Hertz reportedly does not have humans verify artificial intelligence scans before billing customers hundreds of dollars for supposed damage to rental vehicles, and a congresswoman wants to know why. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-SC, sent a letter to Hertz CEO Gil West, asking for a “better understanding [of] Hertz’s experience as an early adopter of AI scanning technology.”
“Some other car rental companies reportedly use AI as a tool but require human staff to review any damage flagged by the scanning system before billing customers; however, Hertz is apparently the only car rental company in the U.S. that issues damage assessments to customers without human review,” Mace, chair of a House cybersecurity subcommittee, wrote.
She questioned how the AI scanners “will benefit [Hertz’s] customers and how the use of AI scanning may impact Hertz’s work as a vendor to the Federal government.”
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Customer complaints and concerns mount
In April, Hertz announced a partnership with UVeye, a company specializing in AI-powered vehicle inspection technology. The system is designed to scan vehicles for damage such as dings, dents and scratches.
Hertz uses the UVeye AI scanner technology at six airports: Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Newark and Phoenix.
However, some customers have raised concerns, reporting that they have been charged for damage that is not visible to the naked eye. Several people reported receiving bills for hundreds of dollars without any details of human-verified damage.
One customer told The Drive he was charged $440 for a scuff on a wheel just minutes after dropping off his rental car.
Hertz defends technology as efficient and transparent
Hertz claims its AI technology improves transparency and efficiency by speeding up the inspection process. The company says the system can quickly scan a vehicle, compare before-and-after images and produce detailed reports that show any damage.
Hertz says more than 97% of the vehicles scanned by the system show no damage that would result in a charge to the customer.
Mace’s letter gave Hertz until Aug. 27 to reply. Straight Arrow News has reached out to Hertz for comment.
