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I am presidents club with Hertz and to be this point haven’t had an issue.
I needed a car in Dublin for 2 days and went to Hertz. I booked lowest category with clearly displayed £68 due at pick up. On arrival the usual charm and blarney from the agent about my upgrade, noted I had turned down insurance and pointed out the chunky hold on my card as a result. There was then details on the M50 toll charge. All good, but upgrade was mean compared to my usual stellar service at Glasgow.
Returned as planned, car fine, signed off but no instant email so it was more than 24 hours before I saw a charge for £98 on my Amex card.
It seems Hertz Dublin have introduced a spurious supplementary liability cover whenever you use your own insurance. The following is from customer relations and does not appear at any stage in the booking or confirmation process.
“ In Ireland, clients wishing to rely on their credit card/alternative coverage may do so once an exclusive rate is reserved (rate excluding Dollar/Thrifty coverage/waivers) and once the guide to benefits associated with their credit card/alternative policy is furnished upon arrival.”
Hertz’s view is that “ In the vast majority of cases, it has been found that coverage offered via a credit card provider will exclude items such as emergency services costs, depreciation/diminished value, legal costs etc. Supplementary Liability Waiver is in in place to protect against any such shortfall in coverage”
The extra charge was an astounding 35% of the price quoted. It is a scam!
Hertz knew I was using an Amex card as it was in my profile. My profile also rejects ALL insurance and even the discount code used was the same EMEA code and yet at no stage did anyone points out this charge or what it meant. No one asked to see a copy of Amex policy.
Full disclosure. The charge is shown on the pick up slip I signed on collection. It is buried among the base price, VAT, Airport Fees and holding deposit, 7 lines of numbers but as I said I was directed to the chunky holding deposit so missed it. My view is that the headline price on the booking is what I should pay. There is nothing on that page detailing this charge.
So buyer beware of Hertz Ireland and their supplementary liability cover. An insurance policy you can refuse!
The charge for using your own credit card supplied insurance has been around at Hertz Dublin at least since 2004, it was easier/cheaper to book using the UK site with the Amex Plat discount rather than playing around trying to remove the insurance.
Belfast also has some stealth insurance charges
Hire car companies have specific terms for each country and SLW in Ireland is in the Hertz Ireland terms and, as above, is far from new. It’s also not uncommon, particularly when using e.g. different country sites to get apparently lower headline prices which, on closer examination, don’t include certain compulsory items. Also, so headline prices or confirmations often do say what isn’t included or items whose cost can only be confirmed at the pick-up location.
Hire car companies have specific terms for each country and SLW in Ireland is in the Hertz Ireland terms and, as above, is far from new. It’s also not uncommon, particularly when using e.g. different country sites to get apparently lower headline prices which, on closer examination, don’t include certain compulsory items. Also, so headline prices or confirmations often do say what isn’t included or items whose cost can only be confirmed at the pick-up location.
I accept this entirely however this requirement should be displayed on the reservation page when making the booking. This is a global company and it is for them to ensure that the customers is advised of the rules, not me to go looking for a specific T&C in another country.
The bottom line here is that I was misled. It seems the charge can be waived if you produce the policy that is providing the cover. This was not requested.
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