Hertz Reviews 

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.

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.

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!

Unreliable airport service – reserved vehicle not available

I am very disappointed with my experience with Hertz, particularly at Cape Town International Airport.
Despite having a confirmed reservation for a specific vehicle, the reserved car was not available upon arrival. Instead, I was given a different vehicle that I did not request.
I was assured by a staff member that they would contact me shortly and possibly deliver the reserved vehicle to Paarl, but this never happened. No follow-up, no call, and no solution were provided.
At an international airport, reliability and honoring reservations are essential. Unfortunately, this experience showed a lack of professionalism and poor customer service. Even after contacting customer support, no resolution was offered.
Due to this unreliable service and the poor handling of my complaint, I will not rent from Hertz again and I cannot recommend their services, especially for airport rentals.

Worst company I have ever used in 25 years of renting at Johannesburg International. Took an hour and a half to collect the car (all other companies were 30 min wait). 2 staff members working said they were so overworked they couldn't take a toilet break or lunch. Apon retuning the car they charged me R9k for a 3cm scratch on the front bumper. Toothpaste would have removed the scratch. Avoid this horrible company!

We did 60.9km only the gears wouldn't go in so we had to pay for a clutch that we didn't damage besides the swift was a brand new car had just over 700 kms how can a clutch damage on a new car really unfair for pensioners to pay R 13 000 for something we didn't do car was hired at Kingshaka/Durban
We called their office 5 time's only following morning did they contact us
Will never hire from HERTZ CAR RENTAL
Do have all proof of calls and mileage we did

The car we initially requested wasn't available at the 11th hour and Fifi and her team made it possible that we get a car...they kept us informed at all times. They even upgraded us to a Toyota Fortuner at no extra charge.....even though the car was dirty when we collected it, they paid for the car to be washed at our nearest car wash. I would definitely hire a car again at Hertz Bram Fischer International Airport. Thank you for the great service and your professionalism.

Hired a car from Cape Town international airport. Firstly our car was not ready, waited 1 hour and then were given the wrong car. Smaller than what I paid for, could not fit all our luggage. We’re told no other cars available and they will call us to change to a bigger car. Also told us we can change at Langebaan branch, but found out that there were no branch in Langebaan. So they blatantly lied to us as well.

One star is too high.

We hired a car to collect from the airport as we had lots of long drives arranged.

On arrival to hertz, they said sorry no cars left. We had to then use taxis for the first few days until we could arrange another car hire.

They refunded us but not the bank charges.

Australian customer, rented from Thrifty/Hertz JoBurg Airport in Oct/Nov -- 4 weeks, paid in full with all insurances at time of booking, requested a certain vehicle, was informed they'd do their best but can't promise the exact car is avail on the day (but instead another one from the same category). On pick-up the desired car was unavail - I got offered an upgrade to larger/nicer vehicle for same price (and basically a new/2025 car) - much appreciated! I drove some 5500kms, had the car washed&cleaned before return (1000km on dusty roads left one very dusty car), noticed a couple of new very small scratches (superficial 1-2cm). Return was easy, quick, brief inspection by agent, all was well from their end (scratches semed too small to worry about). Final invoice showed no extra costs. I later requested and was sent a confirmation that my R9000 pre-authorization bond was cancelled (not used). Very happy with all of that. NOTE: more generally - I researched extensively re rental companies... and eventually realised that it's always going to be a bit of a hit&miss&luck . One of the best reviewed companies (Woodford) was initially my firt pick - but their poor relpies&explanations to my questions regarding their contradictory T&Cs let me talk to Thrifty/Hertz -- and eventually book through them (and will do so again if visiting SA). Many thanks!

I should have reviewed TrustPilot prior to renting from Hertz. I rented a car for a month in Gabarone Botswana. 1. The actual price was more than double (BWP22k) quoted (BWP 10.6k) once local insurance add-ons were included. I discovered later I could have purchased a cheap car for the price. The car was fine. The real issues began when they processed a bond (BWP 5.5k or over NZD$750) as a payment rather than hold on my credit card. After two months too and fro they insist it has been refunded when it hasn't My bank advised the "refund" bounced back to the payer's account. This is clearly is a scam. My bank and credit card company are now challenging the original payment. I am very disappointed.

This is to rate Hertz Mthatha - Specifically a lady by the name of Ngcali who works there. She always goes out of her way and assists me as an avid customer who hires at least once a month with them. People like Ngcali, who not onky meet but exceed our expectations as customers are a joy to be around. May she soar to higher heights at her work.