In August I rented a car from Hertz through Holiday Autos. We collected the car at Memphis airport and arranged to return it in Brooklyn, New York, eight days later. The cost was £548, paid upfront. We were two hours late arriving at the drop-off location and found it had closed at noon. The Hertz helpline told me to take the car to another location – West 34th Street. The staff at the drop-off location were pleasant, said that I did not need to complete any paperwork and that I would get an email confirmation. But I did not receive anything.

I subsequently noticed a second charge of £579 from Hertz on my credit card. I was eventually told that this was for the late return and a “one-way fee” for returning the car in a different place. I accept the late charge, but a fee of more than £500 for dropping the car at an office just seven miles away is outrageous. I have complained and appealed to Holiday Autos but it is refusing to provide a refund or get one from Hertz.

JR, by email

That is certainly a hefty penalty for arriving two hours late at a car hire depot. Hertz blamed the extra charge on a error in the original booking. It says the distance-based one-way fee between Memphis and Brooklyn was not calculated properly at the time of the initial booking, and that when you dropped the car off at the new location the computer automatically applied the correct fee.

“Given that the customer’s original quote did not include the applicable one-way fee (and, therefore, he did not expect it), a refund of this charge has now been actioned,” says Hertz, using that wonderful expression beloved of Americans.

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