Hertz is known for repeatedly having its customers arrested (in late 2022, the company agreed to pay a $168 million settlement for this). However, this situation is almost worse…
In this post:
Hertz refuses rental to Puerto Rican
A Puerto Rican man named Humberto Marchand recently tried to rent from Hertz at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans (MSY). He had a pre-paid reservation, though Hertz refused to rent him a car. The reason? Because he only had his Puerto Rican driver’s license on him, and those with foreign driver’s licenses also need to provide a passport.
The man tried to explain to the agent that Puerto Rico is part of the United States, but she wasn’t having it, and just kept reiterating that he would need to show a passport for a rental since he’s foreign.
He reportedly warned the woman that she was making a big mistake based on ignorance, and started recording the interaction so that he would have documentation of what happened. At this point the Hertz agent asked if he wanted her to call the cops because he was illegally recording her, and he said sure.
Since the incident, Hertz has confirmed that the company does accept Puerto Rican driver’s licenses without a passport when renting in the United States:
“Hertz accepts Puerto Rican driver’s licenses from our customers renting in the US without requiring a valid passport. We are reinforcing our policies with employees to ensure that they are understood and followed consistently across our locations.”
The police body cam footage is ridiculous
So, what happened when the police showed up? Surely the police officer set the Hertz employee straight on Puerto Rico being a US territory, right? Nope. Nearly seven minutes of body cam footage has been released from this incident. My gosh, the cop is a condescending, clueless prick.
Let me be clear, I totally get that it’s not the police’s job to act as the judge in a dispute between two parties. So I wouldn’t have any issues if the cop just said “sorry, I have to ask you to leave, because this is private property and that’s what they’re asking me to do.”
But that’s not what the cop does. Instead he gets involved, and in the process shows his ignorance and stupidity.
First of all, the Hertz employee lies (or misspeaks) at the beginning of the interaction. She claims that if you’re going to rent with an out of state license, you need a passport. The man later corrects her on this, and she confirms that you need a passport if you’re from another country. She then supports her argument by saying that other out of country renters have no issues showing a passport, so what’s his issue? She then threatens that he’ll never be able to rent at Hertz again because he recorded her.
The guy shares his version of events to the police officer and remains calm. He even explains he’s a retired federal law enforcement officer of 25 years.
In response, the cop is just a total douche-canoe to him, from repeatedly saying “I don’t care,” to saying “you’ve already explained that to me,” to saying “maybe you can understand the words coming out of my mouth,” to saying “this is ridiculous,” to saying “we’re not gonna do this crap anymore,” to saying “what’s the issue?” Dude, maybe listen to what the guy is saying, and use your brain, or something?
The collective stupidity of the cop and the Hertz employee is beyond words.
Bottom line
The level of education in the United States is frightening at times. A Hertz customer from Puerto Rico was denied his pre-paid reservation because he didn’t have a passport… even though he didn’t need one. The Hertz employee kept arguing that foreign renters need passports, and refused to budge.
Then the cops were called, and that only made matters worse. The cop was both a jerk and clueless. My gosh, the combination of the Hertz employee and the cop make me want to crawl into a hole. These people are awful.
Sadly this isn’t even the only story about people being confused about Puerto Rico’s status, as a Spirit Airlines agent denied boarding to passengers headed to Puerto Rico because they didn’t have passports.
Why is Hertz so awful? And why are people so uneducated?
Sue Hertz, and the police department. If the situation turned into violence it would get worse with the misrepresentation of nationality. It shows with this uptick of Americans not knowing who their allies are the I was doing my job would immediately turn into them why didn't you know that Puerto Rico is an American territory? Having the people involved all looking like they had a brain fart. Lord knows if they wouldn't try to deport him because of this.
I went to a job interview at a private school. One of the questions was "why do you thing American students ranked 17th in the world?". I didn't know they were ranked 17th but kinda bad for a country like the USA where education is so expensive. Maybe that's the reason: too expensive.
Huh?
Maybe even people getting into private schools can thing but not think?
Or was it the private school interviewer who said that?
By the way, public school K-12 is free is US. While the broken system in US which college could be and extortion like healthcare, I'm sure the status of Puerto Rico is taught somewhere in K-12.
Oh and Trust fund kids in Ivy leagues from donations and legacies have no problem...
