This is the message that you likely received from me. The real Clown show starts on the next post.
American Rental Association Clown Show
Dear current or former American Rental Association Member. In most membership organizations, "ALL" members have the right to comment. It has been almost two years since an ARA Vice President attacked our 60 years of ARA membership on the ARA-sponsored social media site. My attacker described our 60 years of membership as "anything that calls itself a rental store". His comments about single-location and family-run rental stores in his rant disparage a significant percentage of the American Rental Association membership. His post was allowed to remain on the ARA social media site. When I commented on his rant, my access to the ARA was blocked.
Why was I blocked from ARA-managed social media sites? In the post, I inform a new member of the reason and history of ARA insurance. My father helped found ARA Insurance.
This was the response from an American Rental Association Vice President posted on an ARA official social media site. The post was a response to my explanation of the founding of ARA Insurance.
Rob Leiser, I'm getting tired of your complaining. You should understand why this happened. You are no longer a full-time rental operator. That is what ARA insurance is designed to support, including small ones and well-thought-out and experienced start-ups. You know that it doesn't make sense for a member-owned insurance company to insure everything that calls itself a rental company. Part-time rental companies are incredibly high-risk. This equipment can and has killed people. Part-time rental companies are not worth the risk.
The above paragraph was researched and written before my post. This ARA Staff member was given access to private ARA membership and Insurance records. The ARA Vice President used one of our unrelated websites to describe our operation as part-time.
This is not the American Rental Association I grew up with!
We have likely all had an employee act inappropriately towards a customer (member). If it happened in any of our stores, that staff member would be disciplined and likely walk to the parking lot. With a lifetime of experience, I knew the ARA would promptly handle this issue. I sent a message through the American Rental Association Website to the social media director. I was surprised the Social Media director didn't respond within a few hours. A week later, I had forgotten about it. Three weeks later, I was disturbed about the lack of response.
On October 24, 2024, I sent an Email to my ARA representative, the Region Two Director, Brian Richardson. He promised to investigate it; however, Mr. Richardson passed the buck and disappeared. Since then, I have been banging on the doors of ARA Board Members, paid Staff, and ARA CEO Tony Conant, and no one will answer that one Question.
I sent three letters to the CEO, and he didn't have the decency to respond to his Vice President's attack on social media. A year later, it was clear that the Board of Directors and the CEO had decided the best response was to ignore me and that I would eventually give up.
I know these people, and they know my determination.
I am a Mechanic by trade, and fixing things is my passion. A broken trade group is just like a broken toaster. You figure out what's wrong, why it broke, and how to fix the problem, so it doesn't happen again. The issue I found with the American Rental Association is that, without open elections, they keep replacing the weak link with a weaker one.
This story was never about me. I have had a very successful career as the owner of a neighborhood general rental store.
My peers in the rental industry aren't the third-and fourth-generation silver spoons. My people are dreamers and those involved in back-alley rental operations who are looking to better themselves and become legitimate members of the rental community. I want to see these people succeed. I want them to have the same support as my father found in the American Rental Association in 1960.
I have put the details of the last 12 months into a story. Over the past 60 years of my involvement with ARA, I have established numerous contacts. The story is now circulating.
Pass it on.
Who am I?
My Father attended his first Rental Show in 1960. After returning, he opened Bethlehem Rental Service. The rental store next to our Garden center was stocked with camping gear and a few old trucks. My first of over 40 rental shows was in 1970. Since then, I have attended dozens of local and regional events, served on the ARA of PA Board for several terms, and served a term as President of the ARA of PA. I have attended the ARA leadership conference, and my wife was active in the ARA Caucus. The number of Rental Store visits I have made tops 100. When I comment on ARA Insurance, my knowledge dates back to the 1970s, when my Father was involved in discussions that led to the founding of ARA Insurance. To the ARA, we were the "Next Generation." We watched our parents turn a dream into reality as we grew up in the business our parents founded.
A dozen years ago, the directors of ARA Insurance tried to prop up dwindling profits by eliminating competing companies. The ARA Board accomplished this by preventing outside insurance companies from accessing ARA membership lists. At ARA of Pennsylvania, we saw a lack of competition in the insurance industry as a future concern. We asked the ARA to reverse this decision, but they answered with "GO AWAY." In eliminating competition, ARA Insurance remained broken but became almost a Monopoly. Silencing me doesn't fix the problems with ARA Insurance; it just ends the bad press.
ARA Clown Show
https://businforkstownship.blogspot.com/2025/10/blog-post_25.html
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Rob Leiser (somewhat retired)
Leiser's Sales and Rentals
2212 Sullivan Trail
Easton Pa 18040
610 258 2963
rentalbarn@hotmail.com
