I made a reservation with Hertz Car Rental at 12963 Poway Rd, Poway, CA. When I arrived, the gentleman at the front desk stated that the pickup time had passed and that the car had already been rented to another customer. He also said he had no other vehicles available. I was not offered an alternative vehicle. I am a Hertz Gold member and had prepaid for the rental. Their email confirmed that the vehicle will be reserved even if I am delayed. But I was not given any vehicle. I had to go to another car rental. The following day the entire amount of $305 were charged to my credit card. This is fraudulent. I found the experience frustrating and the staff attitude condescending. This is unacceptable, and I would not recommend this location to anyone. read more

Beware of this business pulling a bait-and-switch scam with your reservation. I reserved an SUV for a weekend trip because my wife had thrown out her back and needed something comfortable. My reservation said Chevrolet equinox or similar. Instead, they gave me a Jeep that was nothing like an SUV and charged me an additional $89 "upgrade" fee for an SUV. Aside from the fact that I reserved an SUV, my wife wouldn't have even been able to get into a Jeep. I was forced to pay the additional fee to accommodate my wife's disability as we were leaving for her father's wedding that day. To add insult to injury, the SUV they gave me (after paying more) was dirty and had not been cleaned. It was covered in pet hair and even had the last renter's glasses still in the back seat (if they had cleaned the car and actually cared about their customers, I imagine they would have cleaned the car, removed the glasses, and called the previous renter to let them know). I also feel the customer service agent was very rude and unaccommodating when I asked them to make things right. I usually use the Rancho Bernardo Avis for rentals and should have stayed with them. Lesson learned. read more

Hertz Rent A Car - Reservation - Car Rental Near Me - Poway, California

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Reserved a car here and arrived, but was told the pickup time had passed and my car had already been rented out. I was not offered an alternative vehicle. I had to leave without a car to rent it from other car rentals As a Hertz Gold member who prepaid, I found the experience frustrating and the staff attitude condescending. They fraudulently charged on my credit card that I had to dispute. Very disappointing -- I would not recommend this location. read more

Got there Saturday morning and no car available for our family road trip. The person at the desk said this happens all the time and that people are constantly yelling at her. She said managers take the weekends off to relax so they left her by herself to clean out cars and handle irate customers. She said she'd be willing to put me on a waiting list and I could pick up a car on Monday if I got lucky. She was kind of enough to find another Hertz (Dollar) with a car, so a couple of 40 mile round trips and a few additional hours of my time and I'm rolling. Of course, no compensation or even responsibility taken for the trouble caused. I think this store could be useful if you were just renting a car for fun and don't really need it. But if you were actually planning to rent a car and use it for a task, you're rolling the dice. read more

The car they gave me wreaks so badly of smoke that I had to return it. It stinks so horribly everyone in my family got a headache. Hertz should be embarrassed they even give this car to someone. And I rented it for 2 weeks. And no one cares at this location. The worst employees ever!!! Even if you have a reservation be prepared to wait at least an hour. Gold, means nothing. They could care less. Way understaffed. read more

We made an online reservation for pickup at noon. We arrived at noon and the woman working was backing out in her car and yelled 'we're closed' When I told her we had a reservation at noon she said 'we close at noon' and drove off. read more

Do yourself a favor and don't rent from this location! I would give them zero stars if it was possible! I reserved a car using the Hertz APP 3 weeks prior to Thanksgiving (pickup on Wednesday 11/25 at 5pm) for a family trip. I called on Tuesday and spoke to Julie to confirm my appointment the next day. I also wanted to confirm the store hours so that I didn't show up too late. I'm glad I called to confirm as the APP reservation system allows you to make a reservation past their closing time. I told her that I will be there an hour early so that I don't show up just before they close. The next day, Julie called me around noon (the day I was supposed to pickup my car) and said that they don't have the car I rented. I reserved a mid sized SUV and so I asked her if there are any options for a slightly smaller or larger vehicle. She then told me that they are completely out. I then asked if she can get me a car at a different Hertz location and she said "it's a company wide issue and there are no cars available". I was informed cars were being returned later in the day and one may be available. I asked her if she can call me if a car becomes available but I never heard back from her. The part that made me even more upset was that my brother in law reserved a similar car a week before the trip at a different Hertz location in town and he was able to get a car for the trip! So is this truly NOT a "company wide issue"! As a last resort, I asked a friend that often rents cars to see what alternatives do I have for my trip. He suggested the Turo App. Fortunately I was able to find the car through this APP! I don't trust this Hertz location and I will never rent from them again! read more

