The "Worst Rental Experience" Thread. (Please Share Your Experience)

[txtmax4]

OK, I'll start...
So I was at Hertz in Midtown Manhattan today. I had reserved a full-size one way for one day which was around $190 total without any corporate codes but after adding the Chabad corporate code to it the price was reduced to around $120, quite steep but considering the one way and the fact that it included unlimited mileage unlike Avis it was kinda the only choice.
When I got to the counter (I just signed up to Hertz gold so the 1st time I still had to go to the counter) everything was going smooth as usual until the clerk asked me if I had corporate ID... I was surprised to say the least, in all my years of countless renting I never encountered this situation.
I explained to them that I don't have ID as this is a religious institution with thousands of worshipers worldwide and that I do volunteer work for them and am entitled to the corporate benefits but they wouldn't budge.
Its worth noting that the clerk, as well as the manager, had this "prison guard" attitude, gloating from the fact that they have some kind of authority over something but really they are lower than any reptile that can be found anywhere.
Its also worth mentioning that the Chabad corporate is under "Fidelity National Financial" and they were asking me for proof of my link to them as well.
Just as I was getting a letter from a shliach faxed over to vouch for me, the manager came out of the office and said that I actually have to be an employee and be on the payroll and if I want them to honor the corporate I have to bring proof before closing the contract. As of now my rate shot up to a whooping $220! For one day!!
Needless to say, this is the most expensive rental ever. As I was in a rush to leave to my destination I had no choice but to go with it.
I already have a letter from a shliach stating that I am affiliated and am a full time "participant" of Chabad. I will also have a Chabad Rabbi come with me tomorrow to return the car.
Unfortunately, my hopes for lowering the rate are not that high as I am 99% sure that the mamzeres clerk noted everything on the reservation.
If anybody as any suggestions, I will be returning the car tomorrow about 11am-1pm, please post your ideas!
The funniest thing was that I discarded the option of a SA reservation from the start as I would forsure be asked for proof of travel but never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be asked for proof of belonging to Chabad...

Also, at the end I ended up with a Jeep Liberty which, by the way, I hate with a passion and she was claiming "it's an upgrade"! On my drive I wondered what would have happened if I was adamant that I wanted a full-size since I specifically reserved that? If it wasn't erev yomtov I would have fought that till the end just decided it was a risky move to play at the time.

Hope nobody as to go through this.

[Chaikel]

OK, I'll start...
So I was at Hertz in Midtown Manhattan today. I had reserved a full-size one way for one day which was around $190 total without any corporate codes but after adding the Chabad corporate code to it the price was reduced to around $120, quite steep but considering the one way and the fact that it included unlimited mileage unlike Avis it was kinda the only choice.
When I got to the counter (I just signed up to Hertz gold so the 1st time I still had to go to the counter) everything was going smooth as usual until the clerk asked me if I had corporate ID... I was surprised to say the least, in all my years of countless renting I never encountered this situation.
I explained to them that I don't have ID as this is a religious institution with thousands of worshipers worldwide and that I do volunteer work for them and am entitled to the corporate benefits but they wouldn't budge.
Its worth noting that the clerk, as well as the manager, had this "prison guard" attitude, gloating from the fact that they have some kind of authority over something but really they are lower than any reptile that can be found anywhere.
Its also worth mentioning that the Chabad corporate is under "Fidelity National Financial" and they were asking me for proof of my link to them as well.
Just as I was getting a letter from a shliach faxed over to vouch for me, the manager came out of the office and said that I actually have to be an employee and be on the payroll and if I want them to honor the corporate I have to bring proof before closing the contract. As of now my rate shot up to a whooping $220! For one day!!
Needless to say, this is the most expensive rental ever. As I was in a rush to leave to my destination I had no choice but to go with it.
I already have a letter from a shliach stating that I am affiliated and am a full time "participant" of Chabad. I will also have a Chabad Rabbi come with me tomorrow to return the car.
Unfortunately, my hopes for lowering the rate are not that high as I am 99% sure that the mamzeres clerk noted everything on the reservation.
If anybody as any suggestions, I will be returning the car tomorrow about 11am-1pm, please post your ideas!
The funniest thing was that I discarded the option of a SA reservation from the start as I would forsure be asked for proof of travel but never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be asked for proof of belonging to Chabad...

