The rental company initially dug in its heels and refused to refund the charge despite several reasons to let it go
2 hours ago
- A very loyal Hertz customer found a $277 fuel refilling fee on his bill after returning a rented Tesla Model 3 to Hertz.
- He fought the charge but initially, the rental company denied his request for a refund.
- Now, after the story has made waves, Hertz has gone back on the charge and provided a full refund.
Renting a Tesla in California can have big benefits as it’s inexpensive to recharge when compared to a gas car. That was the thinking of Joshua Lee when he traveled to the Golden State earlier this year. Perhaps the last thing he expected was for Hertz to charge him $277 at the end of the trip for “refueling.”
After hearing the details you’ll wonder how on earth the rental car company ever came to that decision too.
Read: Hertz Is Off-Loading An Extra 10,000 EVs Due To Massive Depreciation
First and foremost, Lee was a die-hard customer of Hertz. As he told The Drive, he has achieved “President’s Circle Status”, which is something I didn’t even know existed. The point is that he’s very familiar with renting from Hertz.
In addition, the Model 3 is his favorite vehicle to rent so he knows it well too. On top of all that, Lee checked the box for “Skip the Pump and Save Time”. That means that he could return any vehicle, electric or not, at any fuel level without getting charged more.
Somehow none of these factors stopped him from getting charged $277 for refueling by the rental company. As The Drive also points out, Lee actually returned the Model 3 with a battery that was 96 percent full. That’s the same percentage that it was when he picked it up. All of this seems like a clear misunderstanding. Maybe an employee accidentally applied this charge to Lee when they meant to apply it to another renter but no, Hertz doubled down.
Hertz Refused To Remove The ‘Gas Charge’
When he contacted customer service, here’s the lukewarm response he received. “I am unable to provide an adjustment or refund since the service was provided and contract is closed. Your signed rental agreement will also be our basis that you are fully aware of the fuel option that was added on the contract. I hope I was able to clarify this with you. Thank you for allowing me to review and assist you with your concern.”
So the company recognized that Lee had the “Skip the Pump” option ticked. It obviously knows what he rented. So how could it possibly come up with such a wild fee? $277 would equate to more than 40 gallons of fuel even at wild California prices. Thankfully, this story has a happy ending.
Only after the story came out did Hertz respond to The Drive to confirm that it would make things right “to apologize” to “refund this erroneous charge.”
As for Lee, he might have that $277 back in his account but he says he’ll never return to Hertz. Perhaps it’s the terrible mishandling of EVs that led to Hertz selling off so many earlier in the year.
