• Ebby
    link
    fedilink
    English
    12110 days ago

    If it takes a whole 60 seconds for this glorified camera-carwash contraption to scan a vehicle and generate a report, they are charging $11,400/hour.

    Hertz, I will personally sit on a roller stool with a camera and make beep boop sounds for that dough. Take my resume.

    • ☂️-
      link
      fedilink
      English
      910 days ago

      yeah but then theyd have to pay ya instead of pocketing almost everything and getting a robot to do it for them.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      3010 days ago

      Hertz, I will personally sit on a roller stool with a camera and make beep boop sounds for that dough. Take my resume.

      The jo is harder than that. You have to occasionally say “enhance”.

        • VieuxQueb
          link
          fedilink
          English
          210 days ago

          That’s what they are hoping for so they can charge their customers for damages that don’t exist and go computers don’t make mistakes when you complain.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      2110 days ago

      Yeah but you are a person presumably, so there is accountability. The reason to use AI is to escape accountability

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    10210 days ago

    Cars get damaged, it’s part of USING a GOD DAMN CAR. To me if something is damge that is invisible to a normal human eye and doesn’t impact the function of it, it’s part of renting cars.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      4210 days ago

      Wear and tear is specifically not allowed to be charged for home rentals in Australia. Damage that is not wear and tear can be I would assume it would also apply for car rentals but I haven’t checked.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        3810 days ago

        Whenever I’ve rented from Enterprise here in the US, they explicitly do not charge you for simple scuffs/scratches that aren’t deeper than a specific amount (like 0.5cm or something).They’ve always told me they don’t charge for dents that are smaller than around 2-4cm in diameter. In other words, basic wear and tear on cars being used by hundreds of people over their rental lifespan.

        If Hertz ultimately goes down this path and their competitors do not, I would almost guarantee they’ll lose tons of business.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          310 days ago

          But they’ll have some AI machines instead, so the shareholders will be happy. The shareholders of a different company, but still…

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          39 days ago

          Yeah but they’ll lose that business next quarter, and the current shareholders will have already sold thier shares by the time that’s reported so it doesn’t matter.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        2
        edit-2
        9 days ago

        I recently hired a car from eurocar. And they did have a reasonable wear and tear policy.

    • Ulrich
      link
      fedilink
      English
      710 days ago

      Dents and scratches are not part of “using a car”

      • Lka1988
        link
        fedilink
        English
        8
        edit-2
        9 days ago

        A pebble flung up from a passing car cracked my van’s windshield the other day.

        • Ulrich
          link
          fedilink
          English
          19 days ago

          And I suppose you expect Hertz to eat the cost of replacing the windshield?

          • Lka1988
            link
            fedilink
            English
            12
            edit-2
            9 days ago

            Windshields crack sometimes. Tough titties. It’s a giant pane of fragile glass exposed to the elements.

            If it’s clearly not malicious, then yes, they should suck it up and pay for it. That’s cost of doing business.

            • Ulrich
              link
              fedilink
              English
              19 days ago

              LOL I don’t even know what to say to that. “Tough titties” indeed. You’re the one responsible for anything that should happens to the vehicle while it’s in your possession, even if it’s not entirely or even partly your fault.

              • Lka1988
                link
                fedilink
                English
                69 days ago

                And what if the windshield cracks due to temperature fluctuations? It happens. And on a rental car? Not my problem.

                • Ulrich
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  19 days ago

                  Then that would be a warranty issue. But good luck proving that.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          1410 days ago

          If you’re close enough to another vehicle on a gravel road that you’re getting stones flicked up, there’s no way that’s a safe following distance, especially considering the increased stopping distances.

          • Lka1988
            link
            fedilink
            English
            69 days ago

            It’s easy to armchair quarterback when you have the benefit of hindsight.

            Go ride a motorcycle and then come back and tell us how many pebbles got enough in your direction, despite following at safe distances. I can assure you that you will be very surprised.

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            English
            410 days ago

            I have had nicks in my windshield due to gravel thrown up by vehicles traveling in the opposite direction.

        • Lka1988
          link
          fedilink
          English
          49 days ago

          You don’t even have to be on a gravel road. My van’s windshield got cracked the other day simply from a pebble getting kicked up from a passing car.

        • Ulrich
          link
          fedilink
          English
          2
          edit-2
          9 days ago

          I have actually, for several years of my life, which is how I know it doesn’t cause that.

