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A.I. Is Making Sure You Pay for That Ding on Your Rental Car
- svkids 1y agoReally I wonder how.
- pseudolus 1y agohttps://archive.ph/NhhzB https://archive.ph/NhhzB
- kevingadd 1y agoThe Hertz from this article is a company you should never do business with, unless you like getting falsely accused of a felony, arrested, and imprisoned for no reason: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/06/1140998674/hertz-false-accusation-stealing-cars-settlement https://www.npr.org/2022/12/06/1140998674/hertz-false-accusa... I personally use other companies when I rent a car... but I'm also paranoid about the kind of nonsense described in the article, so I just buy the damage coverage when I rent the car. It means renting a car is far more expensive than it should be, but it saved my bacon the last time I rented when someone dinged the paint. It's funny that the AI bogeyman is used in the article to make this new tech seem scarier. The problem is the general practice of trying to milk you for money over regular wear and tear.
- vrosas 1y agoI'm an Avis person myself, and their response at the bottom of the article gives me a little hope that they've at least thought about this tech for more than 8 seconds. I once drove into the rental center with part of the car dragging along the ground, as it had been for the past 100ish miles. The conversation was as follows: Avis employee: "Sounds like you got part of the car dragging." Me: "Yeah I noticed that." Avis employee: "Don't worry about it, here's your receipt."
- jen20 1y agoAll three times I’ve attempted to use hertz since 2021, I’ve shown up with a reservation only to be told they have no cars. Their overbooking policy appears to be “yes”. Even without this bullshit they aren’t worth touching.
- moshegramovsky 1y agoIt takes a lot to shock me these days, but you definitely succeeded. That's just fucking crazy. Like you, I always pay for the insurance. It just makes sense.
- schrodinger 1y agoI've always been told while renting a car that any dent/ding smaller than a golf ball was considered wear and tear, and I've never had a problem over at least 50 car rentals. However, I've always noticed that Hertz is very dependent on the particular branch you rent from, and I generally avoid them unless I have met the general manager for the location and gotten to know them. In that case, it's been the _best_ company I've used. Otherwise, I stay far, far away. Enterprise seems more consistent.
- Natsu 1y agoI wonder if Hertz will someday pivot into making donuts at this rate.
- schrodinger 1y agotimmmmme to make the donuts! :)
- Spagbol 1y agoI personally had a terrible experience with Enterprise. They were great right up until they tried to pass off preexisting damage as something I had done (it was odd damage to the roof, which I couldn't see prior to taking the car without a stool or something), based on no evidence. They wanted me to pay over 2k for repairs, and I fought and fought to see their "evidence" and get it overturned all while they said "the investigation is already complete" and insisted I pay the damages immediately. I managed to find an agent that finally showed me there was no evidence. When I told them I would file a complaint to the Better Business Bureau I got an email within hours dropping the claim with many apologies, and a personal call from the manager who had been impossible to get a hold of prior to this. It was a relief but I am disgusted by the whole debacle. The nice salesperson front drops away quickly when they say you owe them a claim, then they become a nightmare to deal with. Personally I will never rent from them again. If you ever do rent a car, make sure to take a good video around the car, of the roof, and the underside and inside for good measure.
- yieldcrv 1y agoas long as I get the same tool, or there is a clearer chronology of when the ding occurred between rentals
- pseudolus 1y agoThe ultimate goal is to intimidate renters into purchasing as much insurance (Collision Damage Waiver, Liability, etc.) as possible, effectively doubling the cost of a daily rental.
- kylebenzle 1y agoExactly, companies favorite thing thing to sell is nothing at all. Subscriptions, insurance, service fees...
