Hertz is installing AI inspection portals at its biggest U.S. airports this year. Atlanta was the first, but they expect to hit 100 airports before 2025 is over.
Now they scan cars as they’re being returned – vehicles drive through a camera‑and‑sensor tunnel and get an ‘MRI for vehicles’ to log damage in a way that rental staff never did before. It also finds hard to spot damage such as under the vehicle, uneven tire wear, hairline cracks in the windshield.
We’re seeing one inch scuffs on a rear wheel billed out at $440 ($250 repair cost, $125 “processing” and $65 “administrative fee”).
- That’s the kind of thing that would never have been noticed before.
- And it’s probably not actually even getting repaired.
They ask for payment right away or else you pay more, and if you challenge them it takes longer than the discount window to get a response. They go after you for more money if you question the charges.
- This isn’t about accuracy
- And it isn’t about convenience
- It’s a new way to squeeze customers who don’t expect it.
Hertz’s new system lets them go after 5 times as many customers as before. The rate at which they’re sending out bills is skyrocketing. Here’s the math:
For big U.S. airport car rental locations, between 0.3% and 1% of rentals close out with actual damage charged to the customer. Roughly one renter in every 100‑300 gets a bill for damage. The midpoint most estimate, then, is about 0.6% (or 6 claims per 1,000 rentals).
- About 10% of rental returns may have some fresh dents, scrapes, or glass chips. Most of these, historically, never turned into a customer bill. At high turnover airports the focus is on taking back the car, cleaning it and getting it to the next customer.
- Fewer than 1% of rentals historically have turned into damage claims, Meanwhile, 30% – 50% of those claims are ultimately written off.
In contrast, according to Hertz, “fewer than 3 percent of vehicles scanned by the A.I. system show any billable damage.” (Emphasis mine.)
That means Hertz’s new system is billing out damage at about 5 times the previous rate. And this destroys the value proposition of renting from them (assuming of course that there was one to start with).
Historically renting from Hertz (or Avis or National) at an airport location meant on-airport convenience and going straight to your car rather than standing in long lines, and that they didn’t nickel and dime you over minor nicks and scrapes.
You pay a ton of extra fees for airport rentals, and frequently higher rates than off-airport discounters, but you weren’t stressed or hassled. These businesses are high volume and high revenue and they didn’t hassle over minor damage the customer probably didn’t do to the vehicle themselves.
It’s always been advisable to take photos and videos of vehicles prior to renting, it usually didn’t matter when renting from major car rental companies at major airports. That’s clearly changing at Hertz and others will likely follow.
The implication, though, is that these companies will no longer be worth their premium. There was an implicit loss damage waiver being purchased even by customers not paying for extra coverage. By stripping that feature out, but charging the same price, the customer gets less and becomes incentived to book elsewere – the Fox, Payless or Advantages of the world.
@ Gary — I doubt we will ever rent a car again.
This has really gotten out of control.
First they call the cops on you. Now they nickel and dime you. What an operation….
I’m going to guess this will not end well for Hertz if they can’t supply full images of your car as you leave their parking lot. Otherwise there is nothing to compare the current situation to.
And based on Hertz disdain for its customers, would you trust them?
Uneven tire wear? Get the hell out. That’s why one is supposed to rotate their tires — on a FWD vehicle the front tires will wear faster (and on RWD, the rear wheels.)
After Hertz’s previous issues of falsely claiming cars they rented were stolen (and not helping to clear things up with the police when they realized they’d made a mistake), and charging for a tank of gas on returned Teslas (and, again, showing unwillingness to just take the charge off when people pointed out the Tesla they rented didn’t burn gas… and I’ll note, they weren’t just listing the electricity as ‘gas’, they were ALSO charging for the electricity to charge it up…)… well, I’d never rent at a Hertz anyway but this gives yet another reason not to.
When a $45 LDW is the only way to avoid a $450 junk charge for damage that may not even be repaired, it stops being insurance and starts looking like a high-margin profit strategy.
Really appreciate your work. The COMMENTS also allow me to continue to remind people NOT to fly American Airlines and NOT to rent from Hertz. Yes, others fail, but not as badly as these two.
At what point will CC rental insurance push back? Or will credit cards strip that from us as well?
So interesting that at one major chain I saw a measuring card where any new scratch or dent was ignored if it was smaller than the template sizer. And at others they’ve just said anything less than x size is nothing to worry about. I am curious what size scratch will get caught, it isn’t clear from the articles. In Europe we once were stopped for undercarriage scratches (which we didn’t create) but managed to get it removed. Maybe this pushes me more to local neighborhood locations where they won’t install fancy scanners? Does the AI give you enough documentation to file credit card LDW insurance claim?
