TLDR: Hertz charged an Atlanta customer $440 for a one-inch wheel scuff detected by new AI scanners, sparking viral backlash just months after promising the technology would improve “transparency for customers.” With the company still recovering from a $168 million false arrest settlement, the shift from human judgment to algorithmic enforcement suggests damage detection has become a profit center disguised as innovation.
Minutes after returning his rental car at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Patrick received an unwelcome surprise on his phone: a $440 damage charge for a one-inch scuff on the driver’s side rear wheel, according to The Drive. The culprit wasn’t an eagle-eyed employee but Hertz’s new AI-powered vehicle inspection scanner—technology the company had recently touted as improving “transparency for customers.”
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