MSPeconomist

Today I got an email from some guy in Canada apparently at a Hertz@..... email address that google thinks is spam, although it appeared in my "primary" gmail inbox.

It refers to a Hertz/Thrifty/Dollar rental from over fifteen months ago without any details like location or vehicle type and asks me to either send insurance information or call with my credit card number (or mail a check, but it doesn't say who the check should be payable to and one would need to infer the mailing address). There are a couple reference numbers that I haven't yet tried to compare to my records, but neither one seems to be a reservation number. The email just states a total amount for damages to "our vehicle" without any information about how the amount was calculated. It appears to be some third-party processing company and the email appears to be relatively literate.

The date is around the time I was involved in a minor accident in the USA in a Hertz vehicle with an uninsured driver in a borrowed car who I think was arrested at the scene of the accident. The other driver would have received some of my personal details at the time (just as I received information on the other driver and owner of the other vehicle). In the minimal conversation that I had (before police arrived) at the site of the accident, the other driver commented that it was too bad for her that I was driving a rental vehicle, which I thought was an odd comment as I would expect that rental cars would be more likely to have sufficient insurance coverage.

Has anyone experienced anything similar? Or is Hertz known to outsource/offshore such functions?

Dave Noble

If you had an accident at that time, then it sounds like it could be genuine

From what you say, the other driver had no insurance, so you will be liable to Hertz for the costs associated with the damage caused to the rental vehicle

Perhaps contact Hertz and ask about the incident

Often1

A first step would be to call Hertz at a published number.

beckoa

Agree, I'd reach out to Hertz by phone.

Sounds like phishing; perhaps they got lucky due to your own incident?

MSPeconomist

I called my own insurance agent, who can see the claim as closed on their computer system. They called the insurance carrier who is going to call Hertz.

In the meantime, I was instructed to ignore/delete the email and of course absolutely not to call and give this guy my credit card number (which Hertz has anyway on my profile and on the original reservation/contract)..

m907

This is a bad take. If it looks like a scam it usually is, and Hertz would not be contacting him a year later.

Dave Noble

Why , if there are things that suggest it may relate to an incident, is contacting the company directly a bad idea? I don't mean use contact information in the email that may be of concern, but contacting Hertz on a known genuine number?

Often1

Indeed, it is the only correct advice.

Call the business in question at a published number. The email could be a fraud (most likely), an error (a possibility, but with a lot of downsides to ignoring), or legitimate.

I do this when I receive calls, emails, or other correspondence which appears to be legitimate. Pretty much every customer-facing business maintains its own phone database and can tell you relatively instantly whether the number you are being asked to call is legit.

noah

I've had 2 incidents in rental cars -- neither Hertz -- that eventually ended up with me working with an independent company who had been contracted by the car rental company (National in one case and Enterprise in another) to recover their "losses". One loss was for a tire and the other for a broken window. I worked through the 3rd party to eventually settle up. This was outside of the process of working with insurance. So, I would not necessarily be so quick to dismiss the email -- I would follow-up and see where it leads but agree that you should keep your personal information personal until it is clear if this is a scam or (more likely in my opinion) a 3rd party company who is not very good at communicating what is going on.

pdx1M

I just had a very similar incident where a Canadian collection outfit emailed me a claim for damages for a recent Hertz rental. Interestingly they had the RA number for a recent rental correct. The amount they wanted was ~$800 which is just a small enough amount above a typical $500 deductible policy that some folks might just pay it. The company in Canada has a website that look legit but there was no damage during the referenced rental. I responded to them in an email that there was no damage so had no idea what they were talking about. Then I called Hertz corporate and the HLE I actually rented from (since corporate said that actual closout of a rental happens at the original renting location). Neither had any record of an issue with the rental. It looks to me like the scammer got a hold of the paper rental card which would have the RA number, the fact that damage waiver had been waived, and basic contact info. Either that or a Hertz employee at PDX (where I dropped the car off) is involved. In any case, it sounds like another scam to be aware of.

jim32190

National and enterprise are owned by the same company, EHI Holdings, who operate a “Damage Recovery Unit” to collect for damages to vehicles. I’m surprised you ended up dealing with a third party instead of EHI’s DRU directly.

melissaru

I am going through the same thing with probably the same Canadian company. Contacted me recently about alleged damage to a vehicle I rented at LAS in July. I did receive an email in September from someone with a Hertz email (real? Dunno) with this same claim that I owe just over $200. I answered that email to say I have no idea what you're talking about, I have no incident report or photos. I never received a response to my response to them, nor three messages left at the LAS office back in September. Since I received zero communication from anyone in September, I assumed it was a mistake or a scam that fizzled out until a call this week from our Canadian friends who say it will be sent to a collection agency if I don't pay. I'll let my credit card company look into it.
But...if this were a legit claim (again, I would never knowingly return a car with any type of damage, so how do I know whatever they're alleging wasn't done after it was driven out of the return lane?), Hertz has my credit card on file, so why not just charge it and mail me an incident report?

oliver2002

Its not that easy... Hertz in Europe also hands the damages to a company that does all Hertz/Thrifty/Dollar damages centrally. They sit somewhere in Romania and are difficult to reach. Recently I had a case where my rental was inspected by a new overzealous employee and the system automatically send me a damage report which was passed on to the central claims center. I immediately called the local office who accpeted that the scratch was not really a damage that could be charged. Since three weeks they are trying to reverse the process, but romania keeps sending me overdue notifications etc. The communication never contains the RA info, but the number of the damage report. They also don't have the CC details and want me to pay using a portal of their own.

jja34-1

This is consistent with how Hertz reaches out post-accident in my experience. I once opened a door into a parking garage pillar. Minimal damage but I reported it. I was told someone would either be in touch within a few weeks or I could assume they decided not to pursue a claim. Six months went by before I received a random call from someone who provided no details other than they were calling to get my insurance information regarding an accident with a rental car. When they refused to provide me with details, I said I would call Hertz back. I was later able to confirm that it was truly a call from Hertz but apparently their claims office is trained not to provide any details and the agents who do this work are not particularly adept at answering questions outside of their script. I still agree with the advice given here not to provide any information until confirmed that this is truly a call from Hertz and not a scam.

noah

Some National and Enterprises are owned by licencees -- and they were the company who contracted with the 3rd party. I've learned that in the mountain west (utah, Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota and Idaho) National is a licencee arrangement.