A.I. Is Making Sure You Pay for That Ding on Your Rental Car

The Hertz from this article is a company you should never do business with, unless you like getting falsely accused of a felony, arrested, and imprisoned for no reason:

https://www.npr.org/2022/12/06/1140998674/hertz-false-accusa...

I personally use other companies when I rent a car... but I'm also paranoid about the kind of nonsense described in the article, so I just buy the damage coverage when I rent the car. It means renting a car is far more expensive than it should be, but it saved my bacon the last time I rented when someone dinged the paint.

It's funny that the AI bogeyman is used in the article to make this new tech seem scarier. The problem is the general practice of trying to milk you for money over regular wear and tear.

All three times I’ve attempted to use hertz since 2021, I’ve shown up with a reservation only to be told they have no cars. Their overbooking policy appears to be “yes”. Even without this bullshit they aren’t worth touching.