Hertz rental upgrade at airport: bring cash

[PeterNBiddle]

Last year I rented the cheapest car I could get through Expedia with my Hertz status, which was a hatchback stick with no AC for ~$20. At the airport I asked if I could upgrade. A short conversation led to a tour of the parking lot and for $10 cash/day we got our pick from the mid-size cars. This would have been three times as much via Hertz.

YMMV but that's the plan for how we're doing it again this year (although I picked a car with AC, auto and a trunk for $25 this time, just in case).

 

[lionfish-eater]

Are you suggesting an under the table deal with an employee, so that the business owner is unfairly compensated for the rental of a more expensive car? Are you suggesting that one should enable and encourage an employee to steal cash from their employer? Are you suggesting that selling one's soul to the devil is worth saving $8 a day for a seven day trip? I hope you don't own a business or have employees. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but just today I was talking to the owner of a local retail store with over 50 employees who has a constant problem with employee theft while he struggles to keep his business open. He constantly has to fire people for theft and even after catching them on video there are no consequences even in the court. One employee who stole an amount in the tens of thousands and went to court after sufficient evidence was collected( at great expense to the owner) was ordered to pay restitution, made a few payments and skiped town.

 

[DandyDon]

US rental agents can upgrade if they want to. I doubt that bribery would help, but being nice does...

 

[PeterNBiddle]

The guy was the mgr and may well be the franchise owner. I don't know.

Are you suggesting that the next time I'm offered a special at a restaurant I demand to speak to the owner? Or perhaps I should ask for a sworn statement saying that is approved?

Maybe every time I'm offered an upgrade at the Hertz gold counter I should call the CEO...

Are you suggesting an under the table deal with an employee, so that the business owner is unfairly compensated for the rental of a more expensive car? Are you suggesting that one should enable and encourage an employee to steal cash from their employer? Are you suggesting that selling one's soul to the devil is worth saving $8 a day for a seven day trip? I hope you don't own a business or have employees. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but just today I was talking to the owner of a local retail store with over 50 employees who has a constant problem with employee theft while he struggles to keep his business open. He constantly has to fire people for theft and even after catching them on video there are no consequences even in the court. One employee who stole an amount in the tens of thousands and went to court after sufficient evidence was collected( at great expense to the owner) was ordered to pay restitution, made a few payments and skiped town.

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[Mossman]

US rental agents can upgrade if they want to. I doubt that bribery would help, but being nice does...

Exactly. In Mexico, one can often get the same results with a bribe that a smile can get in the U.S. The difference is that a smile doesn't always work in the U.S., whereas a bribe usually has much better results in Mexico. To the poster that was worried about Hertz Corp.'s revenues, please consider that there's a clear paper trail of the money realized by the company vs. the car rented by the customer. If Hertz is oblivious to the reality, they deserve to be scammed. Otherwise, if Hertz doesn't approve of the agent's practice, they can always take their franchise away.

Still, PeterNBiddle poses an interesting question: "Are you suggesting that the next time I'm offered a special at a restaurant I demand to speak to the owner? Or perhaps I should ask for a sworn statement saying that is approved?"

When I went to Roatan for my first and only visit, I went to Bay Island Beach Resort with a dive shop group over New Year's. The owners/managers were out of the country and had left their employees in charge. The bartender one night decided to give everyone free shots and was very generous with drinks. Later, the same employee blatantly ripped me off $40 during a meal service and I ended up reporting that to the owner/manager, explaining why that was the reason I chose not to give that same amount in tips to the staff. The owner/manager contacted me for more info and I explained all that had occurred in her absence. She was shocked when I let her know of the free shots/drinks that the offending employee was giving out in her absence and implied that I was stealing from her when I (and the rest of our group) accepted any freebies. That offended me, to say the least, like I'm supposed to police her employees when she's gone, let alone have knowledge of the resort's bar policy at New Year's time? If the bartender wants to give me a 2-for-1 drink deal, I'm accepting it and won't demand to see written policy to that effect signed by the owner. Likewise with the car rental. If the absent owner is that oblivious, he or she has too much money for his or her own good.

 

[DandyDon]

In Mexico, one can often get the same results with a bribe that a smile can get in the U.S. The difference is that a smile doesn't always work in the U.S...

Candy seems to help in the US. I just have to avoid eating it all before I get there. I take a variety of M&Ms and ask which they like best, give them a package and of course suggest they can be nice to me on cars.

 

[Mossman]

You scoundrel. Candy rots teeth, increases waistlines, and promotes diabetes. On the other hand, a monetary bribe might help the recipient feed his hungry children or provide solace (i.e. pain meds or telenovelas on satellite TV) to a dying grandmother. The candy will be consumed while the bribe money will be reinvested into the local economy.

 

[robint]

well... if that is "bribery" then we are all guilty of it now and then. Sheeshh!!
I can't tell you how many times I have been offered a free dessert or a free drink, free sample at a restaurant here locally, etc. As a regular patron of certain local businesses, I take the freebie and say thank you. I also refer all my friends to their establishment. It's part of doing business especially in these times of tight $$ for small businesses.

We used to rent a car in Cozumel at the Hertz desk every year (before we started staying at SCC) and often we were offered an upgrade on a car as the car we rented wasn't available. We got the upgrade for free those times, other times we were offered the upgrade for a low price and took it. What's wrong with renting a car that is going to be sitting there not being used? I see no issue at all.

robin

 

[vladimir]

The guy was the mgr and may well be the franchise owner. I don't know.

Are you suggesting that the next time I'm offered a special at a restaurant I demand to speak to the owner? Or perhaps I should ask for a sworn statement saying that is approved?

Maybe every time I'm offered an upgrade at the Hertz gold counter I should call the CEO...

There is no need to call the CEO or get a sworn statement, no duty to police others' ethics. But your original post was suggestive of a conspiracy to defraud the owner of goodwill or revenue: "bring cash"; "a short conversation" that you opted not to characterize further. There may be legitimate reasons to require cash for the upgrade, who knows? The "short conversation" may have been totally above board. But lionfish-eater was not taking a huge leap of imagination when he asked what you were suggesting.

To the poster that was worried about Hertz Corp.'s revenues, please consider that there's a clear paper trail of the money realized by the company vs. the car rented by the customer.

Even if this is true, perhaps Hertz is happy to engender goodwill with its customers by giving free upgrades, and would look askance at their agents, in effect, selling that goodwill for their own enrichment. Selling the free samples is theft.

If Hertz is oblivious to the reality, they deserve to be scammed.

Interesting ethics. In my system of ethics, stealing is wrong and abetting theft is wrong, whether the victim is oblivious or not.

 

[PeterNBiddle]

Okay, for the people taking the fraud/ethics angle in this thread: if you are at a rental desk and are offered an upgrade for cash (this is what happened) what exactly will you do?





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