UHaul and Penske are doing background checks on YOU!

While renting a 20' truck last week, I learned some un-nerving information.

I was chatting with the 3 employees behind the counter about the usual stuff...gas, FJB, and general associated topics.
The process was taking a bit longer than normal and the associate made the remark that the "background check' was taking
a bit longer than usual and he apologized.

I immediately started the questions:

1) WHY are you doing any background check? Also, where in my agreement does it ask PERMISSION to do so?

2) WHO is doing this "check"?

3) What happens I'd I 'fail' this check?

What follows is are the explanations I recieved from Customer Service as well as the Penske 'Legal' Dept.


Customer Service was a geyser of information because low level employees aren't trained properly to deal with people like me...or US.
When questioned, the lady described the process to me. In general, once you hand an employee your license, a program verifies that you aren't on the DO NOT RENT list for the company. Pretty standard.
Then she stated that my information went to both DHS as well as FBI to be checked against TERRORIST WATCH LIST. The response given to Penske from these alphabet agencies will either show the employee nothing if you're not on 'a list' OR WILL SHOW A LITERAL RED FLAG IF YOU ARE ON SUCH A LIST!!!!

My response was one of disbelief. I asked what happens if a potential customer is flagged? Like, what happens? The response was that the truck will still be rented, but thise agencies will be able to track that truck real-time via GPS and/or be able to access all GPS data for your trip FOREVER!!

Now, during this convo, the idiot CS lady kept trying to tell me how safe this makes the country! How having your movements tracked without a warrant has saved countless lives. It was like IDIOCRACY, only scarier because this is real life.

So, I ask her for the number to the Penske Legal Department.

When I reach them, I tell the person on the other end that I'm concerned about their background check policy. I ask her to direct me to any part in my Rental Agreement where it states that my information will be shared with Federal Police Agencies as citizens of the U.S. must consent. She could not direct me because that doesn't exist.
We spend the next few minutes going around and around and then I hit her with the MOAB....

As she's telling me how their policy is all above board and legal, I asked her where she got her law license because I got both of my degrees from Cornell and assure her what they're doing is ILLEGAL. She gets smarmy and asks why I think that.

I respond that any Government Agency can likely do any check they like as Bidens administration violates all laws anyway. I go on to tell her that once those agencies verify if a customer is on a Watch List, they have ZERO authority to then pass that information to some 17 year old minimum wage Customer Service Rep at a Penske Truck Rental.
The phone goes quiet right then and I feel I've started unraveling the string.
I then ask her what safety protocols Penske Truck Rental has to make sure that customer information like BEING ON A FEDERAL WATCH LIST, isn't shared between employees or even other customers? The response was that there was nothing like that in place.
I asked her what would stop a teenage kid from chatting with his buddies about the weird person that rented a truck but was on a Terrorist Watch List? What if this kid is the offspring of a future love interest and he remembers? What if the customer is the mother or father of a student that goes to the same school and the kid is harassed because of some FLAG at a Penske Truck Rental?
I go on to tell her that while the above scenarios are unlikely to happen, they ARE possible, and because of this, I believe they do not have the authority to allow the results of ANY background check to a Customer Service Rep. I tell her that I manage a fairly large Medical Facility and that when my company conducts ANY checks concerning prospective employees, it is all done by the Human Resources Department and NO ONE, not even the GM of the facility (ME), has access to those results specifically because...BILL OF RIGHTS.
I asked her how her company gets around those pesky Rights and has managed to not get sued for having such a blatant disregard for them?

SHE THEN HUNG UP ON ME LOL.

I'd like to be clear here. Companies can do all kinds of 3rd party checks provided you gave them permission to do so. That's fine. My issue is that the Government has ZERO right to then give any information about that 'check' to some snot nosed little kid behind the counter. That my friends, is as illegal as it gets.

What do all of you think of this? Do you feel the government has the right to track your UHaul based on a system the puts damned near anyone on a watch list? Assuming you are on some list mistakenly, would you want your kids high school friend that works at UHaul or Penske to know about this 'status' of yours?

I was in a major car accident last November and have two attorney handling the case. I'm going to pick their brains on this to see if it's all legal. If by any chance it isnt, I'll immediately head to my County Clerk and file a lawsuit for violation of my Civil Rights. Because...as it turns out, I am on such a list for some stupid reason and the CS kid told me as such because my name popped a flag. While he was discussing my flag with me, another customer was in line as well as 2 employees by him. Seems like an open and shut case to me.

What say you guys/gals?

Oh, I did tons of Google searches about this topic and came up empty. Nothing. Not even a Reddit thread. I was able to find one Yahoo News story about this practice that I'll embed just for reference sake.

finance.yahoo.com...

Please look beyond any spelling errors as I am on an Android. Thanks!

a reply to: MrBuddy

I'm surprised you're surprised a company renting you a high value item would do background checks before handing you the keys.
In these days of turmoil and mental illness you could either be wanting it to move furniture , fill it with fertilizer to make it go Bang or perhaps run over some folks to make a political / religious statement .... who knows.

I think you'll find it is their legal right as it is their property.

What do I think?

IF you don't like their rules, don't rent their trucks.

You can buy one, borrow one, or go somewhere else.

That's what I think.

originally posted by: MiddleInsite
What do I think?

IF you don't like their rules, don't rent their trucks.

You can buy one, borrow one, or go somewhere else.

That's what I think.

Dear people that don't like the COTUS and SCOTUS rulings...

Where are you emigrating to?

a reply to: MrBuddy

As a former Penske employee, let me assure you that these trucks do not have any sort of GPS or "low jack" whatsoever, and this is coming form somebody that has worked o their fare share of these trucks. They are built to be driven hard and put away wet, but at the same time for the lowest possible cost. They are not going to waste their money on GPS that any person who has a legitimate ill-intent, would know how to find and disable. On a side note, these trucks had any decent GPS on them, the number of trucks that are stolen and never recovered would be almost zero.

