Hertz Rental Car Nightmare - 05/12/06 04:54 AM
This past weekend I went to San Diego and Los Angeles on vacation and rented an Audi A6. Everything at the check-in was fine except they now have to do a credit check if you are using a credit card linked to a bank account. Regardless, I signed my rental agreement for 4 days of the A6 for a total of $304.09.
The next day, I was in Hollywood and noticed my bank account was short $300. I figured I got charged for the car upfront and that was that, although I did go to my brother "I hope they don't charge me twice." I was sorely mistaken.
I dropped the car off a little earlier than expected and took my flights home.
I didnt think anything was wrong until last night when I went to the ATM at Ram. I was going to get money to pay for the meal of some clients who were in town. My bank statement Friday had my account balance in the $2,300 range. The hotel was already paid for, I spent $100 on gas, $150 at the ATM and the rental car so I was figuring I would have atleast $1900 in the account, again dead wrong. I tried taking out $100, no dice, says insufficient funds. I tried $40, same thing. Im like, what the hell is going on here!!! I check the account balance...says I have $39.59 in the account!!!
I called the bank this morning to find out what the hell was going on. I asked what the transactions were for the last week. Said there was a $423.75 hold this morning, $423.00 yesterday, $423.75, $234 on the CC, $118 on the account, $112 Monday, $118 and $354 Friday. I had no CLUE where any of these holds came from. I knew I didnt use the card and it was in my possession the entire time, I was thinking identity fraud. The manager asked if I used it for any large purchases and the only thing that came to mind was Hertz. She suggested it may be them that is currently holding the $2,206.50 missing from my account. Bingo.
I called the location I rented the car from and told them the situation. He suggested I look up my bill online as it should have been posted this morning. Sure enough, the bill was for $423.75 (I got charged $111.50 for gas which I shouldn't have) along with 2 other "Misc Charges" of $354 and $234.
I called Hertz billing and explained the situation she said they would have to remove the holds on the account. I obviously asked why they needed to hold $2200 for a rental? No response. I told them their policy is there must be $200 over what the rental is for to cover losses, why another $1700? No response. She said she would remove the holds on the account immediately, this was at 2:30PM
I called the customer service line at 4PM when I got out of work early to go to the bank and contest all this. Told them the situation again, and the young woman I spoke to said the holds would be removed right now. I asked wasn't that supposed to be done almost 2 hours ago? No response. I proceed to file a very large complaint. I told them I could understand getting double billed or slightly over billed, but I cannot understand how 8 separate mistakes were made. She informed me that I would receive a response in 5-7 days. I told her I would call back in 5 regardless.
I get to my bank to see all the transactions and she informs me that all the transactions still have holds on them as of 5PM today. ( I would call back at 6PM, still holds) I got a copy of my all transactions for the last week and there are 5 other charges from when I was on vacation that I KNOW I didn't do which I have to find out where they are from tomorrow morning.
In addition, my credit card bill is due this coming Tuesday. How am I supposed to pay a credit card bill when all my funds are being held? I get to call my credit card company in the morning.
The current line:
1 Rental Agreement for $304.09
8 Holds on bank account for $2206.50
Current available bank account balance $29.41
Pissed off individuals: ONE
Please post/link this story to other forums so people know what Hertz is really like.
The next day, I was in Hollywood and noticed my bank account was short $300. I figured I got charged for the car upfront and that was that, although I did go to my brother "I hope they don't charge me twice." I was sorely mistaken.
I dropped the car off a little earlier than expected and took my flights home.
I didnt think anything was wrong until last night when I went to the ATM at Ram. I was going to get money to pay for the meal of some clients who were in town. My bank statement Friday had my account balance in the $2,300 range. The hotel was already paid for, I spent $100 on gas, $150 at the ATM and the rental car so I was figuring I would have atleast $1900 in the account, again dead wrong. I tried taking out $100, no dice, says insufficient funds. I tried $40, same thing. Im like, what the hell is going on here!!! I check the account balance...says I have $39.59 in the account!!!
I called the bank this morning to find out what the hell was going on. I asked what the transactions were for the last week. Said there was a $423.75 hold this morning, $423.00 yesterday, $423.75, $234 on the CC, $118 on the account, $112 Monday, $118 and $354 Friday. I had no CLUE where any of these holds came from. I knew I didnt use the card and it was in my possession the entire time, I was thinking identity fraud. The manager asked if I used it for any large purchases and the only thing that came to mind was Hertz. She suggested it may be them that is currently holding the $2,206.50 missing from my account. Bingo.
I called the location I rented the car from and told them the situation. He suggested I look up my bill online as it should have been posted this morning. Sure enough, the bill was for $423.75 (I got charged $111.50 for gas which I shouldn't have) along with 2 other "Misc Charges" of $354 and $234.
I called Hertz billing and explained the situation she said they would have to remove the holds on the account. I obviously asked why they needed to hold $2200 for a rental? No response. I told them their policy is there must be $200 over what the rental is for to cover losses, why another $1700? No response. She said she would remove the holds on the account immediately, this was at 2:30PM
I called the customer service line at 4PM when I got out of work early to go to the bank and contest all this. Told them the situation again, and the young woman I spoke to said the holds would be removed right now. I asked wasn't that supposed to be done almost 2 hours ago? No response. I proceed to file a very large complaint. I told them I could understand getting double billed or slightly over billed, but I cannot understand how 8 separate mistakes were made. She informed me that I would receive a response in 5-7 days. I told her I would call back in 5 regardless.
I get to my bank to see all the transactions and she informs me that all the transactions still have holds on them as of 5PM today. ( I would call back at 6PM, still holds) I got a copy of my all transactions for the last week and there are 5 other charges from when I was on vacation that I KNOW I didn't do which I have to find out where they are from tomorrow morning.
In addition, my credit card bill is due this coming Tuesday. How am I supposed to pay a credit card bill when all my funds are being held? I get to call my credit card company in the morning.
The current line:
1 Rental Agreement for $304.09
8 Holds on bank account for $2206.50
Current available bank account balance $29.41
Pissed off individuals: ONE
Please post/link this story to other forums so people know what Hertz is really like.
) and whenever I went shopping and got anything for more than $100 they called her before I was even out of the shop. My bank on the other has been total scheiss. I have an Austrian bank account but I still sometime draw off my American account. I was here for a full year, using the ATM card every so often. I went to Prague and took out money about five times. When I came back to Vienna and used my ATM card the ATM kept it. My Mom called them and they said they thought it had been stolen in Prague. It sucked to because my Bank Austria card got screwed up so I had no way of getting money unless the bank was open for a week.