Hertz car hire insurance issue

pcrracer

I am fighting a case with Hertz for what I think are unfair charges and would appreciate any advice or experiences.
I recently hired a Hertz car in Lanzarote and took CDW, TP, and Supercover insurances. Unfortunately, while travelling on public tarmac roads, I clipped something on the road which immediately flattened the passenger side front and rear tyres. I managed to stop the car on the road, and Hertz were good in getting a recovery truck and replacement car out to me. The police stopped and found small pieces of lava rock on the road, and said this happens often.
I took the replacement car back at the end of the hire and asked if there was any additional paperwork or charges and after checking the Hertz agent said No.
Therefore, I was very surprised 2 days after getting back to find Hertz had deducted over £600 from my credit card.
I questioned these charges and after a month got a response that wheels and tyres are not covered, and they had charged me for 2 wheels and tyres.
There is nothing in the terms and conditions that states wheels and tyres are not covered, and the Supercover specifically says Hertz shall exempt the renter of his/her financial liability, broken / loss of keys, contamination of fuel or Hertz NeverLost navigation units are not covered.
Friends in Lanzarote have enquired at the Hertz desk about rental and insurances, and the agent stated "CDW, TP, and SuperCover car insurances would cover everything. The only reason they would not pay out for wheels and tyres is if you were not on a tar road."
I am continuing to fight this but if anyone has any advice or experiences I would appreciate your feedback.

pcrracer

I think it is worth adding that the recovery driver moved the car with 2 flat tyres by revving and wheelspinning the car forwards and backwards, and I could see and hear the wheels grinding on the road which was obviously damaging them.

steveo3002

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hertz-423/

might be worth asking here too

pcrracer

After questioning Hertz' terms and conditions, I waited 30 days for what turned out to be a very short response:-
"As the vehicle was in your possession, it is your responsibility to ensure the safe return back to the location the way you received it. Any new damage that is recorded when the vehicle is checked will be charged to you directly"
I will continue to pursue this, however this statement does make me very concerned about the purpose and value of the insurances to a customer ?
In my opinion the insurances, particularly SuperCover are mis-sold if they do not provide any protection ?

jyonda

Car hire insurance bought at the desk is a rip off and unfortunately it's not surprising they do whatever they can to wriggle out of honoring their liability. In future I would suggest to buy a separate car hire insurance cover from https://www.insurance4carhire.com (discount via Quidco also) which would cover you much cheaper but would also mean you are not alone when dealing with the car hire firm. I usually rent via Autoeurope (quidco cashback too) who offer their own excess waiver policy for about 10 pounds per rental which is also much cheaper than buying insurance at the desk.

Autobahn66

Also just had problem with Hertz ...was told that my recent booking covered (among others) collision damage waiver and theft protection but when I arrived at the airport desk, they advised of a remaining excess of well over 1000 quid. Have never heard anything like it but had to pay the extra £110 insurance because I couldn't afford to be hit for over a grand on holiday. In the end it added nearly 60% to the cost of the hire and I'd have definitely shopped around more if they'd been more open about their prices. Have made a complaint and I'll be very happy to post again if they sort out the problem. I really don't expect that kind of thing from "reputable" online companies and have hired cars for years without any similar problems. Back to work tomorrow, back to Hertz...I doubt it.

headpin

I had exactly the same issue with Hertz in Madeira. Hit a pot hole and the front tyre split and the rim was damaged. I put the (spacesaver) spare on and returned to the nearest Hertz office. They arranged for the car to be swapped and produced some paperwork for me to sign. It was in Portugese and I said I was not able to understand what it said and could they explain. They said it was to confirm the car had been exchanged and covered the issue over fuel (usual out full in empty but first car still half full, etc) I too had taken out their supercover insurance at the desk in the airport. I was assured there was nothing to worry about. When signing I also included under my signature a statement saying I did not understand the Portugese form and that I had been assure no liability.

I returned the car to the airport a few days later and was given the usual paperwork at their desk confirming return etc. No mention of original car or any liability.

About six weeks later my credit card staemnt arrived with a charge of almost £400 for Hertz (over what I'd already paid for rental). I made contact with Hertz who said it was damage to tyre and rim. I said the Super Cover was suppose to cover this type of issue and that there was nothing shown which excluded it. They said that their franchise in Madeira had charged it and there was nothing more they could do.

I therefore raised it as a disputed payment with my credit card issuer and asked for a chargeback. I had to write in with all of the information. They immediately credited my account pending resolving the matter. The next correspondence was from my credit card company enclosing the documentation they had received from Hertz in Madeira. Starngely the super cover information was missing and the form I had signed when swapping the car had mysteriously lost my comment about being in Portugese, etc. Fortunately I always retain all of my car rental papaerwork for at least a year as you do not know when these slimey toads will strike. I sent copies of my paperwork to the credit card company showing how Hertz had conveniently ommited relevant parts of the supercover details and also showing how they had “doctored” the form by erasing my comment on the form.

The credit card company were none to pleased with Hertz and offered the opportunity to explain. They never did and I never ended up paying a penny.

All I can say is that my credit card company came up trumps (Tesco were the card issuer and I think RBS handle it for them?) So far as Hertz are concerned they are clearly losing their reputation where their franchisees are more intent on ripping off the renter rather tahn providing a service. I for one would not now use Hertz again. They need to take more responsibilty for their operation and not pass the buck back to the franchise. After all it's their name being flushed down the toilet.

So the moral is that the Hertz super cover never use to exclude tyres and rims in the T& C's, so assuming it hasn't changed in the last three years they have fraudulently charged you for the damage. You need to raise a dispute with yoru CC issuer and ask for a chargeback pending resolution. Do not be put off by the usual war of attrition and hopefully your CC issuer will come up trumps anyway.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Autobahn66

Got a reply from Hertz to my complaint about their unclear charges. It was late, unhelpful and it seems they live in a prehistoric age of customer service.

I may have made a few bad purchases in my time but I can't remember feeling more ripped off than by this mob.

If you've booked with Hertz, you should probably ask them direct questions about additional charges that might arise depending on your desired cover. If you don't get clear answers, I'd check the cancellation policy and maybe try to find a company that is more upfront/transparent about charging.