Hertz — Local services in Fort Snelling Unorganized Territory

Giving this location one star is far more than they deserve, but unfortunately, negative numbers are not an option!

I am a 16- year President Circle member who returned my rental car at 5 AM on Wednesday, August 21st having inadvertently left my personal keys behind and taking the rental keys with me in my haste to catch my flight. My mistake which I will own.

It was not until I received an email at 8:49 AM that morning while on the plane home that I realized what I had done. It was requested I overnight the rental keys back to a designated address. I also was informed that my car keys and contact information were given to the facility manager, and he would be working with me to get them back. I promptly sent the keys via FedEx overnight and shared tracking number with the local email contact.

The rental keys were received and signed for at the designated facility at 9:31 AM the following morning. Another email was sent to inquire about when I could expect to receive my personal keys, and I was told that the manager would be reminded. Nothing! I attempted to contact the local Hertz facility multiple times only to have the phone ring until it disconnected. Follow-up requests from my email contact went radio silent. Any record of the rental does not even appear in my account activity.

On Friday, August 23rd, I received a $100.00 charge on my credit card without receipt or explanation and finally contacted Hertz corporate to convey the situation hoping that I could get assistance. I shared my difficulty in obtaining follow-up from the manager and was told to contact Lost and Found. A report was submitted and still nothing. Daily charges persisted through Monday, August 26th when I received a phone call to contact them about my overdue rental, which had been returned, on time, 5 days earlier!

I spoke with the Hertz rental recovery representative and explained that the car had been returned and I needed help contacting someone who could contact the manager at the MSP Hertz to return my keys. His suggestions were that I call the local facility or stop by personally to pick them up, which is certainly not an option since I live 1,139 miles away! He assured me that he would instruct the local facility to close the case, send me an email proof (which he did not!) and that I would not have to worry about the late charges (which were invalid in the first place).

Next stop was the President Circle support number who told me that I would have to follow up with the local facility. I again explained that no one will pick up the phone there and emails go unanswered. She connected me directly to the local facility where again, the phone rang until it disconnected.

At this point I still have not found a single soul to help me get my keys back and am beyond frustrated with the entire organization. I would vow never to rent from them again if my company did not have a contract with them.

What does one have to do to get help from...

Dear Hertz, I actually had a wonderful experience so far. But let me be a bit more specific: I read a bad review of Hertz in the New York Times this past Sunday in "The Haggler's" column. It was about a gentleman who claimed that about three months after her returned his Hertz rental car, he got sent a bill for almost $500 for (supposed) damage to his rental car that he was not responsible for. This review concerned me, as at that very moment, I had a Hertz rental car sitting in the driveway of my friend's home. The charge to this gentleman's Hertz account was suspicious because it was sent to him three months after he had returned his rental and because it was for less than $500--the probably amount of his deductible and therefore an amount that would not require him to notify or involve his car insurance company. In any case, I personally had a great car (a VW) that got GREAT gas mileage. It was clean and comfortable. My experience picking up the car and dropping off the car were smooth and the employees were friendly. That said, I had a problem when I filled up the car with gas: I ran the gas pump until it stopped automatically, as it does when it is full. I had paid in $20 in cash to the cashier in the station, and I ran back into the gas station to get my 87 cents in change. However, when I got back into the car, the gas meter showed that the gas tank was only 7/8 full. I was afraid to try to put any more gas in, as I didn't want to overfill the tank. In addition, I was in a hurry to the airport and didn't have time to go back into the gas station, give them more cash, pump more gas, and run in and get change again. So, I drove to drop off the car at the airport with the gas tank reading that it was not quite full. I explained to the attendant to whom I returned the car that the pump had stopped automatically, but as it turned out, I only had 7/8 of a tank of gas. The attendant told me "Don't worry." I asked them what that meant and he said he was going to talk to someone so that I didn't get charged for another two gallons (approx.) of gas at $9/gallon (I think he said). In short, I had a great experience with Hertz so far, but am waiting to see if I get dinged for 1/8 of a tank of gas that I should not owe for. Also, I made sure the attendant looked over the car and told me that there was no damage while the car was in my possession. I didn't want an incident like the one the New York Times had reported. So, in all, thank you, Hertz, for a great experience. I can say at this moment that I will assuredly rent from you again, but I am still waiting to see what happens to my Hertz bill--and to be sure I don't get charged for any (bogus) damage. For other readers of this post, go ahead and rent from Hertz. I assume that the gentlemen who wrote to the New York Times consumer columnist was a "one off" and that his experience does not represent the...

Can I give them ZERO stars??? I don't think anyone from Hertz actually reads or cares about customer comments, so I am writing this for the benefit of my fellow travellers. Decide for yourself... do you want to be treated this way?

My name was on the board for Presidents Circle rental pickup. There were NO cars on the lot - Presidents, Gold, Five Star... NONE!!! I walked past 10-12 customers in the lot and entered the Hertz office. Interaction with MSP Hertz employee at 11pm went as follows:

-Hertz employee: "We have no cars so you need to get in line and wait OUT THERE just like everyone else" -Me: "I have a corporate reservation and I'm Presidents Circle" -Hertz employee: "So YOU need to get in line and wait just like everyone else" -Me: "Is everyone else also Presidents Circle?" -Hertz employee: "No but it don't matter because you just need to wait for ANY car. Grab whatever car comes" -Me: "I have a reservation and I need to drive 2 hours tonight, so I need to get going" -Hertz employee: "We have NO cars so YOU need to wait in line!!!" -Me: "Could you please call a manager?" -Hertz employee (on cell phone to manager): "Hey... there is a lady here who says she has a reservation and thinks SHE is WAAAY more important than everyone else. She wants to talk to a manager so can I put you on speaker?... OK I'll tell her" -Hertz employee: "You need to get in line and wait!" ... I waited 20 minutes with still no cars returning to lot and then re-entered office... -Hertz employee: "What don't YOU understand LADY? I CANNOT help YOU. YOU have to WAIT in line... seriously... OK?" -Me: Are there cars coming tonight? -Hertz employee: "NOT MY PROBLEM LADY!!! Look, I will cancel your reservation if YOU can't stand in the line NOW!!! I'm the lot manager NOW and it's my rule! Now go to the end of that line!"

I waited well over 90 minutes with a corporate reservation and Presidents Circle status. No explanation, just a whole lot of miserable travelers standing around without a rental car, cowering under the rule of this irrate Hertz employee. Read the reviews and you will see this is a very common occurrence at MSP Hertz. No cars and completely inept employees. Manager refused to even make an appearance to address concerns or try to organize the process.

Why does MSP Hertz allow reservations when they clearly don't have cars and why do they allow such immature, incompetent employees to work in a customer facing role??? I have never seen Hertz service so...