Originally Posted by
jim32190
The comments above are missing the point - OP didn’t notice it to be large enough to be considered damage but rather just wear and tear whereas the Hertz agent believes it to be significant enough to be damage. That’s the bottom line - not whether he’s liable or not.
scaratches are not wear and tear, but damage
The OP stated " I probably would have noticed the damage when I picked up the car, but to be honest, I wasn't checking that closely " - that also suggests that the damage wasn't there at time of pickup and was noticeable damage