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Subject: Re: Beware! incredible story with HERTZ France
Date: 7 Aug 1996 14:46:57 GMT
Organization: World Bank
rec.travel.europe:66836

The original post and two responses are quoted below my message.

I would preface my response to any car rental horror story by saying that,
IMHO, car rental agencies and their owners and employees have, over the
years, proven themselves, to me, to be the scum of the earth.  I say this
with some fear of reprisal, as I regularly rent cars in this country and
abroad.  OTOH, there is little in the way of punishment they can dish out
that they haven�t already, without cause.  I have not suffered the
financial loss related below, so far.  We have arrived in Montreal with
the intention of relaxing, seeing an exhibit at the Fine Arts Museum,
having a pleasant dinner and continuing on to a weekend in the Adirondaks
only to find out that Dollar�s guaranteed confirmation was worthless, that
there was no car for me and that there appeared to be no way for me to get
to my final destination without getting back on a plane. We lost the
entire day and finally found a car at a greater fee after six hours of
telephone calls.  Montreal has some wonderful bistrots and we managed a
lovely dinner, but the first six hours of our trip left its toll.  

It�s rare that we�ve rented a car and had the company live up to its end
of the contract, although we�ve had better luck in France than on this
side of the Atlantic.  I�m no fan of car rental companies and I find
Hertz� actions greedy and deplorable at best, but there seems to have been
a communication loss here with both sides seemingly at fault.  Without
taking sides and apportioning the blame I think Hertz had the ultimate
responsibility to see that you were able to return the car or know what to
do if they were not open.  I have to ask if you made the reservations in
North America or in France and if you mentioned the time and date you
intended to return the car.  Nevertheless, you should have been notified
of the days and hours of operation.  It certainly would have been prudent
for you to ask.  Was the office closed all day on Wednesday, or was it
closed for an extended lunch hour as is more common in Europe than in
North America?  If one rents a car for a full week, it is usual to return
it a hour or two before the rental time on the same day of the week.  You
couldn�t have rented on a Wednesday if you are sure they are closed on
Wednesday.  It seems strange for a car rental office to be closed for a
full day in the middle of a week unless it was a national holiday.  I
mentionthis not in shifting blame, but in hope of preventing others
(myself?) from suffering your plight.

I should mention here, that my wife is a travel agent and that she
dislikes making car rental arrangements for her clients.  The commission
is rarely worth the aggravation of both making the booking and dealing
with the client�s inevitable problems.  It�s worth noting however, that
using a travel agent may offer you a very helpful aide in dealing with the
car company.  The travel agent has reason to please his/her clients and
the agent�s rep has reason to please the agent and thus you have two
voices, and some pull, on your side.  It�s no guarantee, but it�s a
reasonable precaution.  You need a reputable agent, the same way you need
a good dentist and accountant.  You�ll still have problems, tooth aches
and have to pay your taxes.  With or without an agent one needs to specify
the date and time of pick up and the date and time of drop off when one
makes a reservation.  One needs to find out in advance what, if any,
recourse you have to resort to, in any emergency.  As for Hertz, my wife
reports no greater percentage of incidents than with most other
companies.  

Back to your story.  I don�t know what I would have done in your place
under your pressure.  It�s not a good idea to leave keys in a car. 
Unfortunately, you had no way of proving you didn�t abandon the car after
having an accident.  I don�t fully understand why the insurance was not at
all effective.  I suppose it was not in effect if you were not the ones
driving at the time of the accident, but then you should have been insured
against theft.  They had to rule you did not live up to the rental
agreement in some way.  I�m still surprised Hertz was so vindictive, as,
without being able to read betwwen your lines, Hertz seems to have had
some responsiblity here, no matter how unsympathetic I may sound.  



