- Complaints about Hertz’s new AI damage detector grew over the weekend, with photos in tow.
- Customers say the system is too aggressive when flagging minor or barely visible damage.
- Others report frustration over the lack of contact with human reps during the dispute process.
Most of the time, when a rental car company lands in the news, it’s for something fairly routine. Maybe there’s a deal on luxury SUVs, a new performance model added to the lineup, or the occasional viral story where an unattended counter leads to customers driving off in whatever had keys in the ignition. But lately, Hertz has been making headlines for a less flattering reason: customers are pushing back over charges for minor vehicle damage.
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Read: Hertz’s AI Tech Sent A Surprise Bill For A Dent He Didn’t Even See And He’s Not Alone
At the center of the controversy is Hertz’s new AI-powered damage detection system that works, just maybe a bit too well. As reports stack up, some renters say they’re being billed for damage so minor it’s barely visible, and getting answers hasn’t been easy. That’s left many wondering whether Hertz jumped into automation before it was ready to handle the fallout.
How Small Is Too Small?
We’ve already documented multiple cases of Hertz customers complaining about dings and dents. The company provided Carscoops with several statements regarding the technology. For example, it says that 97 percent of cars scanned by its system show no billable damage. Evidently, it only flags ‘billable damage’ which it defines as one inch or larger.
That said, some online claim that it’s flagging much smaller stuff, and the pictures seem to back that up. In one post on Reddit, the renter says the damage was ‘smaller than a penny.’ The attached photo shows what looks like a door ding in the main beltline crease of the car. It’s tough to say how big it is, but whether or not it’s an inch long seems very much up for debate.
Not an Isolated Case
Photos Reddit
This person is far from alone in their concern, as we can see in the photos above. Just over the weekend, plenty of examples just like the last popped up on Reddit. In some cases, the damage is what customers call ‘microscopic.’ In other cases, customers say it almost seems like there is less damage after the rental than when they picked it up.
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For Hertz, the problem is one that has been dealing with for years. How does it ensure that the responsible parties pay for damage incurred during their rental?
“Vehicle damage has long been a common pain point across the car rental industry for customers and companies alike,” the rental company told Carscoops in a statement. This method takes out the human element, including errors that can occur on that level, but that’s proving to also be an issue in and of itself.
Automation, Minus the Human Touch
To be fair, Hertz is absolutely right to call out the damage issue it faces. Any of us who rented out a car would want to be sure dings and dents were cared for by the responsible party, even if they were relatively minor. On top of that, the system fixes a problem seldom talked about: customers charged for damage they didn’t create.
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This new tool aims to fix that issue entirely. What’s strange, though, is that Hertz seemingly sorted out the expensive scanning tool and AI software before figuring out how to communicate with customers about it. Multiple customers have complained about how tough it is to discuss damage concerns with Hertz.
In our previous coverage, an AI expert said he couldn’t get through Hertz’s in-app AI assistant to talk to a real person. Hertz says that it’s working on the issue and that escalated concerns are handled by a real human who then responds through the AI system. That said, it hasn’t stopped customers from complaining.
One complaint on Reddit said, “It’s impossible to get a hold of anyone. Has anyone had success at fighting this AI bot? I cannot even see a thing on this, yet am being charged $180.” They only had success in speaking to a human after contacting Hertz through its Facebook page. To that end, we’ve reached out to Hertz once again to understand its game plan better.
Photos: Paninimeanie / Folkhitter3000 / PaulaPatek / Regular_Mechanic2443 @Reddit
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