Sydney

Overall, it was okay.

Hertz had the longest queue at the counter.

This time I rented a car at Sydney Airport. They didn't have the sedan Corolla I reserved and gave me an old Nissan with noisy door handles. I refused and asked for a different car. Hertz declined, saying that the car had been assigned for my trip to Melbourne, so there's no extra fee for a one-way rental. If I changed cars, it would cost an additional 400 AUD. I contacted the rental car service, but to no avail. They only confirmed that the fee I paid already included the one-way rental cost, so I kept demanding a free car change. Finally, they downgraded me to a hatchback Corolla without informing me it was a downgrade. I later checked online and realized this meant I effectively paid extra for the one-way fee that should have been included. [Rental car service, please provide an explanation] Secondly, I explicitly requested prepaid fuel in Sydney and the amount charged included it. However, the careless Hertz staff at Sydney Airport didn't reflect this on the confirmation, because I was focused on changing cars. When I returned the car, I noticed the receipt indicated I declined prepaid fuel. I had to argue extensively before Hertz Melbourne acknowledged the error was on Sydney's part. [If renting a car through this service requires such argumentation skills and online support is ineffective, please clarify this in the rental requirements, particularly regarding customers’ English proficiency] All in all, don't place too much hope on the rental car service’s effectiveness when issues arise.

Our flight was delayed, so we arrived late. The store saw our luggage and gave us a Nissan Pathfinder, which is even bigger than the Toyota Highlander we originally booked. We were very happy, and there were no extra sales pitches. Returning the car was also easy because we had full insurance, so they hardly checked anything. Very convenient, a great experience.

On this occasion Hertz was fine.

I have been pleasantly surprised with all of my EasyRentCars bookings.