Originally Posted by
seawolf
Yes in theory they can do this but there is no proof they are doing this.
If we go down a conspiracy path then who is to say the pictures provided with the damage claim is even from the actual vehicle rented? Maybe they keep a repository of damage pictures and just paste into damage claim template letters; just fill in renter name/dates etc.
I never suggested that was what they were doing, just clarifying what I understood the claim to be.
Unfortunately, lacking time and date stamped photos showing the *lack* of damage at pick up, the renter is probably on the hook.
For myself, being forced into a situation where I have to try to prove a negative doesn't sound like the kind of engagement that I want to have with a company, and for whatever reason I seem to see more complaints of this type about Hertz than I do the other rental companies. That, combined with the unpleasantness of dealing with them 5 or 6 years ago when they implemented (and later retracted) the automatic refueling charge if you drove fewer than 75(?) miles - unless you *proactively* presented a refueling receipt, means that I actively book *away* from Hertz.
I'm sure that I'm small potatoes to them - and that's fine - but I do 35-40 three or four day rentals per year. Prior to 2016 or 2017, 100% of those went to Hertz. Since then, only 4 or 5 *total* have been Hertz