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A non-US resident booked a car for the US (San Diego) and got a confirmation from rentalcars and Hertz. When he tried to pick it up, (it was yesterday, on Dec. 24) he was told that no cars are available for at least the next two days (until Dec. 26; but there is no guarantee). The plan was to leave the city on the 26th.

Any tips on this situation? Rentalcars phone does not work (they're on holiday). Should he just leave the reservation as is (and wait for Rentalcars reply in their operating hours -- at least to get a refund for the car which has not been received) and book through another agency?

Another problem is that there is no availability for Dec. 25-26 directly through the rental websites like Enterprise, Hertz, Alamo, etc. But rentalcars shows availability. If he books with rentalcars again, is it likely that there will be no availability, as in the original case?

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    Obligatory Seinfeld reference: youtu.be/4T2GmGSNvaM
    – JonathanReez
    Dec 25, 2019 at 14:32
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    He might try asking the rental car company where they do have cars available. Hertz, Enterprise, Alamo, etc... are large national chains, so there must be a location somewhere where they have cars, even if it's farther away or inconvenient. The Christmas holiday makes this difficult, as locations may be closed, but at least on the 26th, it's worth asking where they can go to actually get a car. Dec 25, 2019 at 17:38
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    Hertz in San Diego has multiple locations, including 2 or 3 near the airport. As @ZachLipton commented, ask them if any of their other locations have cars available. Alternatively, there is a rental car center at the airport with many rental companies under one (very large) roof.
    – Midavalo
    Dec 25, 2019 at 19:56
  • They were expecting someone to return a car, they didn't return it on time. Unfortunately, there is no penalty for the company for this sort of problem. Dec 25, 2019 at 23:11
  • @Midavalo Hertz said (on the 24th) that there is no availability until the 26th (and the availability on the 26th is not guaranteed either) anywhere in San Diego and the vicinity, and the websites for other companies showed no availability either. Hopefully tomorrow the things will be sorted out.
    – user557
    Dec 26, 2019 at 4:29

1 Answer 1

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Should he just leave the reservation as is and book through another agency?

Unless you are willing to wait an undetermined period of time, try other agencies and consider "non-traditional" car rental companies such as Zipcar and Turo. Zipcar works 24/7 and Turo can be peer-to-peer, but I don't how long they will take to process your membership application on Christmas day.

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