Hertz puts you in the hot seat(Beware of New Contract Changes)

[RamboLiberal]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/13/BUGLQGM91F1.DTL

Let's say you were driving a rental car and got stuck in the recent floods in the North Bay. Let's say you rented it from Hertz.

And let's say your car was damaged as the waters rose. Let's even say a short-circuit sparked an accidental fire, which set the car ablaze. (Luckily you got out in time.)

In the past, you wouldn't have been left holding the bag for such costs because Hertz's "terms and conditions" stipulated that customers aren't accountable for "accidental fire (not resulting from collision) or acts of nature or God beyond your control."

Not anymore.

As of Jan. 1, Hertz's voluminous contract for its core customer base of millions of "Gold Club" members has been changed in several eye-opening ways that place a far greater onus on customers to make good for any unforeseen mishaps.

[pinerow]

1. That's one way of pushing CDI...

nt

[colonel odis]

2. thanks for passing that along. i have to rent next week and was

going to use hertz.

that won't be the case now.

[asjr]

3. And I wonder if Hertz is going into the credit card

business where they can force you to pay 29% interest and make you pay double the amount that you paid before and attach late fees that soar into the sky.

[htuttle]

6. Wouldn't be surprised

The last time my wife and I rented a car for a road trip, we were told that we'd no longer be able to use a debit card to pay (and to place the deposit). The only reason I could imagine for this was that they were getting a vig from the credit card companies (instead of the credit card companies charging them), and they didn't get their cut if you used a debit card. The logical progression would be for them to start their own credit card.

[high density]

4. Hertz seems to enjoy raping younger drivers as well

I needed a rental car about a year ago and I seem to recall that they had an extra $30 per day fee for drivers under 25. I ended up going with Enterprise who 'only' charged an extra $10 daily young driver fee.

[pinerow]

5. Younger drivers=Higher Risk...

nothing strange about that...