vpFREE2 Forums

car rental cancellation fees

#1

I recently booked a minivan through Travelocity from Hertz in Bullhead City, AZ. I ended up not needing the reservation and didn't pick it up. A month later I get a charge from Hertz for $100. I call Hertz and they tell me it's a Travelocity fee for no show. I call travelocity and they tell me it's a hertz fee. The credit card statement shows the charge is from Hertz.

I look on the travelocity website and buried about 4 pages deep is a statement that they MAY change a cancellation fee for specialty vehicles ( luxury cars, vans, etc). The etc. leaves it pretty wide open. I never considered a mini van a specialty car. That's what they stick you with when they are out of what you really wanted.

I have waited in line to cancel vehicles before and been told they cancel automatically after a few hours and they didn't even take down the number. Looks like Hertz is looking for some extra revenue.

Lesson Learned:

-- always check because things change

-- third party travel agent ( even on a rental car) could cause issues.

-- A mini van is special.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#2

Assuming you paid with a credit card, you can probably
fight this one. Call your CC compamy and tell them the
charge is not valid.

This is no guarantee, but I have had good results when I
have done this to dispute charges that fall into such
gray areas as this.

Putting some nonsense in fine print is not a liscense to steal.

Quad Zilla

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, greeklandjohnny@... wrote:

I recently booked a minivan through Travelocity from Hertz in Bullhead City, AZ. I ended up not needing the reservation and didn't pick it up. A month later I get a charge from Hertz for $100. I call Hertz and they tell me it's a Travelocity fee for no show. I call travelocity and they tell me it's a hertz fee. The credit card statement shows the charge is from Hertz.

I look on the travelocity website and buried about 4 pages deep is a statement that they MAY change a cancellation fee for specialty vehicles ( luxury cars, vans, etc). The etc. leaves it pretty wide open. I never considered a mini van a specialty car. That's what they stick you with when they are out of what you really wanted.

I have waited in line to cancel vehicles before and been told they cancel automatically after a few hours and they didn't even take down the number. Looks like Hertz is looking for some extra revenue.

Lesson Learned:

-- always check because things change

-- third party travel agent ( even on a rental car) could cause issues.

-- A mini van is special.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#3

"I recently booked a minivan through Travelocity from Hertz in Bullhead City, AZ. I ended up not needing the reservation and didn't pick it up. "

I'm wondering why you didn't just call and tell them you no longer needed the van? I hate to say it, but it seems they may be correct in charging a fee for a car that you reserved - therefore making it unavailable to others - and then never picked up or otherwise let them know you didn't want it. I've been in those places when they've run out of cars and people are sitting around waiting and hoping to get one, so possibly (though unlikely) it did make a difference.

Valerie

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#4

I totally agree, it's only common decency to let them know you won't be using the vehicle. Put yourself in their shoes, what if you went to pick up the vehicle and they didn't have one available? I don't think you would be very happy.

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--- On Thu, 9/2/10, Valerie Pollard <vpollard@socal.rr.com> wrote:

From: Valerie Pollard <vpollard@socal.rr.com>
Subject: Re: [vpFREE] Re: car rental cancellation fees
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, September 2, 2010, 10:47 AM

      "I recently booked a minivan through Travelocity from Hertz in Bullhead City, AZ. I ended up not needing the reservation and didn't pick it up. "

I'm wondering why you didn't just call and tell them you no longer needed the van? I hate to say it, but it seems they may be correct in charging a fee for a car that you reserved - therefore making it unavailable to others - and then never picked up or otherwise let them know you didn't want it. I've been in those places when they've run out of cars and people are sitting around waiting and hoping to get one, so possibly (though unlikely) it did make a difference.

Valerie

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5418 (20100902) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#5

I believe the "correct" way to handle rental car cancellations is to call when
and if the rental is being held by a credit card or has been prepaid in some
other refundable way. I would never leave my "money" in limbo, notwithstanding
the "fine print". On the other hand, if I have a reservation for a rental that
is not held by some financial device there is no need to cancel it--just as the
rental companies sometimes don't honor their reservation--- they "run out" of
cars!

Keith

···

________________________________
From: Valerie Pollard <vpollard@socal.rr.com>
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, September 2, 2010 7:47:29 AM
Subject: Re: [vpFREE] Re: car rental cancellation fees

"I recently booked a minivan through Travelocity from Hertz in Bullhead City,
AZ. I ended up not needing the reservation and didn't pick it up. "

I'm wondering why you didn't just call and tell them you no longer needed the
van? I hate to say it, but it seems they may be correct in charging a fee for a
car that you reserved - therefore making it unavailable to others - and then
never picked up or otherwise let them know you didn't want it. I've been in
those places when they've run out of cars and people are sitting around waiting
and hoping to get one, so possibly (though unlikely) it did make a difference.

