bobthenavigator

I regret to report the AE and Kemwel have discontinued their contract with Hertz in Orvieto. That is a major loss for Italy travelers since that location was perfect for a car drop near the local train station.
I hope they find another vendor in Orvieto soon.

Dukey1

What I find REALLY unfortunate is that AE even LISTS Orvieto as some sort of possibility in the first place. You put it in as a destination and go through all the OTHER stuff and hit the return key and only THEN do we get this "nothing found" boilerplate.

Just ELIMINATE the city from the list UNTIL you get a vendor there.

sandralist

What am I missing? Hertz is an international company with an English-language interface for renting a car in Orvieto online. It also has an international phone number.

Why should anybody ELIMINATE anything? What's this HYSTERIA???

Has the Hertz office closed or is it just a question of some people preferring to only rent through middlemen?

Jean

It's an inconvenience when planning a car rental to get a message "no results were found for your search." It gives the impression there are no rental offices in a city when, in truth, there are. For example, AE would tell me I could pick up a car in Trento, but I couldn't return it in Orvieto. That's not correct.

Some people prefer Auto Europe because of their good service and offer to match any rate, but it's issues like this that make me check multiple sources.

Christina

Autoeurope is very reputable and can function smoothly to handle problems that may arise with the rental, it can be easier than trying to deal with the local company. Also, they sometimes have better deals than booking yourself directly.

I usually check both sources, Autoeurope/Kemwell and company's own website.

sandralist

Okay, so AutoEurope hasn't updated its website. I hardly think this is CAUSE for such ostentatious TEETH GNASHING and saying Orvieo needs to be ELIMINATED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Why? Maybe its fans could send them an e-mail asking them to remove Orvieto from the dropdown menu.

I most often book through AutoEurope myself, have generally been well served by them, and I can appreciate why others always prefer to deal with a middleman for back up and extra clout if anything goes wrong. But if it was a choice between dealing with Hertz directly or giving up a PERFECT drop off point for a car rental, I'd first investigate renting directly from Hertz.

One thing I might do were I planning a trip that involved a car rental in Orvieto is to call AutoEurope and Kemwell and ask why they dropped Hertz in that location. Maybe it was very bad office renting unsafe cars. So maybe it was perfect place to drop off a car, but a very poor one for renting a car. A blessing in disguise that AE no longer works with them?

kybourbon

>>>I hardly think this is CAUSE for such ostentatious TEETH GNASHING and saying Orvieo needs to be ELIMINATED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

Saraho

I tried to rent a car in Orvieto through AE two weeks ago without success. When I called AE, they told me that the Orvieto Hertz had been very unreliable recently. People had arrived there expecting to pickup their cars, but found that there were no cars available, so AE has currently quit doing business with them in Orvieto.

I then called Hertz and asked them what would happen if I rented a car from them in Orvieto and the car was not available when I got there. Hertz said they would not be able to do anything about it.

So I changed my plans and will get a car in Ostia through AE and after a week will return it in Florence. AE does arrange for a solution if your original car rental is not available or has a problem.

It is too bad because we loved renting a car in Orvieto because it was so convenient.

sandralist

So it looks like far from being a "perfect" location, it was actually a highly problematic one that kept getting recommended over and over, without anybody realizing their info was out of date and unhelpful.

Apart from not updating its own website, AutoEurope doesn't deserve to be dished.

Kybourbon,

I was responding to DUKEY'1s post, and the EXCESSIVE use of capital letters to ATTACK AutoEurope and call for EVERYONE doing whatever doesn't ANNOY Dukey does. I understood bobthenavigator's post and glad he will no longer blindly be recommending Orvieto. Will save trusting travelers a bad experience.

bobthenavigator

Only the contrarian can turn a simple piece of helpful information into a full scale conflict.
Please go away.

ElendilPickle

We ended up renting directly from Hertz so we could pick up our car in Orvieto earlier this month. Service was snail-slow and not super helpful. Mr. Pickle refused to sign the car damage page until we actually got to look at the car and note any damage. This was met with eye-rolling and a lot of muttering in Italian.

In addition, the GPS directions were 13 months out of date, and we had a whole 'nother adventure trying to return the car in Florence - but that's another story.

We're still glad we had the opportunity to visit Orvieto and drive from there, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend that particular Hertz office.

Lee Ann

Dukey1

Ah., yes, and to channel our bella Italia poster, it's the obvious choice

Dukey1

And, yes, Sandy, I do think AE "deserves to be dished" whether you agree or not so get used to it.

sandralist

What "full scale conflict"? I agree people should have this information, and simply raised the obvious point it would have been nice to know even sooner,

But I continue to think it absurd to make A CAPITAL CASE of attacking AutoEurope for still listing Orvieto on its drop down menu. GET USED TO IT (Why should I go anywhere? )

I looked on the Slow Travel forum, where this information was also announced yesterday, and possibly where bobthenavigator first learned it, and the attitude there is completely different.

Yesterday, 08:23 AM #1
Scott8 -- Orvieto Car Rental

We are training Rome to Orvieto in mid September en route to a much anticipated week at La Foce. I have been trying for a couple of weeks to book a car through Auto Europe but kept getting "No cars available at this location". I finally called Auto Europe and was told that they have discontinued their relationship with the Orvieto location (Hertz) because of poor service complaints.

Should I be concerned about this? Book Hertz directly? Cancel train and book to another location where Auto Europe has a presence?
Thanks to all who respond.

Response from Matt D.

I wouldn't over-think this. There could be any number of reasons the rental companies have severed ties in Orvieto and each would likely put the best spin on it. I would simply book with Hertz or whoever else provides rentals in Orvieto. It will likely be a very small agency with limited cars available - possibly more expensive than in a major metro area, but you shouldn't have any more serious issues booking in Orvieto than anywhere else.

Scott8
Thanks - you are no doubt correct. I just gave my head a shake.


Guess Scott and Matt don't automatically see a need to ELIMINATE Orvieto UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.


Given all the information, grown up people can make up their own minds. No reason to try to stop people from adding to the information thread if you care about their travels. How contrarian!

Saraho

I think that AE just took Orvieto off their list a couple of weeks ago due to many complaints, so they probably just have not redone their web site yet.

When I was working on plans three or so weeks ago, you could still rent a car through AE in Orvieto.

daria

Thank you for the info Bob. It is appreciated. Sorry about the conflict.