- alwa 1y agoFairly-priced insurance for this sort of thing is available for much closer to its actuarial value—that is to say, much cheaper than at the rental car counter. So cheap, in fact, that in the US, surprisingly many consumer credit cards toss in some sort of rental car insurance at no charge—good wherever, whenever, and however often (within reason). Without even so much as a driving history check. For that matter, the car rental firms routinely bundle damage waivers/insurance products into their volume/corporate contracts and still arrive at prices below the retail base rates. I don't think it's the insurance itself that's being sold here at all. It's more more predatory than that: it's the kind of price discrimination that squeezes a premium for "peace of mind" from the segment of their retail trade who are nervous, inexperienced, risk-averse, or financially unable to accept the small risk of an expensive event. Like a payday loan—it's spectacularly expensive to be poor.
- xgkickt 1y agoThe small print (of my card) mentions a maximum vehicle value. Every time I’ve asked for the vehicle’s value when renting abroad, it’s been higher than the card’s maximum.
- khuey 1y agoYou come out ahead very quickly getting a credit card that will cover the rental car (e.g. a Chase Sapphire Preferred) and paying the annual fee instead of buying insurance through the rental car company.
- boznz 1y agoIf you are renting a car abroad then check your travel insurance as it may cover any excesses. The one I just bought for the UK covers up to $5000 excess so exceeds the CDW. Of course I always do a once around the car with the phone before and after rental which I am sure everyone does these days
- kjellsbells 1y agoClassic MBA scam. Hertz dont own the cars outright, they borrow money to pay for them. So they have an interest in driving down the value of the cars so they can refinance at lower costs. Then, on the income side, they'll be gouging customers for fees to cover damage (or take out curiously expensive damage insurance). It's a continual shakedown and I imagine there were high fives all around when the Finance intern came up with the idea. Of course, Hertz has been a dumpster fire of a business for the last five years. Burning billions on electric vehicles, torching the share price, switching CEOs, not to mention falsely accsuing customers of theft. Maybe best to stay away from them for a bit.
- citizenpaul 1y agoYou have part of it but miss the whole picture. Hertz doesn't want to do business with "poor's." Its part of the bigger continuing stratification of classes. Unless you represent a company account with over $500 million in market cap (or gob) in which case you can negotiate actual Fair terms with them. Or a rich enough to pay enough that the rental costs equal to or greater than paying for the car's monthly cost outright. They simply don't want to do business with you. And they will get what they want because this country is ruled by corporations. Providing a good or service with a profit margin is so old fashioned what is this 1920? Nowadays you use your big MBA brain to do a business with another big brain MBA that also has rich parents that your parents are friends with. Then both ride away from the smoldering rubble of the company on their yachts when their options vest in 3-5 years. Because if you are a big brain MBA you know that is about how long it takes for your yacht to be constructed
- legitster 1y agoThis is being framed all dystopian, but I'm not so pessimistic. The current process is ridiculous - a random teenager in a vest with 15 minutes of training inspects the car when you check it out, and then you get a former drill sergeant when you check it back in. The current process is no less fair and Hertz is no less evil - but in this case its at least impartial and the scans are transparently available.
- woodruffw 1y ago> The current process is no less fair and Hertz is no less evil - but in this case its at least impartial and the scans are transparently available. I don't think it's impartial: the implication here is that the same technology is not available to the renter, so Hertz can easily claim damage that was already present at checkout that an ordinary customer picture can't refute. That asymmetry seems bad to me.
- tekla 1y agoThat's weird, because when I rent a car, I take photos and videos and I make sure to have a attendant write down the damage on the rental paper before I drive away. Is basic ass covering weird?
- woodruffw 1y ago> Is basic ass covering weird? The point was that basic ass covering isn't good enough; my visual scan and phone photos aren't going to match what a machine designed to find defects can do. (I think everyone does - or at least should do - what you do. I certainly do.)
- tekla 1y agoI would need examples of the defects that this machine would find that a) would matter enough to bother with and b) not be something a human could bring up arbitrarily too if they happened to not like me.
- schrodinger 1y agoAn act of civil disobedience that I absolutely wouldn't condone might be causing significant damage in the parking lot before you get to the outbound scanner, or after you pass through the inbound scanner. How would they handle that?
