- Report: #1073390
Complaint Review: Hertz Car Rental - Keflavik Select State/Province
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Hertz Car Rental
Keflavik, Select State/Province, Iceland
Web:
https://www.hertz.is/
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Hertz Car Rental 3000 dollars charge for alleged ice and weather damage! Keflavik Keflavik
DO NOT RENT FROM HERTZ in Keflavik Iceland!!!
I recently returned from a lifetime dream trip to Iceland. I was extremely impressed with the beauty and culture of this beautiful island, until I went to return my car rental at the HERTZ in Keflavik.
They claimed the vehicle was damaged and I owed $3000 USD to fix it! They would not allow me to leave until I paid the alleged bill for damage.
I could not see any obvious damage to the vehicle.. They claimed that the vehicle had sustained pitting to the windshield, headlight covers, and clear coat from a blizzard that occurred during my visit. The damage to the clear coat appeared to be dust and I attempted to show them that it was merely dust by wiping it off. I noticed that the vehicles around my vehicle in the return lot all had similar damage. I asked how they determined the cost of repairs and the owner stated that they took it to a repair shop that was located 5 minutes away ( I never saw the car taken off the lot). When I requested a second estimate, the owner returned in 15 minutes and said that the second estimate was almost double the first! The owner did state that he would be willing to compromise and drop the bill to $2865 USD since there was previous damage to the vehicle. I’m not sure that the damage was present when I picked up the vehicle, since it was covered in snow and the damage was never disclosed to me at the time of rental.
I realized at this point that I was being taken advantage of by an obvious scam. Apparently this is a common scam with this HERTZ office. I told the owner that I felt they were being unfair and taking advantage of me. I told him I would put my experience with HERTZ on every travel website I could find and he stated ‘Go ahead, it’s already there and now my eyes will be opened!’.
After hours on the phone with my U.S. insurance company (no help as I am not covered internationally). I had accepted all the available insurance coverage offered by HERTZ except the “Sand and Ash” add on. HERTZ claimed that the “Sand and Ash” coverage would have covered only a portion of the alleged damage. I spoke to the U.S. embassy in Iceland (they don’t help with these situations) and HERTZ International (I was told to send an email). I ended up paying just so that I could get out of there.
I had paid for the rental with my debit card and found out after the fact that if I had used a credit card, I might have coverage for these kinds of claims.
I am just asking every other traveler to Iceland, NOT USE HERTZ rental car services. If HERTZ cannot prevent their agents from being thieves, then they should remove their name from places such as this. I am guessing that other unsuspecting Americans will rent from HERTZ there, because it is one of the more elite car rental companies in the United States. Please spread the word about this place!
