Hertz Reviews 

Hired a small car from Porto airport, brimmed with fuel a few miles away from the drop off. After entering the airport I received an invoice for over €60 euro for fuel and they claimed the tank was 6/8 full when it was clearly at 100% I made sure of that. With all the fees the total nears £400 for a Fiat Panda for a week. Wouldn't use again

The rental was a brand new 7 seater Mercedes Vito. Within 15 minutes the engine warning light came on and a warning that there was a coolant issue and reduced power as a result. Problems happen and this was not their fault. The shocking absence of assistance that followed was.
We were advised to drive to the airport to swap cars. At the airport we were told none of a matching size were available. As it was a Saturday afternoon this only compounded the lack of interest in trying to help us. The manager at the airport could not have been less interested in helping us out. We were left to drive back to Lisbon in limp mode. By the time we returned to the hotel smoke was billowing from the car. Attempting to get it collected involved several 'disconnections' but 40 minutes later the emergency help line responded. 3 hours later the car has not been collected and I frankly have no idea if it will be. I check out in the morning and have to hire a cab to get me to my next destination. Thanks, Hertz. Their logo ought to be 'Too Big To Care'. I suspect a drawn out battle to follow over the charges that are seemingly inevitable.
Avoid at all costs, or it will cost you!

1/5 stars - Hertz Portugal: A masterclass in how not to treat customers
Flat tyre on a Friday afternoon. Fine, these things happen. What followed does not.
Rather than a simple tyre change on the spot, Hertz towed the car and left us stranded. No roadside fix. No replacement vehicle at our location. The only option offered was to travel three hours round-trip to Lisbon Airport ourselves to pick up another car. We were at a wedding. Not happening.
We negotiated an alternative: skip the replacement car, and Hertz arranges a taxi to get us to the airport on Sunday. Deal agreed. And then? Nothing. Complete silence.
Saturday: called multiple times to confirm the taxi. Every call was disconnected. Followed up by email. No reply. We organised and paid for our own taxi.
Then - and this is the part that takes real nerve - Hertz sent an email asking when we would be returning the car. Not an apology. Not a follow-up on the taxi they promised. A chaser. For a car that had already been towed away by their own roadside service.
To summarise what Hertz delivered:

No working vehicle
No replacement
No promised taxi
No communication
No apology

What they did deliver: a bill query and radio silence.
Avoid.

We hired a car from Dollar (Hertz) at Faro airport (Portugal). All good. Nice and easy to find, good service and very quick. we were on the road within an hour or so of landing.

A few days late had a puncture, which I fixed with sealant equipment on board. Then called the nearest Hertz office in Portamao and explained the issue as I didn't want to continue driving on a temporary fixed tyre. I spoke to a lovely lady called Florabella who suggested that I came directly to Portamao. With no fuss at all, she arranged for us to swap cars and get back underway. Great customer service. 5 stars to her and to Hertz.

Excellent experience with Hertz Porto Airport.

A special thank you to Giovanna Bittencourt, who took the time to explain everything clearly and made us feel very welcome. Her instructions were detailed and easy to understand, which helped us start our trip with confidence.

We had requested an automatic car and were travelling with quite a lot of luggage. Hertz kindly upgraded us to a larger vehicle, which made our road trip through Portugal much more comfortable.

The shuttle service was efficient, the car was clean and in excellent condition, and both pick-up and return were smooth and hassle-free.

Highly recommended, and we would gladly rent from Hertz Porto Airport again.

They let you sign a so called free upgrade which is a masked upselling. Afterwards they charge a couple of hundred of euros whilt the person at the counter guaranteed no extra costs. Stay away from these crooks and thieves

THESE PEOPLE ARE DANGEROUSLY!

We rented a car from Hertz at Madeira airport Saturday 7th February.
Customer service was rude, abrupt and queues were an hour and a half long to collect pre booked car.
Put this down to stressed staff and finally collected our car.

Two days later there was a fault with the brakes. A mechanic was begrudgingly sent to assess and he advised us this car was dangerous to drive.
Hertz manager eventually called us to tell us to bring the car back to the airport (despite concerns raised by the mechanic who was still waiting for a lift back!).
Extremely poor customer service from the representatives there. At one point all out lying by staff.
Avoid Hertz at Madeira airport at all costs. This is not a company you want to deal with who put the customers in serious danger.