Don’t these car rental agencies write off the depreciation on the vehicles when they go to sell them? This seems like double billing. They shouldn’t get the benefit of both practices.
Thank you, Hertz, for making car rental decisions easier – no more Hertz for me, or any other member of my family.
– former Hertz Five Star member
“You pay a ton of extra fees for airport rentals”
So true! Recent 2-day rental of an economy car at Logan cost$216, of which $148 was actual rental charge, the rest – fees (most of which I didn’t ask for, approve or will benefit). Ridiculous!
Lets call it was it is, an outright scam to get more money from the customer, this is really going to hurt Hertz reputation (which was not great as it is) Word is going to get around fast about this and it is going to really hurt them in the long run.
“Resort Fees,” only for rental cars.
Gimme the excruciating Enterprise walk-around every time. I make a point of pointing out tiny flaws so I don’t get penalized on return.
After all horror stories of Hertz sending customers to jail for no customer fault whatsoever, I was trying to avoid Hertz at all costs, even so I supposedly have high status with them thru my cards. Unless they become customer friendly, openly, I would never rent from Hertz even for free.
……
They should avail this service to the customer at time of pick up. Give a copy of the report to the customer and then it shoujd be compared with report generated on return. Customer must sign off on the comparison report. Else reports can be tweaked and the customer is not getting level playing field
Last year, I rented from Hertz. They used to be my go to rental company. When I returned the car, I asked for a physical receipt. I assumed that they would also send me an email receipt. I got the paper receipt. I kept on waiting for the email receipt; No rental was shown on the rental history; And no charge showed up on my credit card. I was getting really worried that they might accuse me of something. Over two weeks later, the rental actually showed up and my credit card was charged. I breathed a sigh of relief. However, it left a bad taste in my mouth, and I have been avoiding renting from them since.
Also, more than once, I have returned a car to Hertz at the airport, no representatives are there check the car back in. There was a sign to leave the keys in the car and they will check it in later. No choice, but to leave the car or wait and miss my flight. Not good.
Keep receipts i see a class action lawsuit coming. I’ve always wondered why we haven’t seen one for gas charges. I’ve received multiple rentals that left the lot without full tanks. That means they took money to fill it but didn’t. Im guessing taking money to repair the vehicle but not fixing the damage is going to fall into the same boat.
Hertz in Germany has been this way for 20 years so I never use Hertz in Germany.
Once they accused me of damage of a tiny scratch but then saw it was already on their sheet.
Sounds more like criminal fraud ! Info, a pre-rental scan, should be provided to the renters at the time of the rental ! Plus minor damage is to be expected & part of the risk a rental company assumes !
Just returned a rental to Alamo today and was grateful that they and others haven’t implemented this yet; that said, I returned a rental to Sixt in Europe recently, and they used the ‘drive through 100 cameras’ thing, which presumably uses AI, yet no ‘surprise bill’ yet. Or, maybe it’s like Florence, where they send you a summons in the snail mail nearly a year later for driving 6 inches in a bus lane, threatening to take you to collections over €55.
I don’t care as long as AI also inspected before I rented. “A copy of the pre-rental inspection sheet, please.”
Document all damage before you rent. Unfortunately most parking garages are dark and it’s easy to overlook damage.
Good old Hertz. I was Hertz Gold (or whatever level I had) for quite a few years. Happy to say I have not rented with Hertz for at least 5 years.
I already wasn’t renting from Hertz because they still haven’t fixed the problem of having their customers arrested. This is one more reason to put them on my personal “do not rent” list.
Can the customer obtain request that a copy of the AI report be given to them on their phone before departing the airport rental location so that they have something to compare when they get a report upon return of the vehicle?
It’s time for you to report on what percentage of Rental Car damage claims the credit card companies refuse to cover, and if there are variations between the brands. Long term I think they may reduce or eliminate this benefit, but I’m curious if those of us who charge their Hertz rental say on a Chase credit card are relatively safe from these charges?
Are these agencies using the same inspection standards before the renter leaves to prove any of the alleged damages occurred during said specific rental? Are they benevolent enough to scan the car and share the results when the renters are leaving to start their trips to establish a baseline for the contract? Or, are they charging every renter with the same damages until they opt to finally repair them? Should I ask for the Carfax before every rental agreement is executed?
Huck Fertz for doing this. Unfortunately, it indeed seems others are following suit. Avis at LAX (inside the new rental facility) has a massive camera array equipped with lighting at the exit. Seems that unless customers truly revolt over this, it will soon be adapted as a standard industry practice.