Also, at the end I ended up with a Jeep Liberty which, by the way, I hate with a passion and she was claiming "it's an upgrade"! On my drive I wondered what would have happened if I was adamant that I wanted a full-size since I specifically reserved that? If it wasn't erev yomtov I would have fought that till the end just decided it was a risky move to play at the time.

Hope nobody as to go through this.

Try twitter. It's the CS way of 2012. I've found it to be quite helpful for resolving legitimate issues

[SGF]

try calling the billing department a few days after the rental closes, they are usually very nice and will help you adjusting the price or giving you a few vouchers.
although you defenitly had a extraordinary nasty case,
it has been proven a few times that rentals in big busy citys like NYC are usually nasty people and they're out to get you on any shtick you'll try to play with them USAA, chabad or south america rentals ...
I read up alot about thesee things and i didint see anywhere written that you have to be a employee of the company, forget about payroll thats totaly ridicoulos thing to say, you have to just be a member of the corporate. next they will start saying you have to be a employee of USAA to get their benefits.
 
For the future i would advise anyone using chabad corporate to have some type of proof as they have the right to ask you, maybe make a account with mychabd.org and to show them at least something (do it before the manager has a chance to come out of the office ).

you can always go to a different location if they have availible cars and ask them to change it, in most cases they'll be happy to downgrade you.

I dont get it where did 'fidelity national financial' come in? You just have to show proof of chabad whats the difference under which 'corporate' is chabad ?

[txtmax4]

I read up alot about thesee things and i didint see anywhere written that you have to be a employee of the company, forget about payroll thats totaly ridicoulos thing to say, you have to just be a member of the corporate.

Thanks a lot for all the advice. Where can I find proof that the corporate is not set up exclusively for employees?

[BAHayman]

Thanks a lot for all the advice. Where can I find proof that the corporate is not set up exclusively for employees?

It won't prove anything regarding Chabad but you can show them the page on the USAA website which says the corporate  discount is for all members.

[txtmax4]

OK, so at the return location I nonchalantly began by saying that "it seems like my corporate for some reason wasn't applied to my reservation" and they went ahead and tried to apply it but they couldn't so they had to call the pickup location and the Mamzer remembered me and kept on saying that I have to show a paystub or an ID but I wouldn't let the clerk hang up the phone saying that this corporate is for all members of the organization, regardless of them being on the payroll. At the end of the day the manager in Manhattan allowed them to manually lower it to an amount that came to a total of $144.57.
That just shows what a mamzer the guy is because if he was so right he wouldn't have given me anything no matter what.
So, bottom line I ended up paying about $25 more than the original res.
Now Hertz sent me a survey to my email....

[txtmax4]

It won't prove anything regarding Chabad but you can show them the page on the USAA website which says the corporate  discount is for all members.

Yes, I used the example of AARP. I told them that I've been renting for longer than that manager is working there and I know better than him how corporates are set up, they were all impressed with me but said they couldn't move a finger without NY authorizing it,

[dovidb]

OK, so at the return location I nonchalantly began by saying that "it seems like my corporate for some reason wasn't applied to my reservation" and they went ahead and tried to apply it but they couldn't so they had to call the pickup location and the Mamzer remembered me and kept on saying that I have to show a paystub or an ID but I wouldn't let the clerk hang up the phone saying that this corporate is for all members of the organization, regardless of them being on the payroll. At the end of the day the manager in Manhattan allowed them to manually lower it to an amount that came to a total of $144.57.
That just shows what a mamzer the guy is because if he was so right he wouldn't have given me anything no matter what.
So, bottom line I ended up paying about $25 more than the original res.
Now Hertz sent me a survey to my email....

call cs and complain it's usually easy to get either coupons or points from them especially if you have a legitimate complaint

[Cbs]

pretty crazy story!

btw they lav davka wouldve asked you for proof of SA becasue it doesnt come up as a corp. and they dont think to look where the location was booked from.

and "+1" on that Jeep, i hate it as well and i got it as an "upgrade" once as well

[Yitz]

Avis in Eratz Yisroel is pretty bad. I got a car and I told them the inside was dirty they said not to worry. When I returned the card they wanted to charge around $100.00+ for cleaning the car. At the end I convinced them they are wrong and won. You must make sure every scratch hub caps every little thing is marked on the sheet when they give you the car.

