How to stop Hertz’s AI scanners from charging hundreds of dollars for minor scrapes on your rental car
Hertz’s new artificial intelligence-powered scanners are flagging customers for minor dents, scratches and blemishes in the company’s rental cars — charging hundreds of dollars in fees. But there are steps you can take to avoid getting hit with surprise damage claims.
From choosing where to rent to documenting every inch of your vehicle, renters have options to protect themselves from what some customers say is an overly aggressive and opaque system.
The company, which insisted that the scanner “only detects billable damage,” has previously defended the technology, saying that “the vast majority of rentals are incident-free” and that “when damage does occur, our goal is to enhance the rental experience by bringing greater transparency, precision, and speed to the process.”
As of now, Hertz has installed UVeye scanners at a limited number of its 1,600 airport stores in the United States, including Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, Charlotte Douglas, Houston George Bush, Newark Liberty, Phoenix Sky Harbor and Tampa International.
