Hertz just charged me €1,300 without telling???

crossy

Hi,

Just wondering can anyone help me with this?

I rented a car from Turin Italy to go skiing. The ski resort was up in the Alps and was actually over the french border.

On the morning of returning the car there was an avalanche and we could not return to Italy we had to turn around and get a flight out of France.

We were told by the Hertz office in Grenoble , France we had to return it to Lyon , France as the car was in Fireflys name.

2 weeks later I got a call from Hertz Italy asking when I was returning the car. I said I already did (2 weeks ago) and explained what happened.

She said she would call me back when she heard more.
Today I notice a charge of €1,300 to my card and I was never notified.


Is there any law against what they can do or are they totally in the right?

Thanks for your help

ABajaninCork

Sounds about right. If you left the car in France, then you'd have to pay the additional fees for Hertz to pick it up.

Did you ask for a breakdown of the costs?

djburchgrove

it is most likely cdw - Collison damage waiver cover.

it is set at such an amount in case of damage to car whilst out on rent. You can pay extra to avoid this premium being held in your card.

if you return it in same condition you got it, the 1300 will be put back on your card.

it is set this high because broken clutches is the most common problem with rental cars (specifically among Americans who all drive automatics and aren't used to clutches.)

delahuntv

If Hertz told you to return it due to the avalanche to another depot and did not tell you of additional costs, then no additional costs would apply.

Possibly it is an oversight and no details of the avalanche have been added to the car and therefore the system charged you.

I would get in contact with them by writing and failing good outcome take a european small claims court action (costs about €20)

ABajaninCork

Normally, CDW is included in the cost of the rental. But you still pay the 'excess'.

OP - Did you take out gap insurance as well?

dilallio

Ask your bank to do a chargeback and let Hertz provide the proof that you owe them €1,300.
If they don't or can't, then your bank are obliged to refund the money.

ardmacha

Are you sure they just haven't lost the car!
Once in England I was given the keys to a car, I checked it before driving off and one light wasn't working. I walked back up to the counter and got a different car, which I returned on schedule. A week later the other faulty one came back from the depot or wherever and they charged my another week's rental as if I had it!

Unfortunately car hire companies are inadequately regulated, there is a crying need for some control of them. They should have been obliged to present you with a detailed bill before charging you.

Stop the payment, if you can, and demand an explanation. If they are less than forthcoming, then cite the EU data protection directive to get all data, phone calls, etc relating to your account.

L1011

dilallio wrote: »

Ask your bank to do a chargeback and let Hertz provide the proof that you owe them €1,300.
If they don't or can't, then your bank are obliged to refund the money.

The Hertz contract is generally enough for banks to refuse point blank to do this.

Its fairly standard to be charged a one-way fee if you return to the wrong depot, let alone the wrong country. 1300 however is far too high to be a one-way fee; it does sound like the excess on the standard insurance which is charged if you damage or outright lose the car.

One thing to consider is - did you have the correct insurance from Hertz to actually leave Italy? If not, they'd be within their rights to charge recovery fees from wherever it was left. Standard rentals on standard cars generally ban you leaving the country of rental. I'd be extremely concerned with a rental done through an agent as generally these are the bargain basement contracts; but if the agent told you it was allowed its either not the issue or suddenly Fireflys issue.

rolion

Sorry to hear that...
I always "lose" the card after returning home from holidays abroad !
Good luck...

dudara

There could be a myriad of reasons for the charge, the least of which is that you took the car out of country (generally not allowed in rentals).

Contact Hertz and ask for details.

Terrontress

rolion wrote: »

Sorry to hear that...
I always "lose" the card after returning home from holidays abroad !
Good luck...

The payment on the lost, closed or stolen card will still follow you.

keithclancy

rolion wrote: »

Sorry to hear that...
I always "lose" the card after returning home from holidays abroad !
Good luck...

Doesn't matter, any payments that have pre-auth are still valid even on a card that's been registered as lost or stolen.

emeldc

dilallio wrote: »

Ask your bank to do a chargeback and let Hertz provide the proof that you owe them €1,300.
If they don't or can't, then your bank are obliged to refund the money.

No they're not. It's up to the OP to prove that he was charged €1300 for something he was not liable for.

Sheldons Brain

emeldc wrote: »

No they're not. It's up to the OP to prove that he was charged €1300 for something he was not liable for.

Isn't that point, the amount can be deducted before the issue of a bill that indicates the reason for the charge, which is outrageous.

Anyhow for Hertz Italia
Hertz vehicles may be driven into and dropped off in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia (Ljubljana only), Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom (islands not included)

and the excess for small cars is €1300.

assuming that you didn't damage the car, they've lost it.

Tigger

rolion wrote: »

Sorry to hear that...
I always "lose" the card after returning home from holidays abroad !
Good luck...

does that work?
i've considered it before

ABajaninCork

rolion wrote: »

Sorry to hear that...
I always "lose" the card after returning home from holidays abroad !
Good luck...

Tigger wrote: »

does that work?
i've considered it before

What's with all the crip crap about 'losing' the card? I don't understand. It's childish and passive aggressive behaviour.

If there's a charge on the card which you don't know or understand, why can't you take it up with the company concerned, and discuss it like grown-ups??

billy few mates

Judging by the amount it does sound like a holding deposit for the excess. I picked up a car in Germany which was already paid for in advance by my company but they made me swipe my card for €1250 (including a €20 fee for driving across a border) before I took it out but they refunded my card when I dropped it back. A week later I picked up a hire car in the USA and they did the same thing but this time the amount was for $1......

keithclancy

Tigger wrote: »

does that work?
i've considered it before

No, it doesn't work, charges still come off because they were authorised before you reported the card 'lost'

devondudley

i work for hertz so just wondering a couple things.

1/ when you rung to inform them you were returning the car to a different country did they mention any additional costs. drop offs are huge to different countries and its not the car rentals problem you cant get it back to them. you hired it in good faith they expect it back.

2/ firefly is a separate company to hertz in some countries they are partners in others they are not if you return the car to a hertz office that is not partnered with firefly as said by a previous poster there is a huge drop off fee.

3/ did you not meet anyone on drop off to check the car and give you final invoice if you got the final invoice which everyone should get on return you cant be charged for anything after that id check with customer service.

4/ maybe you damaged the car and were charged the excess