Beware of HERTZ

kcb

Hertz just took €36 from my credit card without any notification of the reason.

When I spoke to Hertz Ireland they could see that it related to a rental in Italy in January. But no more info.

Now have to wait 10 working days for them to get info back from Hertz Italy.

Amazing the way these big companies can pass the buck to another part of the same company and leave people completely powerless.

BEWARE OF HERTZ.

Mr. Presentable

You probably picked up an out of hours fine. It'd be in your agreed terms that any fines etc can be charged to your card. You ought to know why the charge was made prior to reacting on a public forum

kcb

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

You probably picked up an out of hours fine. It'd be in your agreed terms that any fines etc can be charged to your card. You ought to know why the charge was made prior to reacting on a public forum

Hertz ought to inform me prior to taking the cash from my card.

Paulw

kcb wrote: »

Hertz ought to inform me prior to taking the cash from my card.

They did, it's the form you signed upon renting the vehicle.

pleasant Co.

It takes Hertz 4 months to process a fine? Hmmm that sounds quite peculiar....unbelievable even.

whippet

it could be anything from a parking fine to a speeding ticket ... which was sent to hertz and they then pass the fine on to you.

It could possibly take a number of weeks / months for fines like these to be processed .. like here.

abouttobebanned

Hertz were the focal point of the consumer programme on RTE last night. Very interesting

http://www.rte.ie/player/#s=search&q=consumer

seamus

Mactard wrote: »

It takes Hertz 4 months to process a fine? Hmmm that sounds quite peculiar....unbelievable even.

3 months for the cops to issue it, one month for Hertz to process it. Sounds reasonable IMO.

There was a similar thread here where someone was billed by a car rental company for congestion charges in Italy around nine months after the rental. Given how relaxed the Italians are, taking a few months to send out fines and bills wouldn't surprise me at all.

kcb

seamus wrote: »

3 months for the cops to issue it, one month for Hertz to process it. Sounds reasonable IMO.

There was a similar thread here where someone was billed by a car rental company for congestion charges in Italy around nine months after the rental. Given how relaxed the Italians are, taking a few months to send out fines and bills wouldn't surprise me at all.

I can accept that. The Italians are probably worse than the Irish when it comes to civil service.

But for Hertz to snatch the cash without even a note to explain it.....?

foggy_lad

kcb wrote: »

I can accept that. The Italians are probably worse than the Irish when it comes to civil service.

But for Hertz to snatch the cash without even a note to explain it.....?

They should really be informing people a couple of weeks before taking the money, they don't have to but it would leave people a bit happier with them.

kcb

kcb wrote: »

BEWARE OF HERTZ.

I find them excellent, I've used them once at least once a year for the last five years.

RTT

Same thing happened with me when I was in Australia. Hertz took payment of €33 from my credit card when I got home. When I called them they said it was a €3 unpaid toll which I never even realised I went through, and a €30 admin charge!! Shower of w**kers!

dudara

I've personally had nothing but good experiences with Hertz.

I picked up a speeding fine in Germany last year (€25 I think) which Hertz automatically charged through to my card - as they make clear in the T&Cs. They will also charge through toll-charges. I later received the paperwork for the fine in the post so everything was nice and clear.

I've heard of Italian parking/speeding fines taking literally months to process. Hertz or other car companies will charge it through once they receive it from the authorities.

When you give any car hire company (or even hotel) your credit card details, you are in effect authorizing them to make further deductions in the case of damage, fines etc.

cgarrad

Hertz used to be good, but they got screwed in the recession.

http://www.google.com/finance?q=hertz

$26 down to $1.55!

I got a car from them in London with 32,000 miles on it which cut out twice on the motorway at 70!

Avoid at all costs!

Avis are way better.

kcb

dudara wrote: »

When you give any car hire company (or even hotel) your credit card details, you are in effect authorizing them to make further deductions in the case of damage, fines etc.

You have no issue with a company taking money from your credit card without notification so?

Very obliging of you!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I think you should wait to hear the reason before lambasting them on a public forum. If it's an unpaid toll, or fine, you owe then you should have been aware at the time that you would have to pay some time. I'm sure you read the terms & conditions on out of hours returns etc and knew the toll rules or speed limits.

