Hertz car rentals in Lakeland

No car was available when I arrived to pick up my reserved (and pre-paid) car. I was told they would call when a car was returned. I called them after an hour and was told a car was available. When my ride delivered me to Hertz, they informed me my car was going to be given to a man who had an insurance claim. They said, again, they would call when a car arrived. After an hour and a half, fearing they would close for the day, I again called and was told a Hyundai had arrived for me. When I arrived, the car was there, but the manager, Fernando Quinones-Rivera told me that I could not have that car as it was a luxury car. He escorted me to a car that he said was available -- and which had been in the parking lot since I arrived before my 1:00 reservation time. He opened the door, and I was hit with a wave of cigarette smoke and saw the deep cigarette burn on the drivers seat. At this point I recognized this as the smoke damaged car that staff had been discussing -- the reason supposedly they were short a car, and the car that in phone conversations they said could not be used to pick up clients because of smoke damage. This occurred, as state, on my third trip to Hertz, and it was after 4:00 when my reservation started at 1:00. This was a blatant insult. And, I suspect an attempt at fraud since Hertz most certainly charged the smoking client a cleaning fee and yet attempted to rent the car to me still damaged. (The vehicle was a Chevy Trax, Fl tag 53A UUD) Indeed, my sister, still waiting for me in the parking lot saw that this car was rented to some unfortunate client when, after insisting for a half an hour, the manager relented and gave me the Hyundai I was promised on the phone. I rent cars at a minimum of twice a year and often much more and this was the worst experience ever. And, I was charged for the car starting at 1:00 and did not receive a car until almost 5:00. I would like a refund from Kayak.

Bait and switch and extra poor customer service.