I was looking for an EV, but they made me to take a gas car. I should have refused it. They said, they will call me once they have an EV. But no call and nothing. read more

This has to be the worst rental location in the country. They put fraudulent charges on my credit card and when I verified with receipts via my credit card company that the charges were fraudulent, and Hertz was required to reimburse them. They then switch to trying to file a fraudulent collections claim. I would strongly discourage anyone from providing them with personal or financial information. I'm moving for a filing a formal complaint with corporate compliance with Hertz since it looks like this location in general has some pretty shady business dealings. Such a bummer since the woman who was helping me also just finished a degree in counseling and is getting licensed to provide services in Southern California. Scary to think that that would be the same person who facilitated fraud on a customer's credit card. read more

Hertz Poway used to be a great place to rent cars. They are affiliated with AAA which makes it even easier to make reservations for your road trip or family vacation. But when this new Manager in training who is currently on duty right now (March 2026), everything changed. She would refuse accountability for the poor maintenance of their vehicles. Imagine the "Check Engine Light" popping up while you're driving, and the battery terminal becomes loose and jumps off the terminal and your vehicle stops in the middle of the freeway. And a small front windshield crack that was caused by the previous renter and then passed on to the next renter which happens to me. That is very unprofessional. Pure cleverly evil. Charging me for someone else's fault. Isn't that an easy way out for your negligence. In the first place the initial inspection photos must be provided to the customer upon pickup. We the customers do not have time to do all that because when we pickup the rental vehicle, we leave right away because time is very important. Now after a few minutes of driving after pick up my daughter noticed the small crack on the windshield and so she took a picture. Remember pictures are time stamped and location based so you cannot deny that. It is a good proof that you are telling the truth. I have sent the picture to Hertz. Customer Service plus the copy of the rental agreement. The time stamp of the pickup time and date plus the time stamp on the picture would show a few minutes difference. So how could that incident happen. We were setup. read more

Horrible. I walk in and say it's noon I made it. She looks at the screen and says you just missed it. 12:01pm. Put the keys in the box outside. I do it and double check and they go down and I see the sign. Basically I am being charged two more days till they open. Another guy comes up at 12:02pm and same thing except he curses her out and she drives off so I realize she honestly intends to charge. I will decline on Monday but know this is the service they provide. Avis is much better, but they were out of cars. read more

The manager Vanessa was rude to me and her employee. She was very condescending. I left without a car. read more

Beware of using Hertz/Dollar RAC on Poway! Reserved a "Manager's Special" vehicle on carrentals.com for 11 AM pickup last Friday. When I got there: "Sorry, we don't have any vehicles available. Should have them from the airport at 1 PM". Called to check at 1 PM: "Sorry, we won't have any vehicles until 3 PM". Finally picked up the rental at 3PM - ran into rush hour traffic north of San Diego and in LA, resulting in getting to our SF Bay Area hotel after 1AM :-( Filled the car with gas yesterday and returned it. Got the emailed rental receipt showing a charge of $45.66 for 4 gallons of gas ($11.41/gallon!) - called the branch and they checked and removed the charge. Further compared the revised rental receipt with my initial reservation estimate and see a $45 item under service charges, with no itemized description that was NOT on the original reservation estimate - call to inquire what it is "Oh, that's a service charge that we routinely add (which apparently they've had calls/complaints about!)". WHAT?!? Not willing to remove it, so I'll be contesting that charge with my credit card company! Consider yourself warned.. read more

Gave me the wrong car, made me wait 45 minutes past my appointment time until i could leave, car smelt like cigarettes. Terrible service by employee. Do not recommend. read more

Needed to get a rental because my car was in the shop. The employees were very helpful and friendly when I picked up and returned my rental. I was so happy to also get a 2024 vehicle instead of a very old rental car. read more

