I'd ask for the stupid AI scanning system to scan my car before I agree to renting it. Once they sign off on the 'all clear' notification from their AI scanner before rental, then I'd consider renting it .... but after reading this headline, I'd probably just tell them, I'm spending a few hundred dollars more on renting a car from someone else.
this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2025
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You should also ask for a copy of the pictures or videos it takes while scanning so you can reference when returning.
And they will totally provide those to you, no problem.
Just spit balling here, but they probably tune the AI for different thresholds between return and rent out so that they can rake in the damage fees for things that "weren't there" during the first AI scan.
Sounds like that shit with dodgy smoking detection in a hotel from last week..
Yup intentionally using dogy tools to extract more money from people under false pretenses, at this point I'm boycotting any company that claims to use AI, fuck em all
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Those do exactly what they're supposed to do. They're even explicitly advertised as providing new revenue streams.
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.
Never rent a car from Hertz, check.
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).
Okay so...in the rare event I need to rent a car, any suggestions on who to use that isn't Hertz and sister companies?
I've had a lot of good recent experiences with Enterprise (in the US). There's some interesting services like Turo, but I can't bring myself to try it yet. Weirdly too personal being other people's cars.
Enterprise and Alamo is owned by the same family which means they aren’t beholden to public shareholders. Usually this means the company is ran better and not as haphazardly as public ones tend to be.
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I rent through Costco and try to pick Alamo when possible. Avis is decent but they often share a line with Budget which can take forever.
I’m not a loyalty member of any brand for reference.
SIXT and TURO. Maybe price out renting the big truck from Lowe's/home depot. Or a haul. Both might be cheaper than hertz/enterprise depending on your area.
Sixt is specifically called out as AI lying about damages in Germany.
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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.
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.
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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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
Hertz is a ripoff and a hassle and little else
Aivis. Trai harder.
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.