Ethics and morals appear to be two qualities missing from the training manual at the Hertz office in Stuttgart Airport, Germany--replaced instead by deceit and dishonesty. I usually don't write reviews unless they are positive, but this time I have never felt so betrayed and misled as I did when dealing with the Hertz rental team at Stuttgart Airport. My story goes like this: My original reservation was for an economy vehicle at the confirmed rate of USD 156 for the entire rental period. Upon arrival--after a nine-hour transatlantic flight and severely jet-lagged--the clerk informed me that the reserved vehicle was "not available." He then stated that the only option was a larger vehicle for an additional €60. Given my physical condition and the absence of alternatives, I felt pressured into accepting the upcharge. This conduct constitutes bait-and-switch tactics, which are prohibited under EU consumer protection laws and German competition regulations. At the car rental return, I was suddenly presented with alleged "scratches" on the car. These marks were not visible to the naked eye, and I strongly dispute causing any such damage. More importantly: My contract clearly shows that I purchased insurance for damage and loss, yet the staff treated me as if I had no coverage at all. This is a clear violation of the rental agreement and may indicate an intentional disregard for customers' purchased protections. Moreover, after reviewing public reviews of this location, I found numerous complaints describing nearly identical damage-claim practices, suggesting a pattern of questionable or intentional overcharging. During the rental, the vehicle experienced an electrical malfunction and would not start. The car's lighting system is designed to switch off automatically, and I am certain the lights were off when I exited. A technician jump-started the car in less than two minutes, yet I was charged for this service despite the issue being clearly mechanical and unrelated to my conduct. This charge is unjustified--particularly in light of the insurance coverage I had already paid for. When I attempted to discuss these matters upon return, the counter employee was rude, dismissive, and unprofessional. He refused to provide his name, which is unacceptable for a customer-facing representative and obstructs proper complaint documentation. I was left with no choice but to take his photo simply to identify the employee involved. A female supervisor then told me that the rental was under a corporate account and that "my company would take care of the charges." I immediately clarified that I am personally responsible for all rental charges, not my employer. Despite this clarification, she refused to address my concerns and continued to deflect responsibility. This behavior is negligent, misleading, and contrary to professional and contractual standards. In a nutshell--and with absolute certainty--I will never rent from Hertz again, anywhere in the world. I've already notified my coworkers and management and urged them to steer clear of the ongoing nightmare that Hertz presents. Note: I attached the picture of the employee who refused to give me his name. They have no name tag display or badges. He was so rude. read more

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Hertz Gold benefits are definitely worth it. Having the top cars to choose from and express checkout services allows you to get a car and not wait in long lines. read more

I WOULD GIVE MINUS THAN ZERO! PLEASE DO NOT RENT A CAR THIS LOCATION! PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO READ BELOW COMPLIANT TO HERTZ.COM Hertz Stuttgart airport location refused to rent my reserved car which was COMPACT and showed me an alternative car which was JEEP WRANGLER. The representative repeated that JEEP WRANGLER is SAME CATEGORY in COMPACT. He said"JEEP IS VERY NOISY AND BIG. HARD TO DRIVE FOR YOU. IF YOU PAY A LITTLE BIT MORE, YOU CAN GET A CAR." So I refused and asked to give a compact car. He said "no. No car is coming today. You can cancel if you don't want to rent here." He forced me to upgrade SUV which cost 175 EURO for FORD SUV. So I refused to upgrade and then went to other rental companies. I came back again and met another representative and his name is JURGER and he refused to give me my reserved compact car again and the two representatives were talking to each other in their language. (They seemed mocking me) JURGER forced me to upgrade to SUV with 190 EURO so I told the other guy told me 175 euro and they again talked to each other then told me 175 EURO for Ford SUV. Soon later, they found out that SUV cannot go to Prague so JURGER told me to upgrade to Nissan JUKE in 150 EURO. THERE WAS NO CHOICE AT THE COUNTER. THEY NEVER GIVE ME A COMPACT CAR SO I DECIDED to rent a NISSAN JUKE and then I would file a claim to get my money back when I came back to the US. SO I RECORDED WHOLE CONVERSATION for 30 mins and took a pic of the salesperson. Listen the recording carefully. https://www.dropbox.com/s/tfypiiyfth8g0dz/Stuttgart%20Airport.m4a?dl=0 HE REPEATED 150 EURO FOR A CAR UPGRADE (not GPS: I never ask GPS nor he never said GPS for the contract. He lied that he wrote 150 was for GPS , not a car upgrade in the receipt if some claim came up to him. THIS IS IMMORAL BEHAVIOR TO CUSTOMERS. THERE WERE TWO MORE FRIENDS WITH ME. THEY ARE ALSO WITNESSES) THERE WERE MORE TRAPS IN THIS CONVERSATION! WHAT A SHAME! Soon, I will hand in the voice recording to whom he/she can translate Germany. IF there is discrimination to women/Asians in the dialogue between two hertz representatives, I WILL NOT STAND THIS. I WILL UPLOAD this whole recording in YOUTUBE/SNS/TRAVEL BLOGS. Also I WILL SUBMIT this case to Germany Travel Agency or whatever. Also I will upload this case to YELP and GOOGLE REVIEW, so on. REFUND MY MONEY BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. SPEND MORE TIME TO INVESTIGATE THE JERKS OF STUTTGART HERTZ AIRPORT. FYI, first attached photo is a name card of JURGER and second picture is the first representative who I met in Hertz Stuttgart Airport. read more

