Totally screwed by Autoslash/Priceline/Hertz

[jjking42]

We arrive in Kona tomorrow and I could not get the Hertz car reservation to come up in the app. I booked it via Autoslash/ priceline/ hertz

331.59 total for 7 days with mid size SUV

Called Hertz to get them to add my loyalty number to the reservation and they tell me they cant because they dont have the car. " What do you mean you don't have the car" . They offer me a larger SUV and I say OK then they tell me it $ 600.00. Of course we argue and I ask for a supervisor and get put on hold. They are encouraging me to cancel because they don't have the car. I told them NO you are going to give me an SUV for 331.59 otherwise whats the point of a reservation.

While I am on hold I pull up the Avis app. I use Avis all the time for bushiness. They have a 4 door jeep for 473.57. I finally tell Hertz to cancel my reservation and I switch to Avis.

Buyer beware I will not use Autoslash/Priceline/Hertz ever again.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. That sounds frustrating especially just prior to a trip.

Did you contact AutoSlash or Priceline about this? Perhaps there was a different res. number and the car was kept in a different inventory than what the consumer Hertz rep could see; they could have helped you to locate the auto and advocate for you. I have never had an issue (use them all the time), but rarely have reserved Hertz through these sources.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I would be very upset in your shoes, Jim.

I don't really understand Autoslash. People recommend it here, but I have never gotten a better deal than I can get at Costcotravel.com. I think the prices are amazing with Costco. Do you have a membership?

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Further thought: How could Hertz cancel the reservation if they don't have it? Something's fishy here...

YMMV...perhaps it is when and where we travel. I always check Costco and it is never cheaper. Of course it has been cheaper than initial Autoslash/Priceline quotes but they usually decline over time if you follow their tracking service and rebook with the lower prices.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

We arrive in Kona tomorrow and I could not get the Hertz car reservation to come up in the app. I booked it via Autoslash/ priceline/ hertz

331.59 total for 7 days with mid size SUV

Called Hertz to get them to add my loyalty number to the reservation and they tell me they cant because they dont have the car. " What do you mean you don't have the car" . They offer me a larger SUV and I say OK then they tell me it $ 600.00. Of course we argue and I ask for a supervisor and get put on hold. They are encouraging me to cancel because they don't have the car. I told them NO you are going to give me an SUV for 331.59 otherwise whats the point of a reservation.

While I am on hold I pull up the Avis app. I use Avis all the time for bushiness. They have a 4 door jeep for 473.57. I finally tell Hertz to cancel my reservation and I switch to Avis.

Buyer beware I will not use Autoslash/Priceline/Hertz ever again.

I always show up at the rental company with reservation.

It often happens that they don't have the vehicle I have requested. Invariably the agent will try to sell me an upgrade. I never take the upgrade, because I've already reserved the car that I want, so I just say decline the upgrade. Then they will say that they are out of the car type that I have requested, and they are giving me a free upgrade. I've never had a car rental shop turn me away with no vehicle.

And it happened to me one time in Kona. Our compact size rental turned into a Cadillac convertible.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Further thought: How could Hertz cancel the reservation if they don't have it? Something's fishy here...

YMMV...perhaps it is when and where we travel. I always check Costco and it is never cheaper. Of course it has been cheaper than initial Autoslash/Priceline quotes but they usually decline over time if you follow their tracking service and rebook with the lower prices.

Also my experience with Costco. I usually get the best rates at DiscountHawaiiCarRental.com. I still check Costco, and on our last trip they came up cheaper, for the first time ever.

 

[jjking42]

I would be very upset in your shoes, Jim.

I don't really understand Autoslash. People recommend it here, but I have never gotten a better deal than I can get at Costcotravel.com. I think the prices are amazing with Costco. Do you have a membership?

I have Costco also

 

[jjking42]

I could show up and demand a car but the hertz customer service guy said they would turn me away or make me pay the difference. I rent with Avis 20 to 50 times a year on a corporate account. I dont want to spend my vacation standing in line or arguing at the rental counter. I want to bypass the counter and go get the car.

 

[lynne]

I have found that unless you enter your loyalty number with autoslash/priceline when making the reservation, it cannot be added. We have never had an issue with the rental company not honoring the reservation/price even when the reserved car is not available and we receive a different car class. Try getting your requested car in Austin with a late arrival flight - pretty much impossible. We also had an economy car replaced with a full size from Hertz at the Kona airport.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

We arrive in Kona tomorrow and I could not get the Hertz car reservation to come up in the app. I booked it via Autoslash/ priceline/ hertz

331.59 total for 7 days with mid size SUV

Called Hertz to get them to add my loyalty number to the reservation and they tell me they cant because they dont have the car. " What do you mean you don't have the car" . They offer me a larger SUV and I say OK then they tell me it $ 600.00. Of course we argue and I ask for a supervisor and get put on hold. They are encouraging me to cancel because they don't have the car. I told them NO you are going to give me an SUV for 331.59 otherwise whats the point of a reservation.

