DRIVERS have claimed they were pressured by staff at a popular rental company to buy unnecessary car insurance.
Several Hertz customers highlighted that they were almost forced by associates to obtain car rental insurance.
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A customer said they were told they couldn’t even pick up the vehicle they reserved if they didn’t buy insurance, local ABC affiliate WCVB reported.
The incident happened when Carl Anderson visited Florida with his family.
To get around Orlando, they rented two cars from Thrifty, which is owned by Hertz.
They expected the price to be $331 for each car.
“When we arrived at the airport, they told us that liability insurance was required on the vehicles,” Anderson said.
“We argued. They ended up telling us that unless we signed, we couldn’t remove the vehicles.”
The liability insurance supplement added $15 per day to the rental price.
That amounted to $111 more per car.
“It makes me feel like they’re taking advantage,” Anderson admitted.
“It’s fraudulent. They lied to our faces.”
The family already had their own car insurance to cover their responsibilities.
So they were skeptical, but they signed the deal because they needed the vehicles.
They’re not the only family to see something like this happen to them when renting a car from a Hertz company.
We fought. They ended up telling us that unless we signed, we couldn’t pick up the vehicles.
Carlos Anderson
Kathy Johnston and her husband Louis tell a similar story on their trip to New England in April with Dollar Car Rental, a division of Hertz.
The couple was picking up their rental car when Kathy said they were pressured into purchasing Dollar insurance coverage for the car.
The specific coverage they signed up for is a Damage and Loss Waiver.
It added $35 a day to the rental cost.
The surcharge was a total of $244 for the trip.
“Renting a vehicle is not something we do every day, you know,” Kathy said.
“So it’s not something I’m well versed in.”
The insurance offered by rental companies is optional.
Most people have their own car insurance coverage for liability.
Additionally, many credit cards offer coverage for damage to a rental car if you use that card to pay your rental, especially cards that promote travel.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
