Last week I wrote about Dov Bergwerk, an executive for the Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva, who felt that he was discriminated against because an Avis agent in New York City refused to rent him a car because she would not accept his Israeli driver’s license or passport. This is despite the fact that Mr. Bergwerk holds an Avis Wizard number (loyalty number) and has rented from Avis several times in the past (including at that same location!)
Avis’s initial response
I thought that Avis’s initial response was somewhat strange – they posted on their official Facebook page
On Friday, a customer seeking to rent a car from Avis Car Rental was not allowed to do so because he failed to provide the required documentation. Visitors to the U.S. From other countries must provide both a valid drivers license from their country of residence as well as a valid International Drivers License or passport in order to rent from Avis. We are aggressively investigating the customer’s allegations regarding the handling of this matter, as we do not tolerate any form of discrimination. So far, our ongoing investigation suggests that this customer is unfairly maligning us with unfounded accusations.
I guess someone in Avis PR felt that they had to get “out ahead of the story” and say SOMETHING, but it just felt very odd
Avis admitting wrong
Yesterday a commenter alerted me to a followup story in the New York Post, where Avis had to make a followup statement admitting that they had made a mistake. I checked back and they made the following statement on Facebook
We have investigated the denial of a rental that recently occurred in Manhattan. We have found that we have been inconsistent in applying our policies with respect to documentation requirements with this customer, who has rented from us in the past without providing a second form of identification. We are committed to providing an outstanding car rental experience to our customers and believe that we should have done better here. We have spoken with the customer and apologized for the misunderstanding that occurred as a result of this inconsistency in applying our documentation policy, and the customer has accepted our apology.
We reiterate our policy that we do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin or sexual orientation. We intend to take steps, including additional training, to improve the consistency in our application of documentation policies.
(emphasis mine)
So on the one hand, it’s nice that Avis admitted wrong, but even their second statement seems to gloss over the fact that according to the initial story, Mr. Bergwerk even DID produce a second form of identification, but was still denied renting a car.
What do you think? Had you heard about this story? Do you think that Avis went far enough with their apology?
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Avis should have blamed the 2 rogue employees from the beginning after they clearly discriminated against this Israeli client. Now, aside from firing the 2 biased employees, they should fire their inept PR decision maker, whoever that is.
I find stories like this hard to figure out since Avis has to cover their butt legally so cant say more than they did. But the people claiming discrimination also are not always believable.
The fact that the guy had rented had this location multiple times before shows Avis was likely in the wrong. But it is hard to know whether the employee was incompetent or anti-sematic. Avis certainly needs to argue it was the former to avoid liability.
Yeah – I personally would more likely believe that it was less anti-Semitic discrimination and more the phenomenon that people in retail locations like to make up whatever rules they want
Agreed. Although some of them are really nice, in general, people who work the car rental counter are not mental titans. However, this is a location that must see a lot of foreigners. It is inconceivable that these employees didn’t know a foreign DL + passport was acceptable to Avis.
The obvious conclusion is that they DID target this gentleman for his Israeli passport, and irregardless of that, Avis’ response that he did not produce 2 IDs is a lie. Avis is not going to fire the bad apple because, well it’s Avis.
also doesn’t pass the screaming laugh test…. ok, if this Trump like power broker got uneven treatment, from what he experienced before, then maybe he’s got a beef….
But discrimination — in NYC? For crying out loud. Imagine what happens when american citizens (who happen to be of palestinian heritage) go through when they get off at Tel Aviv airport? (no need to imagine, google it…. it’s routing, standard operating procedure to give ’em much hassle…. and their american passport gets ignored. (I should know — many of them have been my students)
this curious story though might give rise to a good series of posts from one of you travel bloggers on the do’s and don’t of renting a car abroad, whether of “foreigners” coming to America, or we ugly Americans thinking about car rentals elsewhere. (Am new at this…. yet have already seen such widely differing practices — and then there’s insurance issues….. am going to Mexico next month…. and have a headache already contemplating the what if’s…)
I have an Israeli drives license and have used it at Avis, Hertz, Budget, Advantage and Sixt in the USA (& Europe+Africa). However agents have asked for a passport as well (once told I don’t look like my photo) in many locations. The Israeli license has Hebrew and English and thus most countries don’t require a further International permit (just a grey booklet with some handwritten details that don’t seem to be worth much except for the agency getting a nice $15 fee) to rent or drive a car.
Usually airport locations have no questions but inner city offices “need a passport” or “have to check with my supervisor”