I recently had an infuriating experience with Hertz in the US. As it was my first time driving in the US, I wanted to hire a satnav with the car. Hertz offer a "NeverLost" system (which, incidentally, was dreadful and did not understand one-way streets) and as a result I decided to book with the company.
However, I couldn't find the option to add satnav to the booking using the Hertz website; the only information I could find suggested that the Chicago O'Hare location I was collecting the car from did have this option. It was something you arranged once at the pick-up, it suggested.
When I arrived, I was informed that the satnavs were only available on the larger cars, so I'd have to upgrade. My original order had been £135, and I was shown a bill for $381 (£246), which I assumed was the cost of the £135 plus the extra fee for upgrading. However, once I got my credit card statement it transpired that I was charged both these amounts, so I ended up paying around £400. I assumed (naively!) that there had been a mistake, and contacted them via the online form. After about two weeks I was told it was correct, and Hertz would not be refunding.
The situation was made all the more frustrating by the fact that the larger car I was given was only £30 extra for the week online. It also doesn't say that you need to book a car of a certain size or larger to qualify for satnav. In effect, I was charged an extra £246 for the use of satnav for a week. LF, Abingdon
The first rule of hiring a car is never to take any of the extra options such as child seats, and now satnavs. As your case shows it is almost always cheaper to buy one, use it for the duration of the trip and then sell it afterwards. Child seats have long been cheaper to buy from a local supermarket than rent – even for a week.
We asked Hertz about your case and it says it has run dummy bookings, and the extra options offering its satnav page always comes up, as it is an automated booking engine. It is at a loss to explain why you didn't see it. However, it says that to reflect the fact that it seems that you did not understand the charges, it has agreed to refund half the cost of your upgrade as a "goodwill" gesture. "We would like to apologise for the problems that LF experienced with the NeverLost in her vehicle," it says.
Readers take note – and take your own.
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