Hertz Really Hertz & The Sewer That Is Naples: Renting a car in Italy

They sure make renting a car in Italy look sexy, don't they?

The Naples reality. And no, those aren't awaiting rental cars.

Hertz in Italy is not the same Hertz in the States. They are independent brokers. They treat people politely on the surface but insult us with the slap on the face they call "Service". "For your convenience" really means "for our convenience". Returning a car to Florence, for example, is not convenient. Instead of being open 24 hours at train station and airport locations, they open at 8, close completely for a few hours at lunch (even when more than one person is manning the office and they could easily stagger lunch hours), and close by 7 at night. They complain about no jobs and failing economy... Gee... I wonder why it is failing?

Then do they put pickup/return offices at a desk IN the train station? No. You have to drag your luggage several blocks from the station to their office through through the typically sleezy and dangerous streets to find them. Are there signs at the huge train station at least telling you which direction to head? No. (Naples Central is about a kilometer wide... Hertz about 1/4 mile away from the closest exit... over very rough cobbles). Also, when returning cars to Florence, you have to be incredibly careful about NOT driving into the ZTL (no drive zone, or Zona Traffico Limitato) or six months after your trip you'll get a very expensive summons from one of the many ZTL cameras.  (BTW, these are legitimate fines, not scams. Learn about the ZTLs HERE and HERE).

And to top it all off, they never bring the car to you. In Chiusi we had to walk in the rain, dragging luggage over a quarter mile and get the car parked near a bridge. In Florence they actually give you a map to get to the garage. He told us it was a parking lot, but Lucas noticed the teeny Hertz sign on a garage building that also does hourly parking. He said it was a one minute walk only "30 meters" across the street and around the corner... it was more like 1000 meters. We had to pass all sorts of low-lifes, smells and filth. I was seriously worried about our safety. Oh yea... and that street in front of their office that we have to cross? No crosswalk... a very busy intersection with cars jostling to get onto the nearby interstrada.

Hertz in Italy is just a logo... a method used by schemers to latch onto a good company name and deliver a dumbed down, lazy Italian style service... "for your convenience... for your convenience..."  Yea, right. 

Oh... the last straw: months ago I booked a compact class Fiat 500L automatic for our southern part of the journey... especially to help navigate the twisty, mountainous, narrow roads of the Almafi Coast. They didn't have automatic in compact class so I wound up getting a a very wide Volvo SUV. It was diesel, which saves money on gas, but Lucas said it sounded just like his schoolbus (it did). Oh, and they gave it to me dirty... then asked if I wanted it washed. I said yes. He said "another 20 minutes" which in Italy means over an hour... or so. I said no since we still had to get over the mountains to our Amalfi apartment where the caretaker was expecting us as a set time.

Such is car renting in Italia. I'd love to hear from others about their experiences with other Italian rental companies (i.e., brokers) to see if it makes any difference. I doubt it, though. For instance, the Florence in-town location also had logos of other rental companies. The experience would be the same no matter what logo you decide to rent with.

--Jerry Finzi


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