[Cbs]

You must make sure every scratch hub caps every little thing is marked on the sheet when they give you the car.

yes you do! i once rented from LGA  hertz and didnt make sure they checked the car and when i returned in JFK they filed a claim on a dent they found. b"h i never heard from them since (knock knock...)
and when a diff hertz car had food stains and coffee all over i made sure they knew when i took it. then went to a diff location and switched cars (traverse to acadia)

[Yitz]

When I mentione dthe dirt they told me not to worry.

[satturn]

Avis in Eratz Yisroel is pretty bad. I got a car and I told them the inside was dirty they said not to worry. When I returned the card they wanted to charge around $100.00+ for cleaning the car. At the end I convinced them they are wrong and won. You must make sure every scratch hub caps every little thing is marked on the sheet when they give you the car.

i had an eraser sized ding on a budget rental here in israel- they told me that it is so small that they dont need to write it down. When i returned they gave me hell over it, but at the end they did not charge me. Lesson learned, next time every dot will be marked down! 

[PlatinumGuy]

i had an eraser sized ding on a budget rental here in israel- they told me that it is so small that they dont need to write it down. When i returned they gave me hell over it, but at the end they did not charge me. Lesson learned, next time every dot will be marked down!

In Israel u must be very careful, it is true not only about Avis but about everyone. Im surprised they didn't end uo charging u in the end.

[txtmax4]

pretty crazy story!

btw they lav davka wouldve asked you for proof of SA becasue it doesnt come up as a corp. and they dont think to look where the location was booked from.

Once they see a cheap rate like SA they dig deeper. Especially those prison guards at the Midtown HLE, believe me.
The bottom line question is if a rep can cancel your whole res. based on the SA trick or do you still get to rent, albeit with the USA rate, if that's the case then there is never a risk reserving SA.

[Saver2000]

Once they see a cheap rate like SA they dig deeper. Especially those prison guards at the Midtown HLE, believe me.
The bottom line question is if a rep can cancel your whole res. based on the SA trick or do you still get to rent, albeit with the USA rate, if that's the case then there is never a risk reserving SA.

If they do cancel the whole reservation,  wouldn't you just be able to make another one on the spot with USAA? (I'm guessing the whole concern is that they may not have a vehicle for you?)

[SGF]

Once they see a cheap rate like SA they dig deeper. Especially those prison guards at the Midtown HLE, believe me.
The bottom line question is if a rep can cancel your whole res. based on the SA trick or do you still get to rent, albeit with the USA rate, if that's the case then there is never a risk reserving SA.

if they dont think you qualify for that reservation they have to guarantee you a car and they will prob. give you the rates of that location which is usually much higher then SA reservation

[txtmax4]

If they do cancel the whole reservation,  wouldn't you just be able to make another one on the spot with USAA? (I'm guessing the whole concern is that they may not have a vehicle for you?)

Correct, it was a holiday weekend and they were very short on cars. Besides, they can be mamzerim and deny me a rental, could they?

if they dont think you qualify for that reservation they have to guarantee you a car and they will prob. give you the rates of that location which is usually much higher then SA reservation

Is there anything to back these statements up?

[PlatinumGuy]

Correct, it was a holiday weekend and they were very short on cars. Besides, they can be mamzerim and deny me a rental, could they?

Even if they can't they always can. Why not make a back up at a competitor?

[txtmax4]

Even if they can't they always can. Why not make a back up at a competitor?

Sure but its a schlepp..