this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2025
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[–] bcgm3@lemmy.world 58 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Oh, so Hertz has gotten wise to... every online platform that exists: Outsourcing all responsibility for their user-hostile bullshit to some vague "system" that cannot be held accountable.

I'm so sorry but the advertised cost has doubled because... Computer says so! No, sir, there's nothing I can do, sir, you see it's the system.

And you can't go anywhere else, because everyone else is doing it (or soon will be) too!

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I once tried to book on their site, and the website froze and it wouldn't go through every time I tried to pay. I checked my email multiple times and checked my credit card statement. Nothing went through. I went and booked elsewhere. 12 hours later, I get a confirmation email from them. I tried to cancel and it wanted to charge me $100 cancelation fee. I had to call to get it resolved. 45 minute wait time. Thankfully they took care of it, but it was a huge headache caused by their shitty system.

[–] BeardedBlaze@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

Next time just charge back.

[–] DarkSurferZA@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Oh, this is a thing. It's called an accountability sink.

There is a really interesting book called the unaccountability machine by Rory Sutherland (if my memory is working). Worth a read

[–] PrettyFlyForAFatGuy@feddit.uk 6 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Rory "expert in all things" Sutherland?

He keeps cropping up in my youtube feed talking about a huge range of topics in his confident posh twat voice.

His background is in marketing... never trust a salesman

[–] DarkSurferZA@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

Oh, he has some strange views, sure, but he is like that magician that tells everyone how the magic tricks are done, except this is marketing not magic, so both sides don't like him.

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[–] AppleTea@lemmy.zip 16 points 6 days ago (2 children)

just wait till they start denying health insurance with it

I'm sorry ma'am I know you're upset, but the AI said it's not covered. The AI is numbers, and numbers don't lie.

[–] T156@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Do they already not do that? They just call it "the computer".

[–] AppleTea@lemmy.zip 10 points 6 days ago

I mean, it'll mostly be accelerating a trend that was already there. Also, the initial scramble to use the legal grey area to cover as much shady shit as possible in a: Well shucks, how were we supposed to know the neural net would make illegal denials? After all, the guys who trained it don't even know exactly why it does what it does kinda way

[–] MilitantAtheist@lemmy.world 36 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Never rent a car from Hertz, check.

[–] KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml 21 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Hertz has also called the cops on their customers for a variety of asinine reasons.

I steer clear of them and Enterprise (Enterprise has been working the whole shaft for ICE).

[–] Vorticity@lemmy.world 43 points 6 days ago

I get why they'd use something like this to save money and time but, is suspect that correct use would include a human check before charging people.

We need to start pushing for laws on this kind of thing. Automated checks are fine if you, as the company, trust they won't have too many false negatives. If you aren't checking for false positives, though, you should be heavily fined for each false report. $25,000 per false report sounds like a good place to start. Hopefully that would be large enough to not just be the cost of doing business.

[–] GaMEChld@lemmy.world 30 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I wonder what a credit card dispute would result in here. Underutilized feature when businesses pull shady shit. Think I've had 6 or so disputes over the years, never failed.

[–] TeddE@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago (10 children)

Too many people these days don't use or have access to credit cards for services like this. Many people I know only use bank debit cards, or worse, use the debit preloaded cash cards issued by their employers' payroll service provider.

Credit cards motivate banks to help you, because if you won't pay, and the business doesn't pay, the bank has to take the hit.

Debit cards will work as well if your bank values it's reputation - but not all banks do.

And I would not trust a preloaded card provider to assist. You are neither their business partner nor their customer and that puts your interests at the bottom of a very long list. You have to hope some law is on your side or that your issue is so trivial that resolving it is more cost effective then dealing with you.

[–] Wispy2891@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago (2 children)

in this case, hertz doesn't rent to who doesn't have a credit card

debit = no rent

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

debit = no rent

Funny, I rented from Hertz about two weeks ago and there was a big sign at the counter explaining their terms of business for renting with a debit card. And it didn't say "We don't do it."

[–] Wispy2891@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

It's more a case by case situation, not universal. In a place where car thefts are rampant they wouldn't offer that, for example

And the initial deposit is massive

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[–] KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

You CAN dispute debit card charges, but the process is typically done through the vendor of the card, CPI or Fiserv. Contact your bank.

[–] TeddE@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

Yes. I agree - on paper all three have a chargeback process that appear similar enough. However, assuming you aren't a financial expert who never needs help, I'm discussing the behind the front politics at play and each group's motivations to go above and beyond.

[–] Underwaterbob@sh.itjust.works 8 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Huh? I don't think I've ever used a rental car service that didn't require a credit card. Exactly so they can charge for this sort of thing.

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[–] outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Credit cards are also an instrument of christofascist pedophiles who want to ban all pornography and 'pornography' (they consider the existence of queer people to be porn)

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[–] boaratio@lemmy.world 11 points 5 days ago

"AI is a disaster." Fixed it for you.

[–] llama@lemmy.zip 8 points 5 days ago

They know it doesn't work this is just a cash grab by rental car companies hoping to squeeze extra profit knowing most people won't fight it under the guise of digital transformation.

[–] flop_leash_973@lemmy.world 27 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

You mean an LLM that doesn't have the ability to understand context fails to make decisions that require context to do properly? Shocking /s

[–] coach_cheese@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago (8 children)

Except they are using computer vision, not an LLM

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[–] Gates9@sh.itjust.works 13 points 6 days ago

Hertz is a ripoff and a hassle and little else

[–] Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 6 days ago

Fair game. Give me a grease pen and let me mark everything I see. By the time I'm done, they'll owe me money.

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