A New York woman is refusing to pay Dollar parent company Hertz a $440 bill that was triggered by the rental car firm’s AI scanner which detected a wheel scuff she claims didn’t exist.
Nicole Paixao (pronounced PACKS-E-O) told The Post that she and her wife were concluding a Fourth of July vacation when they returned their rented Nissan Altima to the Dollar-Hertz terminal at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which installed a new AI-powered inspection system.
“Before we even reached our gate, I received a text and email stating that they had found damage on the vehicle,” the Binghamton area resident told The Post.
“My wife and I travel a great deal and I will never use their car company again,” she said.
“I do not believe at any point that I damaged their vehicle or did anything wrong. I will not succumb to $440 for a scratch, which, even if it exists, is not a feasible price.”
“It appears to be a small scuff on the wheel that allegedly was not there prior to rental.”
When reached by The Post, Hertz provided close-up before-and-after photos of the front passenger-side tire that sustained the scuff.
When Paixao and her wife picked up the Nissan Altima on June 28, the tire in question showed no visible signs of damage or scratches. After the couple returned the rental car on July 5, the rim of the tire appeared to sustain marks that measure a few inches in diameter, according to the provided photo.
The rental car giant defended the computerized inspections, saying that they provide “precision, objectivity, and transparency” to what was previously a subjective process.
The AI system is designed to ensure customers “won’t be charged for damage that didn’t occur during their rental” and that 97% of the nearly one million rentals scanned by the apparatus showed no billable damage.
Hertz told The Post that its terms of service, which are standard fare industrywide, stipulate that customers are financially responsible for any damage during the rental period — regardless of how it occurred.
The company said that its scanners have been programmed to only detect damage that “exceeds our billable threshold.”
“We don’t charge for ordinary wear and we also won’t charge for damage until it exceeds certain thresholds, for example a dent that exceeds 1 inch,” Hertz told The Post.
Hertz said that Paixao could have purchased the company’s in-house insurance policy prior to rental, which likely would have covered the damage. But Paixao told The Post that she could have had her own insurance cover it — but refused to submit the claim out of principle.
Paixao told The Post she declined Hertz’s optional insurance coverage at the time of rental.
“I believe I opted out of the additional insurance,” she said, adding that her coverage is through her employer. “Although it probably would have been covered, I did not want to submit it as I still believe their price gouging is ridiculous.”
She said Hertz “failed to provide me with the video of the damage” despite her repeated requests.
Paixao, who said she does not own a personal vehicle, believes the bigger issue is how Hertz arrived at the $440 figure. “I think the focus here is how they came about a number like that and how there are articles, such as the one that you wrote, where people are consistently being charged $440 for a scratch,” she said.
She added that if any damage did occur, it might have been caused by the spikes drivers are forced to cross on their way to the automated inspection area. “Something they could merely buff out but instead opt to charge $440 a day several times a day,” she said.
“As is standard across the industry and explained in our rental agreements, damage that occurs to the car when it is on rent is the responsibility of the renter,” a Hertz spokesperson told The Post.
“Car rental companies, personal auto insurance policies and some credit cards offer coverage and protection options that can alleviate or limit the renter’s financial responsibility.”
The company said that “we aim to handle every case fairly and objectively and, in this instance, our team reviewed the case and confirmed there was new, billable damage.”
Paixao suspects the alleged mark was either a misreading by the AI scanner or was caused by the metal spikes and speed bumps vehicles must cross before reaching the scanner.
“I personally don’t think any damage was done to the vehicle, but if it was, I think it is a scam designed to scratch the tire and fabricate this whole charge,” she said.
Paixao provided screenshots of emails, receipts and correspondence with Dollar and Hertz that show the charge broken down as $250 for rim repair and a $190 “processing fee.”
Paixao stated she immediately responded, asserting that she and her wife did not damage the vehicle and refusing to pay any of the fees.
According to her, the company persistently sent texts and emails multiple times a week demanding payment, which she described as “harassing.”
She wrote that the company sent messages “not only to my phone, but also to my wife’s phone, which was listed as a backup contact on the account.”
Paixao said her replies went unanswered.
“I continued to respond to emails and never once did I receive an email back,” she wrote.
She said that when she called Hertz, she was transferred multiple times before “a woman named Kimberly Parnell reached out, claiming to be the deciding factor and dismissing all of my prior emails and phone calls.”
Paixao said she asked Parnell “for a video of the vehicle to show me the scratch versus a picture and she declined.”
She also reached out to Capital One, the card she used for the reservation, and “made them aware that if this charge came across, it would be fraudulent.”
Paixao said she even offered Hertz the contact information for her personal attorney in case the company wanted to discuss the matter directly.
However, she wrote, “they insisted my attorney provide a letter of representation, which would incur billable hours that I was unwilling to pay for.”
Paixao also contacted Orbitz, where she made the reservation, and submitted receipts and correspondence.
“I provided the receipts they requested, but a few days later, a different representative from Orbitz emailed me, asking for the same information again,” she wrote.
“Again, I promptly provided it.”
This incident reflects increasing complaints regarding Hertz’s deployment of AI-driven vehicle scanners.
The machines, which are provided by Israeli tech firm UVeye, automatically photograph and flag potential damage upon vehicle returns.
Recently, renters across the country have criticized the system for misidentifying water reflections, shadows or existing imperfections as new damage, leading to charges of hundreds of dollars.
The company has rolled out the scanners at several major airports, including Atlanta, Newark, Houston, Charlotte, Phoenix and Tampa. Hertz said it plans to expand to more locations by the end of 2025.
Critics argue that these AI assessments leave renters with virtually no way to dispute an automatically generated claim.
“I’m also extremely curious how they arrive at such a gashing number of $440 for an alleged $190 processing fee,” Paixao told The Post.
“What are they processing?”
Paixao said she also researched the value price of an Altima rim. She said she was able to spot new Altims rims on the internet for less than $280.
Paixao mentioned a past incident with Hertz at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, where she was charged “approximately $70 for not returning the vehicle with a full tank of gas.”
She said she proved she refueled before drop-off and that Hertz “dismissed the case.”
The Post has reached out to Capital One and Orbitz for comment.
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