Hertz Arvostelua 

Very disappointing experience with Hertz South Africa at Cape Town International.

When I collected the vehicle, I was told the licence plate would expire in about 10 days. I raised my concern and was told not to worry, that it was Hertz’s responsibility, and that they would contact me to change the plate or vehicle. They never contacted me.

I was subsequently stopped by police because the temporary licence plate paper had fallen off the back window. I had to explain why the vehicle had an expired plate. I was also stopped at a roadblock and received a fine because of the expired licence plate. During peak season, I was constantly worried about being stopped again.

I repeatedly tried contacting the branch by phone and email, but received no response. I then contacted Hertz customer care several times. Each time I was told the branch manager would contact me. Nobody did. After several calls, a customer care representative even acknowledged how poorly the matter had been handled and described the branch manager as "quite useless."

Eventually, Kyle, the branch manager, contacted me. I found his approach aggressive and confrontational. He told me the situation could not have inconvenienced me that much and asked what compensation I wanted. I told him that, as the manager, I expected him to provide a solution rather than expect me to tell him how to fix the problem.

After numerous emails, a replacement vehicle was offered, but I was told I would have to drive approximately 45 minutes to collect it. Eventually, I ended the rental and returned the vehicle.

Then came the most concerning part.

Kyle told me I would receive a R740 refund, which he said was 20% of my rental fee. I had paid over R10,000, so I questioned the amount. Kyle explained that because I booked through Discovery, they took a portion of the payment. He told me Hertz had received approximately R8,700.

I pointed out that 20% of R8,700 is over R1,700. Kyle checked the system and admitted I was correct. My actual refund was R1,740 — exactly R1,000 more than the original amount. He said the computer had made a mistake.

I find it extremely concerning that this "mistake" was only corrected after I personally checked the calculation and challenged it.

I then had to wait approximately three weeks and repeatedly follow up before receiving my refund, eventually after contacting the regional manager.

To be clear, I have now received my refund. This review is not about getting my money back. It is about the way the entire situation was handled.

I have kept the emails and documentation relating to the matter.

My advice: check everything yourself, keep every email and record every interaction. Based on my experience, I would not use this Hertz branch again.

I booked a Hertz rental with a Cross Border permit. I submitted all the required documentation well in advance and received confirmation that the application had been received. Shortly before collection, I also contacted Hertz and was assured that the Cross Border approval was in place and that the necessary documentation would be available at the branch. It wasn't.

When I arrived for my agreed collection time, the branch had no knowledge of the Cross Border request and the required documents were not available. After numerous calls and approximately 1½ hours of delay, the matter was eventually resolved and I could start my journey. To be fair, the employee at the branch who dealt with the problem was helpful, the vehicle itself was good and returning it was straightforward. The real disappointment came afterwards.

I contacted Hertz Customer Relations simply to bring the process failure to their attention. Instead of receiving a professional acknowledgement, the initial communication was abrupt and focused on repeatedly asking me for information I had already provided. I subsequently escalated the matter to the Customer Relations Manager, who promised to investigate and provide feedback. After several weeks and several reminders to respond, Hertz eventually responded, without any meaningful feedback, though.

I did not initially contact Hertz looking for compensation. I contacted them because I thought a reputable company would want to know when its process fails a customer.

Unfortunately, the handling of the complaint has left me with a much worse impression of Hertz South Africa than the original delay itself.

An operational mistake can happen to any company. What matters is how the company responds when a customer brings it to their attention. In my experience, Hertz South Africa failed on both counts.

May of the cars are cratched so be sure to take pics first

I have been renting a car from Hertz South Africa since May and extending the rental monthly. I specifically asked whether I could receive a better rate as a long-term customer. Hertz subsequently began quoting me approximately R8,880 per month, which I reasonably understood to be my new long-term rate.

It later emerged that Hertz staff had failed to add the waiver charges to two successive extensions. Hertz’s own Area Manager acknowledged in writing that there had been an “oversight on the calculation by our agent in Port Elizabeth.”

Despite this being Hertz’s error, I was suddenly presented with a substantial retrospective bill.

On 12 August I actually phoned Hertz myself to extend the rental for another month. Hertz told me what to pay and processed approximately R8,800 from my card. Only afterwards was I told that, yet again, Hertz had failed to include the waiver charges and that I now needed to pay those as well as retrospective charges.

