Orbitz was unable to help with getting a different agency to give us a car, since they apparently do

Ryan s wife is currently traveling alone with their 3-month-old son on the way to an unexpected funeral near Salt Lake, Utah. Despite the fact that she paid for the rental up front as part of an Orbitz package, the local Hertz jerks are refusing to give her the car unless she goes to an ATM and brings back $200 cash, which they say they will mail back in check form a few weeks after she returns the car. Even Hertz says this isn t their policy, but they can t seem to stay on the phone long enough to help Ryan and his wife.
My wife s cousin passed away very suddenly this week, and so my wife needed to fly to Salt Lake for the funeral. I booked a package for her with Orbitz that included flight, hotel, and car, and the car happened to be from Hertz. We travel very frequently, both domestically and internationally, and we ve never used Hertz before, but I didn t worry about it.
I was unfortunately unable to attend the service due to work commitments, so my wife had to go by herself with our three month old son. As any parent knows an infant is plenty london hotels of work with two people, not to mention one, so by the time my poor wife got to Salt Lake she was understandably tired.
She got her baggage, proceeded to get the rental car that we had already paid for, only to be told upon running london hotels her debit card that she did not have sufficient credit to rent the car. Now, we have perfectly decent credit. It isn t crystal clear, london hotels but it s fine. So, whatever, they want to charge us $200 as a deposit, which I don t even particularly care about. However, london hotels they refuse to take a debit card. This is a debit available london hotels balance of at least $8,000, and they re flat out refusing to take it, and insisting that we go to an ATM and get $200 in cash, and bring that to them as deposit. The kicker is that we will not get our deposit back upon returning the car in good condition, we get the deposit as a check in the mail, some undefined number london hotels of weeks later.
We ve rented over a dozen cars in the last year, usually paid a deposit, but always in the form of a hold on a debit card, which is released upon the return of the vehicle. They re asking us to pay the extra $2.50 or whatever in ATM fees (just annoying), and accept that we won t see our money for several weeks, which is just unacceptable. I m also totally uncomfortable with the lack of record of the cash handed over, and the fact that physical checks can be delayed, lost, etc, which I m sure would put us in a holding pattern indefinitely london hotels before we see our money back.
Orbitz was unable to help with getting a different agency to give us a car, since they apparently do not do day of reservations. So, if my wife, who is completely grief stricken due to the loss of a close family member and carrying around a 3 month old baby, wants to drive to her cousin s funeral, she has to fork over $200 in cash that we won t see back for god knows how long. They are the only rental agency that does this in my experience, and it s just ridiculous.
I called Hertz corporate and was actually london hotels told that it was not their policy by a seemingly nice representative, and that they should accept london hotels the debit card at their Salt Lake location, but the representative promply put me on hold and transferred me to roadside assistance, who OBVIOUSLY couldn t help me, who then transferred me back to the beginning of the 20 minute hold queue. I then got ANOTHER representative who flat out hung up on me, and I m now on hold yet again.
Why would you be using a debit card in the first place? Use a credit card, that way they can t just steal from your account. If you did use a credit card for the initial package, just go to a different rental place and do a charge back for the price of the rental. Also call the credit company to let them know what is happening.
At most Hertz locations, debit cards (sometimes called check cards) issued under a VISA or Mastercard logo which draw funds directly from the cardholder s account may be used to qualify for rental. However, prepaid or stored value cards which have a VISA or Mastercard logo are not accepted to qualify for rental. Debit cards must have available funds for the estimated amount of the rental charges plus a reasonable amount to cover any incidental charges in order to secure the rental. Both debit cards and prepaid or stored value cards issued under a VISA or Mastercard logo may be used as a form of payment when you return the vehicle. Please contact your local Hertz Reservations Office if you have a question about whether Hertz will accept a certain card.
Debit cards may be just as safe, but that doesn t mean you should use them in all instances. If you need to dispute a charge, it s a lot easier to take care of it if it was on your credit card. If it was on your debit card, you d have to file an affidavit at your bank and wait for the money to be refunded to your account, which can be up to a couple london hotels weeks. Just avoid the hassle altogether, especially when traveling, and use a credit card.