OMG, the same same rude manager, Maria was unbearable today. I don't understand why corporate is leaving her managing this store. She gives very bad name to Hertz and she ruins all the good customer service you get from other locations it is the same issue she had with other customers, coordinating with insurance. Although I was reading to her an email I received from Hertz reservations that says my car rental with was authorized until September 8, she insisted that she will charge my credit card starting September 1. She hung up on me three times refusing to listen to me. She was absolutely rude honestly, rude is not enough to describe her attitude. If this woman continues to manage store, Hertz is going to get the lawsuit one day. I see all these bad reviews about the same woman have been there for over a year and Hertz is not doing anything about it. I would not want to do attitude. a business with a company that does not care about their customers. read more

Highly recommended don't rent a car at this place. A new manager is suck, lair. When I returned a car in 1 hour early, fully of gas tank. They charged me 1 hour late, 2 tank of gasoline. When I called in, the manager get my phone number, call me back. But she never did . read more

I rented a car from Hertz while my personal vehicle was in the shop. My insurance had pre-approved the rental for two weeks with an option to extend, and Hertz was supposed to coordinate with them directly. However, once the two weeks were up, they started charging me instead of working it out with my insurance as agreed. When I returned the car, I tried to address the issue with the staff, but the woman at the counter (short hair, very rude) dismissed me completely. She told me there was nothing she could do and that I had to take it up with my insurance--not Hertz. Instead of helping resolve the issue, she acted as if it wasn't their problem at all. To make matters worse, when I originally picked up the car, it was dirty on the outside and had hair or fuzz on the back seat. I didn't make a big deal out of it at the time, figuring it wasn't worth the hassle. However, when I returned the car, they charged me a $75 cleaning fee for pet hair--which was completely unfair. I have a dog, and while some hair may have transferred from my clothing, it's no different from what was already in the car when I received it. If they actually cleaned their vehicles properly before renting them out, this wouldn't have even been an issue. Between the lack of customer service, the billing mess, and the unfair cleaning charge, this was a horrible experience. Hertz completely failed at providing even basic customer service. I would not recommend this location and will strongly reconsider ever renting from Hertz again. read more

Rude rude rude people! My young family came to town and the car they were given smelled of smoke. Manager was rude and unhelpful! Choose a different company or location is my recommendation! read more

Maria and Devin are amazing to work with. I rent cars almost monthly and they are great. They make sure we get the size we need and are always so kind. Unfortunately we've had 1-2 issues (non matching tires creating bad road noise) with the SUVs but that is beyond their control. This office is amazing and I just wanted to give them the praise they deserve. The cars are always clean and ready to go. Thank you!!! read more

Made a reservation online days ago to go see my 98 year old father. Drove an hour to get to the location only to find a yellow note on the door saying sorry, due to maintenance closed, go to San Diego, another 45 minutes away. No warning, no online notifications or even a call. Just " surprise! We are t open here. So you get dropped off by a friend and then the doors are locked, no one home. Totally unacceptable read more

Although I ended up not renting, the manager was super helpful and answered all my questions. Only reason I did not rent was because it was a few dollars cheaper elsewhere and they were more flexible with returning early if need by. I wanted to give a review though because the customer service in the mean time was excellent and she even came out to remind me to cancel my reservation as I was leaving so I didn't get charged. Appreciate the great customer service! read more

Great team- I believe new management. Nick has been nothing but courteous and helpful assisting me after my car accident. He and the rest of team truly care and make you feel wanted- I just went to enterprise with opposite service. Thanks Nick and team! Will be back for myself and business. read more

Hertz Rent A Car - Clean offices - Car Rental Near Me - Poway, California

Just had AWESOME customer service at Hertz in Poway! Thank you D! I came in and he got my car ready in minutes and it was 5 minutes until they closed too boot! Thank you! read more

I've rented from this location a few times and had very great experiences each time! The two ladies who work there are amazing and super nice! They provided me great customer service each time. Most other car rental places are not like this. The cars that I rented each time were given to me spotless and in near perfect condition. I love this spot and will be doing all my car rentals here from now on. read more

After reserving a car through the Escondido location, and being treated so rudely I canceled and reserved it through poway location. Lynn was amazing. She went above and beyond to assure me that I would have a car before the end of the day, and she did! I just wanted to acknowledge her and thank the gentleman that also helped me. Sorry I didn't get your name. read more

Least helpful Hertz rental ever. Even having issue with the car they just kept telling me to go to the original rental location 45 minutes away. Never had issues getting another car from any other Hertz or Enterprise location. Would NOT recommend. read more

