this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2025
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A “longtime” Hertz customer says he is “done” with the car rental company after he claimed that the AI-powered damage detection system improperly flagged a nonexistent mark on the vehicle — even though video that he filmed immediately afterward appeared to back up his claim.

When angry customers sought to dispute the claim, they were unable to immediately reach a customer service rep.

“The link they send you does NOT allow you to submit a dispute. Calling customer support? Useless. They said they can’t do anything, even when I told them I have clear video evidence of the car being undamaged at the exact time the damage was claimed,” one customer said.

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[–] WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works 40 points 23 hours ago

Instead of going after Steam for NSFW content, payment processors need to crack down on AI customer service traps. If your company doesn't have a meaningful way of getting a hold of an actual human and disputing a charge, your company should be shut off from the payment processor networks. After all, the process of a chargeback normally asks if you've first exhausted their customer service options to resolve the dispute. Companies that don't have any meaningful customer service simply shouldn't be eligible for Visa/Mastercard payments. The chargeback risk is just too high.

[–] yarr 42 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The real "win" for Hertz here is that they can outsource their "accountability" to the machine. Associates love to say "I wish I could help you, but the system does X", "We can't override the system"

It's all bullshit... Hertz put the system in themselves and could include as many overrides or as much control as they please. This is a transparent, customer-hostile money grab. They KNOW that many people won't contest these charges. They KNOW it's an extra revenue source.

If you want to see something similar to this scumbaggery, there's a new "vape/smoke" detector marketed towards hotels. It says RIGHT IN THEIR sales material "Unlock a new revenue stream!"

Companies aren't doing this to make things more fair or efficient. They are doing it to siphon money out of the customer's pocket, and they are praying you either don't notice or just accept it.

Really disgusting and makes me wish we had some of the same consumer protections as the EU.

One of the problems is having our current "swindler in chief" at the White House is it's emboldening companies to do this type of shenanigan. After all, if the president runs various scummy businesses, why can't anyone else? The fish is rotting from the head down.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 10 points 1 day ago

This is the new business paradigm. They no longer care about offering a quality customer experience. Now it's all about extracting as much profit, while serving up as little as possible in exchange. The satisfaction of the customer is irrelevant.

[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 8 points 20 hours ago

Hah, this is very similar to AI based smoking detection scam in hotels which is advertised as guaranteed revenue increase via smoking fees.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 8 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

A “longtime” Hertz customer

Wait, those exist? Has Hertz not been the laughing stock of rentals for years now?

[–] Patches@ttrpg.network 4 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Is there a good rental company?

Kind of thought they were all shite

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 71 points 1 day ago (12 children)

It seems that every corporation in the US has openly turned into a con that's openly fleecing its "customers". There are no straight transactions to be found any more.

And inevitably, this will percolate into all the other regions so that the rest of the planet's shareholders can enjoy this new bounty.

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

At least we have agencies that will watch for these kinds of scams and bad-faith practices and bring accountability to shady businesses, such as the Federal Consumer Prote- oh, wait, I'm being told that was entirely dismantled for some reason.

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

You mean, the Federal Anti-Business Agency? Yeah, can't have this sort of thing.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 1 day ago (3 children)

You've just described capitalism

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[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 48 points 1 day ago (4 children)

if this happens to me and I cannot reach an agent immediately to reverse it, they get a chargeback and I never rent from them again. simple.

[–] jimrob4@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago (8 children)

I had fradulent Doordash orders on my card once. They were deliveries in NYC, and I've never been farther east than Ohio. I disputed them, Doordash said "here's pics of the food being delivered" and the card said "hey, can't argue that." I showed them that I wasn't the one who placed the order and that I was literally a thousand miles away. Didn't matter. Picture of a paper sack on a doorstep trumped facts.

Card Companies suck. I hate them all with a passion and treat them as the necessary evil they are.

[–] jafffacakelemmy@mander.xyz 2 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

This happened because your visa claim should have been 'stolen card details/fraud' but it was put through as 'food not delivered' instead. Either your card issuer didn't understand what was needed, or else it was poorly described to them. And you can't claim twice on the same transaction.

[–] jimrob4@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

I told them exactly what happened. That I didn't authorize the purchase and that my card data had been stolen. I was clear about the circumstances.

