Hertz - Burgess Hill B&Q

Booked a Hertz van to throw away some old sofas at the local tip. Because this was a quick job the option of booking just a 1 hour rental appealed to me.

It was a little tricky to book via the website on my phone but I got there in the end. On the day of the rental I got the code that I needed to unlock the van texted to me about 15 minutes before my booking.

I got to the local B&Q to pick up the van on time. Unlocking the van was pretty straightforward. Going through the checks was problematic as the damage report was nowhere to be found. I therefore spent a few minutes taking pictures of the van in case there was any comeback in terms of the damage to the vehicle.

The downside of the Hertz option soon became apparent once I got to the tip and there was an unexpected large queue outside. The 30 minutes it took to get in meant that I ended up returning the van a few minutes late. The cost of being a few minutes late was that I was charged more than double my initial booking fee. Which meant I ended up paying more for 1 hours usage than I would have had I opted for half a day’s hire with other van rental providers. That seems an excessive charge for what was a minor indiscretion. I also note that there was no mention of this type of charge on either the confirmation email or the website, which I think is a little sneaky!

Overall the process was ok but if you're thinking of booking please consider the possibility of overrunning and incurring extra charges. In future if I’ve got a similar job I will probably go for a half a day booking simply because of the flexibility and peace of mind.w