Never ever rent from an airport location. Always a neighborhood location to avoid fees and this BS
@Matthew — While I respect your support of local and small businesses, what you suggest is often easier said than done, and in many cases it’s a case by case as to whether a corporate or a franchise is going to be more honorable to its customers.
Getting away with nicking and scraping a car was never part of the calculus for me when deciding on a rental car company, but I’m not everyone. Sounds like Hertz has found an inexpensive way to inspect a car and charge the person who caused the damage. Good for them. If you struggle to drive a car without damaging it, start shopping for rental cars elsewhere.
What they are going to do is loose so many customers that this is going to hurt them in the long run . Short term greed = long term failure.
Apart from little nicks which are unavoidable most the time, even a tiny car park ding from another car, these aren’t going to get repaired even. So hertz cashed in there then hopes the next customer doesn’t notice it so hertz double dips. And how’s a customer supposed to check under a car?
Scanning equipment of this nature is likely to cost Hertz well into the millions of dollars….another cost that will be added to your rental agreement. That fact alone is enough to make me steer clear of Hertz and their already overinflated prices.
Do they scan the car when you leave? What evidence do they have that you caused the damage?
As a gold member things up to the size of a golf ball were deemed normal wear. I wonder how this will affect long time personal and business customers.
Maybe, maybe if they scan the car as I leave and when I return, possibly I might consider renting from Hertz, but even then I doubt it, because Hertz will just figure another way to screw their customers.
No worries. Let us drive through that AI machine as we drive off the lot. I don’t want to pay for someone else’s damage. I always find damage on my pre-rental examination. Amd when I report that damage at the exit toll booth, they usually say, that’s too small to matter. If they are now charging for the smallest of damage, then we should get to drive the the AI machine when we leave the rental lot.
@LAX Tom, you seem to under the mistaken impression that car rental companies are honest and honorable. Let me tell you about a rental in Switzerland last summer. Upon departing Zurich, we received a report that said the front passenger side wheel was scratched. Upon returning it in Vienna, we could not wait for the inspection, which appeared to be taking about half an hour for those that insisted. We then received a report after that the front passenger scratch had mysteriously moved to the drivers side front and rear wheels and the cost was 1200 euros. I had hit no curbs and most certainly had not repaired the scratch on the other wheel. All a scam, but Chase paid it anyway.
Ask them to show proof of vehicle being off road, together with before and after pictures of work being fixed.
When they don’t supply the above, then instruct the card company to charge back the cost on the grounds of being defrauded- charged for work that hasn’t been done?
Just take a look at their leadership. The CEO is from the airline industry (Delta) and almost all of the board members are from the investor class and have never run a business (and couldn’t) in their lives.
So we are mad that we are responsible for damaging the car? Lol. Entitlement…
Okay, people… exactly what did you expect from a company that would let their systems file charges against the renter for an administrative error (e.g. not correctly logging rental extensions and then not rescinding their own mistakes)? See the article: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/06/1140998674/hertz-false-accusation-stealing-cars-settlement
I’m too lazy and disgusted to read the whole article.
Are they going to scan the vehicle before you drive it away to compare it with the check in report? Of course not! They’re never going to fix this stuff. Just keep charging people over and over. It’s the perfect scam!
The lower the threshold, the more the result will vary on each scan, and also the more claims a branch will make. But why wouldn’t humans do the same thing? Why do the branches and Hertz not reject that wrong behavior? Because the AI provides an excuse for bad behavior. Weird, isn’t it? Humana and UH health insurance are using the same principle to deny health insurance claims and now they are in court. Everybody loses. This is not how AI benefits society. It’s abuse. AI does have capacity to be beneficial when used in the right way, it just takes some ass kicking to make sure it’s used that way.
Answering several other comments, yes, they apparently do scan it when you take it out, that’s what they are comparing it to. Not clear that the renter receives a copy of the report. But the issue is that they’ looking at petty things that most people would never even notice and billing you for it. Someone opens their door and hits yours while you’re parked, they’ll apparently catch it now and bill you.
I am also very curious to hear how people are faring when they send these bills to cards that have primary rental insurance. Are they covering them?
Gotta request an inspection before you take possession of the rental. Then u can actually compare when u return the car.
People refuse to deal with trashy people. Why do they deal with trashy companies?
This isn’t double billing. It’s 100x billing.
They could charge the same $400 5-7x a week, never get caught for fraud. And never fix the scratch.
When does the law step in?
As for me, I will Uber more and rent cars less because of how this inspection is being handled. I expect that all high volume locations will have scanners soon. Such systems may not be cost effective at lower volume locations. One strategy would be to rent at an airport and return to a lower volume city location that doesn’t have a scanner, paying the one way fee. I wonder how effective the scanners are if you bring back the vehicle with dust or dirt on it, like what you could pick up driving in road slush.
