The tense exchange came down to dueling interpretations of an "unlimited" mileage rental agreement
Hertz (HTZ) has apologized to a customer who got into a tense exchange at one location over his interpretation of the rental company’s “unlimited” mileage policy. Things got so heated that a rental agent threatened to have the customer arrested, the travel site One Mile at at Time reports.
The customer in question booked a car for a month. The agreement he signed claimed it had unlimited mileage, so the customer took the paperwork at face value and racked up 25,000 miles. When he returned it, as shown in a TikTok video that later went viral, the agent claimed that the customer was only supposed to drive 100 miles a day and charged him $10,000.
“I’ve never signed anything saying I can only go 100 miles a day, or anything like that, or that I would have to pay more,” the customer says in the video.
“But you also never signed anything saying you were going to be allowed to drive 25,000 miles in a month,” the agent replies.
“No, unlimited is 100,000 miles,” the customer says.
“No it is not,” the agent replies.
They go back and forth like this until, eventually, the agent threatens to call the police if the customer doesn’t leave.
The Drive reports that Hertz backed down from the $10,000 charge and issued an apology.
“Customer satisfaction is our top priority at Hertz, and we sincerely regret this customer’s experience at one of our franchise locations,” Hertz said in a statement. “Per the terms of the contract, the customer will not be billed for mileage. Our franchisee is addressing the employee’s conduct and reinforcing our customer service standards and policies to ensure they are understood and followed consistently across our locations.”
Hertz has been trying to turn things around after its bad bet on electric vehicles saw it take heavy losses. On its latest earnings call, CEO Gil West said treating customers better will be a key part of its recovery effort.
“We’re in the midst of a critical transformation for our company,” he said, “and our priority is getting back to the basics, operational excellence and unmatched customer service, and using these springboards for value creation and earnings growth.”
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