Why not wait and see why they have charged, before putting them in the wrong. You authorised them to take legitimate charges from our card afterall.

dudara

kcb wrote: »

You have no issue with a company taking money from your credit card without notification so?

Very obliging of you!

They don't have to notify me. By accepting the T&Cs when hiring the car, you give them permission to charge all related costs to your card, even if they are after the fact.

They are trusting me with a fairly new car, worth circa E10k at a minimum and up to E50k depending on the cars I've hired in the past. In return for that trust, they need some security. Hence the credit card.

tallaghtoutlaws

kcb wrote: »

You have no issue with a company taking money from your credit card without notification so?

Very obliging of you!

Standard practice throughout the Car Rental industry. The next time you rent a car read the terms and conditions and you will see it is covered in there. I have rented many a car in the past and gone through many a auto toll booth or gotten speeding tickets or parking fines and the rental company paid them and took straight off my card. Never an issue with them doing so as they cover their own asses in the rental agreement.

As others have said they did notify you when you signed the agreement. Most them send the receipt on later or a letter out of courtesy showing said details.

Del2005

cgarrad wrote: »

Hertz used to be good, but they got screwed in the recession.

http://www.google.com/finance?q=hertz

$26 down to $1.55!

That's showing 15.73 now and nowhere can I see 26 or 1.55 for their shares on that page.

I got a car from them in London with 32,000 miles on it which cut out twice on the motorway at 70!

Avoid at all costs!

Avis are way better.

Every rental company gets bad cars and worst drivers. If you don't report it to then then they can't fix it, I've had 0 mile rentals in bits. Any issues I've every had with Hertz I've usually ended up upgraded.

popsmar

If you get a service you have to pay for it. this could be anything. I just got a bill for something i got 5 years ago the other day. The company simply forgot to invoice me for the training i received. Needless to say that the cash that was assigned for this was spent. I still have to pay for it......but at least they informed me i had 28 days...as per normal terms and conditions to pay for it even though it took them 5 years to invoice. The boom is over everyone is checking there books…as its very funny what people are finding

Guy:Incognito

kcb wrote: »

You have no issue with a company taking money from your credit card without notification so?

Very obliging of you!

I dont see why you do tbh, your going around signing contracts without reading them, a €30 cc charge is probably the least if your worries depending on whats been stuck under your nose and blindly signed over the years.

kcb

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

Standard practice throughout the Car Rental industry. The next time you rent a car read the terms and conditions and you will see it is covered in there. I have rented many a car in the past and gone through many a auto toll booth or gotten speeding tickets or parking fines and the rental company paid them and took straight off my card. Never an issue with them doing so as they cover their own asses in the rental agreement.

As others have said they did notify you when you signed the agreement. Most them send the receipt on later or a letter out of courtesy showing said details.

You'd be happy out so if you had €500 taken from your card without notification?

jor el

kcb wrote: »

You'd be happy out so if you had €500 taken from your card without notification?

What about a million euro, or ten billion euro? Stop making up numbers to make the issue sound like something that it's not. You had a €36 charge applied for some sort of fee/fine. You agreed to allow these charges when you rented the car, so there is absolutely no reason for them to notify you in advance, but I would expect a receipt to be forthcoming.

It's not about being happy with the charge, it's about agreeing to it (which you did) and whether you do owe it (which you should find out).

dudara

kcb wrote: »

You'd be happy out so if you had €500 taken from your card without notification?

I'd understand that they would have a reason to take it and I would look for supporting documentation to make sure that they took it correctly. I would also understand that I gave them permission to take it without consulting with me first.

tallaghtoutlaws

kcb wrote: »

You'd be happy out so if you had €500 taken from your card without notification?

Now you are just changing the variable to suit your own agenda. The fact of the matter is ALL rental companies have it in the terms and conditions of the contracts that if you:

- Get a fine
- Pass through a toll without paying
- or anything along those lines

You give them authority to take the amount from the card you rented with. As dudara says once they can back it up with evidence and documents that prove the money for was charges incurred, I would have to be happy because I know I gave them the right to in the first place. I would be more upset myself for doing something wrong with their vehicle in the first place that left me paying them 500 big ones..

kcb

Well one of the cases on the Consumer Show was a charge for a windscreen for approx €500....

