Would Hertz accuse a customer of completely ruining a rental car even if it was returned in perfect condition? According to Darleen Brazoban, the answer is yes.
Brazoban says she drove a Hertz vehicle for four days last November without even the hint of a problem. When she returned the rental car to the Nashville Airport, an employee inspected it with her. He noted no damage, handed her a receipt, and Brazoban was on her way.
…On her way to big rental car problems, that is, but she didn’t know that yet.
About a month later, Hertz shocked Brazoban with an invoice for $6,562, bizarrely claiming she’d totaled that rental car. Assuming this was an easily correctable mistake, she called the Hertz Central Recovery Specialist listed in the letter. However, that person sternly told Brazoban there was no mistake; Hertz had photographic proof of significant damage she’d caused.
Then the recovery specialist, seemingly acting as Hertz’s debt collector, sent those pictures of the “totaled” Nissan Altima to Brazoban.
Looking at the photos, she instantly knew this was no innocent mix-up.
Brazoban believed she was the target of a car rental scam.
Next stop? The Consumer Rescue advocacy team. Brazoban hoped we could investigate and expose Hertz’s outrageous false accusation and clear her name… and that $6,562 invoice.
Here’s her story — one more entry into our advocacy team’s car rental shenanigans file.
Spoiler alert: You aren’t going to believe what those pictures actually showed.
A four day, one-way car rental through Tennessee
Brazoban picked up her Hertz rental car at a franchise location in a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee. She intended to return the vehicle to the international airport a few days later. As a savvy traveler, she thoroughly looked over the car and found no irregularities. She signed the pre-rental inspection and drove off.
Over the next four days, she racked up over 800 miles on the Nissan Altima. When she pulled up to the return lane at the Nashville airport, she repeated the same process as at pick-up.
The Hertz employee in the return lane did a walk-around with Brazoban, checking the mileage and fuel gauge. He gave her a thumbs-up and soon emailed the receipt.
Just a routine car rental transaction from start to finish.
Or so she thought.
There was big trouble looming just over the horizon. Brazoban was about to discover that nothing would be routine from then on with this car rental experience.
Surprise! Hertz says you totaled the rental car
Nearly a month after Brazoban returned that Nissan Altima, she found a strange letter in her mailbox from Hertz. At first, she thought it was just an advertisement, but something about it looked a little more official. So she opened it.
I couldn’t believe what it said. Hertz wanted me to pay $6,562 to settle a damage claim. The letter said I had a collision with the car and the damage had totaled the vehicle. Later that day, I found out they [Hertz] had already alerted my insurance company of my rental car ‘accident.’ I wasn’t in any accident and this would cause my car insurance to go up. This was crazy!
Crazy, indeed.
Brazoban had a receipt from a Hertz employee who said the rental car was in good condition. Yet, inexplicably, Hertz was now claiming that the vehicle had significant damage to its front — so much so that the rental car was now considered a total loss. According to a recorded phone call I listened to from the local agency, the Nissan had already been sent to the salvage yard.
In that call, the local manager sounds apologetic and hopes to help Brazoban.
I was informed that the [Nashville airport location] considered the car salvaged. If you could come into our location I will write up an incident report and make it clear that you are not accepting responsibility for the damage to the rental car. I’d like to help straighten this out.
(Hertz – local franchise)
Unfortunately, other forces elsewhere were working against this Hertz customer.
What do those photos of the “totaled” rental car really show?
Brazoban was flabbergasted by the accusation that she had caused any damage to her car rental – much less totaled it.
“In a phone call with **** [Hertz recovery specialist] she told me the car has “significant front-end damage,” Brazoban told me.
After speaking to the recovery specialist, she asked for photographic evidence of the “significant damage” she’d done to the vehicle.
That’s where Hertz’s pursuit to get Brazoban to pay $6,562 for a collision she didn’t have began to fall apart.
The photos that this confident recovery specialist, whom I’ll call Mary, sent to Brazoban showed absolutely no damage to the front end of the rental car. In fact, those pictures showed the vehicle looking exactly the same as Brazoban had returned it. Despite that fact, Mary repeatedly asked Brazoban to produce evidence that she’d returned the car undamaged.
Brazoban had heard enough. She quickly sent her request for help to Consumer Rescue and hoped for the best.
Is this Hertz recovery specialist gaslighting the customer?
Brazoban’s paper trail included an incident report created by Hertz, a mechanic report, pre and post rental photos and the emails with Mary. As I looked through all the documentation, I wholeheartedly agreed with Brazoban: something fishy was going on here.
I don’t know for sure if Mary was a real person or just an AI-created Hertz recovery specialist meant to bully bewildered customers into paying for damage they didn’t cause. But as I read “her” words, the 1944 Ingrid Bergman movie Gaslight came to mind.
In that film, a woman’s new husband repeatedly tells her that she is just imagining the unusual things she is seeing and hearing. But he is causing all those strange happenings. His ultimate goal is to drive his wife insane, have her institutionalized and then steal her home.