I repeatedly tried to resolve this. I asked for a proper reconciliation of the account and, because I could not afford the suddenly increased monthly cost, asked whether I could continue without the optional waivers. Hertz refused.

I was not hiding the vehicle, avoiding Hertz or refusing to communicate. I was actively corresponding with them about a billing dispute caused by errors Hertz itself had acknowledged.

Nevertheless, on 21 August, only nine days after Hertz had accepted my latest extension payment, a recovery team arrived at my remote rural home and took the vehicle.

I want to be clear that the recovery agents themselves were professional, showed me their credentials and actually tried to help once I explained what had happened. My complaint is with Hertz.

Hertz says it sent me an SMS before the recovery. I did not receive one and there is no Hertz message in my phone’s message history. I also received no telephone call warning me that recovery was imminent. The email I had received said only that if I would not make the additional funds available, “it would then be best if you return the vehicle.” It gave no return deadline and did not warn that recovery action was about to take place.

I have now been left without transport at a remote property after Hertz accepted payment from me for an extension, while the underlying account dispute remains unresolved.

I am escalating the matter through Hertz senior management and the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud.

After months of repeated administrative problems and this extraordinary conclusion, I could not recommend Hertz South Africa to anyone.

UPDATE : This matter remains unresolved.

Hertz is still holding my deposit, as well as the rental payment I made at the price I was quoted for a rental period that I was ultimately unable to use because Hertz repossessed the vehicle.

Despite the serious circumstances outlined in my original review and the considerable financial and practical consequences this has caused, I have still received no substantive resolution from Hertz.

I will continue to update this review until the matter is properly resolved.

Rented a 4x4 ford ranger from hertz at OR TAMBO. No extra charges and went all the way to Lesotho. Itumeleng was a great help to me before and after. You may be lucky enough to have her help you.

Please record and review your customer service calls, as I believe there are serious issues with the level of service being provided by your staff.

Unfortunately, my experience has been extremely disappointing. Your staff have been unhelpful, calls take an unnecessarily long time to be answered, and obtaining assistance has been unnecessarily difficult and frustrating.

I appreciate that you have many clients and that your staff may be under pressure; however, the current level of customer service is simply not acceptable.

I strongly believe that your business could attract and retain many more customers if the customer service experience were improved. Your staff are often the first point of contact with your company, and the way customers are treated has a direct impact on the reputation of the business.

I would strongly recommend that management listen to and review customer service calls and address these concerns with the relevant staff. There is a significant opportunity to improve the customer experience.

I hope this complaint will be taken seriously and that steps will be taken to improve the standard of service provided to customers.

My experience was extremely disappointing from start to finish. After paying my monthly rental in full, it was unexpectedly reduced to just two weeks without my consent. The OR Tambo branch manager then informed me that my deposit had supposedly been refunded due to a system change and requested that I pay another deposit to continue with the rental.

Three weeks later, I still have not received the refund, despite the hold no longer reflecting on my card. When I requested an invoice, I was provided with a document that did not relate to my rental at all.

The lack of communication, poor administration, and failure to resolve these issues made for a very frustrating experience. Unfortunately, this was poor service throughout, and I cannot recommend it based on my experience my RA number for this rental was RA 8916964.

Very Bad customer. Hertz are doing fraud and not transparent.i booked a car online cost were R5000 holding deposit R3000 for rental. when i went to collect the car i was told i needed to pay R11.111.00 then R8000 will be refunded. I was suprised however i paid because i needed to travel urgently. Upon returning the car an invoice was sent with lots of deductions of unreasonable amounts. I will never rent a car from theses nonsensical company.

We got a car way smaller than we had actually booked and payed for. They told us that the bigger cars were reserved although we also made a reservation for a big car. We call this unprofessional and an act that should had been discussed with us so that we would have had the chance to cancel the rental. This was a rough start in our trip and we feel very betrayed. No words just corruption. We hope that other people are informatief about this fail, and not to make the same fault as we did. Good luck!

I've had a mini-lease since June 2025 with them. Ended that on 2 June. No deposit received back. The customer care people in Hermanus are great but their hands are tied. Head office, Branch managers, customer service mails - no responses received after weeks of chasing, calls, them sending me on round-trips between themselves and the bank. I have to return a vehicle on a new mini-lease on the 2nd of July... for which they took a new deposit, so R21k in deposits held by hertz, and I cannot afford that hole in my cashflow, yet they do not care. Not in the slightest. Will never use them again.