This branch has improved and hired staff. I ended up with a dental for my road trip and was pleased with the vehicle I was provided with. Not only was I in and out in less than 10 minutes but I received a car that put out over 40mpg! Score! The car's interior was clean and so was the exterior but i could tell it was an older fleet vehicle as it showed wear and tear on the bumpers and doors. Not didn't bother me at all. The car had almost 19k miles on it so I'm sure I'll be one of the last renters before its decommissioned. Thanks Hertz Poway for providing me with a clean, gas sipper at an unbelievable rate. I'll be back for sure when in need of a car. What's great is I didn't need to put premium fuel compared to my car. read more

Hertz Rent A Car - Rental lounge - Car Rental Near Me - Poway, California

I rented a car from their Sacramento location and when the agent asked me if I wanted additional coverage I simply answered no. I signed my contract and left when I got my receipt. I noticed that I have been charged an extra $125 for additional coverage that I did not agree to. I called hertz and their lame explanation was you should've read your contract. I will never use Hertz again. read more

Definitely not coming here again bad customer service gave me a Nissan Verse with broken mirrors, a passenger seat that couldn't recline back, and damaged cracked windshield that they tried to blame and charge me for. read more

So we rented a car that shook violently as we drove up to LA. Apparently the rotors need to be replaced. Unfortunately we didn't notice until we started to drive in the evening to a party which we were running late for. I guess I'm not understanding why vehicles are not checked before they're rented. Bad rotors/brakes is a huge problem and a massive safety issue. I called the local branch and the gentleman who answered the phone was very nice but he transferred me to corporate where they were not nice. Apparently I'm supposed to call from the freeway when I have shaking at 8 o'clock at night and report it. They are closed on Saturday and Sunday so I assumed that was not possible. I returned the car one day early on Monday morning expecting a refund for the one day that I was not able to use the car because of the brakes. That didn't go well. I asked to speak to a supervisor who refused to come to the phone I was told I would have to wait 48 Hours for a return phone call to discuss the issue. I felt like I was being accused because I didn't call from the freeway as I was driving to Los Angeles. Bad brakes and a violently shaking vehicle is not my problem. Hertz, you need to get a grip. I have put this in dispute with my platinum American Express card and I know it will be taken care of promptly. I can tell you for sure when I need to rent a car I absolutely will never use Hertz again. There are so many other choices and I really feel confident that other companies will provide us with a car that has been regularly maintained. Shame on you! read more

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I was given a rental car from Poway Honda during the time my car was being fixed. There's shuttle service between the two places so it's pretty convenient. I was in a rush to get to my doctor appointment so the staff in Poway Honda called Hertz ahead of time so I can get the car fast. However, the lady in Hertz didn't understand why the staff in Poway Honda was telling her to get things ready for me. She actually told her co-worker in front​ of me that she didn't understand why the staff in Poway Honda tell her to be quick. So I told her I have a doctor appointment to go to. She didn't comment on it. That's ok I guess there's some miscommunication. I am late anyway! Then she told me about the insurance package $11 per day and fuel package. I told her I will get gas in Costco but she told me Costco is $2.99/gal while Hertz sells for$2.53/gal. "Don't you want to save money?"she said. It's $13 for half tank. I was tempted by the low price so I agree to it. However, I realized that I won't be driving far when I was leaving. I drive around 30 miles for work day. That's about 1 gallon base on the MPG of Nissan Sentra. So instead of paying $2.99 for 1 gallon. I paid $13? She totally got me there... I decided to do my grocery shopping early so I will use more than 1 gallon of gas... I didn't leave with good impression with this car rental company the first day. The Nissan Sentra was wet on the outside but it was clean inside. However, when I go back to return the car the second day. That lady actually smiled at me instead and asked me how's my car. She didn't help me finish the return. The other employee I saw yesterday helped me. He's nice. So I had a better experience the second day. Hence the three stars. I was shuttled back to the dealership. The lady told me I could have just drop off the rental car in the dealership but I wanted to finish the return process myself. read more

Jeanne is the worst manner here at hertz, she didn't even help me when they charge me the wrong price on my credit card. Please save your time and go to another rental car.... they have lost me as a customer. read more

Excellent service from this neighborhood location. Quick, easy and polite communications. Will rent from here again.

