Hundreds of Hertz customers are suing for false arrest, saying the rental car agency filed police reports claiming they had stolen vehicles that they had either legitimately rented, or had already returned and paid for. Readers of this site have reported their own horror stories.
When a rental is extended or a vehicle is exchanged, it's usually the case that the change isn't recorded. Many of the instances were covered by this explanation. The CEO admitted that it was happening and promised to fix it.
The rental giant said they wouldn't drop charges against people who were wrongly arrested because they didn't want to hurt their credibility.
Some cases have been settled by Hertz. One challenge that has been faced by many customers is that the company has been through bankruptcy. There are claims in the court.
47 people are now filing lawsuits in state court after being given leave by the bankruptcy court to do so, since they didn't receive proper discharge of their claims.
There are some shocking stories from this group. Cars that had been reported stolen but were still in Hertz's possession and being rented, handcuffed in front of their kids, and perhaps most shocking, a member of the company's Platinum membership who was arrested four times.
- Bianca DeLoach, who police arrested while she purchased gas, placing her in handcuffs and putting her into a patrol car in front of her 10- and 12-year old children. DeLoach spent nine days away from her children behind bars, despite showing she paid Hertz almost $4,000.
- James Tolen, whose rental car Hertz reported as stolen three months before then renting it to him. At the time of his arrest, Tolen stated, “it was just terrifying. It was bad. Actually, I was really thinking that I wasn’t gonna make it home.”
- Antwanette Hill, a Hertz platinum member, who police falsely arrested four times between 2018 and 2020 after Hertz failed to resolve a false police report the company filed. Hill spent more than 30 days in jail and suffered a miscarriage while imprisoned.
I have been following the mess that Hertz has made of itself and customers for years now, and each new story word fails.
The CEO of the company admits that they've been lying about cars being stolen. They argue that it isn't that common. It doesn't happen anymore because of the so-called safeguards that have been put in place. Of...
I rented a car.
You would think that after they realized they were sending customers to jail, they would take steps to stop doing it if it looked bad in court, but post-bankruptcy incidents wouldn't.
I rented a car.
The reason for not dropping charges against any of the victims is insane. Police won't believe them in the future if they don't tell them they made a mistake.
I rented a car.
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