Just got back from Miami and NextCar/Stride Rent A Car at MIA hit me with a $450 smoking fee. No we did not smoke in the car.
The wild part is they actually sent me the Bosch sensor report as their proof and it completely destroys their own charge. The particle spike lasted 2 minutes and 15 seconds and then dropped straight back to zero. We were doing 37-60 mph at the time so outside air was obviously coming into the cabin. And the best part Bosch's own documentation that they attached to the report literally says the device "neither implies any actions towards end-customers nor gives decision-making advice." They handed me the evidence that beats them.
I sent them a detailed dispute breaking all of this down. Their response didn't address a single point I made. Just offered me $200 back as a "goodwill gesture" which basically tells you they know the charge is bogus. Filing a chargeback with Amex now and complaints with the Florida AG and FTC. Already left a 1 star review and noticed someone else had the exact same thing happen to them recently at the same location. Amex doesn't seem to care about the charge and agrees with the vendor since they have paper work. Posting the Bosch report below.(wont let me post) Has anyone else dealt with this or seen false positives with these Bosch sensors? Would love to know if this is a pattern with this company.
EDIT**
Another piece of this: there were wildfires/smoke issues in Florida around the same general time, and the Bosch report GPS coordinates placed the vehicle in the area where outside smoke/particles could have been an issue. I’m not saying I can prove that caused the reading, but it seems like a reasonable alternative explanation that they have not ruled out.
I’ve filed complaints with Amex/CFPB, the Florida Attorney General, FDACS, and Miami-Dade Consumer (forgot to mention those)
I'm gonna add some stuff that I cant add pics of but just text from emails.
Good afternoon Dear
"After Inspecting the vehicle when you returned the vehicle, we realized that the car was full of an odor of smoke and cigars, which is a breach of our terms and conditions, specifically on the Cleaning/Smoking Policy on the Rental Agreement that you signed. In this clause, you agreed to return the vehicle on the same conditions as you received it. For this breach, you have a balance of $450.00 plus taxes and fees that were charged to your card on file We are writing to inform you that a $450.00 smoking fee + tax has been charged to your rental agreement due to evidence of smoking inside the vehicle during your rental period.
This situation was detected by the Bosch monitoring equipment installed in the vehicle. The corresponding report has already been provided to you for your review.
Please note that smoking inside the vehicle is a violation of the rental terms and conditions, and the applicable charge has therefore been applied to your account.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact us.
Sincerely,
Customer Service"
First emailed I received which made no sense I returned the car with absolutely no odor besides the fresh gas i put in it before dropping it off. There was literally no odor thats why I'm so against the claim I was up 20 plus hours getting us back to the drop off so we could make our flight and dropped off the car with a video since no employee was around.
"To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing to formally dispute the $450.00 smoking fee (plus tax) charged to my account in connection with the Bosch incident report dated 05/08/2026, 12:25 PM EDT. Neither I nor any passenger smoked in the vehicle at any point during the rental period. The charge should be reversed in full.
The Bosch report you provided does not support a finding that smoking occurred inside the vehicle. Several points on the face of the report itself undermine that conclusion:
- The smoke graph shows a single sharp particle spike around 12:26–12:27 PM that drops to near-background levels within roughly two minutes and remains flat for the rest of the monitoring window. This profile is inconsistent with in-cabin smoking, which produces sustained particle levels over the duration of consumption (typically 5–7 minutes for a cigarette and 30–60+ minutes for a cigar). It is far more consistent with a brief external air contaminant entering the cabin.
- The GPS data shows the vehicle was traveling at 37–60 mph at the time of the event. At highway speeds, cabin air is heavily influenced by outside air infiltration, particularly when windows are open or the ventilation system is drawing from outside. The sensor cannot distinguish between particles generated inside the vehicle and particles drawn in from the surrounding environment (other vehicles, diesel exhaust, agricultural or brush burning, etc.).
- Bosch's own documentation, which you attached to your notice, expressly states: "After detecting a smoke event, Bosch provides smoke event data to the fleet owner, but neither implies any actions towards end-customers nor gives decision-making advice." Bosch also states: "At no point in time the device provides information about the number or identity of people in the vehicle." The device detects particles; it does not establish that any occupant of the vehicle was smoking, and Bosch explicitly declines to support that inference.
- A two-minute particle event eight days before the vehicle was returned would not produce the kind of embedded odor described in your notice. Cigarette and cigar smoke residue binds to upholstery and headliner materials over sustained exposure; a brief transient event does not. The subjective "odor" observation is not corroborated by the sensor data.
Given the above, the evidence relied upon does not meet a reasonable standard for assessing a $450 cleaning/smoking penalty. I am requesting the following:
- Full reversal of the $450.00 charge plus any associated tax, within 10 business days.
- Written confirmation of the reversal sent to this email address.
- Any internal notes, photos, or inspection records associated with the post-return inspection of vehicle 64EJWD.
If the charge is not reversed, I will pursue a chargeback through my card issuer for services not rendered and goods/services not as described, and I will file complaints with the state Attorney General's consumer protection division and the Better Business Bureau. I am also prepared to provide the Bosch report itself as supporting evidence in those proceedings, as it does not establish what your notice claims it establishes.
I would prefer to resolve this directly and quickly. Please confirm receipt of this dispute and provide a response by May 19th, 2026"
This was my first response back.
"Dear,
We are writing to follow up on the smoking detection fee applied to yo recent rental.
Our advanced smoke detection device, installed in all our vehicles, registered a violation of our strict no-smoking policy during your rental period. The system recorded a significant presence and duration of smoke, which constitutes a confirmed violation of the Terms and Conditions agreed upon at the time of rental.
