"Non Pg Items" automatic charge for refilling gas tank
I had a pre-paid rental at BDL earlier this month. When I returned the car, my receipt showed $4.31 in “non pg items”. I wasn’t supposed to have been charged anything since everything was to have been pre-paid, so I contacted Avis customer service about the charge via email once I got home.
I found out from their response that my rental car had been equipped with some kind of fuel gauge sensor that remotely detects the amount of gas in the tank. It showed that I left the Avis lot with 16.9 gallons of gas and I returned the vehicle with 16.5 gallons of gas – so they were charging me for 0.4 gallons of gas. Fair enough, I guess…..however……
What irks me about this is:
*I was charged the equivalent of $10.78/gallon for the missing gas ($4.31 / 0.4 gallons = $10.78) – highway robbery even for a rental car company;
*It seems as though Avis is trying to be sneaky about this fee. If they were being upfront, the fee would have been called “Gasoline” or “Refill Tank” or something along those lines on my receipt, not “non pg items”. Frankly, I suspect many people don’t even question this charge since it’s lumped in at the bottom with a bunch of other fees & taxes. The only reason I noticed it was because I was on a prepaid rental, it was the only fee, and was expecting a zero-dollar invoice.
To Avis’ credit, they did refund me for the $4.81 without hassle.
I suspect that these gauges are not yet used widely, as the email from Avis referenced them as being used in “select locations”.
I’m wondering if these gauges are the future of rental cars? If so, are we all going to be forced into refueling the gas tank AT the airport in order to avoid excessive refueling fees?? My 0.4 gallon deficit came about because I filled up the tank on my 20 MPG vehicle about 8 miles away from the airport. Had I refueled at a station 2 miles away and had a 0.1 gallon deficit, would I have been charged a $1.08 fee ($10.78 x 0.1)?
Anyway, this was new to me and I wanted others to be aware and “fuel up” close by the airport – and watch your final bill for strange charges!