20 Days of Family Self-Driving Tour in Western USA: Universal Studios in Los Angeles was thrilling a

Upon arriving in Los Angeles to pick up the car, we had booked a 7-seater Mercedes GLS SUV, but when we got to the Hertz rental point, the staff clearly told us that the system showed we had booked a 5-seater Mercedes GLC SUV. We had five people in our group, four adults and one child, plus three suitcases, which the Mercedes GLC could not accommodate. The staff insisted that their system showed our booking was for a 5-seater (even though we had a printed reservation for a 7-seater large SUV, the Mercedes GLS). Eventually, we paid an extra $400 to upgrade to an Infiniti QX80 (the rental platform's customer service agreed for us to pay the upgrade fee first and take the car to avoid impacting our schedule, and they would handle the coordination later). The staff also provided a handwritten note explaining the situation. The whole process took about two hours.

More convenient than booking directly at the store

Starting with a rant obviously wouldn't keep anyone's attention. Let me first declare that this is not a rant, but the reality. At LA's B terminal, there's a Hertz shuttle passing every 2 minutes, indicating their market share is high. Nonetheless, their service and operations are absolutely terrible! A Korean employee greeted me and told me the Corvette I had reserved was not available and offered me a standard Mercedes convertible instead. This is not even close to the same category of car, and I had paid extra for the specific model! After a lengthy discussion, he offered me a GTR instead but said there'd be an additional $109 fee, which I reluctantly accepted for the GTR. Then, after some keyboard clicks, he told me the GTR was also unavailable and offered me a Mercedes CLA 43 for free, mentioning multiple times that it was free. I assumed this was a free upgrade from the Corvette, as the CLA 43 is much cheaper in the US compared to the Corvette, let alone the GTR. He even promised a full tank of fuel as compensation. I almost hugged him for that, but you know, there's always a twist! I was still charged $109. When returning the car, I asked for confirmation and was told I agreed to the added cost. Are you kidding me? A CLA 43 instead of a Corvette for an extra $109 even though it's my reserved model that you did not have? The employee from that day was nowhere to be found. I handed over the key and left. I will never choose Hertz again! Additionally, there was another issue. When I realized I might be charged, I proactively contacted the rental platform. The customer service said they would help but later sent me an email stating: 'The store's phone is unreachable, please handle it yourself!' Honestly, why are you not as responsive when taking payments? Ridiculous!

Insurance upselling.

It was okay, but the lady at the front desk kept trying to upsell me. Even though I clearly stated I didn't want those services, she still added them to the bill, and I had to argue with her on the spot. If my English wasn't good, I would have been scammed. Also, the waiting time was too long; I had to wait in line for almost half an hour. Why can't the rental company implement a fast track? For those who don't need additional services, they should just check the driver's license and process the pre-authorization. It shouldn't be so complicated, should it?