Hertz review: Malfunctioning car

I recently picked up a car from Cleveland Hopkins Airport on December 18th, 2024. I am in the President's Circle, so I picked the car I wanted, a sedan which I specifically chose for the fuel efficiency, and went on my way. Almost immediately, I noticed that the check engine light came on and shortly after that, I noticed that the car would "jump," for lack of a better word, while it was shifting. I am in Ohio on business and have been extremely busy so I could not deal with the car issues right away. It got to the point, however, that on the evening of December 10th, as I was merging onto the highway, the car would not get up to speed despite me pushing the gas pedal down further and further. I was topping out at about 45 mph and had to put my hazard lights on and stay as far over in the right lane as I could. I eventually did get the car to speed up to the speed limit, but it was definitely a problem. Thank goodness, it was late enough in the evening that the highway wasn't too busy or I could have been in a much worse spot.
On Wednesday, the 11th, I called the Hertz customer service line and the ONLY way I could get to a human being; after being circled around the automatic menu multiple times, was to pick the option stating I was in a roadside accident. Which that in itself, was infuriating. There is nothing worse than not being able to get to a human when you call the customer support line. Anyway, when I finally got a human on the line, I told them the situation and asked how this could be resolved. I gave her the closest Hertz location to me and asked if I could get a new car from there. She called that location (Mentor, OH) and was told that they didn't have a car at the time, but might be getting one in later that day or the next. I told her that would be fine and she said the Mentor location would call me when they had a car for me.
Fast forward to SATURDAY, the 14th, FOUR days later, still no call. So, I had to call again. Which is the first problem. I informed your company that I had a malfunctioning car on a Wednesday and NOTHING was done to resolve it FOUR days later, when I had to call to fix it. So, Saturday morning, I called the Mentor location to check on the status of getting a new car. They still had no cars, but I was told one may be returned later that afternoon and they would call me. And oh by the way, if the car ends up being a higher class than the one I currently had, I would have to pay a higher rate. I told the lady that I didn't think I should have to pay more when it had nothing to do with me that I needed a new car and she wouldn't budge.
So then I called the customer support line again, and again, had to pick the option that I was in a roadside accident to get to a human. When I finally got to a human, I told her the situation and told her that it was totally unacceptable that I should have to pay for a new car. She told me that since the Mentor location is an independent location, I would have to pay the difference. There was nothing she could do. Now in what world, do I have to pay to resolve an issue that was never my fault from the beginning? The company should be paying the independent location the difference, not me! When I told her all of that, she then told me that I could take the car back to the original place of rental and then I wouldn't have to pay anything. Keep in mind, that I have a MALFUNCTIONING CAR THAT ISN'T SAFE TO DRIVE, ESPECIALLY NOT ON THE HIGHWAY. The Cleveland Hopkins airport is easily and HOUR away from where I am staying while in town and she told me to drive the malfunctioning car all that way so that I can exchange it. Not to mention the time out of my day that would cause. I rented a car because I am busy with appointments and obligations while in town. I don't have time to drive an hour both ways plus go through whatever process it would take to exchange it. It was bad enough that I would to drive to Mentor to exchange the car there. She then offered to have the car towed and I COULD RIDE WITH THE TOW TRUCK DRIVER TO THE AIRPORT. Are you KIDDING ME? I am a 33 year old female and I am NOT going to get into a tow truck drivers car! For an hour long drive! She did offer to get me a Lyft, but again, the time factor was a huge issue as well. I am staying in a decently remote area and getting a Lyft would take a long time by itself, not to mention the drive back and forth. Again, I don't have the time to be fixing this problem that wasn't my fault! The last option she gave me, which is by far the worst, was to give me a voucher so that I could take the car, that is not mine, into a shop to get it fixed. ARE YOU ACTUALLY FREAKING KIDDING ME? IN WHAT WORLD IS THAT EVEN AN OPTION? Again, I am BUSY and I rented a car so that I could do everything I needed to do while in town. And your company is telling me to TAKE THEIR MALFUCTIONING CAR INTO THE SHOP FOR THEM?
I would like to note, that I am in no way complaining about the lady I spoke with first. I understand completely that she is at the mercy of the company and can only tell me what she has been told she can say. I was sure to tell her that multiple times. I thanked her for her help and apologized that she had to be dealing with this, because it certainly wasn't her fault either. I did ask her to speak to a manager, however, again, at no fault or disrespect to her, but I was hoping a manager would have some more power or ability to help me. Well, I couldn't be more wrong. The manager I was connected with was pretty awful. She was completely unsympathetic and clearly had no interest in actually helping me. The first girl I spoke with at least sounded like she was sorry I was dealing with this. But the manager clearly couldn't care less. She gave me all the same options as the previous girl and wouldn't budge or offer any other solutions.
I spent probably a good hour on the phone with both ladies (more time out of my very busy day) and got no where. NOTHING WAS RESOLVED. I am BEYOND upset at the service, or lack thereof, that I received. Honestly, there are just no words to express my anger. I rented a product from your company, the product was malfunctioning, through no fault of my own, and NOTHING was done to fix the situation that didn't involve me spending half the day fixing it myself. All that needed to be done was to get me a car to the Mentor location and pay whatever difference in the car class. How hard is that?
Luckily, the Mentor location did end up getting a car and the woman who worked there actually stayed past closing to make sure I got the car. Out of everyone I dealt with, she was the only one who actually went above and beyond to help me and solve the issue. The car did end up being a higher class, and she said normally it would be a $15 a day difference, but because of the inconvenience, she would only charge me an additional $5 a day. Which was very appreciated, but still unacceptable at the end of the day. I shouldn't be paying any difference and FULLY expect to be reimbursed that amount. Not to mention the difference in gas cost. The current car is a low level crossover SUV type car and thus has much less fuel efficiency, which means I have to pay more for gas. And I DEFINITELY will be requiring to be reimbursed for the FOUR days that I was left with a malfunctioning car that I could not use.
That is just the beginning. I also expect to be getting some sort of reimbursement just for the hassle of having to spend so much of my time getting this resolved. I am quite frankly disgusted with the service, again, the lack there or, that I received and will put this complaint far and wide until I am appropriately compensated. I truly have NEVER been so disappointed with a company than I currently am. And I have certainly never had to go to such lengths to be taken care of the way I should have been in the beginning. Including writing a bad review such as this. But as I said, I will continue to do so until I am appropriately compensated.
For your references, the manager I spoke with is named Jayden and my complaint case number is: [protected]