A woman attempting to pick up her Hertz rental from the Tampa International Airport was upset with the full-size options available. To make matters worse, she says staff argued with her about it.
TikTok creator Melissa (@melissafehn) posted the video from the rental car parking garage. She notes that she is a Hertz Gold member.
“I booked a full, Class F rental,” she says. “And these are the vehicles. A Kia Soul. They're arguing with me that these Kia K4s are their full-sized cars and this Nissan Versa is also a full-sized car. None of those are full-sized cars. Right now I'm in a Buick Encore, because it's the biggest one they have.”
Are These Hertz Rental Options Really ‘Full Size’?
It isn’t necessarily the lack of full-size sedans that bothers Melissa. “I completely understand rental shortages happen,” she says. “I travel consistently. But don't tell experienced travelers that Kia Souls, Nissan KIcks, Kia K4s, and Buick Encores are suddenly 'full size' rental cars after we specifically prepaid and reserved a full size vehicle.”
In the caption, she expounds on her complaint. “As a Hertz Gold member at Tampa airport, this honestly felt like a downgrade instead of a perk,” she wrote. “The frustrating part wasn't even the shortage. It was being treated like customers don't know the difference between vehicle classes. At least just be honest about inventory issues instead of redefining categories.”
Other Hertz Customers Say This Is a Problem
According to several other purported Hertz customers in the comments section, Melissa isn’t the only person to deal with this issue.
“Similar [situation] here,” wrote one person. “I reserved, pre-paid for a full-size SUV. We got in at midnight. You know what we got? A Mazda CX-50. I was [upset].”
“If a Kia Soul is full-size to them, what is a Suburban to them? A semi-truck? It’s literally a compact,” a second person wrote.
Other people sided with Hertz. “You’re acting like they’re trying to give you a Hot Wheelz car. If you wanted the 20-ton land yacht, you should’ve booked that,” one wrote.
“They are all full-size cars,” a second person agreed. “What you have in America are ridiculously over-sized cars.”
Are These Full-Size Cars or Not?
According to Car and Driver, the Kia Soul qualifies as a sub-compact SUV and the K5 is considered a mid-size sedan. According to the Hertz website, the Nissan Versa is considered a compact vehicle. When it comes to full-size cars specifically, the Hertz website lists the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, and Toyota Camry as available options.
In general, when a rental car location runs out of a certain class, the desk clerk will provide the customer with a free upgrade. That usually leads to getting a larger class and not a smaller one, which is likely why Melissa said the experience felt like a downgrade.
Motor1 contacted Melissa and Hertz via email for comment. We'll update this if she responds.
