CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Sheryl Cherico landed at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport on Friday afternoon. She made her way to the Dollar/Hertz rental counter ready to pick up a car for the weekend.
"I waited in line 45 minutes to be told there's no cars and I was just checking in, that was just for check-in, and that it would be another two hours minimum," she said.
We followed up on this story the next day and heard from another Hertz customer who said car rental issues in Buffalo are an ongoing problem.
Cherico left the airport to get something to eat as she waited for her car. After three hours, she went back to the crowded rental area with dozens of people dealing with the same issue.
"They had two people working the counter and the lines were out the door. It was, it was chaos," Cherico said. "It was just completely unacceptable."
She was told she was the 20th person in line for a car and finally, after several hours, her car was ready.
"I didn't get the car I paid for, and if I would have forfeited the car, I would not have gotten my money back, because I booked it through online service," she said. "I could have Ubered to another car dealer. I could, I mean, I had many options, but I didn't want to sacrifice the $300 that I spent on the rental car that I paid for."
When it comes to facing rental car challenges — Cherico isn't alone. According to Auto Rental News, demand is stronger than ever coming out of the pandemic.
Travel website, The Points Guy, suggests:
- Booking as far in advance as possible
- Calling ahead to confirm your reservation
- Looking at a car rental location outside of the airport
"Really, it isn't even about the money, it was about the time and how stressful that was," Cherico said.
If you do find yourself in Cherico's shoes, USA Today shared a few rules you need to know.
If a company runs out of cars in your "class," then you should be offered an upgrade at no additional cost and if the company completely runs out of cars — it's industry practice to pay for a car rented from a competitor.
We reached out to Hertz about Cherico's situation. They told me that Cherico was credited $200 and operations returned to normal at the airport.
Hertz sent the following statement:
“Unfortunately, our Buffalo airport location did face some regrettable short-term operational delays on Friday, 8/9. While operations have returned to normal, we have reached out to Ms. Cherico to apologize and provide a credit for their rental.”