Maybe even people getting into private schools can thing but not think?
Or was it the private school interviewer who said that?
By the way, public school K-12 is free is US. While the broken system in US which college could be and extortion like healthcare, I'm sure the status of Puerto Rico is taught somewhere in K-12.
Oh and Trust fund kids in Ivy leagues from donations and legacies have no problem paying for their education or their donations as someone else's scholarship. Look no further, Donald Trump Jr. or Hunter Biden to name a few.
Too expensive to attend High School?
Sorry you actually expected someone working a hertz counter to be intelligent? The US education has fallen apart over the years. All that social promotion crap leads to high school graduates that can’t even read. This isn’t a hertz issue it’s an indictment of the US education system. I suspect some of you readers didn’t know this info either.
It’s New Orleans, LOUISIANA.
Stay out of red states, spend your money where you have a much lower chance of being treated this way.
You are part of the problem.
While you are calling out red states for racism, equality, and other stereotype discrimination, you are discriminating the state of Louisiana yourself.
Divided nation under huge propaganda filled with hypocrites.
Damn.. Seriously.. not sure what kids are taught at Schools..few years back a young TSA agent at SEA airport called his supervisor because he thought Maine drivers license is a fake one ( He didn’t knew Maine is a state)
Early on, the customer should have realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with the Hertz employee. He should have called Hertz directly to resolve the issue. In the absence of resolution, he should have gone to another car rental counter. As the matter is a civil matter, there was nothing the police could have done. But, there is a civil rights attorney who can do something for the guy.
Victim blaming?
Perhaps she should be replaced by a computerized vending machine.
"He should have called Hertz directly to resolve the issue."
LOL that doesn't work anymore. All you get is "we are experiencing higher than normal call volumes"
Lucky you nail things perfectly.
I love the comments because they make me laugh out loud. Some of these members should be running the country.
The Hertz issue is despicable and I will never rent from them ever.
Well, as they are usually such many left wingers in the comments, try to look at the bright side of this! sleep deprived America hating commies like Residente (René) and others have tried to 'Free Puerto Rico from the oppressive imperialism of America' (and of course, they have have failed miserably in the referendum) so this could be a breath of fresh air for them.
Being “othered” ie identified as an outsider/foreigner/alien is part of systemic oppression.
That seems to be OK by the policeman and the Hertz employee. It is not.
Hiring staff who don’t know about or value Puerto Rico…supervision failure…training failure.
Hiring and retaining police and car rental staff who interfere with making much needed profits is a failure.
Hertz, and New Orleans are not getting my business.
Why would you expect the average Hertz employee to be any different from the average American? Most could never place PR on a map much less know anything about its status as a US Commonwealth.
It's Louisiana, what do you expect? There's a reason they end up at the bottom of the list for SO MANY issues in the US - Education, poverty, quality of medical care.... you name it.
There's only so many hours in a school day. Do you want them to teach basics, like PR is part of the US or woke and trans crap?
They dedicate far more time to teaching geography (where the various parts of the us would be taught) then they set to teaching citizenship (where the "woke and trans crap" you describe would be taught)
The problem is that these people are too stupid to remember or understand either of them though at least they might not share your hatefullness
Lots of "woke and trans crap?" should be taught outside of school too, i.e. by parents.
But alas, the parents already have a divided opinion. Some put the burden on schools but also want to micromanage what schools teach. The same parents who has a divided (mis)understanding on Puerto Rico.
Like I said in another reply,
As you can tell from today's adult, it's only going to get worse the way we raise our newer generations.
Better than being taught hate the way you seem to have been taught, David.
@Julia
Nothing hateful in what David said, all about priorities. You wouldn’t want teachers of your opposite viewpoints or morals imparting their views on your children do you? No that’s your job as a parent, teach them whatever you want….let the schools concentrate on teaching basics (like geography in this instance). Don’t equate opposing viewpoint to yours as hate lest you become the hateful one!
Julia u sound like the hateful intolerant one here…. I’m sure you would hate conservative values being shoved down your kid’s throat just as much as David doesn’t want liberalism indoctrinated on his kids…… How bout just let reading, writing, arithmetic and in this case geography be taught in the schools…. Let the parents, churches, synagogues, mosques teach the values!
