We had a similar experience in December with Hertz. We reserved our car in March or April for $129 over a week through Hertz.com. It was a great deal, and we confirmed it more than once. We then got an email from the local Hertz office in SXM in November with a new higher price of $203. After contacting the SXM office, I was told they did not have the class of car I had reserved and this was the price for what was available. The main Hertz customer service was no help.

After emailing back and forth, the SXM Hertz office lowered the price to $182 and ensured me I was getting a larger car than originally reserved. Although I wasn't really happy, there wasn't much I could do and $182 was cheaper than anything else available. When we finally arrived and rented the car, the cost had actually gone down to $160. I'm not sure why, but we ended up paying that for the week. Other than the price issue, the rental was fine.

All I can suggest is to ask for a discount considering the circumstances. It probably won't completely solve the problem, but it may help. We rented through Hertz.com because of a discount code that wasn't available through the local SXM Hertz website. If we ever rent through Hertz again, we'll certainly immediately confirm our rates with the local office rather than just assuming the Hertz.com price will be honored.