Originally Posted by
jackal
While it would be nice of Thrifty to provide a more prominent notification, the onus is always on you to be aware of local laws and customs.
I never go anywhere without reviewing at the minimum the Wikitravel article on the city I'm traveling to. That would have made you aware of this issue.
So, which part of
this Wikitravel entry on Denver would have made someone aware of this issue? It certainly wouldn't be the section on E-470, which reads (bolding mine):
E-470 connects the airport to the southeast, east, northeast and northwest suburbs, C-470 at its southern terminus, and the Northwest Parkway at its northern terminus, leading to Boulder. Mainline toll plazas are staffed 24/7 and will make change, but ramp locations are unstaffed and require exact change. Tolls are $1-3.
While it does make sense to educate oneself about a location prior to travel, it is impossible to anticipate every local quirk and nuance. Cashless tolling is not a universal practice...still quite rare, actually. And considering that the toll road in question is basically an access road to DIA, it's reasonable to expect that car rental agencies that are interested in providing good customer service would be sure to outline a customer's options when it comes to paying tolls on a road that they are likely to use. But I can understand how a rental agency that is solely focused on its bottom line would prefer to slap high service charges on a customer after the fact.