Valerie

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature
database 5418 (20100902) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#6

At the very least, it is common courtesy to call to cancel reservations for
ANYTHING you won't be using, thereby making it available for someone else who
might want to use it.

At the very most, you'd avoid having to write & complain on this forum about
something that could have been taken care of with a 30 second phone call. Not to
mention the aggravation you are now going to go through to get the charge
canceled.

"I recently booked a minivan through Travelocity from Hertz in Bullhead City,
AZ. I ended up not needing the reservation and didn't pick it up. "

I'm wondering why you didn't just call and tell them you no longer needed the
van? I hate to say it, but it seems they may be correct in charging a fee for a
car that you reserved - therefore making it unavailable to others - and then
never picked up or otherwise let them know you didn't want it. I've been in
those places when they've run out of cars and people are sitting around waiting
and hoping to get one, so possibly (though unlikely) it did make a difference.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#7

I will only rent using the company website. The prices are usually the same and they don't require a credit card.
Of course, always cancel a res you are not going to use.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, greeklandjohnny@... wrote:

I recently booked a minivan through Travelocity from Hertz in Bullhead City, AZ. I ended up not needing the reservation and didn't pick it up. A month later I get a charge from Hertz for $100. I call Hertz and they tell me it's a Travelocity fee for no show. I call travelocity and they tell me it's a hertz fee. The credit card statement shows the charge is from Hertz.

I look on the travelocity website and buried about 4 pages deep is a statement that they MAY change a cancellation fee for specialty vehicles ( luxury cars, vans, etc). The etc. leaves it pretty wide open. I never considered a mini van a specialty car. That's what they stick you with when they are out of what you really wanted.

I have waited in line to cancel vehicles before and been told they cancel automatically after a few hours and they didn't even take down the number. Looks like Hertz is looking for some extra revenue.

Lesson Learned:

-- always check because things change

-- third party travel agent ( even on a rental car) could cause issues.

-- A mini van is special.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#8

"Put yourself in their shoes, what if you went to pick up the
vehicle and they didn't have one available? I don't think you would be very happy."

True. I've been dropped off in an empty lot by Dollar. The bus driver says "don't worry, cars will be coming out soon" and drives off. I wanted to jump in front of the bus and tell him to return all the tips (including mine) he'd collected if he was going to leave us waiting in the heat instead of on his air-conditioned bus.

Worse yet, I once reserved a mid-size car from Enterprise. When I arrived, all they had (they said) were sub-compacts and mini-vans - which did I want? Neither is acceptable, says I, what else have you got? I ended up with a Dodge Durango, which I didn't much care for. To add injury to insult, my receipt upon vehicle drop-off had the "premium SUV" rate, not the rate I'd booked at. I had to argue that I didn't upgrade to the "premium SUV", that they didn't have the car I'd reserved.

To combat this, I now make TWO reservations. I've only had to do it once, but if the cheaper rate isn't available, off to the more expensive backup I go.

#9

Valerie,

As I mentioned in my post, I have waited in long lines at the airport car rental locations to cancel a reservation and been told on 4 different occassions that I didn't need to do that and the reservation will automatically cancel. After standing in line 4 different times and being told the same thing, I figured it was true. Also, there was no one at the Hertz desk from 9:00 AM to 9:15 AM while I was proccessing my other reservation. If someone would have been there and the line was short, I would have cancelled.

Next you'll want to know why I didn't cancel previously. Since travel plans change all the time and car rental companies sometimes don't have what you want or have some other issue, it's nice to have a backup.

I have no problem with a cancellation fee. I do have a problem with it not being clearly stated. Also, all my previous rental experiences indicated that rental car companies do not charge cancel fees.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Valerie Pollard" <vpollard@...> wrote:

"I recently booked a minivan through Travelocity from Hertz in Bullhead City, AZ. I ended up not needing the reservation and didn't pick it up. "

I'm wondering why you didn't just call and tell them you no longer needed the van?

#10

Quick update on my rental at Hertz through Travelocity back in July. I didn't pick up a minivan at Bullhead City and was charged $100.

After calling both Travelocity and Hertz, I did get Hertz to refund $50, then travelocity agreed to refund the other $50 and finally Hertz agreed to send me $50 to use on a future rental.