I recently had the misfortunate experience of a car hire with Hertz in Germany. That is to say that the car itself was fine, booking it on line and collecting it was OK.
However, you do need to be very aware of the small print which caught me out to the tune of Euros 700. I booked and prepaid for the car on-line where there is a bold heading that says that all on-line bookings include CDW. My problems began here as I did not read every word on the Terms and Conditions and so missed the important fact that even if you have CDW there will still be an excess of Euros 600 - 5000.
When I collected my car there was no discussion about this (Hertz customer service department have subsequently told me that it is not their policy to discuss this as their chech in representatives are too busy). Thus I left the airport unaware that I was not fully insured.
The inevitable happened and some minor damage was sustained to the wing mirror (whilst car parked). When I returned the vehicle I notified the Hertz representative that there had been some damage to the vehicle and was told then that I did not have insurance. She told me then that there was a Euro 700 in place and that they would be in contact to tell me how much the repair would be.
I received an email the next day with the invoice to find out that Hertz had charged the whole amount on the excess to my card. I immediately called the customer service help line to query this and was told that it was standard practice. They told me that they would refund the difference within ten days. I was not happy but they gave me no negotiation leeway.
NB I have checked with a German Mercedes dealer who has told me that if the whole wing mirror needs to be replaced the bill would be approximately Euro 200.
12 days later I again called the Hertz customer service helpline to be told that the repair estimate had not been done and that they had no record of my earlier call. It seems that I have to wait another 10 days for them to reply.
Be careful when booking with Hertz as Collision Damage Waiver does not mean waht it normally does and they don't have a policy to tell customers about this. Also you need to be aware that they will charge the full amount of the excess from you card and you will have to do battle with them to get any recompense.
By the way they do not publices their customer service telephone number (it is not to be found anywhere on their very difficult to navigate web site). Should you need to call the number is 0207 365 3369
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NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Record Rent a Car is present in the main spanish airports and has a very wide fleet. We offer: exceptional discounts, free additional drivers,
unlimited mileage... subscribe to our Club Record and take advantage of special offers.
Advantages: Excellent prepaid rates, nice car, helpful staff Disadvantages: Confusion over discount rates, high excess if you don't pay the waiver charge
sue.51 30.12.2004 (31.12.2004)
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