Hertz - Second salesperson's name card - Car Rental Near Me - Stuttgart, BW

I booked a rental on the Internet, and I was supposed to pay 250 euro security deposit to guarantee the car. Instead when I picked up the car, Hertz in Stuttgart (Airport) charged over three times the amount on my credit card. The Hertz attendant informed me verbally that the website was reporting incorrect information. But the worst is at the end: although the car has been returned for 7 days, Hertz has not reversed the guarantee on my credit card. And without justification. It charged my credit card, but today I have confirmation from my bank that it is Hertz that is unduly withholding this amount, causing me considerable inconvenience as I have a third of my maximum amount blocked and without reason! I strongly advise against booking cars with this company! read more

Unethical service and worst rental experience I've ever had. I booked my rental car a month in advance at a surprisingly low price. Upon my flight's arrival at 11pm I went to the desk where two gentlemen refused to rent me the car due to my driver's license being re-issued less than a year ago - I recently moved and updated my driver's license to reflect the new address (I've been driving for 16 years). I was told this policy was enforced by the police and in effect for all rental companies throughout Germany, both of which turned out not to be true. Furthermore, there was no literature mentioning this rule in their reservation. It gets better... I told them I had three ways of proving that I had been driving for greater than a year: (1) I had a photo of my previous license, issued greater than a year ago, (2) my current license has a second date beside the "issued" date indicating when my previous license was issued and the photo taken, which was also greater than a year ago, and (3) I have been a preferred member of Avis (next counter over) and renting cars with them for many years, of which they have a record. None of these reasons were sufficient. Finally, I suggested that we cancel the reservation and have my wife make a new reservation with her eligible license. The reply I received was, "we are completely booked tonight," with a smirk. I was shocked. Booked? If I canceled my reservation, then that would free up another car, no? They refused to rent me the car. An hour later, after exhausting all other options, I resorted to renting the last vehicle available at the airport from another company (Enterprise, who had excellent customer service) - a much smaller car at over twice the price. FYI, I subsequently returned that car a couple days later for another car (with Sixt, also excellent). Neither company gave me an issue with my license. I believe the Hertz company either ran out of cars that night or didn't want to rent it at such a low price. read more

Reserved a "Mercedes E-class or similar luxury station wagon." On arrival was given a Nissan compact crossover. Not a station wagon, not a luxury car. Woman at the desk wasn't very helpful and tried to pretend it was similar enough. Eventually another employee finally came around with the right keys. Normally I wouldn't have cared too much, but since my friends and I were there to see the Benz Museum, the bait-and-switch was really aggravating. Many similar stories on their Google reviews... read more

Please, DO NOT reserve with this company online. Once you get to the pick up counter, you are charged above the reserved quoted price due to the requirement of in-country insurance. If you cancel at the desk, they will charge you regardless. I am still fighting for a refund. Go to Europcar outside of Patch Barracks for the best hassle free car rental. read more

Hertz was a royal ripoff! I rented a car through their website and paid $360 for a week and a half of rentals. When I got to the airport, the gate agent asked me to sign some paperwork, saying it was declining extra insurance. Did I read through everything? No. Does anyone read through an entire rental contract? No. You expect the person who is talking to you to disclose the important aspects of the contract before someone signs it. He gave me the keys without telling me what car I was being given. I got out of the car and it was a fairly average Mercedes. I didn't think much about that fact, as I wasn't asked if I wanted to upgrade. Well, fast forward to when I dropped the car off. I was given a receipt for an extra $496 in "upgrade fees." First off, the upgrade was from a compact to a full size, which if I had booked on their website, would've only been $100 difference. I tried to talk to Hertz about this and they shut me down, saying I signed off on it. I had my credit card company investigate and they said unfortunately there is nothing they could do, and that they unfortunately see this a lot. Moral of the story: Hertz is SHADY and read every single detail of a rental contract. read more