I booked a rental car with hotwire for June 1 at 12:pm for $172.61 total cost charged to my capital one credit card. When arriving at the airport, Hertz rental did not have a car available, and stated I would have to wait until a car was returned. An hour to an hour and a half wait was expected. In addition, they would require an additional $200 dollar deposit, and " I could have a seat in the airport lobby until they called me. When asked again for a time frame, they stated that they did not know how long the wait would be, it would be until a car was returned and cleaned, any where from an hour to an hour and a half." I told them to forget it, I did not have the time to wait around, since I had timed vacation travel. I immediately notified my credit card company, within 3 hours I notified hotwire customer service, in addition I sent an email to Hertz Management. This delayed my scheduled departure at least 3 hours.
Hotwire has refused to refund my money stating I decided to leave instead of waitfor a car, so therefore I canceled and am not entitled to a refund. Hertz, stated they are sorry they did not have a car available, however they did not charge hotwire, so therefore I needed to contact hotwire, and my credit card company for dispute. Capitalone stated they are standing by Hotwire and will not refund the charge. Capital one is charging my account over the limit fees as well as additional finance charges. I have contacted and faxed all three management headquarters and they refuse to refund my money. I can not believe that these companies can get away with charging for a service they did not deliver, this is legalized theft. Do you think it is possible to find restitution in small claims court?