Hertz Car Rental - New York - West 34th Street

I like the hours and convenience of this location.

But the last two times I’ve rented from Hertz there have been several hundred dollar charges added after return with no explanation on the bill.

Last time there was a random $250 charge added.

When I’ve contacted Hertz, they never reply.

So despite the convenience, I’ve stopped using Hertz and taken my frequent rentals to Alamo.

via Google

I scheduled my rental online. When I went to pick up, a car wasn’t available. There were some issues that were unrelated to Hertz causing renters to not return their cars on time, meaning there wasn’t a car for me to rent. I am a wedding photographer and had to be at my wedding relatively soon. The staff was able to explain the situation to me and help me brainstorm ideas. They gave me numbers of other locations to call and even helped me look up public transportation options. I very much appreciated the support of Chris and Shaheeda at the front desk. They kept it real and were so kind to me. I watched them gently talk to other customers in person and online. They were extremely helpful and calm, despite the train wreck situations that were unfolding before them.

TLDR: I wasn’t able to rent a car through Hertz. Ended up renting through Turo. Chris and Shaheeda are phenomenal!!!

via Google

For the first time in over 20 years, I was yelled at by an associate at Hertz, that was fast followed up by laughter- this even though I asked not to be yelled at, especially given the situation was an issue that Hertz did not disclosed or take care of. I was renting the car to make a one way trip where I had added both unlimited tolls and the fuel refill full tank option. When I turned on the engine the arrow was in the red and there was only 52 miles before going empty. Never had I rented a car besides a zip car in this condition. Given the multiple stops and work I needed to do, the congestion in NYC, and foggy weather - I did not feel comfortable in this position. When I pointed this out the associate yelled the car is still running you have 52 miles. The front desk man just sat there with a blind eye and said nothing until I said, I no longer wanted the vehicle as it was not up to my safety expectations. He then went from, this is the only car to we have one more with 1/2 tank but it’s a midsize. I was like that is fine, I’ll be at least out of the busy areas of NY and NJ. However the rates did not change bc he insisted that bc I refused the initial car, I would have to pay for the mid-size as a full size, and there was a big jump btw the two. So once again I said. Thanks but no thanks. I wasn’t sure what gold status did for me but clearly I got upgraded a screaming adult, unhelpful desk support, and parking associates who wanted to make sure I heard the jokes and laughter. Finally - they were not able to print out the void confirmation or screenshot it, so I had to call the hotline where the recording was that a horrible song with the phrase “let’s go!” X100. When I was finally transferred the AI chatbot support was utterly helpless and refused to transfer me to a human, but finally after 10-15 mins - a human answered. I got my voided confirmation and provided professional feedback with facts. I told them, I didn’t want anything from hertz because there was nothing good, kind, helpful or supportive in that rental center. I told them I just hope that no one will have to ever experience what I did. No rental car, shaken up, angry, late and behind scheduled, and have now lost 1.5 hours. I hope these people find joy in their life. Everything is already tough today - they did not need to make things worse or try to pull me down to their level. If they stay - I hope their managers invest in their employees’ well being and professionalism. I will need to rethink about hertz because of today. One thing I can say, I was proud of calm and professional behavior.

via Google

Reserved a 7-seater all-wheel drive vehicle for winter travel to Vermont. On pickup, we were first given the wrong car (a 5-seater) which we only realised after loading all our luggage. After flagging this, staff apologised and said the system showed it as a 7-seater, then told us we were being “upgraded” to a Ford Expedition. We explicitly told the representative we were driving to Vermont and were assured the vehicle met our AWD booking.

It did not.

The vehicle struggled on snowy roads, couldn’t make it up a gentle incline at Stowe Mountain Resort, and ultimately got stuck in an open car park. We had to pay for a tow, where we were told the car was rear-wheel drive only. I’ve attached a photo showing how little snow there was when the car got stuck.

This was not an inconvenience — it was a serious safety failure. Providing and misrepresenting a non-AWD vehicle for winter conditions, despite being told our destination, put passengers at real risk. We were fortunate to make it home safely. Extremely disappointed.

12 Jan- If I could reduce the number of stars I would because after writing in to them as suggested, I got offered some points added to my account. I would like to reiterate - This is not a situation when I was inconvenienced and had a bad experience. This is a situation where my entire party was put at risk, had to fork out financial costs because of a mistake made by the company. This is NOT a bad experience, it is a safety concern where it is sheer luck that we did not get into a car accident.

13 Jan - upon my second email, they offered a $50 credit adjustment. Quite a joke considering I got the WRONG car which put us at safety risk.

via Google

They gave us the car with a half tank even though the contract said it should have been full. And it already had an oil change and revision due since 400 miles ago. Steering was bad and car kept going to the left a lot. So driving conditions we definitely not safe. Car was also dirty, and customer service was very lacking. They also charged us an incredible expensive deposit with no explanation whatsoever.

via Google