@jns — On the ‘trashy companies’ comment, I’m convinced it’s a form of Stockholm syndrome.
First Hertz system was hacked and my dl#, credit card information and personal information was stolen and they give me a basic 2 year monitoring WITHOUT dark web monitoring- now this?? Bye bye Hertz.
An amazingly devious strategy, I must say. Charge $400 for a scratch. Never fix that scratch. Let’s assume the properly never charge a subsequent renter for that original scratch. But, every few rentals, a new ding, scratch, etc. pops up. Bang, another $400. By the time you sell the car, there are a dozen scatches/dings that netted them $5,000. Now spend a small portion to buff out the scratches or just sell as is. Bang, you’ve monetized scratches that you used to just eat.
BTW, I assume that if they compare in and out scans, the only way to flag uneven tire wear is from renters who think drifting and doughnuts are why you rent cars.
This also looks like a money grab. They could feasibly make as much off this hustle as they do rentals. Hertz has been filth for quite some time. CEO is trash, employees are parasitic garbage. They throw people in jail for stolen cars that were long ago returned you name it they do it.
Its no wonder they went bankrupt they cant even run a company properly. Hang it up Hertz outside of ISPs your in the top ten of hated.
Uber or Avis, here I come. Note to Avis, etc.: Don’t follow the leader, or you’re out too.
Travel is already too filled with ripoff-uncertainty. Not going to play this game with Hertz. Sorry, Mr. Ackman…..
100% never going to rent for them again.
Goodbye Hertz
A discount rental company tried to charge me for a nail in a tire simply because I pointed it out to them. It could have been there for weeks. I stood my ground and they backed down as it was getting loud and there were other customers around.
Had I known it would take two bus rides to get to the rental location I’d have probably used a big name company. This was Las Vegas
I rented a round trip car in Salt Lake City to go to Yellowstone a few years back before all of this nonsense started. Enterprise tried to do the same thing to me, but I took pictures before I left and even went and found a manager and showed them the bent wheel and busted hubcap. When I returned they told me I owed them around $1100.00 extra for damage to the car. When I showed them the before I left pictures they had a different outlook on the car. I advised them at that point if I see any additional charges on my credit card my attorney will be in touch.
I’m one of those people that checks out a car before I take it and note damage on the rental agreement as well as take pictures it can save you a lot of headaches and time in the future. And plus if the vehicle is not safe to drive it can be taken out of service. Because you the renter have the final say.
Greed that’s all I can say!
ok then I want a print out before I leave the terminal with previous damage.Who is to say that their employes did not do the damage before it was put back on line for rental.Ask for a pre rental print out for damages and this crap will stop .
Big shocker!!!! NOT!!!! Hertz is know fir ripping off customers in every way possible. I avoid them all the time unless forced by my work. Everyone should avoid them
Just boycott Hertz car rentals .. it’s as easy as that!!
I rented an SUV (didn’t do a full check to my error), after driving for an hour, I stopped at a gas station. That was when I noticed my tires were bald. I could literally see the wires in the tire.
Car rental companies can get bent.
Hertz trying to rip people off again. They’re the worst. I had a car from them paid through a Tuesday, they recovered the car the Sunday prior for non payment and then tried to charge me $1500 for it. The absolute worst rental company. Go with Avis. They’re so much better
This is basically extortion at this point. A minor scratch that would have happened regardless of how careful you are or cautiously you drive shouldn’t cost you to hundreds or thousands extra.
A newly dented bumper, yes, that was probably your fault, but if the windshield had 2 Knicks and now it has 3, that’s just circumstances.
I won’t be renting from Hertz.
Also, I like that this article about AI was written by AI. Very appropriate.
You rent a car for 3 days.. return it with a scratch in the wheel… add dents that were not there before.. who should be redponsible? If car renters don’t want a hassel…1. Get insurance 2. Be more responsible
As a President’s Circle member I
say they can screw themselves. I have status with Avis, National, etc. and there are plenty of choices in the marketplace.
Just one more reason why I’ll never rent from Hertz.
Never rent from Hertz. They are 100% corrupt and care nothing about their customers. They are running a better g scam on people, and committing extortion.
Sixt is the best
Unless I got a copy of the previous return scan, I’d tell them to shove the car up where the sun don’t shine and dispute the charge. Then again, how would I know IF the previous scan was true? I don’t. If the outgoing scan matches the incoming scan…stick it! How would the scan know the difference between a blob of mud versus a paint scratch? The whole thing smells of fraud!
This hertz so bad, guys.
