Hertz

Worst car rental experience of my life, and I rent a lot of cars. I would never recommend that anyone rent from this location.
This is a Hertz location near the Borghese Gardens in Rome. I had a rental reservation, made several weeks in advance, for Sep. 16 – 20, 2013. Mid-​size car (Ford Focus or C-​Max), with a 1 pm pickup.
The location was closed when we got there — at the specified time. After 20 minutes or so a car pulled up and three Hertz people got out. None spoke any English, which normally should not be such a big deal, if there are no problems. But of course, there were problems.
They apparently did not have the car we reserved, and offered a no additional cost upgrade. We accepted, and they showed us to the car. I have never seen a dirtier rental car in my life — inside and out. It looked like it had not gone through a car wash in months. The windows were caked with cigarette smoke film, there were partially empty water and soft drink bottles in the back seat, and mud, dirt and garbage — straw wrappers, kleenex, papers, etc., on the floors, seats, and door storage compartments. We didn’t even want to sit in the car. In addition to the dirt, the car had more scrapes, dents and body damage than I ever saw on a rental car.
I went back to the office to complain, and the fellow who did the paperwork sent one of his minions out with me. He spoke no English either, and when I showed him the car he refused to lift a finger to clean anything, get a vacuum, etc. No other cars available.
We took the car and drove back to our hotel and I explained to the concierge what happened, and asked if he would call the rental location and get some questions answered for me, which he did. The location manager told him the car was a three level upgrade and I should be happy with it. If I didn’t like how dirty it was, I should take it to a car wash, and if I wanted a different car I should bring it back the next day and he would see if he had anything else available. We were leaving for Positano right away, so bringing it back the next day wasn’t possible.
We cleaned the car up ourselves and lived with it during the week. It was due back on Friday Sep. 20 at 1 pm. We timed our return to Rome so that we would drop our luggage at a hotel near the airport and then drop the car by 1. At the hotel we could not get the trunk to open or the car doors to lock or unlock because the battery on the key fob was dead. The trunk release inside the car did not work. Called Hertz. No answer. After trying for 90 minutes I finally got the trunk to open and was able to drop the luggage and return the car.
When I got back to the rental location it was almost 3 pm. I explained what happened and why I was late. they could not have cared less. The amount I should have been charged was 245 Euro, tax included. They gave me a bill for 364 Euro instead. I showed the contract that specified the daily rated as being 36 Euro, so at most the ‘late fee’ should have been the 245 plus 36, or 281 Euro. They would not show me the detail of how they arrived at 364 Euro.
I refused to pay anything more than the originally contracted price, and told them to either charge me that amount or call the police. After some discussion amongst themselves, they ended up charging me a total of 241 Euro.
This was not a pleasant experience. Future renters beware of this location!