Hertz Car Rental Hidden charges Orlando Nationwide

Numerous times a year my wife and I travel from the west coast to several destinations on the east coast, mostly to tend to family matters, and once in a great while for vacation. Truthfully, we have had few problems considering the number of trips, however on a recent trip to Orlando, Fl. we had less than satisfactory dealings with Hertz Car Rental.  I will frequently book our car through reputable travel sites and do try to get a competitive pricing on our travel. On this occassion I selected a car through Hertz while booking flights through United Airlines which must have some sort of partnership.  

The rate was not inexpensive for the period we required the car. By the time the taxes, fees, prepaid fuel (which incidently at the time of this post Hertz charges $9.99 a gallon if you don't prepay and don't bring the car back full) the bill hit $450.00 for the 6 days. This really is not the substance of my complaint though.  Car rental companies have been creatively gouging for years.  The issue on this trip concerns what I believe are hidden fees and unscrupulous practices at the rental counter.

Over the many years we have traveled to Orlando, and the many cars we have rented never have we've been charged for a second driver when the primary and secondary operators are married. I am aware that most state laws do not prohibit these charges, though some do and some cap the per day charges. It was a shock when returning the vehicle our final chargenwas $550 rather than the printed contracted estimate of $450.

What was more disturbing was that we were not informed of the added charge. When contacting Hertz we were told that a second receipt was printed at the kiosk, though we never received any information about the additional charge Or another receipt. Of course it's difficult to impossible to settle these matters at the airport when heading for a flight, so when returning home and immediately contacting customer service Hertz provided little satisfaction offering a 20% one time courtesy discount on the additional charge (About $16.)

While we don't regularly rent from Hertz I considered them a reputable firm and did not expect such treatment. I hope if nothing else this will prompt others to be more diligent and perhaps think twice before renting from Hertz. it the Hertz brand ever had any integrity associated with it, we have learned it may no longer exist and will never use Hertz Car Rental again!