Anyway.........

Beware of Hertz.

keithclancy

kcb wrote: »

Well one of the cases on the Consumer Show was a charge for a windscreen for approx €500....

Anyway.........

Beware of Hertz.

Written in the T&C's, read the contract, in fact they clearly point this stuff out when you pickup the car.

I've used pretty much all of them, Sixt, Hertz, Avis, Europecar, Murrays and they are all the same.

Best thing you can do if you rent regularly is take out a seperate policy to reduce your excess to zero

E.G.
http://www.carhireexcess.com/

Rented a BMW 525D in Germany via Sixt, the excess was 1300 euros !

In the terms and conditions it said "Nurnburgring use incurred an 800 euro wear and tear charge"

Honestly I have no sympathy for anyone that doesnt read the contract and then whinges later because they got charged for something they agreed to.

Gon10

I had the same charge on my credit card from Hertz after hiring in Italy this is an administration fee for giving your details to the Italian police regarding a traffic offence - Your real fine is on the way and it will be a lot more than €36:(

Cheshire Cat

We had that charge from another car hire firm in Italy but are still waiting for the actual fine - don't think it will come as it was almost 2 years ago

kcb

keithclancy wrote: »

Honestly I have no sympathy for anyone that doesnt read the contract and then whinges later because they got charged for something they agreed to.

You're not really copping onto my original point are you... the fact that money was taken without any notification.

keithclancy

kcb wrote: »

You're not really copping onto my original point are you... the fact that money was taken without any notification.

Then read the contract !!
You can't just sign something and then complain later when they enforce it.

sendit

Like alot of things on hear theres no issue with anything hear just because you didn't read what your signing dosn't make it teh company's falt its your own falt

kcb

Well Hertz admitted that I SHOULD have received notification.

I don't have the contract to check for myself but I doubt it says that they can charge you without notification or explanation.

sendit

kcb wrote: »

Well Hertz admitted that I SHOULD have received notification.

I don't have the contract to check for myself but I doubt it says that they can charge you without notification or explanation.

Whats to say it didn't? You didn't read it so how do you know?

tallaghtoutlaws

kcb wrote: »

Well Hertz admitted that I SHOULD have received notification.

I don't have the contract to check for myself but I doubt it says that they can charge you without notification or explanation.

I can tell you I have 4 receipts with the Terms and Conditions here and all 4 say they can. The contract you sign is notification of any charges that incur and the explanation follows by letter in the post after the fact.

As others have said they usually charge your card and then post out the receipt and a letter explaining the cost.

chancer007

does anyone know if its possible to stop hertz taking money from your credit card after you return to Ireland?

call your bank and tell them to block any possible transactions with hertz?

busman

chancer007 wrote: »

does anyone know if its possible to stop hertz taking money from your credit card after you return to Ireland?

call your bank and tell them to block any possible transactions with hertz?

As per Tucker Max - drop off at night and cancel CC

Del2005

chancer007 wrote: »

does anyone know if its possible to stop hertz taking money from your credit card after you return to Ireland?

call your bank and tell them to block any possible transactions with hertz?

You've already authorised them to take money off you, why would you want to stop them? If you've an issue with them taking money off after the hire period then don't sign the contract, otherwise man up and except your charges.

28064212

chancer007 wrote: »

does anyone know if its possible to stop hertz taking money from your credit card after you return to Ireland?

call your bank and tell them to block any possible transactions with hertz?

Unlikely. You could issue a chargeback after Hertz have taken the money, which they'll appeal, and (assuming the charge isn't an error) you'll lose and have to pay anyway

jor el

chancer007 wrote: »

does anyone know if its possible to stop hertz taking money from your credit card after you return to Ireland?

call your bank and tell them to block any possible transactions with hertz?

Why would the bank stop a legitimate transaction that you already agreed to? What you're looking for there is help with committing fraud. The bank will not help you with that.

How about you just pay what you owe, and stop looking for ways out of it.

ejmaztec

All car-hire credit-card charges are pre-approved, which I presume means that there's no back-tracking available after the deal is done.