I was already off of Hertz for how they handle things at CLE. 1 hour wait at the counter, mostly EV choices, people slacking off in the back office and according to the manager “on break” (why let them all take break at the same time). Their sister companies aren’t much better. Alamo is top notch
Shear madness.. Unless you get into a accident, those minor door dings, or a chip in the windshield are not the drivers fault, it’s part of driving a car. 400 dollars for “uneven tire wear” that’s lack of proper Maintenance by the rental company, not a drivers fault, unless they were doing neutral drop burnouts all day long.
This needs to be nipped in the bud right now!
If they don’t want ANY damage to a vehicle they rent out , then don’t rent them out.
Had a rental for 2 months when my car was totaled in a accident. Switched back and forth between Avis & Hertz. Won’t use Hertz now for sure.
The headline contradicts the article. “Five times as many” equals “four times more.”
Billing for tire wear is ridiculous. That is going to happen every time the vehicle hits the pavement. Some of the other things they are going to bill for with this new procedure is also ridiculous. Minor issues such as dings and scratches and whatever else can happen when the vehicle is parked and done by someone else. This will probably keep me from ever renting a vehicle from Hertz.
Because of this I will never again rent from Hertz or any car rental place that uses this method.
I always use Enterprise, and I ALWAYS get the insurance. I tell the store representative, If I bring back a bucket of ash all is good.
Never rent from Hertz. Got it.
What I am going to to do now is take a 1″0 to 15 minute” long video of the car and tell them up front how long it is and say we are going to watch every minute of it before I pay because I am afraid you might add more dings and dents to it.
I check rentals before driving off.. mostly for nails in tires (found one) and extreme dings or scratches… But now I question if the ai would know what was there before.
Given that . Note to self… Don’t rent from Hertz
The other problem with all of them at airport locations is when you inspect the car and find scratches, stains, etc. and try to tell someone , no one wants to be bothered with it and they just say that it’s “no big deal”. Easy for them to say until they try to bill you when you return it. Always take video.
On the Hertz issue, this is just icing on the cake. They were once the best but I last rented from Hertz at the Ft. Lauderdale and immediately drove it to Key West where I stayed for the week. When I went back to return it before flying back out of FLL , the check in guy said the car I was returning and was four hours away with all week had already “ been returned midweek” and thus would have to be charged again since I “ took the car again after returning it”. In sanity. Desk agent finally agreed that it was some sort of computer mistake but of course only “corporate” could fix it. I ended up getting the local news consumer affairs reporter involved after a month of runaround from “corporate” before they finally refunded me for the double charge.. For my trouble, they then took 1/2 week credit away from my loyalty days even though I had rented those days. Never went with Hertz again.
Its been many years since I rented a car and after reading about theses absurd AI scans (scams), It will be many more years before I rent another one.
If I only I could charge them for my rental that had a wheel bearing issue after an accident before I rented it. The tire was so worn after 100 miles I had to call and get a replacement from another location. Hertz in Memphis never returned my calls or responded to any emails. They often rent cars in dangerous conditions and now they are trying to get someone after an issue to pay for it. Sounds about right for this crappy company.
I haven’t rented from Hertz in years. The last time I rented from them they sent me out with a car with damage that I didn’t catch because it was raining lightly when I picked the car up (underneath in front of the front wheel on the driver’s side – wheel well photos showed it pretty good). The damage caused a tire to blow on the freeway and then it had to be flat-bedded to the LAX location (probably hit a curb hard and bruised the tire, later causing separation). Fortunately I had taken before photos and they did not charge me for the damage because the photos showed it before driving off (always get a photo at the end showing the gas level and the odometer for reference. They gave me another vehicle but the reason I rented was time sensitive so the reason for renting was no longer good and the rental was just a waste of money and time. At least I was able to get back to the original rental location and retrieve my personal vehicle. Since that time I have became more zealous in taking photos from all angles. The rental garage at BUF is dimly lit so I take photos in it but also at the first opportunity outside in normal daylight. I also take a few interior shots to document the cleanliness and any possible damage. Part of my inspection includes running my fingertips lightly over all external lights to detect any cracks. I have found them before driving off in the past. I often point out damage to the vehicle but it is usually small and the agent says it is not chargeable damage while explaining the policy. Sometimes they add it to observed damage prior to the rental. I have the most problem with windshields. It is hard to get photo angles that really show small rock strike pits. Body damage also takes work getting the angle and lighting correct so the photos really highlight the damage.
This just doesn’t account for basic wear and tear?? All vehicles, no matter how carefully driven, will get some minor scratches from bushes at a parking lot, some stones hitting the windshield, some wear on the tires. Using a robot to analyze every single one of those without accounting for wear and tear based on miles driven is ridiculous.