Oh boy. I better bring my passport when I leave Hawaii.
Idiocracy is happening folks.
On a business trip to New Orleans years ago, I recall seeing a T-shirt in a shop that read, “ Louisiana: third world and proud of it”.
I kind of wish he did pull out his passport, if only for the idiot employee and equally idiot cop to ask themselves "Why is he showing me a US passport, this guy is saying he is from Puerto Rico?"
The family in LAX flying Spirit airlines tried that. They Pulled out US passports to prove they were US citizens flying to Puerto Rico Only to be asked,”well then how about a passport for your infant baby to fly “international” from LAX to SJU Puerto Rico.
Did not end well, the family was denied boarding for not having the infants passport for the domestic flight to Puerto Rico.
Mama always said “Stupid is as Stupid does”
Once upon a time I rented from Hertz and its affiliates, but a few years backed stopped when they added over $1K to my bill for returning the car 4 days later than I did. I was home on the other side of the country before I "returned" the car. Eventually the charge was reversed, but took a lot of time and energy. Rather pay a few dollars more to a company with integrity. These...
Once upon a time I rented from Hertz and its affiliates, but a few years backed stopped when they added over $1K to my bill for returning the car 4 days later than I did. I was home on the other side of the country before I "returned" the car. Eventually the charge was reversed, but took a lot of time and energy. Rather pay a few dollars more to a company with integrity. These videos are despicable. Wish that I could apologize to this gentleman for the ignorance and poor behavior of his fellow citizens.
"The level of education in the United States is frightening at times."
Can't you tell from all the brainwashed comments?
Education level really shines on every political issue post, domestic and foreign.
The whole country is under a divided propaganda.
People today are undoing everything that makes America great.
As you can tell from today's adult, it's only going to get worse the way we raise our newer generations.
You sound like a lunatic.
I use to fly to Puerto Rico for work. My bank's atm network thought it was a foreign country and I had to call my bank to get it to work. I need a prescription and same thing. My favorite was when I got profiled by the TSA because my license was starting to delaminate, which is some obscure rule in the TSA handbook. I was asked if I had my passport. I told them...
I use to fly to Puerto Rico for work. My bank's atm network thought it was a foreign country and I had to call my bank to get it to work. I need a prescription and same thing. My favorite was when I got profiled by the TSA because my license was starting to delaminate, which is some obscure rule in the TSA handbook. I was asked if I had my passport. I told them no and was asked why not. I replied politely (not wanting to visit a jail there) that I didn't bring it because I didn't need it in Puerto Rico. Its a sad state of our education system that people don't know its an American Commonwealth.
Ben, you asked two questions: "Why is Hertz so awful?" and "Why are people so uneducated?"
Re Hertz, I don't know. I avoid them in Europe as they have become ridiculously expensive vs the competition, to the point that I often wonder how they can survive.
To your second question, "Why are people so uneducated?", I do have an answer, but I am not writing it here because chances are that you won't like it....
Ben, you asked two questions: "Why is Hertz so awful?" and "Why are people so uneducated?"
Re Hertz, I don't know. I avoid them in Europe as they have become ridiculously expensive vs the competition, to the point that I often wonder how they can survive.
To your second question, "Why are people so uneducated?", I do have an answer, but I am not writing it here because chances are that you won't like it. I could take a safe bet, however, that both these clowns are over-average users of Tik-Tok.
The reason why A.I. becomes so scary is that it will more and more replace the genuine intelligence wiped off hundreds of millions morons-to-be volunteers. It's not even "Brave New World" or "1984" (and how many under-50 y.o. readers of these remain is probably a good question), but it is those two plus a few others ("Body Snatchers" anybody?) on steroids.
Folks, I am not sure if you are aware but all you need to be a police officer in the United States is just a GED (high school diploma). It's commonly known that becoming a cop requires far less education and training than it does to become a barber. American police officers are far less educated (and qualified) than compared to other officers from other 1st world nations. Think about it - the dumbest people...
Folks, I am not sure if you are aware but all you need to be a police officer in the United States is just a GED (high school diploma). It's commonly known that becoming a cop requires far less education and training than it does to become a barber. American police officers are far less educated (and qualified) than compared to other officers from other 1st world nations. Think about it - the dumbest people in American high schools go on to become police officers so that they can take out their frustrations on citizens that are far smarter and far more successful than they'll ever be. American cops are easily the most stupid people in American society.