Del2005

ejmaztec wrote: »

All car-hire credit-card charges are pre-approved, which I presume means that there's no back-tracking available after the deal is done.

You can query them with the CC company and Hire company, but this is usually only for damage, fines/tolls you've already agreed to paying when you hired.

killbillvol2

Gon10 wrote: »

I had the same charge on my credit card from Hertz after hiring in Italy this is an administration fee for giving your details to the Italian police regarding a traffic offence - Your real fine is on the way and it will be a lot more than €36:(

Correct. Minor enough traffic violations are around the €100 mark and speeding fines closer to €200. I'm not sure how high they go...I'll go faster next time to check

And no, Hertz don't need to inform you before they charge your card. You signed a contract to that effect and it's such a standard condition with car hire I can't believe someone is on here having a hissy fit about it.

sendit

Like i said before just someone trying to make an issue of something because there the one in the wrong not the company

chancer007

sorry,let me clarify I thing.

I meant pay for the car you have hired from hertz through your credit card.thats not the issue

then,

to stop Hertz adding further charges down the line i.e 3 months, ask you CC company to block any further transactions from Hertz after you have paid your original bill.
is that possible?

Del2005

chancer007 wrote: »

sorry,let me clarify I thing.

I meant pay for the car you have hired from hertz through your credit card.thats not the issue

then,

to stop Hertz adding further charges down the line i.e 3 months, ask you CC company to block any further transactions from Hertz after you have paid your original bill.
is that possible?

Your missing the point. In the contract you sign with any car hire company, and a lot of hotels, you've authorised them to come back and take the money at any time for fines/tolls/damage.

Telling your bank to reject the charge won't work as the hire company will come back with a contract signed by you allowing them to take the money and possibly adding more charges to the bill you're already agreed to pay.

If they take the money and you disagree. You need to start a charge back procedure and have a very hard fight on you're hands to get the CC company to agree a refund, you'll have better luck getting the refund off the hire company

keithclancy

chancer007 wrote: »

sorry,let me clarify I thing.

I meant pay for the car you have hired from hertz through your credit card.thats not the issue

then,

to stop Hertz adding further charges down the line i.e 3 months, ask you CC company to block any further transactions from Hertz after you have paid your original bill.
is that possible?

No, even if you report the card stolen you PRE APPROVED the transaction.

This is WHY you need a credit card to rent a car.

The Credit Card will only block or reverse a transaction when you didnt authorise or pre approve the transaction.

hardCopy

Regardless of the terms of the contract I still think it's poor form to issue the charges with no notice. Even a text or an email explaining the charge would be a bit more professional.

Not so much a legal issue as a customer relations issue.

jor el

chancer007 wrote: »

to stop Hertz adding further charges down the line i.e 3 months, ask you CC company to block any further transactions from Hertz after you have paid your original bill.
is that possible?

Any additional charges will be for damage, tolls, fines, etc, which you have authorised them to charge you for. You cannot stop legitimate charges to your account, and you cannot tell the bank to stop charges from any particular company just because you don't want to pay them. A charge back can be initiated if a charge is unauthorised, but upon investigation, it would be found that these charges from Hertz were authorised by the card holder.

A receipt should be issued following the charge, and it should explain what the charge was for. Prior notice is not required.

People should really read the T&Cs of credit card agreements, and understand them, before they get one. There's a lot of misinformation and misconception by users out there.

kcb

killbillvol2 wrote: »

Hertz don't need to inform you before they charge your card. You signed a contract to that effect and it's such a standard condition with car hire I can't believe someone is on here having a hissy fit about it.

That's not what Hertz said when I spoke to them! They apologised for the fact that a notification was not received. That might just have been her own idea though!

sendit wrote: »

Like i said before just someone trying to make an issue of something because there the one in the wrong not the company

Why would someone want to make an issue of something because 'they're' in the wrong?

hardCopy wrote: »

Regardless of the terms of the contract I still think it's poor form to issue the charges with no notice. Even a text or an email explaining the charge would be a bit more professional.

Not so much a legal issue as a customer relations issue.

Some sense! Thank God!

sendit

To try and get out of it like you are