I rented a a car due to an accident, went to the Worcester ma branch and worked with Mike. He put me into a car over my insured daily limit and just got my credit card statement with the over the overage amount. I also never received an invoice breakdown after returning the car, had to call the 800 number to receive it. I went to the branch Friday January 30 and spent an hour waiting to get this resolved, Mike told ne to get the invoice because he didn't know how to look it up and to come back Monday and he would take care of it right away. Went back again and was to in a sarcastic way to wait my turn. I walked out as I was not waiting again and dealing with him. Bad practices of putting a senior citizen on a fixed income into a rental over your daily limit with out asking?

Terrible experience when renting in 2022. They tried to claim I had damaged the car but I was able to prove damage was there before renting the car. Then a year later they placed a second charge of my credit card, which was cancelled by my credit card provider. Now in 2026 they are chasing for a further payment relating to Highway tolls, but a Easy toll card was purchased from Hertz when renting the car. This business should not be trusted and will try to scam you. Be extra careful when using their service but I recommend to find an alternative. They are not to be trusted.

Very disappointing experience with Hertz in Lisbon.

At pick-up, I was not provided with any photographic vehicle condition report, despite explicitly requesting it. The file with the pre-existing damage photos was never sent, making it impossible to properly verify the vehicle’s condition before departure.

At return, a supposed minor windscreen chip was reported — something I had never noticed during the rental and which could not be verified as new or pre-existing, also considering the windscreen was dirty and the vehicle already showed several signs of wear.
Although I had purchased the “Super Cover”, it did not include glass, and I was charged without clear proof that the damage was not already present at pick-up.

Additionally, the photos of the pre-existing damages appear to have been taken days earlier and in a different location from the actual pick-up point, which raises serious concerns about the transparency of the procedure.

I filed formal complaints and involved the European Consumer Centre. The responses from Hertz were generic and failed to address the specific issues raised.

This is not about the amount charged, but about fairness and transparency.
Based on this experience, I cannot recommend Hertz and strongly advise customers to be extremely cautious at vehicle pick-up.

500€ for a bad Dacia during 6 days at Hertz Funchal airport !!! I returned the car without damage but the protection between the truck and the living-area had just moved, I didn’t notice it. They just had to put it in the right position but they charged me 278€ !!! A picture with the bad position but none with a so-called damage. And I’m sure that I didn’t do anything with it as I just put a small bag in the truck. Even if it was broken it was already there.
Impossible to have someone on the phone, I don’t even know how to complaint to Hertz.
I’ve been a loyal client from Hertz for many many years but I’ll never rent a car with them anymore.
A shame.
I’ve seen that many clients have been abused by this agency. I will continue to fight to be reimbursed.

Ordered a Ford kuga 1.5litre,got a seat Arona 1.0 litre
Clearly not powerful enough in Madeira with five adults.
They exchange for a larger car and said the next one was bigger engine.
It turned out to be a Dacia 1.0 litre and as it was bigger it cope with the steep hill less .
The car had 4 tyres all on the minimum tyre tread,I would say illegal.

On arrival to Hertz I was told "I probably didn't read the small print" and "the terms had changed" I was told I had to pay €3500 deposit, when my original agreement was £1300. I didn't have a credit limit that high on my credit card. The whole ordeal was VERY stressful! I was told to pay €450 for there in-house insurance cover, which I didn't require as I had sourced a 3rd party cover. I was then told to pay €250 which I refused. I had to pay €2000 for a car that was below the standard I wanted. V poor.

🚨 Hertz Portugal – Abusive Practice 🚨

I booked a car via CarJet (fully prepaid €428.99 on August 6, 2025) and picked it up from Hertz Porto on August 13 at 12:30.

➡ Returned the car in perfect condition on August 22 at 16:00.
➡ Despite this, Hertz charged me an additional €360.33, claiming “late return” – even though my rental was already paid until August 22.

Result: Double billing → over €790 for a single rental.

Since then, both Hertz and CarJet have gone completely silent. No response to my emails.

❌ This is unacceptable, abusive, and borders on fraud.

I demand an immediate refund. Otherwise, I will make sure to share this experience widely with my community (150K+ reach) and through every possible consumer channel.

@Hertz – Your reputation is at stake. Act now.

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🚨 Scandale Hertz Portugal 🚨

J’ai loué un véhicule via CarJet (réservation prépayée 428,99 € le 6 août 2025) et récupéré la voiture chez Hertz Porto le 13 août à 12h30.