I don’t use Hertz and I get the extra insurance. If more Hertz renters people got the (full -walk away) insurance, wouldn’t that eliminate any liabilities from the driver?
Sounds like a good reason to not use hertz. there are other companies that would love the business
Hertz generally sucks and no one should rent from them. Hopefully this deters the people who were still using them.
A few years ago, I reserved a hybrid gas car, verified at check in it was a hybrid gas car. Pulled out saw the battery light on, didn’t think anything of it as my own hybrid occasionally needed to charge after startup, assumed it would charge up in a few minutes, then realized there was no fuel gauge, but we’d already left the airport and needed to get to the next exit to turn around. We didn’t make it, dead battery because it was an electric car, not a hybrid & given to us with no charge… Waited hours for a tow of course. Finally had it towed by our own insurance and got a car from a different place. That was the last time I’ve ever looked at Hertz.
Why don’t customers ask for the scan BEFORE they rent the car – so that when it comes back they will see if the scratches/dents and underbelly were already damaged prior to renting.
Why don’t customers ask for the scan BEFORE they rent the car – so that when it comes back they will see if the screatches/dents and underbelly were already damaged prior to renting.
I suppose that if the insurance covers all dents, scratches, etc., you could make sure it is worth it’s cost and make it so the camera system has some work to do. (sarcasm)
I always take photos of all four corners of my rental cars (and any damage I notice) with a time stamp app on my phone when I pick up and drop them off. I’ve done this for years and it has helped dispute damage charges.
I’ll be “running” to another car rental company….bye Hertzĺ
Poor business practices.
As if I needed another reason not to rent from Hertz. They lost me first over price, which decision was strengthened by their criminal charges against renters for allegedly stealing cars and refusal to drop charges when proven false. This new practice is not just the nail in the coffin, it is six feet of dirt on top of a coffin closed long ago.
The system is probably rigged based on Hertz programming directives ( “Find something based X miles driven). Just rent a car and drive around an airport parking lot or garage to put a few miles on and document. Turn the car in and when it bills you, expose and sue them. Easy paycheck.
There ought to be legislation to prevent this nonsense.
@ Gary. The series of articles about Hertz’s use of AI and the result has been very informative for me. Thank you, I will no longer rent from Hertz.
How to lose 90% of your business 101
Hertz has just become the Granddaddy of Poor Customer Relations and Scams…..I’ll do all I can to not ever rent from Hertz again.
Will NEVER rent from Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty again. Customers need to be respected.
how about they scan when you leave too so there is a baseline scan copy you can have to prove nothing changed when you return it?
The airport rental return is such a circus I started using Lyft and Uber. In most cases I come out even money or better in larger cities. No buying gas or tipping hotel valet to park car for $30 or $50 a night. Add it all up. How much really is the rental before the $440 for a scuff mark on a tire?
Thanks for keeping us posted. I really hope Hertz feels the pain and I have been actively spreading the word with my travel peers. I have been more than loyal to them for 30+ years, but i am not going to walk into a scam that has no proof/process/fairness.
I protect myself using Certified Media to document the condition of the car before I drive off the lot. Takes two minutes with a mobile application named ProveIt-Now!
If you damage the car you rent you should pay for it unless you have full insurance. What’s wrong with that??. Makes good sense
The YouTube channel Leto’s Law has a lot of episodes about all the terrible things Hertz does. How are they in Business?
Bottom line is do not ever rent from Hertz. Finding new ways to destroy customer relations. From this to them reporting cars stolen as soon as you rent them leading to customers getting pulled over and even time in jail while the mixup gets sorted.
So what’s this new AI inspection return thing. I’m a little worried about that..
No worries boss.. You’re in luck. We offer our own scratch insurance for just $35/day so you may have a worry free vacation.
This is making a fantastic argument for actively avoiding renting from Hertz.
I rent on occasion, and have a flashlight and go over the whole car, taking pictures and videos making note of the date and time.
The checkout kiosk you drive by? I tell them my findings and have them documented.
I’m not paying for something I didn’t do.
Coming soon….Enterprise to buy Hertz in acquisition deal.
They’re already hurting as it is. There’s nothing like killing your business than doing this to your customer base especially when those items fall under what’s considered normal wear and tear.
Hertz always has been on my do not rent from them list lol. Top of the list because they do attempt to charge everyone just to try and get them to pay. If you simply dispute they usually drop it. Pathetic practice imo so I can’t rent from them in good conscience. And my wallet doesn’t want to either because they always try to charge for a ding here or cracked windshield there that was previous to my renting with them.