          E: downvote this comment if you have never driven on a gravel road.

          • Lka1988
            link
            fedilink
            English
            49 days ago

            You’ve driven on a gravel road behind other cars and never had a windshield crack? Not even a rock chip?

            Now I know you’re full of shit.

            • Ulrich
              link
              fedilink
              English
              1
              edit-2
              10 days ago

              I tend to “annoy” people about fascist dictators frequently but it’s nice to know you have no counterargument and you downvote based on hate instead of the content of the comment itself.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    17
    edit-2
    10 days ago

    I’ve had all of my wheels stolen before. That was an awkward teams meeting, explaining why I was not there in person. The photographs I sent into the chat made it more entertaining though.

    I think the weirdest part was how nonchalant that Hertz rep was about the situation. Because this shit happens all the time

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        710 days ago

        I don’t know… But some people take their shitty jobs way too seriously.

        Honesty, if you are working for some mega Corp why are you bootlicking? They don’t give a shit about you.

        I don’t understand some people… It’s like the dude working at Walmart running after shoplifters… Like dude… You’re risking your life for fucking Walmart…

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        310 days ago

        That is not what I was suggesting. It was more like oh yeah, this happens all the time no worries…

        Come to find out Hertz removes the OEM installed lock nuts on each vehicle, which was starting to me. I realize there are ways to around that quickly, but why remove a simple barrier like this?

        The other thing I figured out is why all hotels don’t monitor their parking lots… That is what really pissed me off.

  • FlashMobOfOne
    link
    fedilink
    English
    16
    edit-2
    10 days ago

    It’s almost certainly programmed to find damage that doesn’t exist and price gouge you for it, but they haven’t found that sweet spot yet, where you can get people to pay more without putting up a fight.

    • Dr. Moose
      link
      fedilink
      English
      19 days ago

      Yeah people will not bother to risk losing so much money or a day argueing for a Camry. I had to do that once with a local rental here and never used them again despite them having better cars and cheaper price.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      49 days ago

      I got a ticket in France (I’m from the US) in a Hertz rental and never paid it, so I too will never rent from Hertz again.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    4110 days ago

    One of the problems with removing people from the equation is that there is no way to escalate an issue. I’m guessing it’s by design.

    An example of this is the food delivery app in the country where I live. One time a delivery person said the restaurant was closed. The app said it was open but it was a holiday. Neither of us could cancel the order or contact a person to allow the cancelation.

    Another instance, a delivery rider had a problem with their bike and asked me to cancel the order, when I told her I could not, she told me to call the restaurant to cancel it.

    I don’t think she really had a problem with her bike, but I couldn’t chat with anyone who worked at the app to resolve the issue. She eventually delivered it. I think she just didn’t want to wait for the food to be ready since it wasn’t fast food. I ended up ordering from a different place, and ended up with 2 dinners.

  • marighost
    link
    fedilink
    English
    259 days ago

    I took my car to the dealership (begrudgingly) for recall work, and they have one of these scanners. I’m not sure if AI is attached to it, but it clocked hundreds of dings and dents as “needing repair” despite everything being simple cosmetic scratches and dings.

    A friend of mine works for a dealership, where they have one of these things too, and even raindrops will register thousands of dings on these readers. They’re so full of shit to siphon every single penny out of their customers.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      59 days ago

      I’m in the industry, and the only thing I’ve seen the scanners used for is cya. Make sure the dealer doesn’t get blamed for pre-existing damage

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    5610 days ago

    AI is going to make customer service so much worse than it is now. Makes me want to be a customer as infrequently as possible.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      710 days ago

      It’s a lucrative market market for AI lawyer systems that automatically fight every claim.

  • Kühlschrank
    link
    fedilink
    English
    3910 days ago

    There isn’t really a good rental company but Hertz towers above the rest as the worst. I’ve gone to pick up a car I reserved at noon on a Wednesday and there was just nobody there to give me the key and no one to answer a phone.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      9
      edit-2
      10 days ago

      Hertz is the worst rental company I’ve had to deal with. Enterprise is the only one I’ll use if I have a choice.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      2210 days ago

      Is Hertz still renting cars to people, then reporting them stolen so the people who rented the cars get pulled over by psycho aggressive cops and run the very real risk of being shot/killed?

  • ssillyssadass
    link
    fedilink
    English
    3410 days ago

    I’m assuming they stuck a camera to an LLM?

