A Hertz customer rented a car for a month and drove it 25,000 miles or about 800 miles per day which is genuinely impressive and might be some sort of world record.
He had an unlimited miles rate – most rentals in the U.S. from major brands say they include unlimited miles, but not all rates do. 100 miles per day with specific charges for overage used to be more common. Unlimited miles seems lucky in this case!
Except that when he returned the car, Hertz was not happy – and said they were going to charge $10,000 miles for the excess driving. Here’s the interaction, as shown in video:
Customer: You’re going to charge this to $10,000 to my credit?”
Hertz: “Yes.”
Customer: “When this literally, that’s not even allowed. I never signed…”
Hertz: “You show me where it says I can’t charge it.”
Customer: “Right here, it literally says I won’t get charged anything, it says miles allowed, free miles, it literally says to refer to this if there’s anything extra. I’ve never signed anything saying I can only go 100 miles a day, or anything like that, or that I would have to pay more.”
Hertz: “But you also never signed anything saying you were going to be allowed to drive 25,000 miles in a month.”
Customer: “No, unlimited is 100,000 miles.”
Hertz: “No it is not.”
“Unlimited” is a weird word for limited, I think. The customer might as well tell this manager, “I demand you pay me $10,000 because you never signed a paper saying I can’t charge you $10,000.” The whole exchange is absurd. But it gets worse.
Hertz: “Dude, we’re done. Please leave. You can either leave or I will have you arrested.” (Dials phone.)
Customer: Wow. Now you’re going to call the cops on me, ok.
@lifeisfun3000 Unlimited means a reasonable amount? @Hertz #scam #rentalcar #hertz #fyp #viralvideo ♬ original sound – Life
In rental contracts, “unlimited mileage” generally allows renters to drive without mileage limits or charges. However, rental companies sometimes apply “reasonable use” policies or terms implying “excessive usage” could lead to additional fees. These aren’t always transparent and may only surface in cases with extreme mileage during a rental like 25,000 miles in a month. They may justify the fee by referencing maintenance or vehicle lifecycle concerns.
It seems to me that when specifying unlimited mileage is included in the rate, if unlimited does not mean unlimited then this,
- cannot be in a separate policy outside of the contract
- needs to be clearly disclosed up front to the customer
- needs to be in as prominent a placement as ‘unlimited’
As a result, I would love to see this litigated. Part of me wants to see Hertz out of business for their poor business processes, policies, and customer service.
One elite member chalked up 4 arrests spending 30 days in jail, where she suffered a miscarriage. And a father and daughter were held at gunpoint and arrested for renting from Hertz.
At the same time, I want Hertz to stick around because like competition in the segment of the market that purports to compete with Avis and National. Hertz regularly seems to have lower pricing. They have to, because smart consumers won’t rent from them. This helps to keep down pricing at the better alternatives.
Even better companies have shady practices, too. The rental car industry really does seem ripe for disruption. The problem seems to be that car rentals are almost an afterthought in trip planning, so they mostly get a pass for being awful.
And considering the Hertz toll scam, arrests, and Hertz refusing to admit its mistake lest the police stop believing them when they file false police reports, it’s probably best just to treat the $10,000 charge as prepaid bail?
(HT: One Mile at a Time)
Hertz and their sub companies are the worst. I booked a car through amex travel. I paid in full, through amex. Upon returning the vehicle they claimed that I requested additional coverage. I did not. Amex even called them on the phone with me. It was clearly fraud but they refused to admit they were caught tacking on a $230ish fee. Amex refunded me the bogus charge, but Hertz kept at it with threatening letters. They finally went full psycho and said I’m no welcome to rent from them or any other of their subs for eternity. I wish I saved the letter. They didn’t threaten my children and grand children like I have read from some other people, but it was still a very petty letter. Many many times I requested proof, and to speak with any kind of manager at the call center. It never happened. The fact that it never got reported to a credit agency says they knew it was BS. Never rent from Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty, or Firefly. They are all the same company. It’s just an illusion of choice
I was charged $75 for the Zurich airport location to process a $50 fine, which was sent directly to mwe (and I paid directly to the local authorities online). They threatened to have a collections agency go after it – but only after I finally received a letter from them telling me of the charge. Didn’t even give me any time to respond. And for a 3 week 2,500 rental. Terrible company.
We can solve this quickly and easily, Gary.
Post a link to the currently-used Hertz rental agreement form. Then we’ll see what, if any, exceptions exist to “unlimited” miles.
Out of curiosity I read my entire Budget Rent a Car rental contract from a week ago to see if there were any limits on unlimited mileage. There were none but the term unlimited was not defined in the contract (I did searches for unlimited, mile and mileage afterward just in case I missed something). A Hertz contract is not the same as a Budget contract but should be somewhat similar.
Remember when Verizon and AT&T sold Unlimited data. None of you balked at that. Now look at you.
Engine (motor) oil is an interesting subject. Driving 25,000 miles will cause the check engine warning light to come on several times if it is turned off immediately after it comes on. Possibly a person could run afoul of the contract if the check engine light was just turned off. Many vehicles have a recommended changing of engine oil every 7,500 miles. Some synthetic motor oil is sold with the claim of lasting 15,000 miles. Generally you change your oil filter every oil change or every other oil change per the manufacturer’s recommendations and the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendations. Some people change oil and filter at 5,000 miles and some change oil and filter at 3,000 miles. With those ideas in mind, the question is how long does engine oil last. In tough driving conditions, it should be changed more often but few people do that. On the other hand, if there is a good quality synthetic oil in the engine, it may last 25,000 miles with no harmful effects such as excess engine wear, depending on the usage (this is my opinion). Topping off any time the oil got down a bit would be necessary, preferably with the same exact oil. Averaging 800 miles a day doesn’t leave a lot of time for condensation of water in the oil to occur (causing sludging among other problems) when the engine has cooled sufficiently. If the driving was almost all at moderate highway speeds, say 50 mph to 70 mph, the oil shouldn’t break down too much. If the car is fairly new, only a limited amount of carbon should be in the oil at the recommended oil change mileage. A brand new car will get tiny metal particles in the oil that are left over from the manufacturing process. Some people recommend the first oil and filter change at less than 7,500 miles, even with a few recommending the first change at 1,000 miles. After that, many fewer tiny metal particles are in the oil and filter so longer periods are ok. By the way, diesel tractor-trailer trucks have long oil change periods because they have gallons of high quality oil in them and have superior filtering mechanisms.
Unless there is something redefining “unlimited” in the documents, this is a clear breach of contract by Hertz. If the bill showed up on my credit card I would backcharge it and then deal with Hertz on the phone. Also there may be some lawyers out there preparing a class action lawsuit against Hertz.
Reminds me of a similar problem I had with Avis at Heathrow this year. I had already made a reservation so all the money was set out. The agent tried to add a daily charge for GPS although the car already had it and the car was specifically identified in the reservation. I have only paid extra for GPS when you need to rent a portable model, as I did in Ireland on the same trip. He backed down. Then the car was downgraded from a mid-size Mercedes to a smaller BMW. I didn’t complain because British country roads are so narrow that a small car is easier to drive anyway. When the credit card statement came, the bill was $1,400 over the reservation price and included a charge for an upgrade. Avis refunded the total sum after I called them.
You have to wonder if some of the agents have scams going on to collect the overcharges for themselves.