Senators call for investigation of Hertz after hundreds of rental car customers claim false arrest

[Jilly_in_VA]

Two U.S. Senators are urging the federal government to investigate Hertz rental car company's business practices that have led customers to make hundreds of allegations of false arrest.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who chairs the Senate's Consumer Protection Subcommittee, wrote to the company this week about Hertz customers being arrested for driving rental vehicles the company incorrectly reported as stolen.

That currently is the focus of a lawsuit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

Blumenthal requested information on the company's policies and practices and demanded that Hertz "swiftly correct course."

Blumenthal cited USA TODAY's reporting on the false arrest claims in his letter calling Hertz practices "staggering in magnitude and devastating in impact."

"I write to express serious alarm over reports suggesting that Hertz has, for years, wrongly reported customers to law enforcement for vehicle theft," the letter addressed to Stephen Scherr, CEO of Hertz Global Holdings Inc. said.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/03/31/hertz-arrests-senate-warren-blumenthal-investigation-rental-car/7233969001/

[Aristus]

1. Okay......probably not the BEST way to attract and keep a customer base.

But I don’t run a major corporation, so what do I know?

[ProfessorGAC]

22. They're In BKO

So, you may know more than they do.
They drove the company into the ditch, and those same people thought that arresting people for cars the company lost track of, was a good idea.
Not loaded with brilliant businesspeople, is my guess.

[North Shore Chicago]

2. Maybe they need to rehire O.J.

HE can help with their less than stellar image. Right?

[Aviation Pro]

3. We're those arrested primarily black males?

That would make total, racist sense.

Racist America won’t rest until every black male is arrested and incarcerated as a blot on their permanent record.

[elias7]

6. No investigation into demographics of the consumers either...

Bad article

[ck4829]

16. It's 'funny' not in the haha sense that I'm white and I'm thinking...

"Yeah, that's probably what happened here"

[elias7]

4. The article is lacking

It doesn’t go into what possible benefit Hertz would have for over reporting theft. Further, Hertz states that "The vast majority of these cases involve renters who were many weeks or even months overdue returning vehicles and who stopped communicating with us well beyond the scheduled due date,", and it also says this accounts for 0.014% of millions of rentals yearly, but doesn’t do any investigating as to whether this number is similar to other companies.

[musette_sf]

7. After reading several articles on the topic

it was more like “We screwed up when some customers turned in their rentals, didn’t log them correctly as returned, rented them out again anyway because $$$, and OOPS we reported them ‘stolen’ because the cars ‘weren’t there’ when we tried to fix our return records.”

[Cracklin Charlie]

11. So, they lost their own cars...

And then reported them stolen by their customers?

I think they gonna be in trouble.

[musette_sf]

15. In the articles I read

that was indeed the case.

[Aristus]

24. It's the corporate mentality.

Pretty much the same mind-set as:

"Let's refuse to pay our workers enough to live on."

"Don't like it? Go get a better-paying job!"

"Where did all of our workers go? Nobody wants to work anymore!"

[obamanut2012]

21. Yup, that is exactly what happened.

[ProfessorGAC]

23. In Some Cases, It's Even Worse

At least 2 people rented the car for a planned 3 days. They decided they needed the car an extra day, called Hertz to tell them they were keeping the car another day, and then were arrested, while driving a car they were paying for.
Those cases weren't about doubling up a day of rental. They simply failed to enter basic data into the computer and another department dropped the hammer for a return UNDER a day late!

[Ritabert]

9. I read some expert who said their inventory control is antiquated

They literally don't know where their cars are.

[exboyfil]

18. Part of the reason it is out of control

Is that they are in bankruptcy so management figures they are judgement proof. Those who do file lawsuits after to get in line with all the other creditors. No money to fix the problem as well.

Very crappy attitude on their part.

[EYESORE 9001]

5. Hertz needs to revisit their business model

If I were a shareholder, I’d be pissed.

[getagrip_already]

8. If someone keeps a car for weeks or months and won't return it....

I'd report it as stolen also.

A day or two, not so much.

[Ritabert]

10. That's not the problem

The credit card number is on file and keeps getting charged. Their inventory control system is obsolete.

[getagrip_already]

12. Not understanding your point.

If the car was returned and the customer kept getting charged and then arrested, then that is one thing. Is that what they are being accused of?

If the car has not been returned, it is entirely another thing.

Credit cards are not a guarantee of payment. A company has the right, under the terms of a contract you sign, to get its property back.

People have been arrested for failing to return videos. I don't condone that, but it is reasonable to expect to get a car back.

[Ritabert]

13. The people called up and extended the rental

...and left the credit card on file to be charged. The Hertz employees screwed up when updating the files. The expert said they have no idea where some of their cars are because of faulty file keeping.

[exboyfil]

17. Cops don't usually show up at your door with gun drawn for an overdue video

That is what is happening on these felony stops. It is more a form of conversion than grand theft auto for those who do keep the cars and don't pay for them. Still serious but warranting a felony stop?


Also there is a substantial number that are up to date in their payments or have rented a "stolen" car that was actually returned and rerented. Those are particularly dangerous because, again you have cops shoving guns in your face, without any understanding what is happening. Also incredibly traumatic.

[Ritabert]

19. Good points

[Emile]

14. Rent a car and get busted for grand theft auto. Republicans are only

concerned about giving tax cuts to tax evading billionaires and keeping marijuana illegal, so I doubt they'll be much help.

[Boomerproud]

20. If it's a corporation it's not on their radar.

Unless the donations stop.

[Jilly_in_VA]

25. Their whole outfit is fcuked up

Anyone here who's ever rented a car from them, including me, probably has a story about them. I've told mine before, and why we now rent from Enterprise or Budget.