Around Ayers Rock

It was clearly a Hertz car, but I was directed to Apollo and ended up spending 30 AUD on taxis. Called three times and no one answered.

There is no Apollo company at the airport; Hertz actually provides the car.

Rented from Hertz, the pickup process was simple and fast.

When we arrived at the Hertz store, we started the inspection according to the agreement's terms and found that the two rear seat belts were broken. We were afraid of violating Australian laws, so we didn't dare to drive the car. We requested a replacement, but they gave us a two-door Suzuki Swift, which could not fit our luggage. We asked if there were any other options, but they said no, unless we waited for dispatch, with an uncertain wait time. The whole process of inspecting the car, discussing replacement options, and waiting had already taken three hours. Upgrading the car became inevitable. They pointed to another car, a Toyota Crown (with only 10,000 kilometers), and we were ready to sign the contract, but then they said due to their mistake, they couldn't rent that car to us. They then pointed to another Crown, not in as good condition (with over 60,000 kilometers). We felt very uncomfortable. We asked about the Kia we'd originally rented, but initially, they adamantly refused. After an hour of back and forth, they finally gave us the Kia, and we paid an additional upgrade fee of over $1,300.

Apollo actually provides cars through Hertz. We booked two car seats but none were available, making it impossible to hit the road. The company stated that their terms specify that provisioning depends on availability, but they didn't notify us beforehand that there would be no car seats available that day. Moreover, there were no remedial measures offered. We ended up wasting two hours at the pickup point for car seats. Although the car was in good condition, a good car without two car seats isn't suitable for our team with a three-year-old and a six-year-old. Eventually, a helpful employee from another rental company suggested we find a car seat hiring company at the airport, and that's how we resolved the issue. The bigger the company, the less they care!