@ Corporate_guy : You can do a charge back on a debt card. You can t do a charge back on cash. I would be reluctant to give a cash deposit. Too hard to track, prove and get back. It sounds like the local office doing something that smells like fraud. Checks Hertz off list of places to do business with.
Unrelated to this story, but my local Hertz office in Toronto (Yonge Bloor Streets), which I used to rent from almost on a weekly basis, started charging a $10 parking recovery fee to return the car to THEIR OWN LOT.
That was enough for me to stop renting from them. I tried reasoning london hotels with them that this was entirely stupid, expensive, and arbitrary, but nope. Just another company london hotels to add to the *additional fees apply clique.
london hotels If it s not their policy, and they won t fulfill her Orbitz order without the $200, then I d go to another car rental company and give them her business. london hotels Orbitz obviously doesn t care. Her trip was most likely booked with her credit card, do a charge back later for the portion of her car rental fees and go to a company who cares.
I haven t rented many vehicles, but it seems like they actually PREFER london hotels a debit/credit card in case of damages and such. I know here in NY I ve seen signs in the rental places saying that they can t MAKE you use a credit card but it sure seems like they are.
This kind of thing is why I don t feel debit cards are a substitute for having a real credit card. I get that some people don t trust themselves with easy access to debt, but if they choose that lifestyle they have to accept its limitations.
@ David Brodbeck : Why should we, a debit card is the same as cash, except with the backing of two financial institutions. Companies should not treat me or anyone different because london hotels I don t wish to use debt to subsidize my lifestyle. If this is Hertz s policy, why would I use them. I have traveled all over the world, never used Hertz, but have never had a problem with my debit card being taken.
@ David Brodbeck : I have no interest is forking over piles of cash in fees for a credit card when a debt card will suffice. Mine can be run as a credit card and the credit card transaction rules apply. Seeing the hell some people end up in with credit card companies creating fees out of thin air, jacking interest rates and lowering credit limits I see no benefit to having a credit card. We also diversify between a couple of separate debt cards from different sources so the risk of being wiped out is nil. Our main bank will do a replace or charge back with the money returned between london hotels 1-24 hours.
@ KStrike155 : Well, I m sick of companies and people telling me I have to use or should use a credit london hotels card. They track my spending, and my lifestyle and determine that since I shop at less desirable locations, they will lower your credit or raise your interest rate. I don t like my government or my private company tracking me thank you very much.
@ Collie : Again, if you pay it off in full, it doesn t matter if they raise your interest rate since you ll never pay interest. If you only use it occasionally for things where it really makes sense like renting cars, it probably doesn t matter london hotels if they cut your credit london hotels line. And you think that they don t track where you shop with a debit card?
@ David Brodbeck : I think you re missing the fact that the cash deposit is NOT Hertz policy. london hotels If the people at that location felt like making a money grab a credit card wouldn t have made a difference.
This is basically the same policy for all car rentals, only many times they ll accept a debit card as long as they can get an authorization(read: temporary debit) on the deposit amount. I can confirm that Hertz never accepts debit cards for the deposit.
When a cash deposit is made, it gets deposited ASAP because the rental desks don t keep cash around. london hotels After the car is returned and everything is good (tank full of fuel, no new damage), someone in an office off-site will cut your check. This can take 2 weeks to a month.
I don t think you should have to have a credit card to book a hotel room, rent a car or book a flight. But, while we are a no credit card family we do have a credit card we use for travel because we have run into this problem too many times.
@ SadSam : With so many card companies kicking even good customers off their cards or potentially going out of business I can see this all changing and there being less of a supposed bias against debt cards with a Visa or MC branding on them.
@ SadSam london hotels : Hotels are another problem for debit cards, because they also often result in large holds being placed against money in your checking account if you use a debit card (to cover potential incidentals ). How is a debit card more convenient and safer than a credit card again when any business can place arbitrarily london hotels large holds against your actual money?
Credit cards definitely have their purpose, especially in certain cases, car rentals being one of them. Car rental companies and hotels can both bot holds on accoun