- xattt 1y agoLikely calling the police for vandalism after observing and recording this act on surveillance.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- caleblloyd 1y agoThe same way they handle it when a vandal does it to a random car at a Walmart parking lot. Nothing at all until one day the manufacturers put sentry mode on every car instead of just Teslas.
- mrangle 1y agoThe past two times I rented a car, I later received a bill from the rental company for supposedly unpaid tolls (plus fees) that I had most definitely paid. Renting a car with any liability exposure is a recipe for frustration. As far as I'm concerned, these scans mean that one will be billed if they legally can be. Regardless of actually accruing damage.
- benced 1y agoThis will obviously settle down into something reasonable over time, it’s as bad as it will be right now. Renting cars is a competitive business and to the extent it isn’t (mostly via the chokepoint of airport parking garage leases), that's always been true. (Of course, NYT writing an article and people being mad is part of that settling to reasonableness process)
- alwa 1y agoLest there remained any question as to whether one should do business with Hertz... Remember when they were a prestige brand?
- xnx 1y ago> Remember when they were a prestige brand? Unfortunate overlap with when their commercials featured OJ Simpson.
- black_13 1y ago[dead]
- eggn00dles 1y agothis is a test run to see how humans revolt against the machines. valuable data will be procured
- chris_wot 1y agoDon’t use Hertz
- t1234s 1y agoalways take the loss damage waiver when renting a car. While your insurance may cover repairs it most likely doesn't cover loss-of-use for the rental company. This means you may be liable for paying to keep the car rented while its being repaired.
- remram 1y agoHow does that hold up? If I return the car, the attendant inspects it, and I go home... then later I receive a bill about a scratch that the attendant didn't point out and that I cannot possibly inspect on the car... why would I possibly pay up? How could anyone litigate if I disagree and the car has been rented again? It would make a lot more sense to scan the car immediately when I return it, point out the damage, and bill me right there. I don't think that is what they do though? Is the scanner in another location?
- instagib 1y agoYou drive thru scanner on pickup and return. The scummy pay the bill today message comes after you get on the airplane and return home.
- c0nducktr 1y agoDon't worry, they'll probably make signing up for binding arbitration part of the rental agreement, conveniently having the arbitration decided by someone who sides with the company 99% of the time. It's all good though. They're certainly not scamming you.
- anonym29 1y agoWhat's weird is not that companies would want to try to be greedy, but how society has socially normalized not even reading important, binding legal contracts with real consequences, and just signing them without much, if any, serious consideration of the ramifications of what we're agreeing to.
- atq2119 1y agoWhat's actually weird is how society normalized binding contracts that are far too long to be reasonably read by the people they are supposed to be binding to. A well functioning legal system would throw out everything in those contracts on that basis alone.
- 1y ago
- nitwit005 1y ago> An employee reviews the report only if a customer flags an issue after receiving the bill. She added that fewer than 3 percent of vehicles scanned by the A.I. system show any billable damage. > They were charged $195: $80 for the damage and $115 in fees, including those incurred “as a result of processing” the damage claim and the “cost to detect and estimate the damage” that occurred during the rental. Hertz offered to reduce the charge to $130 if they paid within one day. Yea, that's just a scam. Charging fees for charging fees.
- zippyman55 1y agoI had the automatic insurance and got a flat ten miles outside of anchorage. Before cell phones. No way was I getting out of the car as it was dark and I was worried about things like a large moose. I drove the car back with a very smoking rim and happily turned the car in. Then 20 yrs later, I rented from hertz a car with balding tires with the steel belts showing thru the worn tires. I did not catch that, as the garage I reviewed the car was DARK. Unfortunately, my destination did not have a nearby Hertz location. My mother in law entered the picture and after several “may I speak to your supervisor” we escalated pretty high and the next day, a flatbed truck showed up with a car for me and they took the other away.
- bookofjoe 1y agohttps://archive.ph/NhhzB https://archive.ph/NhhzB
- ETH_start 1y agoThis should lower rental rates by encouraging more careful driving and reducing vehicle damage. Fewer repairs mean lower overall costs, which everyone would otherwise pay through higher rates.