You better take extra care of that rental care or else you might get dinged for a few hundred - or thousand - dollars. The New York Post reported:
Hertz customers are complaining they were charged hundreds of dollars for minor scrapes and dents that were detected by the rental car giant’s new artificial intelligence-powered scanner — with little recourse to dispute the charges.
Patrick, a customer who rented a Volkswagen from Hertz-owned Thrifty at Hertz’s Atlanta airport location — its first US store to implement UVeye tech — told The Drive that he received a bill “minutes” after returning the car.
Hertz demanded that Patrick cough up $440 for a one-inch scuff on one of the car’s wheels. The fee included $250 for the repair, $125 for “processing” and $65 for “administration.”...
Customers are directed to a web portal where they can view before-and-after photos captured by the scanners.
But if they have concerns, their options are limited. A chatbot can flag the issue for review, but there’s no live agent to talk to....
UVeye is reportedly in talks with additional rental agencies, suggesting broader adoption may be on the horizon.
Why does progress often seem like it is not progressive today?
10 comments:
"rental care?"
Class Action Suit in 3, 2, 1... I had a rental agency claim that I did significant damage to a car that I rented in Oakland, CA. I always take before/after photos/video of a rental car. Well, the car was damaged, but by an employee who did a little joy riding after I returned it.
Classic for the era!!! Appropriately a hit song in 1984!!!
Rental car companies are turning to this kind of stuff to increase profits. They will also charge you loss of use while it is in the shop because they assume it would have been rented. Total BS. Inspect your rental before you drive off the lot. Take a good slow video inside and out showing you are still in their parking lot.
Or buy their damage waiver and drive it like you stole it, send it back on a roll back wrecker, toss them the keys and say thanks!
It wasn’t AI, but I’ve been dinged by Enterprise a couple of times now. The last time, I got a call from them a couple of weeks after I turned the car in telling me that there was a rock peck in the windshield. Neither I nor their guy checking me in noticed it. I figured this was their way of selling customers the insurance they offer.
I was told I’d be charged $450 for smoking in a car in Chicago. No one in my family smokes and it didn’t smell like it before or after I rented it. I went on a crusade against the company for the fraud that they were using to trump up fees. They tried to incrementally offer to charge me less and less and I just ratcheted up my argument every time. They ultimately dropped it and even apologized. That was Avis.
UHaul just did this to me. Dinged me on gas and miles. If you rent a UHaul, pull out your phone and take a pic before you leave the premises. I drove locally about 18 miles (I had a chase car) and started with half a tank of gas. I put in over half a tank of gas before taking it back. They said it had 5/8 tank and miles showed I went 35 miles. It was a different employee so I don't blame her, she was only going by what it said on her paper. Take a pic before you leave so you can prove gas and mileage!
Always purchase the collision damage waiver coverage. If you get in an accident, regardless of fault, you will be paying for the loss of use for every day that it is out of service. They will take their sweet time getting it fixed.
I had a rental car parked in a hotel parking lot in Spain. Some teen ran into it while it was parked. I took it back to the rental agency and they gave me another car. Zero cost to me as I had full coverage/collision damage waiver (CDW) coverage.
Enterprise tried to hit me for over $1000 a couple years back. They backed down after I asked for videos of the car leaving and coming back to the facility. Learned a lesson though - I will not drive a rental car out of the lot without taking a thorough video of it. Dishonest ba$$ards. It'll come out in a few years that these car rental reps are being incentivized to charge for "damages."
They left the driver's side window down on a customer of mine's rental return and they tried to charge him for the window actuator after it rained in the vehicle.
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