‘Unlimited means UNLIMITED’: Hertz gives ‘unlimited miles’ with rental. Now they’re charging driver $10K after he drove it for 25K miles

A Hertz customer recorded a dispute he had with an employee of the chain over car mileage. The TikToker, who goes by @lifeisfun3000 was slammed with a $10,000 charge to his credit card. That's because, according to the Hertz employee, unlimited mileage on a rental isn't really "unlimited."

The TikToker managed to put 25,000 miles on his vehicle's odometer during a month of driving. He says he carefully looked at his rental contract. And nowhere does it state that he couldn't put an unlimited number of miles on the vehicle.

The video, which is currently the only one listed on his account, has racked up 5.6 million views as of Monday.

The argument

"Hertz rental car manager calls cops on customer for proving him wrong," an on-screen caption in the video reads. At the onset of the clip, the Hertz employee can be heard arguing with the rental car customer.

@lifeisfun3000 Unlimited means a reasonable amount? @Hertz #scam #rentalcar #hertz #fyp #viralvideo ♬ original sound - Life

During their conversation, the employee keeps asking the customer to leave while the customer demands an explanation as to why he is being charged.

"When this literally, that's not even allowed. I never signed," the customer argues.

The Hertz worker replies, "You show me where it says I can't charge you."

Following this point in the conversation, the patron, who is recording the interaction, refers to his rental contract.

"It literally says I won't get charged anything. It says miles allowed: free miles it literally says to refer to this if there's anything extra," he continues. "I never signed anything saying I could only go 100 miles a day. Or anything like that or I would have to pay more."

The employee argues back

"You never signed anything that said that," the Hertz worker says. "But you also never signed anything saying you...we allowed you to drive 25,000 miles."

After more arguing over what "unlimited" really means, the Hertz worker has had enough.

"You can leave or I will have you arrested," he tells the driver. "It's your choice."

The Hertz employee then starts dialing on his phone, leading the customer to get up and leave but not before panning to the rental contract on the table.

As noted several times throughout their conversation, another overlay pops onto the screen. It reads, "The papers both clearly stated it was unlimited free miles without any price for extra miles."

Furthermore, the TikToker repeatedly calls out Hertz's vague definition of "unlimited" in a caption for the video: "Unlimited means a reasonable amount?"

Does unlimited mileage really mean unlimited?

It would seem that in the case of a major car rental company like Enterprise, that this is certainly the case. The rental agency makes a clear distinction between unlimited mileage and restricted mileage rentals. Additionally, it states that customers should read their rental agreements. It's website also lists rates for "Large or Specialty vehicle(s)" at $.10 - $.25 per mile.

Moreover, another Reddit user in a separate post states that unlimited mileage is truly unlimited. Stating that they're an Enterprise employee, they replied to a query about mileage limits in the r/EnterpriseCarRental sub.

"Mileage is always unlimited unless you rent something super fancy," they wrote. "Only time we’ve actually enforced a mileage restriction (800 miles per week) was on a bentley rental through an insurance claim. For the most part if you'll be driving lots of miles for a long period of time just make sure to keep them updated so they can inform you when an oil change is needed."

Kayak also states that most car rental companies package their vehicles with unlimited mileage. Like Enterprise, the travel booking site says that there are some vehicle inspections. Furthermore, patrons should always be on the lookout for fine print that specifically lists any additional charges.

TikTokers chime in

Several people agreed with the TikToker's stance and many urged him to take legal action.

"Get a lawyer and sue hertz..Unlimited means UNLIMITED," one wrote.

"Never rented from Hertz and now I never will. Thanks for the info. 25,000 miles in a month is pretty wild but so is $10k charge. That’s just nuts," another said.

Numerous people were shocked he drove 25,000 miles in one month. However, they stated that if his contract states he had unlimited mileage, then it's unlimited.

"25k miles in 1 months is WILD absolutely sinister but Hertz said unlimited though," one said.

Another criticized Hertz's practices. "Hertz wants all the marketing and fanfare of SAYING unlimited, but none of the responsibility of actually BEING unlimited."

The Daily Dot has reached out to Hertz via email and Life via TikTok comment for further information.

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