Hertz Hertz, Arizona charged $200 fee for return to location 5 miles from point of origin Mesa Arizona

Referencing the above noted Hertz reservation # and associated rental, please be informed of the following.  On June 5, 2023 I made a reservation thru Priceline for a Hertz car rental (dealer’s choice) for the Scottsdale, AZ location.  Upon arriving at the Scottsdale location I was informed that no cars were presently available and I was directed to the Gilbert, AZ location as it seemed they had cars to rent. 

I arrived at the Gilbert, AZ location at approximately 10 am.  Between that time and approximately noon I waited in line as there was but one female employee and she was tasked with servicing five or six renters in front of me.  Though my original reservation reflected a weekly rate of ~$170 I was informed that she could not honor the rate and the best she could offer was ~$200 per week.  Having spent the better part of two hours sitting on my hands I elected to accept the higher rate. 

As I was leaving I asked her if I should bring the vehicle back to her location or the Scottsdale location.  She replied “any local location in the greater Phoenix area would be fine”.  Today, Friday June 8, 2023 I returned the vehicle.  In light of the unpleasant wait times I encountered previously I elected to return to the Apache Road, Mesa AZ location – approximately five or ten minutes drive from both the Scottsdale and Gilbert Hertz outlets. 

Within the past hour I received an email receipt (attached) cataloging two day charges that were within $10 of the initial weekly rate I’d been quoted by Hertz / Priceline, but a line item charge of ~$200 for (Inter city fee).  Here, I would invite any casual reader of this letter to place themselves in my position – processing mentally the various irritations I encountered.  What might your viewpoint of Hertz thusly be? 

Please be further informed that it is not my intention to merely swallow the outrageous $200 nonsense-tax (inter city fee) that Hertz is attempting to extract from me.  Instead, I shall take any and all steps within my legal rights to fight back.  These include but shall not be limited to filing grievances with:

Ripoff Report

Better Business Bureau

Arizona State Attorneys General Office

Yelp

Local TV and print Media

I do understand that Hertz invests significant capital in advertising – presumably intended to generate a positive consumer impression of the company.  Perhaps those in a position of power within Hertz may do the mental calculus in considering the negative consequences when consumers and other interested Parties are informed of the experiences such as those I’ve just articulated.