Hertz car hire hold on funds

mummyjonno

Not 100% sure this is in the correct place so I apologise in advance if it is not.

My husband rented a hire car from Hertz uk last Wednesday. We have it rented until the 20th of this month.

Upon booking the car online it gave 2 options pre pay or pay on collection. I selected pre pay as it was cheaper by about £50.

Firstly they charged us for the smallest car they had (we booked a family car) they then rectified this on the morning and took the remaining funds. They didn't have the car we were supposed to have so gave my husband an S max instead with no extra charge (no problemo) came with a full tank too.

The next morning he noticed Hertz had taken a payment of £209 from his card (hire car already paid in full) when we queried this we were told they'd put a hold on the funds in case he didn't return it with a full tank! (We were and are still under the impression that you can return your car with a full tank and they won't charge you at the end or return it empty and they bill you no mention of a "hold" of payment.

All the paperwork we have states the above too you either return it full and not be billed on dropping it off or you get billed then and there not "in case"

Has anyone heard of this or had this done to them? don't really want to fill the Smax back to full to return it and be told they are keeping the money anyways considering it was never mentioned on paperwork or been said when collecting the car.

Would really appreciate the advice.

Thanks in advance!

Johnmcl7

Did you pay by credit or debit card? I've seen that happening with debit cards where an additional payment is made beforehand and refunded if everything is fine when the car is returned but not for a credit card.

John

baby_frogmella

Don't worry, this is a perfectly normal procedure when renting from Hertz (i rent from them frequently). Assuming you've paid by CC, they only place a hold on the funds ie available balance is reduced, no actual payment is taken. Once you return the car full, the CC hold is released.

agrinnall

Answers here too https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4009119

mummyjonno

We used debit card. They state they have only "held" the funds not taken them. Just wanted to double check that if we refill the tank to full which is the intention that they won't turn around an say HA thanks for the full tank and the extra pennies

Johnmcl7

I wouldn't worry about it, that seems normal for debit card use. My brother doesn't have a credit card so the same happens to him when he uses a debit card but no issue with the money afterwards.

John

baby_frogmella

mummyjonno wrote: »

they won't turn around an say HA thanks for the full tank and the extra pennies

Extremely unlikely that Hertz (one of the world's biggest car rental companies) would pull such a stunt.

poppasmurf_bewdley

The Americans have a saying: It hurts to hire from Hertz.

dt3887

i had the same thing with enterprise. but the guy actually told me not to bother filling it before i returned it, as their charge for fuel P/L is less than the petrol stations. so also worth finding out how much they charge for a litre

mummyjonno

Sorry I forgot to respond to this. (having a newborn make's you forget things sometimes)

In the end incase anyone else needs this answering in future they refunded the money they'd taken and we'd delivered it back with a full tank. Although as someone previously pointed out with Hertz they over charge.

We worked out to fill the tank in full it would be just over £100 even with the current prices however they took payment of over £200 for a full tank... I know which I'd rather pay haha

Thanks everyone that answered I appreciated it!