Tend to think that this applies in most countries...if you can't make it into colleage, university, you have to sacrifice your physical resource to make a living.
It's no different even in places like Hong Kong or Singapore, you become a cop because you couldn't make it in the system.
I completely disagree. You may have met ONE stupid cop, maybe even many, but generalization does not work. Are you sure you meant "Police" and not "Politicians"?
I don't know, just walked by a local cop working a traffic detail for some utility work. He went to get something from his car - a big brand new shining Lexus. In Massachusetts all traffic details must be off-duty cops, paid overtime, so in many towns they are the highest paid employees, with annual income around $150-200k. Far more successful than a guy with $100k in student debt, a degree in English literature or art history, working in a Starbucks.
There is no national police force. Each jurisdiction sets its own educational requirements. 60 college credits for mine.
It’s not the officer’s job to help this man find. Rental. Yes the Hertz employee was wrong, but the officer should not have been there unless there was some sort of threat or trespass. Sure there are some bad apples, but this officer did what any officer would have done.
"...but this officer did what any officer would have done."
You are correct. He was snotty, sarcastic, unprofessional, condescending, and vulgar. Your comment really nailed it.
The only surprising thing is that he didn't turn off his bodycam and shoot Mr. Marchand.
And you are a perfect person treating every person with manners and respect. I highly doubt that,
Please fire her
Please fire the cop as well – he seems to be escaping everyone’s notice, despite the fact that he’s ignorant, disrespectful, and borderline abusive.
The Gentleman from Puerto Rico should have asked Hertz employee just two words "Probation or Parole" and she would have Backed Off and would have never called the Cops.
Wow, Not sure what you Boys have to be so Proud about, but you need to log off from here and get your mind right or maybe go protest a library or burn some books or something.
And incidentally, if someone on probation or parole is calling the police, I'm sure they'd be well aware themselves since neither one are outstanding warrants or an APB. Dumbass!!!
And with that, Spirit Airlines is now the official airline of the RNC and Hertz is the official rental car agency of the RNC
Brought to us by the teachers union who own the DNC.
Given that the agent is black and in New Orleans the odds of her being a Republican are essentially zero. Try again.
I believe the Hertz settlement was $168 million, not just $168.
And the republican's solution to the ignorance is to burn books.
I guess it suits them since only ignorant, racist imbeciles vote republican nowadays.
I think the RNC would be happy for children to learn about geography and American history over gender issues. I think you missed the mark here by a mile.
As long as "American History" doesn't involve the 13th, 15th, 19th, or 26th amendments to the constitution.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the clerk and the cop were probably students during some Republican administration.
"for children to learn about geography and American history over gender issues."
Surely they could learn both?
Why is this even an issue, most of the people who are impacted by this are dark skinned or poor.
Anyone who is not white and choose to live anywhere near or in the US is asking to be treated like second class non-citizens to begin with.
Anyone? I can think of a jurist who has had a pretty sweet ride.
This person was impacted by somebody darker and poorer than them. Try again JP. I’m starting to see what Lucky is saying about education in the US.
Sel.D
Giving JP the benefit of the doubt here...but there might be a hint of sarcasm frm JP.
The cop is also using profanities. Welcome to ‘Merica
After having been there over 50 times I’ve got very little desire to ever go again. Years ago service there was very good. Now it’s bordering on lousy almost everywhere.
The employee most likely left school at 14.
It's not clear what you mean by "there".
Service there - in the US. Can’t comprehend why you didn’t understand.
It was unclear if you meant the U.S. or Hertz
Clearly it’s the country. Not going to refer to hertz as “ there”. From your lack of understanding I guess you’re American.
Americans really not helping dispel the "Dumb American" jibes from the world. I mean I know the knowledge of the world beyond the US is a mystery to most Americans, but seems many don't even know about their own country either.
As an American who speaks 5 languages and spent over 20 years of my life working overseas, I will fully concur that Americans are largely uneducated moronic imbeciles. Most Americans have never left their own state, let alone travel overseas.
