rental car; Every now and then we are simply dependent on this form of mobility. Be it after an accident, after a theft, or because you simply do not have the right car for an upcoming task - for example when moving.
If you live in the country, you have to take what luck has given you from the rental car providers. While in the hip urban areas you often don't just choose between x-different rental car companies, but also additional alternatives such as car sharing - we had to settle for what was available locally and that in turn led to this urgent warning: Stay away from Hertz!
But first things first:
Why you shouldn't book a rental car with Hertz!
When booking a rental car, security against possible claims must be provided. In principle, there are only small regional rental car companies that allow you to rent a car without a credit card. As with all major providers, you have to go with Hertz Credit card show up for rental. So far everything is normal. The processing time of the rental car provider until the security provided is returned is unusual. This may not be important for credit card users if they are rarely used and their credit limit is rarely used - it is particularly critical for users of so-called debit credit cards.
Debit credit cards replace the classic bank card in the EC system. Nowadays, anyone who opens an account with an online bank gets a debit credit card. The special thing about debit credit cards is the need for balance on the linked one bank account. Because contrary to the name, debit credit cards do not have a credit line, but allow the use of credit. For the rental car companies it is irrelevant whether the deposit is "real money" or "blocked book money" - the security is blocked and released again after the rental car has been settled. That's the theory.
We had to use Hertz because a replacement vehicle was urgently needed after an accident. Unfortunately, there was only the Hertz branch on site. Rental, rental period and return were problem-free - only when it came to the rental deposit Getting back shows why Hertz car rentals should be avoided.
When asked why the rental deposit had not been returned seven days after the end of the rental and billing, the local credit card company and the issuing bank were referred to. In this case, the business debit credit card was used by Mastercard, issued via PayPal. Since another rental was necessary, the credit card was also used with SIXT.
14 days after the end of the rental car booking with Hertz, the amount of 748 euros blocked there is still not back on the credit card, the statement from PayPal is: The dealer has not yet initiated the transfer, otherwise you would see it in the inflow. A few hours after the SIXT booking, the security provided there was booked back - which therefore only allows one conclusion:
It's not up to the credit card company, nor the issuing bank - it's up to the retailer, in this case Hertz, how long it takes for a rental deposit to become available again to the renter.
The Hertz support via Twitter was engaged, but in the end could only produce a preconceived English e-mail as a result of the complaints. Hertz's "press contact" in Germany runs through a communications agency, whose reply is as useful as the contact as well as Twitter support and may have been pulled from the same FAQ.
In the end, only one question remains open; Why is that - and who benefits from it?
The blocked deposit, in this case, is money from a company credit card, and isn't needed for everyday necessities - the money just isn't there. If it is as PayPal says, then the money is still in the balance at Hertz and then the question arises whether this procedure has a system?
