Hertz has been sued by a buyer who was held at gunpoint by police after his rental automobile was allegedly falsely reported as stolen by the rental automotive large.

Nicholas Wright rented a automotive together with his 13-year-old daughter in October final yr from Hertz subsidiary Thrifty. Simply half-hour later, he was surrounded by law enforcement officials in a Georgia car parking zone and feared for each his life and the lifetime of his daughter.

“I had my fingers in that sweatshirt, hoodie up, within the pouring rain. Are you aware how simple it might have been, I – even worse, my daughter – might have gotten shot,” Wright advised Enterprise Insider.

The supervisor on the Thrifty depot reportedly laughed in regards to the incident when Wright referred to as, earlier than the shocked buyer was given an improve and a $200 low cost. Police solely let Wright go when the Thrifty supervisor arrived on the scene.

“This occurs on a regular basis with Hertz,” officers advised Wright.

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Wright revealed that his daughter stays in remedy over the incident and is afraid of police.

“As a 14-year-old younger girl that’s going to be a long-term factor that she’s in all probability going to battle with for the remainder of her life,” Wright mentioned. “Hertz must be held accountable.”

Lots of of Hertz clients are suing the corporate over false arrests.

“You’re mainly having taxpayers within the authorities subsidize the stock management for a personal company,” lawyer Francis Malofiy mentioned whereas representing nearly 400 plaintiffs submitting in opposition to Hertz. “It’s less expensive to shift that burden to taxpayers and put these police within the worst potential place once they have already got a fractured relationship with communities.”

Hertz has responded to the continuing lawsuits, asserting that it’ll defend itself in opposition to false claims.

“Hertz cares deeply about our clients, and we efficiently present rental autos for tens of hundreds of thousands of vacationers annually,” a Hertz spokesperson advised Enterprise Insider. “The place our clients have been negatively affected, we’re dedicated to doing what is correct by our clients. On the similar time, we’ll defend and defend in opposition to false claims meant to trigger our firm hurt.”