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…
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?
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