Offices of some Rent-A-Car Companies (Photo Hanohiki, Dreamstime.com)
For several months, the big rent-car companies have been used in the US scanning that can detect the smallest scratches or problems that are not seen with the naked eye on the rental machines. Some users also received bills of hundreds of dollars, even though they were convinced that they had nothing wrong.
Hertz company announced in April that it has started a partnership with a company in the field for cars to be automatically meticulously inspected with high -performance scanners, after the users teach them to the agency.
The scanning system works by capturing thousands of high resolution images from all angles, as a vehicle passes through the gates of a batch of rental and return.
Artificial intelligence then compares those sets of images and reports any discrepancies, any changes to the body, windows, tires or chassis. The cameras have software and use of Machine Learning algorithms to inspect the “blood” car.
The system then creates and automatically sends damage reports, and an employee analyzes them. New York Times and USA Today offer examples of people who, shortly after teaching the car, woke up with messages in which they were told to have extra payment, for damages discovered by the scan system.
USA Today offers the example of a customer who was charged with $ 440 for a 2.5 cm superficial scratch on a tire, and the New York Times offers the example of a $ 195 bill for a bend on the front door.
Hertz company says that “over 97% of the cars scanned with this technology do not have damages for which the invoice must be issued, which proves that the overwhelming majority of the rental are without incident.” The company also say they want to make sure that in the future, customers are not charged for damages they have not produced,
The site msn.com publishes a guide on how to avoid these problems with scanners and the main ones are to make sure you take the car to a place where such scanners do not exist and the second tip is to have insurance policy.
Hertz says that the scanning technology will be available at several US airports in the months.
And Sixt, another important car rental company, uses an AI tool: a scanner that is based on “built-in sensors, rooms and a lighting system” to check any damages, according to the company's website. “As part of the quality assurance process, the photos are verified and validated,” the site is mentioned.
Photo source: dreamstime.com
