Hertz customers outraged over AI-powered scanner that charges hundreds of dollars for small scuffs on rental cars

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.”When Patrick logged into the Hertz web app, he was shown photographic proof of the damage that was flagged by UVeye scanners.He told The Drive that he was offered a discount — $52 off if he paid within two days, or $32.50 off if he paid within a week.

But Patrick held off.“Saving $30 to accept responsibility is not worth it,” he told The Drive.When Patrick tried to take up the matter with a live customer service rep, he found the challenge to be quite daunting.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.Emailing support is possible, but responses can take up to 10 days — well after the early-payment discount expires, according to Patrick.One frustrated Reddit user, posting under the handle professor_pimpcain, shared a similar experience after returning a car to Hertz’s Atlanta location.“It automatically sent me a bill for this ‘ding’.$195,” they wrote.“I will no longer be using Hertz.

Reached out to customer service and they said they stand by the AI.”Many complaints center on the lack of transparency around how fees are calculated.While Hertz says the processing fee covers “the cost to detect and...