This happens to me all the time with a New Mexico drivers license...
yeah I always wished my Ontario Driver's Licence had a huge Canadian flag on it. How many Americans working for $15/hr know that Ontario is a Canadian Province and all major car agencies process Canadians the same as Americans? I love my no-human-interaction rentals/boarding/checkin
Never had an issue all the times I rented a car in Canada. Maybe its the quality of the education system up north. Actually the worst interaction was always with the US border control.
I couldnt agree with you more. Not the issue here BUT US Customs and border patrol PARTICULARLY in pre-clear within Canada to US are almost to a person the rudest, insolent people I have ever run across when crossing ANY border
I concur I was born in New Mexico and get that "born out of the country nonsense often.
Instead of arguing with Hertz and the police, he should have gone to another rental company and ask Hertz to pay the difference. The police is there to protect the property rights of Hertz where the customer is asked to leave. He is not there to settle a contract dispute. That is the job of the judge. An American should understand this as his and Hertz's right. Being stupid is not illegal. Violating someone's property rights is illegal.
That level of ignorance is pretty bad, by her and the cop. I think it would be hard for him to get Hertz to pay anything without this documentation. He'd spend weeks corresponding with some low level idiot. Now its national news and hopefully he gets a nice payday from Hertz and Hertz will do some dumbass corporate geography training explaining to their employees what are states and what are territories. That's the American way.
Why do so many people resort to filming people without good cause now? She was guilty of being ignorant, not breaking any law. Filming a non-government official without permission in the US is always going to be a civil violation if not criminal. The cops would never have been called if this guy didn’t pull his phone out.
He should have asked to speak to a manager, called Hertz corporate to intervene, or gone...
Why do so many people resort to filming people without good cause now? She was guilty of being ignorant, not breaking any law. Filming a non-government official without permission in the US is always going to be a civil violation if not criminal. The cops would never have been called if this guy didn’t pull his phone out.
He should have asked to speak to a manager, called Hertz corporate to intervene, or gone to another rental agency.
The Hertz agent and the cop being ignorant doesn’t mean the customer handled this at all well. I’ve learned in so many situations where I’ve been right and an ignorant service person with 2nd grade education has been wrong that it’s just easier to walk away.
For every incident like this that goes viral there are hundreds that end with more understanding and respect. Don't let news cloud your reality
"Filming a non-government official without permission in the US is always going to be a civil violation if not criminal."
This is factually incorrect. You have no expectation of privacy in a public place.
Taking photographs and video of things that are plainly visible in public spaces is a constitutional right—and that includes transportation facilities, the outside of federal buildings, and police and other government officials carrying out their duties.
And in all cases, filming lawfully will annoy uniformed personnel at the exact moment one needs their goodwill.
@IrishAlan Louisiana is a one party consent state, furthermore recording in public (where one does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy) does not run afoul of the video voyeurism law, so your statement is just wrong.
You're just as ignorant as the Hertz employee when you claim factually incorrect statements to be true.
I think you’ll find a Hertz facility is not a public place but a private facility, so perhaps you’ll find you’re the ignorant one! I mentioned civil OR criminal. If you’re engaged in conduct that a private facility doesn’t like, they can ask you to leave or have you removed by law enforcement. Nobody has a right to film inside a private facility without permission.
I think you'll find a counter rented from the airport authority is "public property".
A place can both be privately owned, but at the same time not have any reasonable expectation of privacy. If you’re in a public place like a restaurant, mall, parking lot, AIRPORT CAR RENTAL, good luck arguing you have “reasonable expectation of privacy”. On the other hand, just because a washroom is publicly owned doesn’t mean there isn’t a reasonable expectation of privacy in one.
If someone threatens to call the cops on me in America, I am filming.
See also: George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Daunte Wright. Andrew Hill. Atatiana Jefferson. The list goes on...
Because if he hadn't filmed her, it's just a "he said/she said" situation. The Hertz agent could have easily lied and claimed she refused to rent to the man because he was threatening her.
I think he was entirely within his rights to record the interaction, as he believed that there was a likelihood it would become a he said/she said situation, and he'd be accused of being disorderly or abusive. I would have done the same.
My biggest question here... Knowing that the agents may not all have great geographical knowledge or top education, why does the system require a passport. Why wouldn't it just grey-out that...
