He returned his rental car and found an extra bill of $ 400. The reason: the AI ​​hunted a tiny scratch

During a trip, unforeseen events may arise. That is something relatively common, assumed and that must internalize anyone who considers making the bags to spend a few days away from home. Much less frequent is what happened to Patrick, a traveler who recently encountered a bill of More than 400 dollars When he returned his rental car at the Hertz branch of the International Airport Hartsfield-Jackson from Atlanta, in the US. The reason: A system with AI He analyzed the vehicle thoroughly and in just a few seconds he discovered that he had a scratch of several centimeters on a rear wheel. The story He has revealed it The Drive And more than one tourist who considers renting a car this vacation is probably removed. At least around Atlanta, in the US. Patrick recently, a client of Thriftya vehicle rental company linked to the international chain Hertz, found a surprise when he wanted to return the vehicle that had leased. Betrayed by algorithms The man did the usual one: he went to the company’s branch, delivered the vehicle (from the Volkswagen brand) and gave the procedure per setback. After a few minutes, however they told him that he had to pay a whopping $ 440. The reason? The company had identified a friction on the rear wheel on the driver’s side, a 2.5 cm scrape whose arrangement had to pay. Not just that. The company also broken down to him how he had calculated those $ 440. Of that amount almost half would be dedicated to repair. The rest corresponded to a series of expenses that made Patrick crawl the eyebrow. According to the company$ 125 responded to processing and 65 to administrative expenses. The man also found that the invoice came through a web application that contributed the damage test and allowed him to enjoy A small discountor as long as he paid at the same time. According to collect The Driveif it accepted the conditions and disbursed the money in 48 hours the company offered a bonus of 52 dollars. In case something else was delayed, but did not miss more than a week would be 32.5. The man chose not to pay. Moreover, when a few days ago He spoke with The Drive He had not yet paid the amount that the company claims for the wheel scrape. “Save 30 dollars to accept responsibility is not worth it,” says the driver, who after meeting the invoice first resorted to the Chatbot from Hertz (without too successful) and then sent an email to the company. So far the story is curious, but what makes the case of Patrick exceptional and has caught the media attention from other countries It is how the company detected the damage on the rear wheel of its Volkswagen. The merit was not of any operator or worker of the Branch of Atlanta International Airport especially diligent when examining the cars. No. The failure in the wheel was located by a New scanning system of cars that is based on AI. In April Hertz announced An alliance with Uveye, a firm specialized in the inspection of vehicles with AI, precisely to apply its technology in the US. “The camera systems with the Uveye and the algorithms of Machine Learning They allow automated inspections in real time of the body, the crystals, tires and low “, He claims Hertzwhich emphasizes that the new technology allows you to detect failures “with unprecedented speed and precision.” {“Videid”: “X91SZ26”, “Autoplay”: False, “Title”: “This is the perfect shipment of an airplane and no airline does it ❌✈️”, “Tag”: “Webedia-prod”, “Duration”: “567”} Already then The company advanced That the system would be released in Hartsfield-Jackson, although its objective is to expand it in not much time to the main US airfields. The company also claims that by “complementing” traditional exams with Uveye technology, it can guarantee its customers “more efficient and transparent reviews”, the latter nuance that He stressed These days a The Drive. The app that informed Patrick in fact included A photo of the scrape and another of the same part of the car just when he rented. The service, yes, does not seem free to leave. Hertz He explained That the so -called processing rate, which at least in the case of Patrick represents a sensitive part of the invoice, corresponds to “the cost of detecting and estimating damage during rent.” As for the administrative rate that includes the invoice, “it covers part of the costs incurred by Hertz by processing the claim.” Images | Uveye Via | Motorpasion In Xataka | Car rental: what is important to look before hiring (Function () {Window._js_modules = Window._js_modules || {}; var headelement = document.getelegsbytagname (‘head’) (0); if (_js_modules.instagram) {var instagramscript = Document.Createlement (‘script’); }}) (); – The news He returned his rental car and found an extra bill of $ 400. The reason: the AI ​​hunted a tiny scratch It was originally posted in Xataka by Carlos Prego .

