quite a couple of the posts here are saying that the driver has a choice and ought to exercise the choice in determining method of payment for the tolls, but sometimes the choice isn't a very good one.

i rented out from a HLE in Redmond and one of the days needed to make a trip down to Seattle. i checked with the Hertz employee and was advised that there was no way to decline the PlatePass feature in the car, and the best thing i could do was to avoid the 520 bridge altogether. doing a bit of my own research about Good2Go tolling system used on the bridge, there are a few different types of transponders (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/GoodToGo/passes.htm) and unfortunately it appears that Hertz has chosen to equip their cars with a non-switchable type of transponder.

i also found that Good2Go does actually offer a short term account for rental cars (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/GoodToGo/For....htm#shortterm) and i would have gladly signed up for that, if Hertz was able to let me decline PlatePass. unfortunately, nope and my only alternative to avoid the toll+service fee was to take either the north or south routes going around Lake Washington.

i still think that rental companies ought to give a choice of declining at the very least. if everyone followed the Hertz model and cars came with non-declinable toll payment systems that charged a hefty service fee, it would kind of defeat the purpose of alternative payment methods existing.

so a long story short, yes.. i think the PlatePass fees are a rip-off (and it feels a bit scammish that they would bill me $2.95 on the day i incur my first toll and $2.95 for each subsequent day of my rental, until the maximum service fee -- i think $15? -- is reached, even if i don't incur any more tolls on the subsequent days) and i agree the onus is on the driver to know what he's getting into, but if i can't opt-out of PlatePass, my hands are quite tied, aren't they?