One year and one day after we rented a car from Hertz in Costa Rica and subsequently were overcharged for it, we got a letter acknowledging our complaint and a refund.

Well, the letter didn’t come to us. It was addressed to Will Lund, superintendent of the Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection. Without Will’s help with my complaint, I’d have gotten nothing. And with his help, I’ve learned something important that may prove valuable to you.

On April 16, 2011, I rented an automobile from Hertz, reserved through Orbitz, for a trip to Costa Rica at a quoted price of $304.21.

At the time I picked up the car in Liberia, I asked the agent whether I would be paying the rate previously quoted through my Orbitz reservation: $304.21. The agent said that was the rate I’d be charged, and pointed to the $304.21 on the document presented at the time of the rental.

The Hertz agent asked me if I desired any of the optional services and coverage offered. For each option, I answered no, and he pointed to the appropriate places on the form and told me to initial them. Because the form was in Spanish and I could not read it, I trusted that he was pointing to the appropriate places for my answers.

When I returned to Maine from the trip and reviewed my credit card statement, I was dismayed to see that I had been charged $582.26 for the car rental, an overcharge of $278.05.

A call to a Hertz customer service representative to discuss the rental overcharge provided no satisfaction. In fact, I was informed that he had no record of either my rental or charges to my credit card. He said I would have to submit my request for a refund through the company’s website.

I began that effort in late August, making my refund request through the Hertz website, and receiving my first response from Hertz Customer Correspondence Administrator Brenda M. on Sept. 8, 2011.

Throughout the month of September, Brenda and I emailed back and forth as I continued to press my case. At one point, she mailed me copies of my rental document. While it appeared to be at least similar to my transaction, it carried a Massachusetts address for the person renting the car, rather than my Maine address. I’m still not sure the documents that they used to evaluate my complaint were actually mine.

Brenda insisted that I had chosen the options offered by the rental agent, and that’s why I was charged more than the Orbitz quoted price of $304.21. I continued to explain that I had not chosen the options, and relied on their Liberian agent’s help in initialing the form in the right places because it was in Spanish and I couldn’t read it.

The last response from Brenda came on Sept. 29. She wrote, “We sincerely regret any misunderstanding; however, as previously stated, our records indicate the optional services were accepted at the time of rental. Therefore, no adjustment is due.”

I emailed her once more but got no response. Then I called customer service at Orbitz, and they went to work on my complaint. Hertz told Orbitz it would not consider my complaint unless I paid a new fee. Hertz claimed my paperwork had been filed and I would have to pay them to dig it out of the file. I refused.

At a meeting with Will Lund a couple months ago, knowing about his position as leader of our Consumer Credit Protection Bureau, I told him about this poor treatment by Hertz. Will offered to intervene on my behalf. He helped me prepare an affidavit that he mailed to Hertz with his own letter, in his official capacity, kindly requesting my refund.

And on April 17, 2012, one year and one day after we picked up the car in Costa Rica, a Hertz representative wrote a response to Will, issuing the requested refund “in the interest of fairness and as a gesture of good will.”

Most of the letter defended the overcharge with new and shocking assertions. Hertz contended that the extra charge for “Collision Damage ” is mandatory in Costa Rica, and a “Non-Waivable Excess” fee is applied “at most International Hertz locations.”

Funny, I’ve been renting cars from Hertz for travel in and outside of the United States for many years, and never encountered these extra fees. But I’m riding high now, thanks to Will Lund, although not in a Hertz vehicle.

George Smith is a writer and TV talk show host. He can be reached at 34 Blake Hill Road, Mount Vernon 04352, or georgesmith maine@gmail.com. Read more of Smith’s writings at www.georgesmithmaine.com.

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