I made a reservation to pick up a car at the Hertz Great Neck, NY location on February 6, 2021. I only needed the car for 2 days and wasn’t really worried about the car type or specifics. I was a little surprised that they gave me a 2-year-old Nissan Sentra with plenty of minor damage to the body, but again, the cosmetics weren’t a concern of mine for the 2 day rental. The manager took cell phone video/pics as I was standing there. After getting in the car with my daughter we noticed a chip in the windshield and acknowledged with the manager who said “that’s why I took pictures so that you won’t be charged for anything you didn’t do”. I very very naively thought that would suffice. In all honesty, had I done a quick Google search, I would’ve noticed the reviews for this location are anything but favorable. But as they say, “hindsight is 20/20”. Fast forward to when I brought the car back, the manager is now blaming me for the windshield damage and refuses to close out the rental contract until I make a fraudulent insurance claim through my credit card company which I refuse to take part of. Now they will not give me my deposit, continuously bill me $100 per day (which I stopped through my bank after the first charge), and are threatening to take further action at my expense of the car is not returned via automated calls. I have made several calls to customer service to which I’m always told that they’re unable to assist me until the manager closes the contract. I have now sent emails and made multiple calls to no avail. I have photos documenting the preexisting damage prior to me taking the car. I need this resolved ASAP in a way that does not require me committing a federal crime by making a fraudulent insurance claim. Any help or guidance is appreciated.
BLACKMAILED BY HERTZ
- Thread starter DAPrime
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Forget about dealing with the local office. You need to go up the executive chain at Hertz.
We actually have instructions on how to deal with these claims:
forum.elliott.org
Stay off the phone. Follow the instructions in that post on how to contact Hertz corporate offices. When you write, tell them you have the pictures showing the damage at pick up and you will send them upon request. ( Don’t attach them as they may cause your letter to go into junk).
Following that process have gotten almost every case brought here dropped.
We actually have instructions on how to deal with these claims:
How To Deal With a Car Rental Damage Claim
We receive a lot of cases dealing with rental car damage claims. In many cases, these claims can be received weeks or months after the rented vehicle is returned. The fact is that when renting a vehicle, the rental agreement the consumer signs make them responsible for any and all damage to...
forum.elliott.org
Stay off the phone. Follow the instructions in that post on how to contact Hertz corporate offices. When you write, tell them you have the pictures showing the damage at pick up and you will send them upon request. ( Don’t attach them as they may cause your letter to go into junk).
Following that process have gotten almost every case brought here dropped.
You can escalate this using the contacts provided in this link: Hertz
be sure to start at the lowest level and that you give each contact one (1) week to respond before escalating to the next level
When you write, politely state only that you have photos documenting the preexisting damage you can send.
be sure to start at the lowest level and that you give each contact one (1) week to respond before escalating to the next level
When you write, politely state only that you have photos documenting the preexisting damage you can send.
I did. I have sent 4 emails so far. 3 to the executives in Florida, and one to their vehicle control department that keeps on calling me with threats.Forget about dealing with the local office. You need to go up the executive chain at Hertz.
We actually have instructions on how to deal with these claims:
How To Deal With a Car Rental Damage Claim
We receive a lot of cases dealing with rental car damage claims. In many cases, these claims can be received weeks or months after the rented vehicle is returned. The fact is that when renting a vehicle, the rental agreement the consumer signs make them responsible for any and all damage to...
Stay off the phone. Follow the instructions in that post on how to contact Hertz corporate offices. When you write, tell them you have the pictures showing the damage at pick up and you will send them upon request. ( Don’t attach them as they may cause your letter to go into junk).
Following that process have gotten almost every case brought here dropped.
Thank you. I did mention that there are photos depicting the damage in the emails sent to the 3 executives in that thread, as well as the vehicle control department.
I got the copies the manager took. I also took photos of the damage on the bumpers. I know I should’ve gotten everything documented with all specifics in writing, and I honestly will never agree to rent a car that old again. But never would I have thought that I would end up in a predicament where something like this would happen with a company as big as Hertz.
When you write, do not mention the prior bad reviews. Cite only the facts of the rental.
I wish I would’ve started with this group. Unfortunately, I sent emails to all three of the contacts this morning. One bounced back undeliverable. I also mentioned the same thing that I unfortunately wasn’t afforded the time to do a quick Google search because had I had done it...you know the rest. I did however mention that I do have photos showing the preexisting damage that can be furnished upon request.
Please report the invalid contact here and give it at least a week.
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Don't worry, you can just "start over". First, read the other stories on this forum to gain some intel. The rental car companies learned several years ago that they could enrich their bottom line by billing customers extra for damage they didn't do. And they all do it, from the guy renting a few cars out of his garage to the biggest "name brands". It's disgusting. I don't think anyone has not prevailed when using our method, it just takes effort and patience. Follow our guidelines and they'll eventually go away.
Thank you all for your advise and guidance. I will do more research on this forum as I go through this fight. I did receive a reply from the Vehicle Control dept supervisor, advising that she emailed the general manager asking for her to assist in resolving the issue. I called Chase and told them the story and we agreed that since my credit card had essentially been hijacked by Hertz, to report it lost in the meantime. They also advised that as soon as the charges are out of "pending" status and actually post, for me to dispute those through Chase as well. I figure by that time, I would have done my due diligence in going after the merchant. This whole thing is more time consuming than anything else. I missed my flight home dealing with this last Monday. Even though my credit card covers the damage with their insurance, I refuse to allow this woman to get away with what she's attempting to do to me. I refuse to compromise my integrity and/or commit a federal crime by making a fraudulent insurance claim. I usually rent cars from the airport without any issues. But since I flew into Newark, NJ and was flying back from LaGuardia in Queens (the one way rental to drop the car off at a different location from where it was picked up was more than twice what I paid), I decided to rent from an independent franchise location and apparently they make their own rules as they go. In having small talk while securing the rental, the manager even mentioned that she drives the cars home at night. She was the only one there and said she doesn't call her employees in on Saturdays. So now it's her word against mine & the one photo that shows the chip to which she claims is not the chip. She says the chip is too small to show up in photographs and that it's impossible. This "pass the buck" action that she's attempting to take at my expense is very disgusting and just not cool. I'm beyond pissed. It's sickening that this can actually be a representation of such a huge brand that they distance themselves from in customer service. It's like the franchise is a stand alone entity.
In the meantime I will continue to read and gain some information from here (which I appreciate a lot) and follow the guidelines. Hopefully this gets resolved sooner rather than later. Again, thank you to everyone that took the time to advise me, any info provided is greatly appreciated.
In the meantime I will continue to read and gain some information from here (which I appreciate a lot) and follow the guidelines. Hopefully this gets resolved sooner rather than later. Again, thank you to everyone that took the time to advise me, any info provided is greatly appreciated.