mkarim@ix.netcom.com(Mark Karim) says:
>
><irene.abi-zeid@drev.dnd.ca> writes: 
>>
>>Our story is quite incredible but true. Three years ago, my husband and 
>>I travelled to France. We rented a car from HERTZ in Deauville, 
>>Normandy, for a week. When we came to return it, the garage was closed, 
>>they closed on wednesdays, a fact of which we were not aware. We had a
>>train to catch for Paris, so we parked the car at the train station, put 
>>the keys in the glove compartment, locked the doors, and left a message 
>>on HERTZ's answering machine regarding the car.
>>
>>Two days later, before taking the plane home from Paris, we called HERTZ 
>>to verify that everything was in order, and HERTZ informed us that they 
>>did not find the car. We went to the Police station in Paris to make a
>>declaration of theft, we were not too worried since we had purchased 
>>full proof insurance with no deductible.
>>
>>A couple of weeks later, we received a call from ROYAL BANK VISA 
>>informing us that our credit limit had surpassed 7 000 dollars (where it 
>>was supposed to be 2 000). We learned that HERTZ had tried to pass 5000 
>>dollars on our VISA. Of course we refused to pay, since we could not be 
>>held responsible for 7 000 where our limit was only 2 000 dollars, and
>
>>VISA refused HERTZ's transaction. However, on the next bill, we found 
>>out that HERTZ was able to pass 1200 dollars on our VISA. All throughout 
>>the month, HERTZ kept on trying different decreasing amounts until one
>>of them got authorized by VISA. We had to pay that amount because we had 
>>signed a blank VISA bill (you must do so if you want to rent a car, even 
>>here in Canada).
>>
>>The story only gets better. Apparently, HERTZ found the car, it had been 
>>in an accident. So they sent us the bill for it. We refused to pay, they 
>>sued us in France. We hired lawyers in Canada and in France, and we 
>>lost. We were condemned to pay 15 000 dollars (the value of the car), 
>>plus the interest on that money on a 2 years period, plus HERTZ's lawyer 
>>fees. We decided to appeal. So far this has cost us over 4500 dollars in 
>>lawyers fees and it will cost another 3 000 dollars. We are hoping that 
>>the decision will be reversed.
>>
>>HERTZ Canada (Customer service in Toronto) has always refused to help us 
>>or to intervene. We would like to bring our story to the attention of 
>>the public, because this could happen to anyone.
>>-- 
>>Irene Abi-Zeid
>>email: irene.abi-zeid@drev.dnd.ca
>
>
>HERTZ should be ashamed of themselves for this ridiculous harassment...
'
That's really an unbelievable story and I would think that Hertz
World Headquarters in the US will probably come through in the end.
They should, at least.  But, although it is too late to help you,
I would like to add something that might help others in the future
to avoid a similar nightmare.  I lived in France for over 10 years and
interpret French-English so I do have some understanding of that country.
The French are very people-oriented and personal relationships and
interpersonal communicaition skills are very highly valued.  In my
experience renting cars in France, which I did on numerous occasions,
I have learned that the rental agencies frequently have a verbal 
agreement or understanding with a trusted neighboring establishment or
individual who would be authorized to receive the keys to the vehicle when the 
agency is closed.  I remember renting a car once in--I think--Avignon
and was told to return the keys on Sunday evening to the manager of
the "Buffet de la Gare." There also may be, as in the United States, 
a drop box.  It would be wise to inquire at the time of rental.  Under any
circumstances, leaving the keys in the glove compartment is not a good
idea.  

Ronald Kenyon  Washington, DC

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: ahunter@freenet.vcu.edu
Newsgroups:
misc.consumers,can.com.misc,can.legal,rec.travel.misc,rec.travel.europe
Subject: Re: Beware! incredible story with HERTZ France
Date: 7 Aug 1996 23:03:35 -0400
rec.travel.europe:66851

Why does this story not surprise me? I worked for eight years
as a travel agent and finally refused to book Hertz in Europe
unless specifically requested by the client. One of my friends
used a Hertz car in Scotland, fully prepaid for a lower rate,
and was given a smaller car than the one booked. I tried for a
year to get Hertz Customer Service to answer my calls and
letters. I booked Auto Europe after that and never had any
problems.
-- 
Ann Avery Hunter
Richmond, Virginia
ahunter@freenet.vcu.edu