Simply Wheelz (Hertz) Report

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

So, I am moving from one side of Orlando to the other. I had movers come move the big things, but for the things that I could move myself, I needed to rent an SUV. (I looked into U-Haul, but when you factor in mileage, they are pricey!)

I figured I didn't need a van or box truck... just an SUV that can fit boxes and things that won't fit into my Accord. So I went online. The cheapest I could find was Alamo... they had a TrailBlazer for $25/day. I've heard all sorts of stories on here about Alamo... some good, some not so good... so I kept looking.

Hertz has a new value brand called "Simply Wheelz" that they are piloting here in Orlando. I'm pretty sure that Orlando is the only location so far. At any rate, they had a TrailBlazer for $25/day as well. I figured Hertz is well known for great customer service, so I went with them.

I had my friend drop me off at OIA (it was easier, since Hertz is kind of "locked down"). And besides, I like taking the shuttle bus.

When I boarded the bus, I was asked if I was a Gold Club member. I am, but I told them I was renting with Simply Wheelz. I tried to have a seat towards the front of the bus, but I was told sternly, "You need to sit back there." OK, apparently Simply Wheelz people are relegated to the back of the bus. Great first impression.

We get to Hertz... Gold Club dropped off first, then Simply Wheelz second.

I walk inside, and proceed to the self service kiosk. When you book the car, you can print out a receipt with a barcode. In theory, you scan the paper, and it brings up all of your info. Well, silly me left my paper in my apartment. Never fear, I could insert my credit card, and it pulled it up that way. As I was entering in my drivers license info, a Simply Wheelz rep came up to me and said to her co-worker, "Hey, this is the one with the SUV." and then to me "You can't use that. I'll take you here."

So she pulls me to her computer, and I ask her if there's a problem with my reservation, and she says "Yes." and then goes back to typing.

Not sure exactly what the problem is, but my total came to be $7 less than what I was quoted online. Works for me. The rep then tells me my SUV is space 375. No directions on how to get there, or any fluff. (But thankfully, no insurance pressure either)

So I head out, and follow the signs. 300-399 straight ahead. OK. I follow the signs, then it says 325-350 left and 351-365 right. No 375. Thankfully, I'm fairly bright, and the lot was sparse, so I looked for SUVs and finally found my space.

My TrailBlazer was kind of dirty... it looks like the drove through the car wash at like 20mph, instead of letting the rotating bristles clean... but the inside was clean, so what do I care. I ended up nicknaming my SUV the "Canyonero" because it felt so large (this coming from someone who drives a 45 motorcoach). (If you don't get the joke, it's a Simpsons thing)


Anyhoo, the move went well... Fast forward to return day.


I took 528 (The Beachline) to return. Stopped off at a 7-Eleven (No longer Citgo branded gas, BTW) on Tradeport to fill up.

When I dropped off the car, I followed the signs to the Simply Wheelz return lanes. No employee was there to greet me, so I walked over to the Return Counter. As I was walking to it, the guy working it sticks his head out the window and yells, "HEY! HEY YOU! GO BACK OVER THERE!" and points back to the car. I look over, and there are two Simply Wheelz employees walking (very causally and slowly mind you) over to my rental. So I go back and meet them.

They walk around the car, check the mileage, and hand me a receipt.

So I walk over to the Shuttle buses, and board the bus for the B terminal. I didn't want another confrontation, so I head towards the back of the empty bus. The bus leaves shortly after, with me as the only passenger. On our way over, the bus driver calls out to me, "Hey! You got a cell phone??" She then goes on to tell me that even though she paid her bill, her cell phone got shut off and she can't get a hold of her husband or her son and a bunch of other sob story stuff. I feel bad, but really, I'm just the customer. Drive the bus.

In the end, the price was right, and the vehicle was fine. But the customer service wasn't. From the moment I got there, almost every person treated me as if I was second class. Didn't appreciate that. Hertz sent me a survey, but the link was dead. I will be writing a letter to them letting them know of my experience.

So that's my experience. Yours might vary.

 

[AllyBri]

You would think that Hertz would have the common sense to treat all their customers the same.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Good luck in your new home.

 

[safetymom]

I am sorry to hear that. Hertz has always been great for me. I don't think where you sat in the bus makes any difference to Hertz. It was probably the bus driver making that up.

It does sound like they need signage though so you can find your car.

 

[G&GMom]

We rented with Simply Wheelz last week and were not told to sit in the back of the bus. We were told that we would be the third stop. They did Gold first, then regular Hertz, then us. We had quite a few Simply Wheelz renters on our bus.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

G&GMom, I trust your experience was a lot better than mine.

 

[G&GMom]

Yes, I actually posted about it yesterday. We didn't have any problems. My DH actually went inside the building to the kiosk while I stayed outside with the kids and our luggage. It took him a good 5 mins to get the keys to our car and an employee was helping him the entire time. I asked him what took so long and he just shrugged his shoulders. I thought it would be a super quick process, that all he would do is scan the barcode and we would get the keys.
Our car was in great shape but my DH said it had high miles for a rental. He guessed that their business model was that would be getting the "hand me downs" from the regular hertz fleet. When we returned the car there were 2 employees in the simply wheelz line so we didnt have to wait for them. Our drive from the airport was really clear when we got on that we would be the 3rd stop. He was pretty friendly about it, telling us that it had just started a few days before and it seemed like it was offering some great deals.
So overall we didnt have any complaints and felt like we were treated the same as regular hertz customers. My DH is actually a #1 gold member and he would have flipped if we were treated any differently.

 

[bavaria]

My experience with the Hertz drivers at MCO has always been positive. Sorry that the OP had a bad start (and middle and end!) to the rental.

Re the high mileage - often HLE's have high mileage too - this week I had an HLE rental with 29,000 miles on the car (and it sounded like it had 229,000 miles on it!)

 

[DVCgrace]

I'm also a Gold Club member, but the price was too good to pass up, so we used SimplyWheelz at OIA.

We got our car last Tues., and saw a lot of tents, chairs set up. We were told the official grand opening was on Wed., Oct. 3 and the CEO from Hertz was scheduled to visit the site. We were able to score two free cushy-rubber "SimplyWheelz" toy cars for the kids.

Also, the bus drivers both ways were very helpful in loading all our luggage and could care less where we sat - both times up front near the driver.

I also needed extra help at the kiosk since the barcode didn't scan and it took the assistance of 2 employees and about 5 minutes to successfully get our car (had about 9,000 miles). Fortunately, we were the only customers there at the time.

On returning the car, there are signs to tell you where to park the car and it is past the area where there is a covering. Don't know why you can't pull in where it is covered since they had many empty covered spaces. If it was raining, we would have gotten soaked. I know there are trying to make the experience "no frills", but a covering would have been nice.

We couldn't find the online survey link, so we used the 800 number survey.

Overall, the lower cost for the rental made up for the few glitches in the experience. Hopefully, will become less annoying in the future.