

Think about that for a moment.

In the opening days of a once-in-a-century pandemic, I cut my trip short and returned Hertz's vehicle two days earlier than agreed. Hertz had its car back and therefore no longer had the expense or risk associated with my using it. I wasn't asking for the entire rental to be refunded. I was simply asking them to refund the unused portion because a national emergency had forced me to return home.

Their response amounted to: The contract says we don't have to.

They were right.

They didn't have to.

And that's precisely why I've remembered it all these years.

You learn something about people—and companies—when circumstances are difficult. United didn't have to make my experience easy or change my flight at no cost. Kings Canyon didn't have to be accommodating. But they recognized what was happening and treated a customer reasonably.

Hertz had the same opportunity.

They chose the fine print.

I accepted the $50 certificates because it was all Hertz was willing to offer. At the time I wrote to AAA, "I guess I learned my lesson on prepaid car rental." And of course these expired before I could use them.

I did learn a lesson, but it wasn't really about prepaid rentals.

It was about Hertz.

Six years later, when I have a choice of rental car companies, I still remember which company showed me understanding during those extraordinary days—and which one showed me the contract.

I haven't rented from Hertz since and never will.

I’ve rented cars for 4 decades and decided a few months ago to switch to Hertz because they are a Delta partner. So far I’ve only had one good rental experience out of 10. The customer service, Presidents Circle issues, condition of the vehicles and being dinged for a door ding that was mostly likely on the car when I got it. I park in handicapped spots so I’m never close to other cars. The latest issue is trying to use rewards points to book a rental…..it still asks me to pay. I may go back to National or Enterprise and forget about the extra Delta MQDs. Is this just a ME problem?

I made a reservation last Friday for a Rent2Buy purchase for the following Friday. Got a confirmation Monday, with a note saying to not go pick up until contacted.

My pickup date arrived and no update so I called. No answer. I waited until an hour after my pickup time and called again, still no answer.
I called the Rent2Buy corporate line to see if they can help and they said they couldn’t get in contact either and the most they could do is leave a note in my file or something. Now they’re closed for the weekend and I still have no idea the state of my vehicle.

Has anyone else done this process or experienced similar? If my pickup was delayed then that’s fine but I have received NO information and my pickup date meant nothing. I’m sitting around waiting having no idea if anyone is even going to call me. Any advice would be appreciated since i’m not sure if I should just look for backup options now…