tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327817.post115685514235958157..comments2024-01-25T13:55:08.273+00:00Comments on Gendal World: Rental Car "Upgrades"Richard Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14808940497740675782noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327817.post-1156936959664206322006-08-30T12:22:00.000+01:002006-08-30T12:22:00.000+01:00Ive just returned from a 9 day trip to San Francis...Ive just returned from a 9 day trip to San Francisco, Napa Valley and Yosemite national park. I took 2 Hertz rentals - 1 booked through Expedia as an intermediary and the other direct with Hertz using my employers leisure rate (I massaged my ego with a few days driving a Ford Mustang convertible). On my first rental I took the upgrade option which although ended up stinging me for more gas consumption gave me the added bonus of free satnav, which Hertz only offers with higher range models ... maybe this is another good argument for why an upgrade is not always such a bad deall for the consumer. I should also add that I took the "bring it back empty" option by paying for a full tank of gas on both rentals ... my main reason was for the convenience - i didnt want to have to track down a gas station at the end of a 300 mile trip trying to make my flight - i can live without the stress on holiday :o) Overall I have to say that I found Hertz rates to be pretty fair - I dont feel ripped off ... However, altering any booking, and dealing with their useless staff was an absolute nightmare - they dont answer direct questions, dont know their own systems and are thoroughly useless. Right. Rant over, now back to my day. :o)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7327817.post-1156924750164739532006-08-30T08:59:00.000+01:002006-08-30T08:59:00.000+01:00Sorry - didn't make myself clear.One scam is well-...Sorry - didn't make myself clear.<BR/><BR/>One scam is well-known and nothing to do with the "upgrade" - they offer you a "good" price on a full tank of fuel when you pick up the car, the pitch being that it removes the need to worry about refilling it.<BR/><BR/>They make their money here by 1) offering a rate that isn't that great anyway and 2) relying on the fact that they will charge you for a full tank even if you bring it bank half full.<BR/><BR/>The scam I'm talking about here is more subtle. They don't make any money as a direct result of your taking the "upgraded" car. Rather, the gotcha is that you are tricked into believing you are getting a good deal ("woo! a free upgrade!") when in fact you're getting a car that may well have cost them less to purchase than the one you actually booked and which will cost you more to run during the period of the hire.<BR/><BR/>Now, of course, from another perspective, you could argue that there's no problem: if you accept the upgrade you're implicitly saying that you value the upgraded option more than the one you booked - in which case it's a win-win situation.<BR/><BR/>Where I think this breaks down is that the implications for fuel cost are not immediately obvious and so the customer is making the decision from a position of limited information.<BR/><BR/>The correct solution to the problem is probably gratefully to accept the upgrade and then complain like hell when you return it in an attempt to get some money refunded :-)Richard Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14808940497740675782noreply@blogger.com