I bet they’re checking what credit card you have. If your credit card has CDW coverage they’ll target you much more. I rented with Hertz and they never hassled me until I switched to a card with CDW included (Amex Plat).
Hertz is dead to me now. The comparative prices they were showing were all “Prepaid” anyway. Rule #1, never ever prepay for a service. There’s a reason your boss doesn’t pay you in advance.
We used to rent from Hertz all the time, up to a month on some trips. Unfortunately, the only winners here are their competitors… We will no longer rent from Hertz, sounds like a shakedown to me….
I’ve avoided Hertz like the plague for the past several years, ever since (some of) their renters got arrested for “stealing” their cars when all they did was extend their rentals. Between that, their disastrous (i.e. huge financial beating) acquisition of a large fleet of Tesla EVs, and now their AI scammers/scanners, I don’t understand why anyone would choose to rent from Hertz when there are a dozen competitors to choose from.
Fortunately, I don’t rent cars that often, but Hertz is the one rental car company on my blacklist.
The real question is will the rest of the industry follow Hertz or will one of them see it as a new customer acquisition strategy and build on Hertz’s mistake. Delta, might want to find a better promo than President’s Circle for Diamond. I will be looking elsewhere for rental cars.
Hertz has always been crooked. One time when renting from them, I returned a car to the office in Louisville, KY, and was charged for a full tank of gas. At the time, I used them exclusively, charging the rentals on their credit card. I sent in the receipt for my gas fill-up from a gas station just 4 miles from the dropoff point. I filled more gas than I used. I received a corrected invoice, but without any notification, they cancelled my charge card—pure crooks. They make their money from charges they hope will not be disputed.
For those of you who are asking why is it a bad thing to be forced to pay for damages that you caused on a rental car? How about these scenarios. You’re on a road that is the only road you can take to get you where you need to go. You get behind a dump truck and the truck is spitting out tiny rocks. One of them are bigger than the others and chips the hood. Is that you’re fault? How about the same road scenario but the road was just painted by road crews and paint gets on the car? How about a parking lot and someone parked next to you puts a tiny ding on the rental? Are you able to sit by the car 24/7 to make sure no one dings the car? Of course not. Is it fair to force us to pay for damages that happen beyond our control? No. It will be impossible to return a perfect car. And this just sets people up for a who gets to pay lottery and more than likely, none of those damages will be fixed anyway. Takes too long and the company needs to send the car back out ASAP. This is a scam and Hertz will lose a lot of customers over this. As will any others who do the same AI return checks.
We had a very small scratch on our rear bumper. The person at LHR basically accused me of not knowing how to store luggage in a car (I bring back at least 300 lbs. in the cargo every trip from the UK for trade shows) because I am a woman (also a 2.8 million miler on UA) He asked for money to make it go away. I refused to sign the paperwork and got billed 440 GBP for the damages. Come to find out later, they are subcontractors in the return section AND they get a percentage of all the damage amounts they bring it! I did take a photo but they claimed it was a different car.
@Jo Williams — Regardless of the AI topic, what you described with the kickback/commission scheme for those subcontractors should be illegal. Hertz at that location clearly created an incentive to ‘screw’ customers, exaggerate and falsify claims, all so they can profit more. Not cool
Frankly, at this point this has been widely publicized. Everyone is duly warned. So anyone who runs from Hertz in USA really has no reason to complain. I imagine Hertz may wake up when they lose a big part of their customer base.
Even if you buy the LDW/CDW coverage offered the insurance company will not cover the processing, administrative (how are these different anyway) and or loss of use fees. $125, $65, and TBD…
So if you use a credit card with insurance coverage, how will the banks respond when all these bull claims start rolling in?
@Jim B. — Hopefully, those claims agents will honor their commitments to card members, and effectively push back on false claims by repeat bad actors/locations in the rental car industry… *holding my breath*
I’ve been a Presidents club level member for over 20 years- I’m done with Hertz. This greed is just out of control.
This is absolutely enough to get me to choose any other car rental company into the future.
But what do you want to bet that eventually it will be proven that the AI machines have different levels of scrutiny for vehicles: One that picks up fewer dings & scratches (when you’re leaving Hertz) and another one that picks up more… every little thing. And the latter will, of course, be at the time you drop off your vehicle.
Is there no such thing as “normal wear and tear”? And how can the customer be responsible for uneven tire wear–that is a routine maintenance issue that is the responsiblity of Hertz? Am I soon to be responsible for oil changes, because the car hit the “change oil mileage mark” during my rental?!