I hired a vehicle over Christmas / New year in Cape Town South Africa. No issue with the hire itself (Thrifty) although it now transpires that these are some form of a subsidiary of Hertz. After 5 months I have received a notification from Hertz Debtors (3614255) telling me I have received a fine during my trip. I have advised that I received no fine on the car and was no aware of any infringements. I have requested a copy of the fine from the Simonstown Municipality especially as it was from 5 months since the alleged offence and to date no response received. I was a Hertz Presidents Circle member and received very poor response.

Warte seit Ewigkeiten auf die Rückerstattung meiner Kaution.
1600,-€
Wurde sogar auf der Kreditkarte nach dem Urlaub belastet heißt abgezogen.
Keine Reaktion bis jetzt von Hertz.
Frechheit, nie wieder

We hired a car in East London and returned to Cape Town international 10 days later. We paid an amazing price for the 10 days and received the full deposit back after 3 days. I would reccomend, super positive experience!

Dear Sirs,

I refer to the above, and writer this email purely to inform you that I will be writing a bad review for Hertz OR Tambo and will make a point of recommending that anyone who is in need of a rental car utilise any other car rental company.

Yesterday, i had booked a rental for a toyota Scarlet cross together with "Theft Damage Excess Protection" through CarFlexi. this cover is to cover the excess of R17,000.00 should anything happen.

Upon arrival at Hertz OR Tambo at about 14:15, I completed all the forms and was requested to pay a deposit of R19,000.00 (this if R2000 for fuel and R17,000.00 for excess). This does not make any sense as there is cover in place for the excess, I queried it and was simply told Hertz takes the money from me and I must claim from Carflexi. I don't agree with this but need the car and paid the amounts.

I got to the car, and realised that many of scratched, dents and chips were not recorded on the inspection sheet. I proceeded to spend about 10 minutes inspecting the vehicle and taking pictures.

Went back to the desk complained that the inspection was not completed. I returned to the vehicle with a front desk lady went through the vehicle and marked the scratches, dents and chips. After this process, I then decided it maybe better to rather pay the additional amount and upgrade the vehicle.

I was then informed that Hertz OR Tambo is willing to give me a free upgrade to a Cherry Tiggo 4 Pro. This was perfect, as I preferred leather seats as I travel with my toddler. We did the inspection, again major dents, chips and scratches were not noted.

Eventually, at just past 15:00 I left with the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro.

This morning at 07:50 on the way to drop my daughter at school, the front right wheel showed a warning. I went and put air in the tyre, but the warning remained.

I then called the Hertz OR Tambo branch and was told to bring the car in. At 08:40 I attended to Hertz OR Tambo (keeping in mind that I have now lost time from work to attend to this problem).

The branch then says that they will exchange the car for the Toyota Starlet Cross. I indicated to the gentleman who was assisting me that I really would prefer a car with leather seats. To which he responded they dont have.

I then said, I would rather pay the difference and upgrade to a better vehicle and was told I would need to pay more on the deposit as well. I then advised the other option is for me to cancel the 2 week rental and go to someone else, to which he responded, the deposit will only be refunded in 21 days.

nonetheless I transferred by belongings to the new car, got in the car and determined I really need a bigger vehicle. I went inside, less than 5 minutes after the conversation with the gentleman, to advise I need an upgrade and pay the difference for the lady behind the desk to say she cant upgrade me as she has already inserted this vehicle on the system and requested me to sign the form.

I requested to see the manager, she left for about 5 minutes to speak to the manager and came back and informed me the manager is in a meeting, but the manager told her to tell me, if I upgrade, I must pay the upgraded rate from yesterday and pay the deposit difference.

I am now held hostage in the rental because the deposit won't be returned in a reasonable period, lost time and money at work due to a fault on the vehicle given to me, and can't upgrade.

The simple truth of the matter is I have learnt my lesson and will make a point of not referring anyone to Hertz, never using Hertz again for either personal or business use.

Final Edit, after 10 weeks, 07 July, 2026:
After chasing for 2.5 months and over a dozen emails with at least 6 different agents and only after social media outreaches, have I been refunded the difference Hertz had charged.

In short, this had never happened to me before. I now have the missing amount, however, Hertz has not accounted for the time and inconveniences this has caused. Neither have they apologised for the actual incident.

This has left a very bad taste and I will seriously consider all other options before I book with Hertz again.

Good experience at the counter and with the car at Cape Town Downtown, followed by missing deposit refund and 2.5 months of frustration and incompetence to claim back my rightful funds.