However, I do know that they run your DL to check if you are on their DO NOT RENT list, which like you said is very standard practice. Though I am not aware of any sort of DHS or FBI background check, I am not claiming to know that it does not exist. You may have perhaps spoke to a CS rep who was talking out of their ass or that just wanted to be a complete AHOLE, again coming from someone who was on the inside, anyone above the service techs or the rental staff were known to be pretentious CS.

Even if these checks are happening, no information about you as a person is given back to the person at the counter, aside from your address, DL number, height, weight, and age, that are all on your DL (not that we really pay that much attention to it). The people talking to the media about this topic in the article you linked are, again, talking out of their asses, and are essentially just saying that to make people happy and to make themselves look good to the press.

If you do not like these "practices" that are alleged of these companies, then I simply encourage you to rent somewhere else. Your head would spin if you knew the number of companies that perform these sort of checks, with much less data than that of what you gave Penske to rent that truck. You are always being watched, you are being followed in every avenue of your life by the government claiming to be doing it "for the sake of national security". Please do not condemn a company for doing it's due diligence, whether it is alleged to be illegal or not, at trying to make a small portion of the world a little safer.

a reply to: MrBuddy

Sounds like the act of giving them your license was consent to me. Why didn't you ask why they needed it first?

a reply to: MrBuddy

I get it; your information was handed to a KID who then informed you- and everybody else in ear shot- that you're on a terrorist watch list. Said kid then shared your private information at a school your son attends, and now every kid in school, plus their parents and all of their friends know your personal business- that's ONLY supposed to be known by those who have the proper authority.

See? We're not all dense.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: MrBuddy

I'm surprised you're surprised a company renting you a high value item would do background checks before handing you the keys.
In these days of turmoil and mental illness you could either be wanting it to move furniture , fill it with fertilizer to make it go Bang or perhaps run over some folks to make a political / religious statement .... who knows.

I think you'll find it is their legal right as it is their property.

You completely missed the entire point of the post.

a reply to: MrBuddy

"It was like IDIOCRACY, only scarier because this is real life."

Haven't you figured out by now that IDIOCRACY is real life? It was a documentary, not a work of fiction as many wrongly believe. I mean, look at most iof the responses so far; you'd think the doctor is writing them.

a reply to: MrBuddy

I'm sure if you dug deep enough it has something to so with operating a motor vehicle on public roads, tied in with some home land security thing.

People think they can just drive around willy nilly do what ever they want on the roads but once you get that license you're already technically being tracked because you could be operating a vehicle at any moment. So if you're on the "watch list" or what ever, they'd like to know what kind of vehicle you're hitting the road with I guess.

originally posted by: MrBuddy
Oh, I did tons of Google searches about this topic and came up empty.

Worth a mention, but this was literally the first result on Google for do rental car companies do background checks.

Do Car-Rentals check your Driving Records? 22 Feb 2021

One of the questions that pop into the head of a person who rents for the first time is “Do Car-Rentals check your Driving Records?” and the answer to that is yes, most rental companies do check the renter’s driving history unbeknownst to you. However, this information is usually disclosed somewhere on their website. Once you hand over your driving license they do a background check to assess if it is safe to rent you a car.

This has now become a compulsory policy in cities like New York and Florida, where if the driver causes an accident the rental car company is held liable. Due to this, rental businesses now require customers to sign a statement saying that they have an acceptable driving record. In the event of an accident, the rental company can shift the blame onto the customer.

This does not happen all the time, but it is good to be prepared. If a driving record doesn’t fall within the rental company’s requirements they will reject the customer. This is to ensure that the company’s property is not damaged in any way and to avoid any messy liability and insurance issues.

Many well-known car renters like Alamo, Hertz, Budget, and Avis, all check customers’ driving records through the Department of Motor Vehicles Databases. Other rentals may rely on screening companies that have access to the DMV database.

a reply to: cmdrkeenkid

OP was talking about the FBI and federal agencies "spying" on them. Not just a driver's abstract that shows if you've had a dui or something within a certain time frame or a suspended license.

welcome to the zoup du jour society 😎

a reply to: Ignorancedenier

They don't even cede their rights to "the nicest." They're happy to lie down and smile as the boot is placed in their neck.

That's the most disturbing part. People kept saying, through the whole scamdemic, "They're taking away our rights!" I kept replying, "No, you are giving them away."
:

a reply to: cmdrkeenkid

Another one who COMPLETELY missed the point of the post.

Do these people even read what they are responding to? It seems that they don't.

a reply to: Ksihkehe

No point in asking that poster a question. They tend to dump turds and then never even bother to flush.

I find it strange that someone is upset over a background check and tracking of a rental vehicle.

It is a law that all motor vehicles must have a visible identification number and has been the law for probably over 100 years. Yes, it is for tracking the vehicle.

If you drive, there are laws that you must follow. If you don't want to be tracked, then you can walk. Driving is not a right, it is a privlidge granted by the government by laws agreed to by the people.

As to the background check, just try to rent some equipment for a yard project and see what you have to go through to be allowed to rent it. They don't let anyone just jump on a backhoe and start digging.

a reply to: strongfp

And there's no evidence that it is sent to any actual Federal agency such as DHS or the FBI.

Could it be as simple as the employee this person spoke with was incorrect? Occam would say so.

a reply to: incoserv

originally posted by: MiddleInsite
What do I think?

IF you don't like their rules, don't rent their trucks.

You can buy one, borrow one, or go somewhere else.

That's what I think.

What rules? It isn't in the Rental Agreement. The things in the Rental Agreement are the RULES.