I recently returned from a 2 week Hertz rental in France. About 3 days after my return, 3 charges of Euro 19.99 each appeared on my credit card. 3 days after that, I got 3 invoices from Hertz France, citing "Traffic Fine". No other information. No date, no place, nothing. I wrote an email to Hertz, and just got back a long-winded response.

The gist of the response is that, of course, I am responsible for all traffic fines. I should appeal to the local authorities if I dispute the charges, and lastly-- THEY HAVE NO OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE VIOLATIONS!!!

Firstly, I got no tickets during my rental. I diligently used the payment boxes and displayed my paid ticket on the dashboard. Secondly, no tickets were ever placed on the car windshield.

This is pure insanity. Hertz expects me to pay for 3 tickets that I most likely never got, and refuses to provide ANY details (no less copies of the tickets) to me about the violations!! How can I go to the local authorities if I don't know which Authority they are talking about??

Needless to say, I have disputed the charges with the Credit card. But this leaves a bad taste in my mouth about Hertz. Do these rental companies just make it up as they go along?

Any similar stories of unwarranted (no pun) traffic ticket charges in Europe?