Gaslighting is a form of manipulation used by devious people who want something they aren’t entitled to from their target. The tactic is meant to cause the victim to question their reality and judgment and give in to the predator’s wishes.
Whether Mary was an AI-generated gaslighter or a real person, the goal was to convince Brazoban that she’d totaled her rental car – despite the photos depicting an undamaged vehicle. This was gaslighting at its finest.
If you are claiming the damage was pre-existing, then you will need to provide us with a copy of your pre-existing damage slip. Or you will need to provide time stamped photos of the damaged vehicle prior to leaving the lot at pick up.
If you are claiming the damage was not there at return, then you will need to provide a time stamped photo of the damage free vehicle at the time of return.
Unfortunately, I cannot close the claim without any proof. If you are unable to provide the necessary documentation to have the claim closed, then you will want to file a claim with your insurance company so they can review in fairness.
Hertz’s “Recovery Specialist”
Huh? Mary’s own photos were Brazoban’s best evidence that she didn’t cause any damage to the rental car. It looked in perfect shape – even after I enlarged the pictures searching for the so-called significant damage.
What does the mechanics report show is wrong with this rental car?
As it turns out, even the mechanic agreed that the front end of the rental car had no significant damage. His report says that the transmission failed on the vehicle. The repair estimate notes “non-collision damage.”
I did a Google search and quickly learned that Nissan Altimas are prone to transmission problems. In fact, insiders predict the discontinuation of the gas-powered version of this vehicle in 2026.
Since I believe it’s highly unlikely that a car rental customer could ruin the transmission of an automatic-transmission vehicle under normal conditions in four days, it appeared to me that this Hertz location was looking for a cash grab before sending this Nissan off to the rental car graveyard.
It was time to ask our always helpful Hertz executive contact and her team to have a look at Brabazon’s case.
Hertz: Customers aren’t typically billed for mechanical failure
Our executive contact at Hertz has always assured me that the company would not charge customers for internal mechanical failures. That is unless evidence shows that the driver’s actions caused the damage.
Yet Hertz charged this customer to replace the entire transmission system in a car she drove for just four days.
Granted, I’m no mechanic. But I don’t think Brazabon could have done anything to that automatic-transmission vehicle to cause the transmission system to fail. I might have believed it happened if the Nissan had been a manual-transmission rental car, as is typical in Europe.
And then I noticed one more thing in the pre-rental photos of this rental car, signed off by a Hertz employee. Not only does the car look identical to the post-rental photos on the outside, but the dashboard looks similar as well. That photo shows a warning lamp which may or might not be the check-engine alert. But given what happened next, it seems likely.
Asking the executive team at Hertz to have a look
I sent all my findings to our executive contact at Hertz.
Hi ***,
I have a very weird case here today involving a Hertz customer. Darleen Brazoban returned a rental car to the Nashville, Tennessee airport location after a four-day (one way) rental.
A month after returning the car, the Nashville location sent Darleen a $6,562 repair bill to replace the transmission on this vehicle. She says the car drove fine and she returned it in the same condition as she picked it up. I noticed that in the pre-inspection photos provided by Hertz, a warning indicator is lit up on the dashboard. I assume it must be the engine lamp. But it doesn’t seem that the Hertz employee nor Darleen noticed it. She drove the car 845 miles and dropped it off in Nashville.
The incident report from a Hertz mechanic says “Non-collision transmission” failure. The Hertz employee in charge of getting Darleen to pay for this damage told her there is significant front end damage to the car, which is why they’re billing her for the transmission replacement. She (Hertz agent named *****) says a collision caused the damage to the transmission. This statement contradicts the photos of the car and the mechanic’s report. The post rental photos show the car looks exactly as it did when Darleen picked it up and returned it. The warning lamp also is the same as it was at the beginning and end of the rental.
It’s possible that the Nashville location didn’t review the pre-rental photos, but the car looks identical to its condition on Nov.11 as it did on Nov. 7. I don’t think the evidence supports Hertz billing this customer for a new transmission. I will include the photos below my signature. This is causing Darleen a significant amount of stress since it doesn’t seem that her car insurance will cover a transmission replacement on an automatic vehicle that she drove without incident for four days.
Thanks for having a look!😊.
Best, Michelle Couch-Friedman, Consumer reporter
The good news
After reviewing all the details of this case, Hertz agreed that Brazabon should not be responsible for replacing the transmission or anything else on this now retired rental car. The claim Hertz sent to her insurance company is retracted, along with its suggestion that she had an accident.
Hi Michelle,
I received a response from Hertz that their claims team will be closing this claim and that I will no longer be held responsible or pursued for damages! I’ve attached the email below in case you wanted to read it.
Thank you so much for your help with this, I can’t express enough how much I appreciate it!
Thank you,
Darleen Brazoban
And now, we can also put this complicated and troubling case to rest.
You’re very welcome, Darleen. We’re happy to have helped.