Can't say anything good, I arrived early but they offered to upgrade my minivan to an suv, so far so good. However another gentleman working for them said I must wait the two hours which was the time booked so he could rent to the another person who over heard my upgrade and asked for it. I waited two hours only to be told it was extremely dirty and they need 45 minutes to clean it. At minute 25 and extremely upset. Please use Enterprise next door, they have always been professional. read more

Hertz Rent A Car - Car Rental Near Me - Poway, California

Customer service has gone down the drain after a recent branch manager change. As a frequent Hertz renter, my car was given away to another customer and I had to wait half an hour while they cleaned up a downgraded car, which I later had to exchange at an airport location since the car shook at freeway speeds. I love Hertz airport locations, but this local edition location I'll have to skip and use another rental company when I need something close by in Poway. read more

I don't know if all Hertz locations are as deceitful as this one, but I recommend another company. I booked a nonrefundable SUV rental online with my debit card. Took an Uber there and they said I needed to put down a credit card (which I did not bring). They said it was new starting in April and when I complained on the survey, customer relations said it was my fault for not reading all the terms and conditions. Before leaving, the tall, dorky looking guy (idk his name because he didn't tell me) said that if I had a dog, I just had to put a blanket down. I have a 14 year old lab who can't move well. I put all the seats down, put a blanket on top, placed her bed, and ANOTHER blanket on top and lifted her through the trunk to get her in (the only way I was able to get her in the car). She never moved off her bed. I paid extra for the loss/damage waiver just in case (I've heard of rentals getting dented in parking lots and the renters getting charged). There was a little hair on the backs of the seats/trunk, so I vacuumed it all out. I didn't think to check the floor behind the front seats, because I got the car with dog hair on the floor and didn't care. When I went to return the car, the same guy was there. He opened the back door, stuck his head in the car to look at it for 5 seconds and walked back in. He said, "So you have two options. There is a little dog hair on the floor. You can either go and get it vacuumed and bring it back- I won't charge you the late fee- or we can do it and charge you $100." I went home and vacuumed it myself (spotless, if I may add), and he was pleased. When I complained on the survey, they told me he "must have made an exception because dogs aren't allowed," which was not true. Again, they accused me of not reading the fine print. I was ALSO charged the late fee, which I was told I would not have. Since I got the loss/damage coverage: I could've gotten into an accident/damaged the car, and they probably wouldn't have even given me a hassle about the dog hair. This was before 6/15/21, and the employee had his mask off half the time (inside) so he could drink his Starbucks... read more

Rude customer service and overall bad experience picking up a rental car due to a car accident that was not our fault. Waited over an hour for a rental even though we had a set appointment. They are only open 9-12 on Saturday and closed on Sunday. How convenient! Don't go here unless you have to. Even then, maybe don't come read more

State Farm helped me rent a car as they took in my car to check it. Hertz took a huge advantage and gave me a rental care WITH NO GAS!!!!!!!!!! I left because I was in a huge rush. The Lyft person they sent to me took 20 mins to take me to the office and it took another 20 to get the car and leave. I drove 30+ miles because I had no time to look for a gas station because I had a doctors appointment and a few meetings. I could have been stranded on the freeway. UPDATE: They assisted me with getting a free tank of gas with no questions asked. I am now very happy with their service. 3/5 since it shouldn't have happened in the first place, but they fixed it. THANK YOU. read more

I only dealt with this Hertz Rental place through Poway Valley Collision, because my car was involved in an accident that wasn't my fault. As soon as I dropped off my car to be worked on, a lady from Hertz was there to pick me up and give me a rental, to be ultimately paid for by the other person's insurance company. Anyway, the auto insurance company gave us a check for an estimated amount of days, and it ultimately went over for about another 4-5 days, which wasn't covered. Now, PVC billed the auto insurance company directly and I loved that because we didn't have to hassle with paying that amount first then getting reimbursed. Hertz, on the other hand, billed me an additional $327 or so from my debit card without any warning, and I assumed they would also bill the auto insurance company directly, but they didn't. I just didn't like the way that was handled. Now, I asked them twice to send me a PDF of the receipt so I can send this to the auto insurance company to be reimbursed and to this day haven't received it, when they promised me they could send it via email. Now, I'll have to go there personally and ask for the receipt. I just don't like the customer service which was subpar and the lady there was badmouthing Poway Valley Collision when they did an excellent job and Hertz was the one who dropped the ball. read more