RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Dont get caught renting GPS navigation in Ireland It is very out of date and you need to resort to using a map especially in bigger towns and motorways. Despite complaining they refuse to refund the 10 Euro daily ($15 US) So save your money. Its a franchise and they couldn't care less what you think.

The service was okay, but the cars are disgusting! I had to switch cars 3 times today! The first smelled like someone had just smoked a carton of cigarettes in it right before I got in. The second one was smelly, but as soon as I drove it off the lot and came to a stop at a light the car started shaking. I then had to drive 20 minutes out of the way to get another car, which was just as bad. The cars smells like BO on top of the stench of smoking! I will NEVER use this company again.

Always polite and outstanding service.

Technically, 4-stars with my AAA card and 3-stars without it. . .I find decent on-line rates and get a small discount with my auto club membership. . .solid product, service, and price.

Made a booking for a BMW 318i on Hertz' Aer Lingus microsite. Confirmed. Prepaid. Sorted. Arrived in Shannon Airport to be told that at 28 I was too young to be given the car requested. Apparently, 30 is the minimum age for them to insure on a BMW in Ireland. So was given a Toyoya instead and told to pursue the booking company for compensation (but hey! It was Hertz! You're Hertz! What's the problem?). Arrived back in the UK and complained. Waited 18 days for a response and was told that I hadn't complied with the Ts & Cs on the website so this was my fault and no refund would be payable. What? I couldn't find any mention of the BMW having stricter age restrictions when I booked, and I'm one of the few careful sorts who does scour the small print. Curiously, a friend who accompanied me on the Ireland trip fell in exactly the same situation. Same age (to within a month or so). Same booking, same dates, same you-name-it. Only conceivable difference was he quoted country of residence as US whereas I'd said UK. He got a refund and an appropriately fawning apologetic email. So, armed with this I phoned customer services again to ask why the double-standards and was told to wait another 10 working days for them to reconsider. Went ballistic. Still waiting for customer services supervisor to get back to me. If this was a simple mistake on my behalf, I'd understand. But the booking was made in good faith using all the information I could find on the site. And it's so easily avoidable... they'd gone to no effort to spell out the age restriction clearly, or - as some competitors do - check date-of-birth on booking to avoid such problems. I'll stop just short of saying they're deliberately trying to catch out their customers, but I will say they're doing absolutely nothing to prevent the pitfall. (And why should they? There I am, standing in the rental office, pre-paid for the car. Do I run off to a competitor there and then and shell out even more or just lump it?) I'm now heartily recommending to all who know me to avoid Hertz at all costs

did you know that they can do insurance direct bills? I needed to get into a rental car recently after an accident and was able to get a nice, CLEAN, new car from them instead of the 2 or sometimes 3 year old clunkers I have rented from other neighborhood rental agencies that always seem to be at dealerships and body shops. Its nice to have another option.

after waiting 25 minutes for them to 'find' my car...they had actually rented it out, and told that I 'must' take the additional insurance to avoid having to pay for any damages...my car arrived without any gas in it, but being late for my appointment I left anyway and coasted in to my appointment. When I called Hertz to tell them that the car had run out gas, they told me that I would have to either go get the gas myself or pay for a tow truck!!! After getting the gas myself I had some time to kill before my next appointment and 'tried' to use the navigational system. Wow, was that stimulating...I punched in an address that I already knew how to get to but when the directions came up they were going to send me the opposite way to where I had entered. From talking with my coworkers (we have 'had' a corporate account with Hertz) this was not the first time that my company has encountered this type of customer service and problems. Do yourself a favor and rent from somewhere else!!!

They used to be #1. They've lost it! Never seem to get what I want from them.

Hertz take all the worst parts of what the other car rental companies in the UK offer then add some rubbish of their own. They charge so many extras - about USD25 just for renting from an airport. Insurances, road tax. They quote USD65 for a days rental, and you end up paying more than double. Their desk in the arrivals area is hardly ever staffed. Buses are irregular, the depot at Heathrow is dingy, tatty and always has a long queue and most of the "customer service" peope are sullen and unfriendly. Last time (3 weeks ago), from the time I got to the bus stop for the courtesy bus, to the time I drove away, was nearly an hour and a half. And they were not busy, it was 10pm at night. They give a "gold" card then don't give you any points if you prebook and prepay. So I have rented over 25 times and not got a single point. Why do I keep going back? Unfortunatey I dont have a huge choice.

I am forced to use Hertz because of work, but have found the employees to be friendly and helpful overall. I just wish they had fun cars.

Had a great experience with Hertz recently: I'd planned on taking a rental car from Boston to NH and back then catching a train to Stamford CT... but happened by a Hertz shop and found I could drop the car in Stamford instead. So I wound up driving some 300 miles within a 24 hr time frame, all for just $75 or so. Nice.