3 hours ago
2
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 estimate the damage” and the administrative fee “covers a portion of the costs [Hertz incurs] as a result of processing your claim,” these explanations have struck customers as vague — especially when they have no way to challenge the charges in real time.
In a statement to The Drive, Hertz defended the system, saying: “The vast majority of rentals are incident-free. When damage does occur, our goal is to enhance the rental experience by bringing greater transparency, precision, and speed to the process.”
Yet some customers see it differently. They say the AI system seems designed to maximize revenue, not fairness. The technology’s ability to instantly generate fees — with no human interaction and a short window for discounts — feels less like transparency and more like pressure.
One Reddit user responding to professor_pimpcain wrote last week: “Wow that’s insane! Never using hertz ever again.”
Earlier this year, Hertz announced that it was partnering with UVeye, an Israel-based firm that specializes in rapid, automated car inspections that have been described as an “MRI for vehicles.”
By year’s end, Hertz says it will have more than 100 of UVeye’s AI-powered scanners operating at US airport locations.
These machines perform full-body vehicle scans in seconds, detecting damage such as dents, scrapes and cracked glass both before and after a rental.
While Hertz is the only major rental company using the system extensively, UVeye’s technology is already well-established in other automotive sectors, with clients like General Motors, Hyundai, Amazon and CarMax.
The company’s inspection systems are in use at hundreds of dealerships, fleet locations and vehicle auctions worldwide. UVeye has also worked with GM and Connexion Mobility to inspect cars at dealerships during service appointments, but not in traditional rental contexts.
UVeye is reportedly in talks with additional rental agencies, suggesting broader adoption may be on the horizon.
Hertz has faced controversy before. In recent years, the company has been criticized for billing electric vehicle renters for gasoline due to a “systems error” and for charging one customer $10,000 for mileage on an “unlimited-mile” rental.
In 2022, five customers sued Hertz after being wrongfully arrested for allegedly stealing cars they had, in fact, returned.
The Post has sought comment from Hertz and UVeye.
English (US)