Hertz Rentals - confusing or is it just me?

jimjiber

I had to rent a transit van from Hertz over the weekend to pick up a bunch of stuff from the house of a recently deceased relative. I went into the local office first, only to be told by them that I would get a better price online.

So I booked online and arranged to pick the van up at 9am on Saturday and return it by 9am on the Tuesday, effectively a three-day rental. I paid online and it worked out at £100.87 for three days, including a free extra driver as I am an AA member.

When I picked the van up I was given the chance to buy a tank of fuel. I declined and said I would take it full and return it full. This was all agreed but there is nothing saying this anywhere. Weird. I said I wanted to take out the Super Cover, which gets rid of the £850 excess and said I saw online that it was about £15 per day. The guy said the price had just changed and it was now "twenty-something" per day. I said I would still like to take it. Again, there is nothing anywhere on the paperwork I took away that says I had paid for this.

I was paying the difference by debit card and was told that they would take a £200 deposit, which would be refunded upon the vehicle's return. He also mumbled something about a "fuel deposit". He then handed me something to sign, which is the sheet showing the condition of the vehicle. He said it was brand new so I didn't need to check it. I did however give it the once over before I drove it away and it was fine.

Anyway, I returned the van with a full tank (and no damage) on the Tuesday morning at about 8.43am. The receipt I was given is incredibly complicated but it has the following anomalies:

SC TOTAL (I am guessing SuperCover): £36

Sub Total (inc VAT): £139.25
Voucher Credits: £96.05
Amount Due: £43.20

Now, if that's right, the SuperCover is £36 for three days. Even with VAT, that is quite a bit cheaper than the "twenty-something" he mentioned and even cheaper than the £15 per day I saw online.

The Voucher Credits bit is weird as I actually paid £100.87 at the time of booking, so why is it £96.05.

I just checked my online banking and a payment of £100.87 went out to Hertz on 11/02/2014, which is a few days after my online booking. Nothing else is showing up from them, although my "available balance" is exactly £389.05 less than my "current balance".

What a strange amount! Even if £200 has been reserved as a deposit (but is not showing up), that still leaves £189.05 unaccounted for! The difference between what I paid online and what the receipt shows is £139.25 - £100.87, which is £38.38 (for the insurance?) but that still leaves my account down to the tune of £150.67!

I am not sure I like how they operate. It all seems a bit weird and I am left feeling like I need to be on my guard and carefully studying my bank transactions over the coming days.

Is this normal?

jimjiber

I guess it's just me then.

If anyone is interested, I looked at my bank account today and noticed that they took £43.20 from my account on 20/02/14, followed by £96.05 today (21/02/14). Add the original £100.87 that I paid online and the total is £240.12.

The maximum they should have taken is the original £100.87 plus £20 per day for the Super Cover, so £160.87.

Have they stolen money from me?

agrinnall

Even reading your posts is too complicated, so I can understand your confusion! But on your last question, it's possible, I've had to ring Hertz in the past in order to get them to refund charges taken incorrectly, and they've done it with so little argument that I felt they must have known they were in the wrong.

jimjiber

Sorry my post is so confusing but I wanted to give all the details!

Is it worth popping into the office I booked the van from with my bank statement and original receipt?