I was at the Hertz counter recently and overheard the person next to me get into it with the Hertz agent. Apparently he went to the Gold board and saw his name, but no stall number to pick the car up from, so he came inside.

The summary was more or less like this - the person made it loud and clear that they were a Gold customer with many rentals over the years (DYKWIA??). The agent said that Hertz pulls customer driving records and if there are certain violations, then they can decline the rental.

The customer continued the argument stating that he had a DUI 2 years ago, but has rented many times since then (unsure if license was valid in all those cases) and doesn't understand why now, long after he served his obligations, they are declining him. The agent stood firm, and even got a supervisor who backed her up.

That got me thinking - I have a speeding ticket from 1 year ago, and an accident involving a Hertz car a few years before that. They've never declined me a rental. But I'm wondering how often they do checks of Gold members' driving records since we typically show up and get the car with no human interaction except the gate attendant verifying the license and contract. It would seem like renters who are not members of a car company's frequent renter program would get checked more often.

Any other Gold members have this kind of experience? Do you have prior violations that could preclude Hertz from renting to you, but they haven't <yet> flagged you at pickup?