This is the message that you likely received from me. The real Clown show starts on the next post.

Dear current or former American Rental Association Member. In most membership organizations, "ALL" members have the right to comment. It has been a year 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 ARA Social Media sites was blocked. For the last year, I have asked, 'Why?' 

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 accessed private ARA membership and Insurance records. The ARA Troll used one of our unrelated websites to describe our operation as part-time. Our Family has been involved in the American Rental Association for 60 years; my involvement dates to my first show in 1970.

Why was I blocked from ARA-managed social media sites? It was to inform a new member that ARA insurance was established to cover smaller renal stores. How do I know this? My Father assisted in the discussions. The history of ARA Insurance can be found in the book "American Rental Association 50 Years of Progress." 

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 in the American Rental Association and as a past member of the ARA of Pennsylvania Board, 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 that no one responded. 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 social media attack. A year later, it is clear that the Board of Directors and the CEO decided the best response was to ignore me and that I would eventually give up.    

I am a Mechanic by trade, 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 a neighborhood general rental store owner.  

My peers in the rental industry 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 located next to our Garden center was stocked with his camping gear and some 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 several terms on the ARA of PA Board, and served a term as President of 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. The ARA once labeled my peers in the rental industry as the "Next Generation." We watched our parents turn a dream into reality, one tool at a time, as we grew up in our parents' business. 

 

What is on page 104 that so disturbs ARA leadership? ARA Insurance was founded during a similar insurance crisis in the 1970s. Many smaller rental stores were denied insurance coverage. The choice was to close or operate without Insurance. ARA Insurance is described as one of the most important projects ever completed by the ARA. For Decades, ARDI ARA Insurance served as a model for the rental industry.  

 

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

Go to the bottom of the page and click Older Posts to continue. 

Rob Leiser (somewhat retired) 

Leiser's Sales and Rentals 

2212 Sullivan Trail  

Easton Pa 18040 

610 258 2963 

rentalbarn@hotmail.com