Hmmm, I’m booked with Hertz out of Barcelona for six weeks of driving holiday around Spain and Potugal. I have nearly always used Hertz and have had no problems other than never getting the car I book( 10 months in advance). I try to take great care and always pay extra for secure carparking etc
Whilst the article is refering to the USA, this is very worrying and I will be checking to see if Europe is following suit.. I may have to change my booking.. Hertz were no cheaper than any other company to begin with, its just loyalty and being satisfied with the service that has kept me there.
The AI thing is ridiculous and nothing more than a pseudo scam.. Hertz will be claiming depreciation and write downs all the way through the life of the car, yet will be charging for anything that looks like a mark or more, basically ensuring that only the milage is depreciating the car.
For a start, How do you see under a car when you are hiring or when you return and are rushing to meet a flight.
It’s the equivalent of a scam for sure.
This is FRAUD! PROVE I did the damage. This idea that I am responsible for damage by a shopper in a parking lots is STUPID!
The minor wear and damage is A FIXED COST of doing business! Suck it up HERTZ!
I WILL NEVER rent from ANY rental car company using this CRAP to simply OVERCHARGE a customer!
Send me a BILL AFTER the work is ACTUALLY DONE, AFTER you PROVE it was ME that did it! Off to court we go Hertz!
Use a CC that has a super small credit line so they CANNOT just charge you a ridiculous amount.
What is next? Charge us for OIL wear, tire wear, depreciation of the car to us? They are trying to GOUGE us!
A bank executive USED to customer FEES must have gotten a job at Hertz THINKING they can nickle and dime you to death…
Hertz had an overcharging for fuel habit that our company called them on. Our corporate rep from Hertz started an email discussion with their billing department and kept us in the loop by cc: ing us on the conversation. The billing department basically told their own corporate rep to piss up a rope and we were copied on it too.
That was the end of the line for us with Hertz. We went to National and never looked back. We had over 60,000 team members, many that travelled weekly with rental cars. That was around 15 years ago.
I can’t speak to what’s being going on with regard to Hertz and others. I’m at a small company. I have historically rented from Hertz about 10 times per year, my company about 18 times per year. The two of us in the company who use Hertz are Gold Plus Rewards President’s Circle members.
We get a corporate rate that puts us at good discount. We don’t buy their insurance as we charge via Amex and have Amex insurance on everything except liability which is from our auto policy from the company on our company cars.
I’ve personally gone through AI scanning three times now, the latest in Atlanta yesterday, and have driven the three cars about 400 miles aggregately. I’ve not yet been charged for any damage there or anywhere else with Hertz except for the one time that I was in a bad accident several years ago and the car was undriveable and was towed to Hertz where I got a replacement.
I do take a photo of every scratch both before I drive off the Hertz lot and immediately after returning the car. I also do a video of the car walking around it totally. So I have a record of all the scratches before and after.
I’ve been renting at Hertz since around 2009. Every once a they’ve tried to charge me for not filling my tank. That’s gone away in the last few years and I always have my receipt.
I would have less of a problem with this if Hertz (or any company using this technology) would also be required to scan the car before I leave the lot, especially with hard to see existing damage. And in my case, flying west coast to east coast, it’s usually dark when I pickup the car so trying the find every scratch is impossible. I will never rent from Hertz and can’t understand why anyone would.
I too have been Presidents level for years and years, after reading several articles regarding this “MRI” for cars I’m done. Started Avis and not missing Hertz at all. It will be interesting to see how long this last and or other companies adopt the same. Question does this push one to pay for damage coverage, now there’s another rip off.
I literally had a nightmare after reading this article. I had turned in a rental car and it was coming through this CT scanner type thing. The guy walks up and he hands me a $1700 bill on a cash register receipt expecting payment. I remember having an nasty argument and then I woke up :-/
@JimC – Hertz scans you car as you leave the garage/lot before you get to the checkout booth. The use the identical scanner, both in and out. My concern, however, is that while it’s an identical scanner, are they set to exactly the same settings so that the outgoing scan is every bit as sensitive to nicks and scrapes as the incoming scan. I suspect that at some Hertz locations, that’s the case.
In Atlanta where I was two weeks ago, I first videoed the entire car and then photographed every scratch and nick I saw. A Hertz representative tried to dissuade me from doing it, intimating that because they were going to scan it, I was being silly wasting my time and that I should stop immediately and just leave. I told him that his comments were out of line and that they made me suspicious that they were going to cheat with their scans. He got red in the face and walked away.
That said, in the last few months I’ve rented from Hertz three times and haven’t yet had any charges for damage. And I don’t buy insurance from Hertz. I have everything but liability from Amex and liability from my own car insurance. I continue to rent from Hertz because so far they’ve treated me just fine and I get a great corporate rate from them.