Antwanette Hill was a Platinum member of Hertz’s Gold Club Loyalty program when she hopped into a rental car in October of 2018. An employee thought she was stealing the car and subsequently called the police. Since then she’s been arrested four times over the incident and spent weeks in jail. Now, she’s suing the rental car company.
As a Platinum member, Hill was entitled to book and collect a Hertz rental car without engaging with staff. Despite telling the employee that stopped her about the membership, the police arrested her. Three subsequent arrests between 2019 and 2021 surround Ms. Hill’s failure to appear in court over the initial incident. She’s spent roughly nine days in jail after each arrest.
The case remains pending as Hertz has declined to drop charges. According to a report from Insider, the incident has dramatically affected her life. During her stay in jail after the fourth arrest, she was pregnant and miscarried which led to a three-day stay in the hospital. In addition, the lawsuit itself claims that she was struggling to find suitable work due to the pending charges.
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It’s nowhere near the first time that Hertz as a company has been implicated in theft charges against its own customers. Late last year we told you about how almost 200 customers were reportedly arrested or jailed after allegedly false rental theft reports. In February, a court ordered Hertz to reveal exactly how many erroneous theft reports had been made.
At the time of that order, Hertz was already facing 230 claims from individuals stating that they were falsely arrested for stealing rental vehicles. In April, the company’s new CEO, Stephen Scherr acknowledged the issue publicly and said that “It is not acceptable to Hertz to have any customer … caught up in some of what has happened.”
In a statement to Insider, the rental giant said that “Hertz cares deeply about our customers, and we successfully provide rental vehicles for tens of millions of travelers each year.
“Where our customers have been negatively affected, we are committed to doing what is right by our customers. At the same time, we will protect and defend against false claims intended to cause our company harm.” Only time will tell how Ms. Hill’s case turns out and how many more stories like hers will come out into the light of day.
