Hertz UK Retracts No-Show Fee Announcement

Hertz UK has retracted its announcement that it would introduce no-show charges on April 1. The company had written to travel management companies earlier this month informing them it would charge $50 in the United States and similar amounts elsewhere in the world if customers failed to inform it they were not going to honor a reservation.

Hertz Corp. headquarters in the United States on Tuesday said it had no knowledge of the letter and that it was not company policy to charge for no-shows. Hertz Europe president Michel Taride followed this with a statement today describing the letter from Hertz UK as an "administrative error."

The letter that was sent to TMCs, however, makes it quite clear that the no-show charge was a deliberate strategic decision. "Our terms have always allowed us to charge this fee, but in reality, we rarely do so, as a gesture of goodwill. Unfortunately the level of no shows that we are suffering has reached significant proportions," the letter said.

The full text of Taride's retraction reads: "As a result of an administrative error, some of our contract rate customers have received a letter that indicates that a 'no show' fee policy will be effective from April 1, 2006. This is not the case and no such policy is currently being introduced.

"A clause has always existed in the terms and conditions, which allows us to charge contract rate customers who do not honor bookings, but this is not universally applicable as the letter suggests.

"We apologize to all our customers for any confusion and inconvenience the letter may have caused."