GordonGordon

Rented a car at Avis in Rome, Italy for 3 rental days. Drove through everyday a restricted road that only allows public transport (like taxi, bus, etc) to drive through. I did not know the road was restricted (didn't see any signs or no English sign) and didn't know that I was ticketed (probably caught by camera) until Avis billed me 3 times on my credit card for Euro25+VAT=Euro30.25 just for Administration Charge. Keep in mind that Avis DID NOT pay for my tickets/summons. Later I received the tickets/summons through mail by the local law enforcement.

My question: Does Avis have the right to bill me administration charges just for the traffic offense even though Avis did NOT pay for the summons/tickets? I think car rental companies have obligation to provide the renter's physical address to the local transport department/law enforcement unit if the renter violates the local traffic, so that the local transport department/law enforcement unit can mail the summon to the renter. I find it such a rip off for Avis to bill me Euro30 for each ticket just to provide my address to the law enforcement unit.

In addition, in my past experience, Hertz did not charge me administration free like what Avis did to me even though similar things happened.

Tried to dispute the charges with AE. AE initially took off the charges for further investigation, but finally I was re-billed for the charges since AE claimed that the charges was valid.

Any insight or anything else I can do? Thanks for any input in advance.

SwissCircle

Sadly they have the right to just do that.
But I think one time for transmitting the info 3 times should be enough.

DiverDave

Ouch. If it's any comforting, these ticket machines are routinely vandalized (often destroyed).

http://www.thenewspaper.com/

David

OverThereTooMuch

You need to look at the terms & conditions of your rental. It sounds like AE did, and found them to be valid charges. While they may be outrageous, I believe they are pretty standard fees for all rental companies (even though you were fortunate enough not to be charged them from another company in the past). Many people get hit with these sorts of things in the US when they don't pay a toll (admin fees from rental company + toll + penalty for not paying toll).

You could try looking at online maps for a street view to see if you can find the appropriate sign, and perhaps contest the original ticket. Though it seems likely that you'd still end up paying the admin fees (because it's "work" that Avis had to do).

Have you tried calling them to see if they're willing to drop 2 of the 3 admin charges, or was disputing the charge your first move?

Bloomsbury

It sucks when it's you. I got caught out by an electronic-only toll road in Canada that I assumed the e-toll system would work with, but didn't. Fortunately for me, those kind Canadians only charged me for the toll (no penalty) for a few dollars, but then Avis charged me $25.

I do understand why they do it though. People used to run up all sorts of tickets in other countries and refuse to pay them, which is a mssive headache for Avis. So the fact that Avis will also charge/fine you acts as a deterrent to people that don't follow the law. It's just very annoying when it was an innocent mistake or because Avis don't make things clear upfront.

bkafrick

Here's the thing... and its pretty easy to find out...

Read your contract.

The simple answer to your question is... AVIS has no obligation to provide your address to law enforcement. Per your T&C's, AVIS pays the fine regardless of guilt, and charges you the fine + an Admin fee.

Read your contract carefully.

dayone

+1.

bxwatso

I got a similar notice as did the OP from the Avis outfit at the Milan train station (who ripped me off, BTW). I protested, as the Avis web site for my President's Club status agreement says something to the effect of a 'reasonable' or 'nominal' fee, which this is not. I won the first round with Visa, but another 2 charges just showed up on my bill, plus another letter. I can't tell if they think there is another violation or if they are just recharging for the first one.

Here is the difference for me: I rented this car in the second week of June, 2016, and I got the second round of charges in the last week of November, 2016 (yesterday). I never got anything from the Italian government.

I think this is a scam by an Avis affiliate, and I think I never broke Italian law. Has anyone experienced something similar?

PUCCI GALORE

Consider yourself lucky that you got one only. I had three over two rentals in Italy and to this day I do not know what I was supposed to have done or where. I challenged this as I wanted to see what they had been told by the Police. All were Polizia Locale. None were Polizia Nazionale or Carbinniere.

I asked to see what notification the police had given them and they repeatedly said that they got a computer notification. I demanded to the reason and they said that they were unable to do this. Exasperated I called Milan - ask the Police they said. "The police aren't charging me £35". I said "You are and want to know why". Like one of you, I heard nothing more. I learnt that if you are not charged by the Police within 6 months for an Italian registered vehicle, the matter is out of time. This had take taken 6 months to reach me.

It is a very dubious but unfortunately legitimate way of conducting business. You basically sign saying that they can charge you what they like and not have to substantiate it.

Vinotraveller

I have just had notification of a 35 Euro admin fee for a rental. In this case the charge is for them to pass my details onto police. I have not heard anything from the Police yet though.

kb9522

Edit:

This thread is from 2012... Why do I always fall for this?

PUCCI GALORE

When did the alleged infraction and what is it about? Parking? Speeding? Are you US based?

Vinotraveller

No - Glasgow based (and a huge fan of your Tales from the Galley btw!).

All the letter told me was that I was involved in an unspecified violation between the 17th and 24th June. If I don't hear anything soon I will phone the President's Club hotline and request a refund.

PUCCI GALORE

Flattery will get you anywhere!

Knowing the Italian police, I would leave it as they have 6 months to charge you as it is an Italian registered vehicle. I fell foul of this as my attitude was that I should not be charged without having some proof. They told me that they got a notification by mail or some such and they had a legal duty to give them my details. I wanted proof and I never got any.I would be fascinated to hear how you got on.

londonsteve56

Like others here, I was also charged an admin fee for providing my details to the Italian authorities. I could see from the notification they sent, that it involved the Veronese authorities. I wrote to them pointing out that I had gone nowhere near Verona during the entire rental. I emphasised the point that there must have been an error, either in the date or the licence plate and they should investigate further.

CS clearly thought I was telling lies and brushed me off numerous times, until I demanded (and received) evidence of what I was supposed to have committed in Verona. From the PDF they sent, it became clear that the mistake was theirs and the fine was dated one calendar month apart from my rental. Eventually, they relented and agreed to refund the admin fee, but it took another three e-mails and months of waiting for the money to be returned to my card.

One year later (!!!!!) I receive notification of the fine from the Verona authorities. I was amazed that Avis hadn't bothered to update the authorities with the correct contact details. When I wrote complaining about this, I received a terse and somewhat rude message that procedure forbids them from contacting the Police about this issue, leaving me to fight this with the Italians on their own.

I recall the car I received was covered in damage and even had a hole in the sill where it had mounted a kerb and probably bounced off it. Generally I think Avis is a good rental company, but like most institutions in Italy, is run in a sloppy manner and dealing with Avis Italia CS after the rental is akin to pulling teeth. On the same trip I had a bad experience with Pedemontana highways and their electronic payment system - I ended up paying 20 Euros for about 4 Euros worth of motorway use. Disinclined to rent a car in Italy ever again.