➡ Véhicule rendu en parfait état le 22 août à 16h.
➡ Malgré cela, Hertz m’a refacturé 360,33 € supplémentaires, au motif “retard de restitution” alors que ma location était déjà payée jusqu’au 22 août.

Résultat : double facturation → plus de 790 € pour une seule location.

Depuis, silence radio de Hertz et CarJet. Aucune réponse à mes mails.

❌ C’est une pratique abusive, limite frauduleuse.

J’exige un remboursement immédiat. Faute de quoi, je ne manquerai pas de partager massivement cette expérience auprès de ma communauté et via tous les relais possibles.

@Hertz – Votre réputation est en jeu. Réagissez.

Update: Hertz's responses to the reviews are merely damage control. When I email "googlereviews", I also do not receive any response to my concerns. I assume that there is an intentional withholding of a fuel charge if the customer does not book the €50 fuel service on-site. This service is actually being pushed onto customers at the location. I will contact my bank and consider legal action against Hertz.

! I can only warn against booking with Hertz!

Original review:
After returning the vehicle, money was deducted from my deposit because I allegedly did not refuel before returning it. I proved to the staff at the return with a receipt that I had refueled. The staff member confirmed that everything was in order. However, when I returned from vacation, I received an invoice from Hertz. I contacted Hertz via email and attached the fuel receipt as proof. So far, I have not received any response.

Be careful buying a car from Hertz Faro. VERY untrustworthy sales staff. Dealt with Silvia who wasted a lot of my time and money. DO NOT TRUST.

It's been almost two months since we rented the car, and we are still waiting for a response about a claiming that we made. They charged us an extra day in a totally unexpected and wrong way. We have sent several emails already but we never had any answer. We phoned to the central offices, but the only thing they said is that we have to wait for the email response...but, for how long? This doesn't make any sense at all. We urge a response now and a return for the extra money wrongly charged.
The booking number is L19711068E4. You can check that I sent you several emails but you didn't send me a solution.

Horrible !!!!! Don’t even say hello!! All the people their, and there were a lot had a problem with their reservation. The people working were very rude and not encline to help. Awful expérience! Don’t go there

Great experience renting a car from Hertz from the Lisbon airport. Way better rates than the other rental car companies. We got a virtually brand new Volkswagon with unlimited mileage. TIP best to rent from airport, no issue with pick up and return. Best to compare rates and set up your own insurance with CAA or credit card not with the rental company.

Unfortunately, I have had the same bad experience as so many other people here with Hertz Lissabon: We had a booking for our car starting 2:45 pm. When we finally arrived at the parking garage where the rental cars are parked at 3:20 pm, the car was not ready and we were told to wait. When I pointed out that the car should have been ready for over 30 minutes, the gentleman from Hertz simply said that far too many cars were booked in the summer and at Easter and we therefore have to wait. He couldn't do anything and it wasn't his problem. He doesn't own Hertz and he can't give me another car.

Then the second gentleman from Hertz asked me if I had booked online. I replied no and said that I had booked through ÖAMTC/ADAC. When I asked him why that made a difference, he said scornfully that it was my own fault if I booked through a “broker”. They would make the cars so cheap 1 week before rental that too many people would book. And then you just have to wait for your car. I told them that we had already booked the car several months ago and couldn't understand why we were now being penalized because we hadn't booked (by phone?) directly with Hertz.

Apart from us, there was only one other couple there, but they got their car (Fiat 500) immediately. Nobody else was waiting. We finally got the car at 15:36, almost an hour after the booking started.

I have to say that I am appalled by this kind of "service" from Hertz. The reason for the waiting time is the icing on the cake. I actually assumed that as a car club member we would be treated better and not worse. If we were to return the car late, we would immediately pay a fine. But if Hertz simply doesn't make the car available as contractually agreed, all I get is the information that I should wait.

I then complained to the ÖAMTC/ADAC after my vacation, who forwarded my message to Hertz. Hertz only said succinctly that we would have received an upgrade as compensation. This is simply incorrect, we were given a car in the booking class we had booked. It is sad that ÖAMTC/ADAC simply accept this and say that their hands are tied. Obviously, neither Hertz nor ÖAMTC/ADAC have ever heard of contractual obligations, let alone customer care.

The consequence is that I will never book with Hertz again and will take a close look at whether I ever use ÖAMTC/ADAC as a broker again.