‘I Lost Everything’: More Than 160 Former Hertz Customers Are Suing Company Over Claims It Falsified Stolen Car Reports, Landing Some Drivers In Jail

Yahoo ^ | 11-08-2021

[Responsibility2nd]

A slew of former Hertz Car Rental customers are suing the company for allegedly having them falsely arrested and jailed.

More than 165 customers from Delaware, California, Florida, Illinois and other states have come forward filing legal complaints against Hertz. Each of them claiming to have rented cars from the company only to be stopped, arrested, and sometimes jailed over accusations that the vehicle was reported missing.

The customers who each have rental agreements and bank statements to prove their innocence say that Hertz’s unreliable system and filing of false stolen car reports is to blame. For instance, James Tolen of Houston recalled being stopped by police last year, just two days before Christmas.

“It was just terrifying. It was bad. Actually, I was really thinking that I wasn’t gonna make it home,” he recounted to CBS News. Tolen and his wife, Krystal Carter, say they rented from Hertz at least twelve times that year.

Tolen, who was just leaving a contracting gig, said the officers had their guns drawn as they ordered him to exit the vehicle, lift his shirt to show he was not in possession of a weapon, and slowly make his way towards them during the traffic stop.

When officers handcuffed Tolen and explained he had been pulled over because the vehicle was listed as stolen he was perplexed. He said officers immediately saw him as a “felon” but that perception changed when Tolen showed the officers his rental agreement that listed him as an authorized driver.

[TexasGator]

“A corporation who jails 160 people falsely,”

Where did you see 160 jailed?

[neverevergiveup]

I always get a copy of the agreement, but never thought that I would need it to prove I didn’t steal a car. From now on I will keep that in mind.

Hertz has fired so many employees it’s possible they just don’t have the bandwidth to do a good job anymore. That said, there’s no excuse for falsely accusing people of a crime.