Original text:
I rented a car from Hertz Cape Town Downtown in April 2026. The pickup and return were smooth, the vehicle was in good condition, and the staff at the counter were friendly and professional.

However, upon returning home I noticed a discrepancy between the deposit charged and the amount refunded to my card:
— Charged: 3,523.34 AED
— Refunded: 3,241.63 AED
— Outstanding: 281.71 AED (approximately €70)

I contacted Hertz to resolve what I assumed would be a simple administrative error. Over multiple email exchanges, their representative Du-ane Little repeatedly responded with the same statement: "we refunded the same amount in rands." This does not address the issue. The charge was made to my card in AED, and the refund in AED does not match the original charge.

When I escalated and requested a clear reconciliation — showing the ZAR amounts processed internally and how they correspond to the AED amounts charged and refunded — I received no such reconciliation. The response was instead: "if the discrepancy is due to exchange rate then we can't assist unfortunately."
I have rented vehicles in over 30 countries using international credit cards and have never encountered a situation where a portion of a deposit is withheld and the customer is told the exchange rate difference is their problem.

I have now: initiated a formal chargeback with my bank; filed a complaint with the South African National Consumer Commission; escalated to Hertz Global Customer Relations; and requested escalation to a supervisor, which has not been confirmed.

The operational experience with Hertz Cape Town was genuinely good. The deposit handling and subsequent customer service have been unacceptable. International customers paying in non-ZAR currencies should be aware that Hertz Cape Town may retain a portion of your deposit due to exchange rate handling, without explanation and without resolution.

Pure theft, fraud, and malpractice being shown by this brand. After discussing and agreeing to a rental extention with the branch manager at OR international airport, the Hertz team sent a collection agency to collect my vehicle, charged me for the collection, hit me with hidden fees, and to top it all off, still havent released the reserved payment on my credit card

I escalated the matter to the customer care line and the regional and national management teams and have in essence been ignored completely.

AVOID AT ALL COST - BASICALLY CORPORATE MONEY HUNGRY GANGSTER **** BAGS!

Cape Town Hertz Team: Kyle, Granwil, Kgomotso; sterling work getting my cross-border papers sorted and Reinhardt to round off a great customer experience at reception. Strongly recommended.

Katastrophal - Zunächst hat alles gepasst und funktioniert. Gebucht über Check24.
Bei der Rückgabe waren 2 Plastikhalter eines Nebelscheinwerfers gebrochen - vermutlich durch die Vibrationen durch die Kiesstraße.
Mir wurde versichert, dass der Wagen am folgenden Montag in die Werkstatt kommt und dann direkt die Rechnung folgt.
Über 1,5 Monate später immernoch keine Rückmeldung seitens Hertz, Emails und Schreiben von Check24 werden Ignoriert. Keine Info, garnichts. Die Kaution über 1.600 € wurde abgebucht und ohne Rechnung bekomme ich davon nichts zurück.
Unverschämt schlecht

My department rented a vehicle for me from 16-20/02/2026 at Cape Town international airport upon arrival I had to for close to an hour before I could get the key.
I returned the vehicle on the 20th around 11:45am
When I landed in Johannesburg I realised that I forgot my drivers licence in the car. I made several calls to Cape Town branch but no one picked up and I later sent a WhatsApp to their customer care number and was advised to send an email of which I did on Friday already,
I received no response and sent a follow up email yesterday and to date no one bothers to respond nor pick up the call at Cape Town international airport.
Their head office just say it is unfortunately the branch that needs to respond
I am very much disappointed in them

Our SA visiting family rented a Bakkie, to include a short trip to Mozambique.
Hertz charged an extra fee to ‘cross border’
At the Komartipoort border, it was found that the supplied vehicle documents were not sufficient (Police certified copy of the vehicle registration document or the original and a legible authority to take the vehicle outside of SA) They were also not supplied with the Mozambique lawfully required items to have in a vehicle (Fire extinguisher, hi-Vis vest, Triangle etc) and the vehicle didn’t even have a ‘ZA’ sticker displayed - also as required!
Shameful to expect hirers to fend for themselves when the hire vehicle didn’t meet the legal requirements!
They were forced to buy or hire the required equipment before being allowed into Mozambique - Just Imagine the carnage at the border!!
One would assume that a hire Company, particularly such a well known and experienced supplier, would have known the legal requirements and either advised or supplied the legally required equipment, particularly when charging for the service!