    Tech companies are treating LLMs like how people back in the day would put asbestos or mercury in everything. “It’s good at this one thing, it’s gotta work for other stuff too.”

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      310 days ago

      I’m assuming they stuck a camera to an LLM?

      Hey, if you don’t know what you’re assuming, there’s no point asking us.

      But I’ll say YES, that’s what you’re assuming, just so you have an answer.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      710 days ago

      How is a large language model going to apply to a visual inspection?

      This is probably a CNN trained to identify different types of damage. Similar to how your phone identifies faces.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1310 days ago

    I’d love to see them prove they genuinely incurred those costs, how do you go about fixing a tyre scuff?

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        110 days ago

        Could be, but that’s a very strange choice of language by the author. You scuff a tyre, you scratch or gouge a rim typically.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          310 days ago

          I mean I disagree. A gouge would be a big chuck taken out, a scratch would be a more surface level line where as a scuff would be a patch of surface level damage. I doubt I would ever use scuff in terms of a tyre either.

          That is the wonders of language though, everyone uses it differently :D

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            English
            310 days ago

            Language is wonderful when you know how to use it. Rims are rims, tires are tires and both together are wheels.

            I’ll give you scuffs; you certainly understand what a scuff is though.

            Easy easy, lemon squeezy.

            • @[email protected]
              link
              fedilink
              English
              110 days ago

              I mean if you want to be pedantic then;

              Wheel: “a circular object connected at the centre to a bar, used for making vehicles or parts of machines move”

              So a rim or alloy can and is a wheel with or without a tyre ;)

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        3
        edit-2
        10 days ago

        A tire can be scuffed just like a rim can be scuffed just like a wheel can be scuffed.

        They are all equally valid to be scuffed.

        And Tyre is old English, go back to your island. ;)

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          310 days ago

          I’m not saying it can’t be scuffed, I’m saying that personally I wouldn’t use it in that way because like you say I’m from an island that spells tyre with a y :p

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    89 days ago

    I can’t load the link but the human beings at places like Enterprise where I usually rent are totally reasonable. They’re always like, don’t worry, only big things are an issue.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      59 days ago

      It really depends on the company. Some look for any way to squeeze you. Others are pretty decent and probably more efficient as they dont waste as many working hours on bullshit claims and claim resolution.

      Also if i rent a car i want things to go smoothly. I got places to be. You make my life easy, ill happily pay again and do my best to make yours easy too.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    169 days ago

    Returned a multi-week Hertz rental a couple of days ago and had to fight with the staff to get to get a written acknowledgement of no damage.

    Customers are supposed to just trust Hertz employees will self-report damaging the car after it has been turned in? Absolutely laughable considering how many times rental companies try to screw over their customers.

    This is great info and I won’t be renting from Hertz again.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      109 days ago

      Why would anyone rent from a company that was convicted of persecuting their own customers because of the incompetence of the company?

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

      Hertz fucked up repeatedly and people lost their jobs, were imprisoned and had their credit scores wrecked because Hertz couldn’t find it’s own cars on it’s own lots.

      Why anyone would give them a fucking nickel is beyond me

      • A Wild Mimic appears!
        link
        fedilink
        English
        49 days ago

        holy shit! i worked in travel insurance organizing rental cars in case of breakdowns, with hertz as one of our primary partners in some areas, and at least in central europe i didn’t see cases like this. That’s quite shocking to learn for me!

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          29 days ago

          Hertz had a bunch of bad shit in the news but this one… wow. and the impacts downline on people’s lives, all upended for the simple act of renting a car, yikes.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    5510 days ago

    My car needed some repair work. Insurance set me up for a rental with Hertz who told me not to pay for bridge tolls with my own car’s transponder. When I take the car back, they tell me I’ll be invoiced later for the tolls. Had 4 toll crossings which ordinarily would come to less than $30 (even less if I had used the transponder).

    A month later, the Hertz charges show up: $77 (including ‘processing fee’). Called and complained. They said they’d look into it. Never heard back.

    Not using them again.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      1210 days ago

      Yeah, never use rental car agency toll payment. Too late for you now, but they treat it the same way they do the gas fill charges. If they do it they’ll double the cost. Use your own toll pass if you have one, add the rental plate to the pass while you’re using it.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      710 days ago

      They did something similar to me in Florida, hit me for 400 fucking dollars. I use Avis now.