Car rental customers beware: proceed with caution
Car rental customers getting hit with unusual charges weeks, months and now even years after returning the vehicle, is becoming more and more the norm, unfortunately.
Related: Budget wants $2324 for a rental car I drove two years ago!
Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself before, during and after your next vehicle rental.
Always insist on a formal pre and post car rental inspection
Ironically, Hertz had thoroughly documented the condition of the Nissan Altima, before and after Brazoban drove it. She had signed off, as did an employee on those reports. In the end, the pre- and post-rental inspection of the car vindicated her.
However, car rental customers should not expect or rely on the agency to document the condition of the vehicle. You should always have your own, independently gathered photos and videos of the condition of the vehicle you’re renting – before you drive off the lot and in the return lane before you walk away.
It’s never a good idea to return a rental car during off hours when you won’t be able to get a receipt. But if you must, here’s a quick checklist of what to carefully document:
- The location of the vehicle (Take photos of the slot number and pan out to show a bit of the area)
- The return time
- Note the mileage on the rental car
- The gas level
- The condition of the inside and outside of the automobile.
Note: As I mentioned above, it’s becoming more common for car rental companies to surprise customers with damage charges long after the vehicle is returned. As a result, I recommend that car rental customers keep their photographic evidence and receipts indefinitely. It may sound extreme, but I’m sure you’ll thank me later if you’re ever hit with a surprise damage accusation.
Related: Enterprise says Mickey Mouse damaged my rental car. Why should I pay?
Never ignore damage claims from a car rental company
Blindsided car rental customers often ask me what will happen if they just ignore fabricated damage claims.
Here’s my unwavering answer: Nothing good will happen if you ignore a damage claim by a car rental company. These agencies are ruthless in their pursuit to be paid. If you file a credit card dispute, the car rental company will typically ignore it. If you win, the car rental company will send your bill to collections and your credit rating will take a hit. It will also place you on the Do Not Rent list for the primary car rental company as well as its subsidiaries.
Remember, the Fair Credit Billing Act gives consumers the ability to file credit card disputes, but, unfortunately, it comes with limited protections. The truth is that winning a credit card chargeback only definitively ends your bank’s involvement in the dispute. The merchant can always pursue the consumer in other ways. And car rental companies are notorious for sending their customers’ debt – real or fabricated – to collection agencies.
For this reason, you must respond and defend yourself against fake damage charges even though it may be complicated and frustrating.
But remember, as a consumer you have a secret weapon on your side.
Consumer Rescue is here to investigate, defend and help you navigate troubles with car rental companies, cruise lines, airlines, hotels and more. We love to rescue consumers – our services are always fast, friendly, and best of all, free of charge. (Michelle Couch-Friedman, Consumer Rescue)
Like I’ve said before… someone needs to go to jail for things like this!
Great work as always Michelle!
Thanks, Dave:)
It amazes me that nothing can be done about Hertz, who has been aggressively cheating their customers for several years. Their favorite trick for a while was having people arrested for ‘not returning the rental car’. So keep up educating the travellers, Michelle!
To quote Napoleon Bonaparte: ‘Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.’
Does anyone believe that a company as big as Hertz could actually pull off having as corporate policy, a plan to mislabel repair and damage claims? Do you actually think there is a program that rewards people for the amount of damage claims they collect? Surely, if such a program existed, some disgruntled whistleblower would have come clean about this ages ago.
on the other hand, it is far more likely that what happened here was an automatic response system mislabeling a legitimate damage report. It is common for severe mechanical problems to be blamed on the customer. So, based on finding a transmission failure, the initial attempt to collect was probably legitimate, though left to automated systems to pursue. Then, as suggested in the story, it is likely that “Maria” does not exist in any other than some cyber form, complicating the resolution of the problem substantially. (By the way, very few such systems actually use AI yet. However, boiler plate and automatic response systems have been around for years.)
On the other hand, while Ms. Brazoban certainly bears no blame for Hertz’s poor handling of this damage claim, she still contributed somewhat to the problems existence in the first place. While she reports that she carefully reviewed the vehicle before leaving the lot, it is now clear that she left the lot with some kind of warning light permanently illuminated. She should have refused to take the vehicle. Or, if no other vehicle was available, and she was severely pressed for time, she should have made the station agent note the situation, and give her explicit written permission to drive the car with the light on.
Of course, the movie ‘Gaslight” came to your mind, Michelle: that movie is where the term “gaslighting” came from.
Yes, I know that’s where the term originated, but as a former psychotherapist, I can say that I don’t think most people in modern times, know or associate gaslighting with the movie. It’s rarely mentioned in literature about this psychological phenomenon.
How many people know of the movie? I think most have not heard of it. Or of the 1940 version that had a different plot.
I would guess that if a person heard of the movie and knows the plot, they would guess the term came from the movie.
I would also guess many have heard the term.
Stories like this is now why I now do a video walk around of my car before and after irrespective of what my receipt says. And of course the car I dropped off at LAX this weekend was an Altima so now I have something else to worry about! 😂
Good work Michelle!