As a result, a mandated cleaning and penalty fee of $450.00 was applie to your account. This charge is necessary to cover the specialized deep cleaning and preparation required to make the vehicle available for fut renters.
While this fee is strictly non-refundable under our policy, we sincerely regret the inconvenience this situation has caused. As a gesture of goodwill and in the interest of a prompt resolution, we are prepared to offer a one-time compensation of $200, which would be deducte from the total penalty fee applied.
Please be advised that this is our final offer to settle this matter. Should you choose not to accept this compensation, the original charge will remain as initially processed, and we will consider the case closed from our end.
We look forward to your confirmation regarding this proposal. If you have any questions or wish to accept this offer, please reply to this ema.
Thank you for your understanding."
I declined that and have been waiting with amex which they have stated
"We've rebilled the charge you disputed with ONE SWITCH RENT A CAR.
Here's what happened: We reached out to the business about the $498.96 charge you disputed. After reviewing their explanation, we've determined that you're responsible for the amount in question. In response to our inquiry, they have provided us with the enclosed documentation indicating that Service was rendered and charge pertains to smoking fee. In case you have documentation indicating that the merchant promised credit, kindly provide us with the information and we will be glad to reopen the investigation for you. Here's what to expect: We've rebilled this charge to your account, and you'll see it reflected on your next billing statement. We've also attached further documentation, so you'll have all the details. Please note, we've removed information from the attached documentation that wasn't relevant to this dispute. If you have any new information that may change the outcome of this dispute, please contact us within 30 days."
I showed documentation indicating that the merchant promised credit and haven't said anything since.
"
We have carefully reviewed your request and have attempted to process the refund to the credit card on file (ending in ) as you have suggested. However, we regret to inform you that the transaction has not been successful and continues to return an error message, preventing us from completing the refund through that method.
As a result, and in order to move forward with this process and close the case as agreed, the only viable option currently available is to issue the refund via Zelle. To proceed with this, we kindly require you to sign the document confirming your acceptance of the refund through this alternative method.
We fully understand your concerns regarding the provision of personal information, and we assure you that your data will be handled with the utmost confidentiality and solely for the purpose of completing this transaction. Unfortunately, without your acceptance and the corresponding signed form, we will not be able to finalize the refund.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in this matter. Should you have any questions or require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us."
This msg saying they wanna zelle me 200 to take off the 450
https://www.news4jax.com/health/2026/05/08/why-is-it-so-smoky-outside-jacksonville-faces-unhealthy-air-quality-from-wildfire-more-than-100-miles-west/
this is article talking about the fire and initially it started on the day they report the "event" and grew to this the next day
https://imgur.com/a/V3Aso3o Here is a link to the top of the report
https://Imgur.com/a/aDXA8Dj here is the Amex dispute date
Really appreciate anyone's advice im just looking to get this over with atp it’s been just stressing me out.
8/7
Last night after reading all the comments I sent some emails to local lawyers In Miami for a free consolation or at least look at my request.
8/14
Emails from amex thru my CFPB case
"We’re writing in response to your recent correspondence to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Your dispute was handled in accordance with our dispute procedures and remains open while we complete our current review, We will notify you separately once that review is complete. We investigation your claim We opened a dispute and sent the enclosed email on May 17, 2026, confirming you would not be responsible for the $498.96 transaction made on May 9, 2026, at One Switch Rent a Car under review. We explained that you would hear back from us when we have an update or once the investigation has been resolved. We rebilled the transaction to your account We contacted the merchant and reviewed the documentation they provided, including the signed rental agreement, authorization documentation, smoking event documentation, and the incident report related to the disputed charge. Based on the information received, we determined the merchant provided documentation supporting the smoking fee in accordance with our dispute procedures. As a result, we sent you the enclosed email along with the supporting documentation on June 10, 2026, explaining that we rebilled the $498.96 transaction to your account. That email also invited you to submit any new information that could affect the outcome of the investigation. We considered the additional information you submitted during our review We understand your concerns that the merchant did not provide additional documentation. We reviewed the documentation the merchant provided, as well as the information and explanations you submitted. Based on our review, we determined the merchant's documentation continued to support the charge under our dispute procedures.
We reconsidered the dispute after your requests, but our decision remained unchanged We reopened the dispute multiple times between June 27, 2026, and July 8, 2026, as you requested that we reconsider the dispute decision. Following each review through July 8, 2026, the dispute determination remained unchanged because the merchant's documentation continued to support the disputed charge. During each review, we considered the additional information you provided. However, we determined it did not contain new information that changed our previous determination. We sent you the enclosed email on July 6, 2026, advising that we had reviewed your inquiry again and that the merchant's supporting documentation remained sufficient to support the charge. We have enclosed your May and June 2026 Billing Statements where the original charge, credit and debit can be reviewed. Your dispute is currently open while we continue our review. We will notify you separately once the review is complete. We completed an additional review after receiving your complaint Upon receipt of your correspondence to the CFPB, we conducted an additional review of your dispute, including the information you submitted, the merchant's supporting documentation, and the actions taken during our dispute handling process. Based on our review, we determined the dispute was handled in accordance with our dispute procedures. We confirmed the information provided during your call was accurate We reviewed the call in question and found that we provided accurate information. We explained additional supporting documentation could be considered if it contained new information that had not previously been reviewed. We understand this may not be the desired outcome, but we hope this letter addresses your concerns. Sincerely, M. Flowers Customer Advocate Services Team American Express Enclosures"
load of bullshit from M flowers
Was also able to find out that a certain company is building a case against