NEW YORK (AP) — The brand new CEO of Hertz says he’s working to repair a glitch within the rental-car big’s techniques that has led to a few of its prospects being wrongly accused of stealing vehicles they’d rented.
Stephen Scherr, who took over as CEO on Feb. 28, mentioned the corporate has modified its practices to repair issues which have occurred when vehicles have been reported stolen however the transaction was improperly recorded in Hertz’s system.
“That is among the many first issues that I’ve began to look to care for and take care of within the first 30 days I’ve been on the firm,” Scherr advised CNBC on Monday. “It isn’t acceptable to Hertz to have any buyer … caught up in a few of what has occurred.”
Some Hertz prospects have mentioned they have been arrested and jailed as a result of the corporate accused them of stealing vehicles that they’d paid to lease and in some circumstances had returned lengthy earlier than their arrest.
It’s not clear how many individuals are affected. Greater than 200 prospects requested a federal choose in Delaware to Hertz to reveal data about misguided theft reviews, and the choose dominated within the renters’ favor in February.
Scherr mentioned the false reviews contain a number of hundred prospects out of Hertz’s 15 million annual transactions, however attorneys for the purchasers say the quantity is extra like 8,000.
“We have now modified our insurance policies to keep away from the potential of this taking place once more,” Scherr mentioned. “Nobody buyer must be put via that.”
Scherr mentioned that in some circumstances, autos have been reported as stolen, the report was withdrawn when the automobile was discovered, “however that rescission wasn’t acknowledged.”
The CEO of Hertz International Holdings Inc. appeared on CNBC to tout a plan to purchase as much as 65,000 electrical autos over 5 years. The Estero, Florida-based firm filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020, because it struggled below heavy debt and a drop in journey brought on by the pandemic. It operates Hertz, Greenback and Thrifty car-rental manufacturers.