I think he was entirely within his rights to record the interaction, as he believed that there was a likelihood it would become a he said/she said situation, and he'd be accused of being disorderly or abusive. I would have done the same.
My biggest question here... Knowing that the agents may not all have great geographical knowledge or top education, why does the system require a passport. Why wouldn't it just grey-out that field once yu provide a Puerto Rican license? Would have saved everyone a lot of time, and two people in authority a lot of embarrassment. Same applies to the other story about the Spirit passanger. Why would the system even ask for a passport on a domestic flight?
When I travel in the USA, I always prepare for the possibility that the person with the power to deny me a car, boarding, a room or other tightly scheduled service, will be a know-nothing who sees everything through a security lens. I take multiple credit cards (even when I only need one), passport (even when it isn't "required"), drivers licence and the plastic card of my loyalty account (not just the screen of my...
When I travel in the USA, I always prepare for the possibility that the person with the power to deny me a car, boarding, a room or other tightly scheduled service, will be a know-nothing who sees everything through a security lens. I take multiple credit cards (even when I only need one), passport (even when it isn't "required"), drivers licence and the plastic card of my loyalty account (not just the screen of my phone, which I'm not handing over to a hostile party). Ignorance on the level of this incident is rare, but ignorance one notch below this is... ubiquitous. In USA is there's usually, most of the time, more goodwill in frontline service than in Europe or Canada or other places, but less knowledge. For best results, prevent escalation. My de-escalation strategy for this one would have been: leave Hertz, phone Hertz Corporate or the regional manager or Airport manager, ask them to intervene by calling the clerk, wait. Face to face yelling will summon uniforms and the game is over. Uniforms will always side with the employee, not the visitor. As a former President was wont to say: "Sad!"
The man was pretty calm. It was midnight so calling corporate was probably not an option at that time. Unfortunately they were too ignorant to even consider googling if Puerto Rico was part of the United States. He was patiently trying to explain but the officer and the clerk refused to even consider that he might be correct.
@David
A man with an accent from a "foreign country" can't possibly know more than Americans. /s
Wow. I didn't know that because I rarely read these "stupid people behaving badly" pieces and never play the videos therein. Appreciate the detail. I'd have walked to National. Then again, I would never, ever book a prepaid car rental.
Canada isn't part of the US. Puerto Rico is. For her to ask someone from PR for a passport would be likes asking someone from Virginia or North Dakota for a passport.
Imagine what the cop might of said if the camera wasn’t rolling.
1. How did those people get their jobs?
2. Why did they not take the 15 seconds to look up this up?/ Why is this information not available to employees readily?
3. How are both those fools not fired yet?
Oh and Im really glad the victim didn't get shot/arrested this time, yay, progress.
Of course he didn't get shot. He wasn't African American.
Really. do a little research before making such statements
BOOM!...
It is Louisiana. They can interpret the laws to whatever they understood. LOL! Sometimes it is very complicated even for a Justice, Justice Thomas didn't even understand what could be put in a financial disclosure form.
“It is Louisiana.” No, it is the entire US. What state is the South, Midwest, as well as the others states are recognized for their intellect?
well, its pretty unfortunate, cause even here in Hawaii some US mainland tourist asks if a passport is required or do they need to do a currency exchange....
Aloha
Are cops in the US taught to escalate any and all situations, and to condescend to anyone with an accent?
It certainly appears that way.
They're taught to recognize who belongs there and who is from outside. And they're taught to establish control at the outset. Neither of those priorities will help the customer in this scenario. Moreover the Hertz clerk's offence is not unlawful so the only issue for the cop is whether the visitor is welcome and whether he's causing a disturbance. It reminds me of
the story of a guy called Jay
who died defending his...
They're taught to recognize who belongs there and who is from outside. And they're taught to establish control at the outset. Neither of those priorities will help the customer in this scenario. Moreover the Hertz clerk's offence is not unlawful so the only issue for the cop is whether the visitor is welcome and whether he's causing a disturbance. It reminds me of
the story of a guy called Jay
who died defending his Right-Of-Way.
He was right, dead right as he walked along.
But he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong.
I've had it with the cops. I let them know that they are unpatriotic cowards obsessed with control and violence who have failed to find gainful employment anywhere else because they are useless individuals.
Interesting! so that's the origin of the term 'Jay walking'?