reconditioned and rental products

A decade ago it was Just an occasional exchange fair. Today, the repurchase and resale of sports material is one of the vertices that sustains the growth of Decathlon. The French chain has turned the circular economy into a commercial argumenta magnet of young customers in a country eager to Chollos in reconditioned And, above all, a visible profitability lever in its global accounts and – with special intensity – in the Spanish market. In 2013 the first ‘took placeTrocathlon‘In Spain, the first semiannual fair that had been celebrating in France from the eighties. It was the germ of the current strategy with a name that today sounds like archeology. Five years later, Decathlon was called occasion and its frequency was increased before moving on to the current nomenclature, ‘Second life‘. The project was formalized with donation, recycling and sale of returned products. Having had three different names in the last decade is more than evolution of sheet and paint: it is the passage of a specific and little transcendent event for the annual balance to a permanent service that already lives with the linear of novelties. And that weighs more and more in Excel. Not that Decathlon is alone here. IKEA has its ‘Preowned’ program, Patagonia launched ‘Worn Wear’ almost a decade ago. It is part of a trend in which the Zeitgeist which proclaims the green and sustainable helps to underpin the results account. Circular turn figures According to him 2024 results reportthe number of second -hand items reached 1.35 million units. It is not just a volume record: that implies that each of these products has generated a second life cycle with minimal marginal costs against the production of a new item. There are also the three million repairs made. There are two twin levers: operational capacity (1,730 workshops) and loyalty. Repair consolidated customer confidence, because the guarantee is prolonged and the perception of durability is reinforced, and incidentally, nourishes the information group on recurring failures or use patterns that can be reversed in design improvements for the following designs. In addition, almost half of the offer (48.5%) is born with criteria of “ecodesign”, ten points more than in 2023. That is: The circle does not begin in the after -sales, but in the design. Easy to disassemble, standardized parts, transparent repair manuals … All that lowers reconditioning and prepares the land for rental models and, of course, subscription. Even, as has happened in consumer technologyanticipates European regulations that will make that “ecodesign” a legal requirement. In the rental market, Decathlon has a 50%share, the same as in Spain. It is an example of how circularity convinces different audiences. In southern Europe there are many occasional practice athletes: The Holy Week skier. The summer cyclist. He camper of the August bridge. Etc. The type of user who sees the “payment per use” as a way to test, rotate and update your equipment Without having to make a great payment (bargain country) or have to store bulky objects (floor of the floor). This is another mine for the cross sale of accessories, insurance, maintenance services … Spain, outstanding laboratory Spain has a highly digitized type of consumer (be complex) and very familiar with the resale. Wallapop and Vinned are religion. In addition, the second -hand bike market has also raided the psychological land. Decathlon has capitalized this habit with Its 70 circular spaces inaugurated in the last two years: large areas in its large format stores that They exhibit reconditioned without sibling them, without removing dignity in front of the new ones. Its placement, by the way, is strategic, near autophagous boxes and counters. The perfect place for last -minute impulsive purchase. Second life space dedicated to cycling with the promotional image of Pedri. Image: Decathlon. Spain is also a good country for reverse logistics for its geography and connections. Makes easy to redistribute Stock to coastal or mountain stores depending on the station. To that we must add the Tarbes factory, south of France, specialized in reconditioning bikes. However, the album has a face B. or three: Delicate appraisal. The balance between what the seller receives and the margin that the retailer needs is unstable. Paying too much erodes the benefit and paying less brakes the product flow. Decathlon Test Algorithms of Pricing Dynamic that weigh local demand, seniority, aesthetic state and seasonality – a road bike is worth more in April than in October. It risks arbitrariness perceptions, something that reduces trust. Capacity of your workshops. The three million repairs are a force exhibition, but also a possible bottleneck. The workshops are concentrated by type of product (cycling, mountain), but other emerging sports such as paddle points require different pieces and skills. The specialized technician is key. Forming and retaining that profile will be key. Inverse logistics and data. Each extra kilometer in the collection of used product can neutralize a part of the savings in CO2 that Everyone proclaims in marketing. Hence the commitment to hubs urban. But the waterfall in the form of a breakdown, average time to the second sale or residual price is analytical gold … that the GDPR Maybe it does not allow you to squeeze as much as the company would like. And there can be no reputational stumble in privacy. Thinking about 2026 That Decathlon has uploaded ten points the “ecodesign” quota in its catalog lets intuit that within a year there will be another climb so important or more. AND That will require redesign entire families of product. Not only changing materials for others Ecofriendlybut modularizing components, normalizing the screws, publishing open repair guides. That will presumably raise the costs. It is the toll. Decathlon is also resorting to AI, according to his CIO in an interview with The Spanishto experiment with the Pricing or estimate the residual value, but the next step is to integrate external data (such as trends in Google) to anticipate, for example, the depreciation of a scooter depending on the weather, its … Read more

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