While I am on hold I pull up the Avis app. I use Avis all the time for bushiness. They have a 4 door jeep for 473.57. I finally tell Hertz to cancel my reservation and I switch to Avis.

Buyer beware I will not use Autoslash/Priceline/Hertz ever again.

Sounds a little bit like "Bait and switch". Glad you didn't bite!




.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I could show up and demand a car but the hertz customer service guy said they would turn me away or make me pay the difference. I rent with Avis 20 to 50 times a year on a corporate account. I dont want to spend my vacation standing in line or arguing at the rental counter. I want to bypass the counter and go get the car.

Interesting. In 30+ years of travel I've never had Hertz turn me away at the counter or make me pay more for an upgrade when I've had a confirmed reservation.

The only "issue" I've had is one time when they didn't have a compact and upgraded me to full size SUV. I didn't want something that big and requested something smaller. The only thing smaller that they had a was a specialty vehicle (can't remember if it was a convertible or a Wrangler), but since those options were considered a higher class then the full size SUV, I would have been required to pay the upgrade fee.

 

[VacationForever]

This is fishy.

Here is my recent rental car experience with our local Budget car rental shop. My car was backed into by a hit and run and I had to take it into a bodyshop and hence needed a rental car for the duration. I rented through Costco with a pickup on Monday and return on Friday. The bodyshop called me at 1pm on Friday and said they were not ready. I did not read my rental agreement but went ahead to reserve another car through Costco for a Friday pickup through the following Tuesday. After that I called the local Budget car rental place and said that I had to extend my rental until the following Tuesday. The woman on the phone said that it would cost me $65 per day. I said then I would take it back and pick up another car. She said they had no car available for rental at all and that if I wanted to extend I would have to pay the $65 per day. I said, "Sure you have, I just reserved it through Costco and you have cars available in all sizes." She paused and said that I would still have to bring it in regardless. This woman was obviously lying and was trying to get away with charging me $65 per day to extend and pretended that they had no available cars.

 

[SteelerGal]

Definitely a bait and switch. Happened to my sister in Cancun.
Btw I worked for Enterprise after college. Bait n switch was a common practice . However it was the branchs’ job to masked the reservation happen. Even it meant the branch had to rent provide a higher class vehicle and take the $$$ loss.

 

[magmue]

I can hear Jerry Seinfeld in my head:

Jerry: I don't understand, I made a reservation, do you have my reservation?

Agent: Yes, we do, unfortunately we ran out of cars.

Jerry: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the
reservation.

Agent: I know why we have reservations.

Jerry: I don't think you do. If you did, I'd have a car. See, you know how to
take the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation and
that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody
can just take them.

 

[kwelty]

I can hear Jerry Seinfeld in my head:

"Well, we do have a compact – if you would like that. Fine. – Alright. Well, we have a blue Ford Escort for you, mr. Seinfeld. Would you like insurance? Yeah… You better give me the insurance, because I am gonna beat the hell out of this thing."

 

[Luanne]

I would be very upset in your shoes, Jim.

I don't really understand Autoslash. People recommend it here, but I have never gotten a better deal than I can get at Costcotravel.com. I think the prices are amazing with Costco. Do you have a membership?

I am a loyal Costco customer. For years I used them for car rentals. But I'm firmly in the AutoSlash camp now. I have been consistently getting better rates, plus AutoSlash will monitor. Also we've never had an issue to date with our reservations and getting the car we reserved.

P.S. A four day rental we have for an upcoming trip to Carmel just went down $68. Thank you AutoSlash for the notification and the pricing.

 

[easyrider]

I could show up and demand a car but the hertz customer service guy said they would turn me away or make me pay the difference. I rent with Avis 20 to 50 times a year on a corporate account. I dont want to spend my vacation standing in line or arguing at the rental counter. I want to bypass the counter and go get the car.

Good move !!! We are Avis Prefered too and I really like just showing my reservation to the fast lane person and driving off. Last time we did this was in Kauai. About six other customers got off the shuttle before us but we were out of the parking lot in 5 minutes with a new Toyota.

This next trip we have a reservation through auto slash. It is a pretty good deal. Maybe $350 less than the others sites for two weeks in Maui. I will looking at outer prices but I doubt that any beat the auto slash price. It does make a bit nervous when you say Hertz ran out of cars because that is where auto slash is sending me.

Bill

 

[Luanne]

Good move !!! We are Avis Prefered too and I really like just showing my reservation to the fast lane person and driving off. Last time we did this was in Kauai. About six other customers got off the shuttle before us but we were out of the parking lot in 5 minutes with a new Toyota.

