Baylie Merrill, a Utah renter, says she was charged $160 by Turo after a host accused her of smoking in a car she and her husband rented for a weeklong trip to California.
Merrill said the rental initially went smoothly, with a responsive host and a brake issue the host acknowledged; she said she returned the car, photographed it and left a positive review. A few days later the host reported cigarette evidence to Turo and a $160 charge was posted, and the couple had earlier received a $150 ticket for expired registration they said they reported to the host.
Baylie Merrill disputed the smoking claim, saying neither she nor her husband smoke and questioning whether the uploaded images were altered; her video about the incident had more than 152,100 views as of publication. Turo is a car-sharing platform that lists vehicles from private owners and, per its website, offers protection plans for hosts and renters.
This article is based on reporting from Motor 1.
Read the full article at Motor 1.
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