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Hertz to pay $168M to customers arrested due to Hertz’s false police reports

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Re: Hertz to pay $168M to customers arrested due to Hertz’s false police reports

#171

Post by smsm42 »

mrguyorama wrote: post #98
smsm42 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trading a set of small villains which sometimes get (insufficiently) punished for one super-powerful supervillain which never gets punished for anything doesn't look like a good deal to me. Yes, Darth Vader used to choke his underlings who misbehaved, it doesn't exactly make him a good guy.

We still haven't sent either Trump or Clinton (either) to jail. How do we not already have the supervillain system? Some of Trump's admin genuinely believe that the president should be above the law, and other's in the republican party agree

"Boo outgroup" partisan fluff aside, nobody actually genuinely believes that. And the powers of US president, while great, are nowhere near the dictatorial powers of Chinese Communist Party and its General Secretary. It doesn't mean US federal government isn't grotesquely overpowered (it is) or partisans don't abuse legal and regulatory system for partisan purposes (they regularly and routinely do) - but it's not nearly close to the system China has where anybody who crosses the Party will be murdered or imprisoned or pushed outside of the country without any recourse. We do have some elements of these system, but on that road, we are still way behind China - and maybe we have time to turn back, if we wanted to.

Re: Hertz to pay $168M to customers arrested due to Hertz’s false police reports

#172

Post by annexrichmond »

infamouscow wrote: post #119
annexrichmond wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

at what point is the punishment worse than the crime, such as if hundreds or thousands of people lose their job?

Consequentialist arguments aren't very good for punishing actors for bad behavior. For example, we don't let murders free just because the lives of their children are forever impacted if the murder goes to prison.

is it not an argument against capital punishment?

Re: Hertz to pay $168M to customers arrested due to Hertz’s false police reports

#173

Post by SpelingBeeChamp »

shkkmo wrote: post #169
shkkmo wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt USA Today made that quote up, since it would open them to significant defamation liability. While I can't find an article with that exact quote, this article is from the right time period and does paraphrase a very similar sentiment as coming from Hertz: https://www.inquirer.com/business/retail/hertz-stolen-car-gr... > Hertz has no mechanism to withdraw a criminal referral because, the company spokesperson sa…

Looks like there was an edit between August 4th and August 6th 2020 on the inquirer article: Aug 4th: https://web.archive.org/web/20200804074215/https://www.inqui... Aug 6th: https://web.archive.org/web/20200806004611/https://www.inqui... The original version of the article did have the fuller quote: > Hertz has no mechanism to withdraw a criminal referral because, the company spokesperson said, it has to maintain a…

Interesting. I think that someone at Hertz may have made the original statement without authorization. The original article includes the text:

>"A Hertz spokesperson, who asked not to be identified, said that payments or even the eventual recovery of the car did not wipe away what it views as the original theft."

That is bizarre. I am a reporter; I cover news. The spokespeople of major corporations don't request anonymity. Anonymity is reserved for sensitive sources. It's literally the job of a spokesperson to speak on behalf of a company. They don't seek anonymity.

The second version of the article doesn't include the statement that Hertz's spokesperson requested anonymity. Which makes me think that the original source was either not a spokesperson at all, or that they might have been speaking without authorization.

The comment is still weird, but in the context of that article, Hertz doesn't come across that poorly, IMO. If you rent a car, and the rental company asks that it be returned after your rental period is over, going to the point of calling you multiple times, sending you letters, sending you a letter via Certified Mail, and finally trying to repo the car — all before reporting the car as stolen... well... that's kind of on you when the car is subsequently reported as stolen. Even if you kept paying for it. No? People don't have the right to unilaterally extend their rental period. According to Hertz, in 100% of cases, they did all of the above prior to reporting vehicles as stolen.

Re: Hertz to pay $168M to customers arrested due to Hertz’s false police reports

#174

Post by jakelazaroff »

SpelingBeeChamp wrote: post #173
shkkmo wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks like there was an edit between August 4th and August 6th 2020 on the inquirer article: Aug 4th: https://web.archive.org/web/20200804074215/https://www.inqui... Aug 6th: https://web.archive.org/web/20200806004611/https://www.inqui... The original version of the article did have the fuller quote: > Hertz has no mechanism to withdraw a criminal referral because, the company spokesperson said, it has to maintain a…

Interesting. I think that someone at Hertz may have made the original statement without authorization. The original article includes the text: >"A Hertz spokesperson, who asked not to be identified, said that payments or even the eventual recovery of the car did not wipe away what it views as the original theft." That is bizarre. I am a reporter; I cover news. The spokespeople of major corporations don't request anon…

They’re lying:

> Saleema Lovelace, who was arrested at gunpoint two days before the date on which she had agreed to return her rental car to Hertz.

> Connie Totman, who rented a car from Hertz in South Carolina and returned the car in Georgia. Hertz subsequently overcharged Ms. Totman in error and falsely reported the vehicle as stolen to South Carolina police.

In the latter case they reported the car as stolen after it had already been returned! The mind boggles.

Re: Hertz to pay $168M to customers arrested due to Hertz’s false police reports

#175

Post by tcmart14 »

pessimizer wrote: post #111
pitaj wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So would sentencing them to probation where being a company executive is prohibited.

Do you feel the same way about rape or murder as you do about direct abuse of the justice system by the powerful against the weak?

Probably does. By the logic stated, we could just put a probation on a rapist's genitals and it should all just work itself out.

Re: Hertz to pay $168M to customers arrested due to Hertz’s false police reports

#176

Post by HarryHirsch »

jakelazaroff wrote: post #174
SpelingBeeChamp wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I think that someone at Hertz may have made the original statement without authorization. The original article includes the text: >"A Hertz spokesperson, who asked not to be identified, said that payments or even the eventual recovery of the car did not wipe away what it views as the original theft." That is bizarre. I am a reporter; I cover news. The spokespeople of major corporations don't request anon…

They’re lying: > Saleema Lovelace, who was arrested at gunpoint two days before the date on which she had agreed to return her rental car to Hertz. > Connie Totman, who rented a car from Hertz in South Carolina and returned the car in Georgia. Hertz subsequently overcharged Ms. Totman in error and falsely reported the vehicle as stolen to South Carolina police. In the latter case they reported the car as stolen after…

In the latter case they reported the car as stolen after it had already been returned!

Don't worry, that happens. Hertz will not hesitate to call you, saying that the credit card used for the rental has been maxed out, and could you supply a different credit card.

Always keep your receipts.

Re: Hertz to pay $168M to customers arrested due to Hertz’s false police reports

#177

Post by jakelazaroff »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #176
jakelazaroff wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’re lying: > Saleema Lovelace, who was arrested at gunpoint two days before the date on which she had agreed to return her rental car to Hertz. > Connie Totman, who rented a car from Hertz in South Carolina and returned the car in Georgia. Hertz subsequently overcharged Ms. Totman in error and falsely reported the vehicle as stolen to South Carolina police. In the latter case they reported the car as stolen after…

In the latter case they reported the car as stolen after it had already been returned! Don't worry, that happens. Hertz will not hesitate to call you, saying that the credit card used for the rental has been maxed out, and could you supply a different credit card. Always keep your receipts.

Okay, but that's not at all the same thing as stealing a car.
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