This next trip we have a reservation through auto slash. It is a pretty good deal. Maybe $350 less than the others sites for two weeks in Maui. I will looking at outer prices but I doubt that any beat the auto slash price. It does make a bit nervous when you say Hertz ran out of cars because that is where auto slash is sending me.

Bill

We rented Hertz through AutoSlash at least once. No problem at all. However that was Islip in New York. I think Jim's issue may have been a one-off with Hertz. I always verify that the car rental company has the reservation no matter which third party I book through. For those where we have memberships, Alamo, Budget, Avis, it seems to always show up on their website.

 

[DaveNV]

Jim, could it be a matter of them not having your RESERVATION visible, because it was through a third party (Autoslash/whoever)? I've seen where a reservation through Costco couldn't be CHANGED by the rental agency, and they sent me back to Costco to make the change. Maybe something similar is happening here. Either way, there is a disconnect somewhere. Maybe that location doesn't have that vehicle type? But even so, it would simply mean giving you the closest they'd have to what you reserved. Regardless, it all sounds like shenanigans.

My go-to for Hawaii is either Costco or Discount Hawaii Car Rental. I check both, and have never had an issue with either company. My loyalty program codes are on my reservations, and I never have to wait in line to get a car. I've never found Autoslash to be a lower price, for the few times I've tried it. I just don't trust Priceline for anything.

Car rentals in Hawaii frequently book out everything on the lot, so a discounted rate for unrented equipment seems unlikely, and fraught with issues. I'd rather (potentially) spend a few bucks more and make sure I'm getting what I want. The savings difference is not worth the hassle.

Dave

 

[Luanne]

I've never found Autoslash to be a lower price, for the few times I've tried it. I just don't trust Priceline for anything.

Dave

It seems everyone has difference experiences. I always start with Costco and then register that reservation with AutoSlash. I do go back periodically and check Costco just to be sure they don't have a better rate.

Also, the rentals with AutoSlash don't always go through Priceline. In many cases I have the choice of doing a "pay later" with AutoSlash or with Priceline. And when the rentals have been with Priceline, again no issues......................so far.

 

[Icc5]

We arrive in Kona tomorrow and I could not get the Hertz car reservation to come up in the app. I booked it via Autoslash/ priceline/ hertz

331.59 total for 7 days with mid size SUV

Called Hertz to get them to add my loyalty number to the reservation and they tell me they cant because they dont have the car. " What do you mean you don't have the car" . They offer me a larger SUV and I say OK then they tell me it $ 600.00. Of course we argue and I ask for a supervisor and get put on hold. They are encouraging me to cancel because they don't have the car. I told them NO you are going to give me an SUV for 331.59 otherwise whats the point of a reservation.

While I am on hold I pull up the Avis app. I use Avis all the time for bushiness. They have a 4 door jeep for 473.57. I finally tell Hertz to cancel my reservation and I switch to Avis.

Buyer beware I will not use Autoslash/Priceline/Hertz ever again.

Did you contact Autoslash? You can go into Facebook, put in Autoslash and message them or just go online and write to them. In the 35-40 times I've used them I never had a problem. In my current reservation for almost 3 weeks renting from one airport and returning at another they found me price reductions about 6 times saving me almost $850 from when I first put it in from Costco. When I have had questions they have always got back to me right away.
Bart

 

[Luanne]

Did you contact Autoslash? You can go into Facebook, put in Autoslash and message them or just go online and write to them. In the 35-40 times I've used them I never had a problem. In my current reservation for almost 3 weeks renting from one airport and returning at another they found me price reductions about 6 times saving me almost $850 from when I first put it in from Costco. When I have had questions they have always got back to me right away.
Bart

They are also very responsive by email. I haven't had issues, but have had some questions.

 

[RX8]

Another happy costco user. My wife is great at making those reservations. She checks often and just rebooks when she sees a lower price. Not uncommon for her to find lower prices 5 or 6 times before travel time.

 

[Luanne]

Another happy costco user. My wife is great at making those reservations. She checks often and just rebooks when she sees a lower price. Not uncommon for her to find lower prices 5 or 6 times before travel time.

Tell her to try registering her Costco reservation in AutoSlash. They will check automatically for lower prices and notify her. I was doing the booking, checking and rebooking with Costco for years. As I've mentioned, I'll still check back with Costco, just to be sure they don't have a lower price, but so far, they haven't.

 

[jjking42]

Hertz could see my confirmation and I had a hertz confirmation number. Hertz would not agree to give me the car I reserved for the price on the reservation.

I have never experienced anything like this and don’t know if it was because it was Priceline or not. But they were not helpful at all and really rude about it.


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