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[–] ConstableJelly@midwest.social 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

The couple times I've attempted a chargeback, my credit card company has sided with the business. The last time, we'd bought Switch controllers on sale from Walmart's website, but they were sold by a third party and the stick click button didn't work on them. We didn't notice for a couple months because we'd only used them for games that didn't use the stick click. We sent them to Nintendo for repair and they were returned unrepaired because they were counterfeit. We tried contacting Walmart 3 separate times after the seller failed to engage, after which point the return window was closed and the Walmart rep told me to dispute because their hands were tied.

So I did, and sent the product listing, my communication history with Walmart customer service, and the letter we received from Nintendo proving they were counterfeit. The credit card company reinstated the charge. I called them to ask why, and was told they asked Walmart to prove that the order had been fulfilled, and when they sent their evidence the chargeback was automatically canceled. I asked them to reopen it, and they did, and the supervisor told me that because the order was fulfilled and too much time had passed (probably around 6 months by then) there was nothing they could do.

Do not trust your credit card company to rectify malfeasance. The math is not on your side when they weigh the cost of pissing you off as an individual consumer versus the cost of pissing off a large business. They do not have your back.

[–] bold_atlas@lemmy.world 4 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Charge backs were fun while they lasted. Can't let people have a single crumb of redress against being defrauded.

[–] ubergeek@lemmy.today 10 points 1 day ago

This is one reason I still keep my Amex. Amex always sides with it's customers in charge backs, until definitive proof otherwise from the vendor comes.

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[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This festering AI dogshit covered in bottleflies will be the end of us.

[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (2 children)

I've asked AI to extrapolate humanity's future from present trends

[–] burgerpocalyse@lemmy.world 3 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

did you really need to ask ai

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[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 3 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

At least we get a big tasty burrito in the end

[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 3 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Joke's on you, that's just two rats in a small tent

[–] Edgarallenpwn@midwest.social 3 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

At least the rats will be housed

[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 1 points 20 hours ago

Now you're getting it, Citizen!

[–] Sp00kyB00k@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

At some point these companies gotta feel the pain. If they deliver a bad product, just don't pay them. They need us to give them money

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[–] lefixxx@lemmy.world 59 points 1 day ago (3 children)

This isn't an AI problem. It's an accountability sink.

I wouldn't bother chasing Hertz. I would send an email and issue a charge back. Then they will cal me.

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[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 201 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It could have been worse. This is a shout out to not use Hertz.

Hertz will pay $168 million to customers it falsely accused of stealing its cars

https://www.npr.org/2022/12/06/1140998674/hertz-false-accusation-stealing-cars-settlement

They also own

  • Dollar
  • Thrifty
  • Firefly
[–] andros_rex@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Whoa, I didn't see the first time around that they double downed even after losing many cases. Sounds like it was intentional.

[–] RestrictedAccount@lemmy.world 3 points 23 hours ago

I used to be a weekly Hertz customer and I noped right on out after this started happening.

[–] INHALE_VEGETABLES@aussie.zone 22 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Imagine hooking this clanker up and have it start billing your customers automatically.

It's not a bad idea but maybe run it offline for a while and then compare its findings against your current system's... And then decide to roll it out?

I'd love to know how many false defects it has identified over a period, versus their previous systems. The article really only has a few incidents with half a million cars in their fleet globally... But then was this system only rolled out in that Houston store?

I have so many questions that I'm sure have unhinged answers, but I will be gleefully buggered before the daily mail will do any investigation outside of some social media posts, good day.

[–] AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Hell yeah for using "clanker" as an AI slur lmao

[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 139 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Chargeback. Credit card companies won’t accept that BS and a chargeback is for the entire amount.

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[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 58 points 1 day ago (13 children)

I don’t understand the point of this. Minor scratches and dings are a cost of doing business. Driving away your customers over a nickel or dime will leave you in bankruptcy. It’s bizarre.

[–] skisnow@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 day ago

Also I've rented enough scratched, pitted and dented cars to know that no way are they spending that $650 on fixing them.

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 23 points 1 day ago

The point is to make money. Specifically to make a lot of money this year and get a bonus. Bankruptcy will be a problem for the next CEO.

[–] Iceman@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

But what if you turned the cost of doing business an opportunity for profit? All they know is squeeze.

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