Hertz CEO Trying To Downplay Stolen-Rental Scandal

Elizabeth Puckett Elizabeth Puckett - Apr 19, 22
Hertz CEO Trying To Downplay Stolen-Rental Scandal

How do you get “several hundred” from over 8,000 individuals? The math doesn't add up.


Hertz got into a lot of trouble a few months ago when some customers complained of having been arrested or accused of grand theft auto after renting one of their cars. The Florida-based car rental company has been a staple of American travel for years but had fallen on some tough times in 2020 due to decreased traveling. Of course, you could make the case that this led to a lack of attention to detail, leading to the company's recently brought up errors. Whatever the case, a new CEO came on board to get the company back on track, and, according to Stephen M. Sherr, it may already be there.

Watch the latest Motorious Podcast here.

Of course, the new CEO will say that he has fixed the issue even if the "system error" that caused the debacle has not been rectified. You can make up your own opinion about the legitimacy of these claims as no one really has any proof. However, the main issue to be focused on right now is compensating the innocent people who were wrongfully harassed due to the company error. This may seem like an obvious next step in restoring the Hertz Rental-Car business name, but the new CEO has said some interesting things to suggest otherwise.

First of all, Sherr stated when discussing the topic that the issue affected "several hundred" individuals. However, lawyers representing the various victims in court have said that the number is close to around 8,000 people wrongly accused of a hefty crime in which they had no part. The CEO also came on the news to talk about the company's plan to buy 65,000 EV rental cars over the next five years, which seems like a pretty blatant attempt to distract from the recent controversy. The people affected by the company's error deserve to be compensated fairly, so new organizations must keep this topic alive until the dust has settled and the people's suffering has been rectified.