Originally Posted by
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While they may be willing to remove the charge if you provide a gas receipt, what the agent at LAX and the phone rep told you
directly contradicts what it says on their own website:
The agent was being dishonest. She did not "have to put FPO on the rental contract". This is a shady practice, and one we have seen at locations outside the U.S. (it happened to me at Hertz in Paris) and/or at the discount brands, but to hear that it is happening at a major brand at a large airport location in the U.S. is disconcerting. I would email Dollar customer support to complain.
FPO is an
option. It should never be forced on the customer. If the agent insists that they put it on the contract, I would ask to speak with a manager and escalate the issue.
While an exact reading of the rules as printed does indicate that, the largest rental car sales training consultant firm in the industry promotes this sales tactic, and locations that use it should generally honor the verbal promise.
However, the verbiage is slightly confusing. The intent of the option is that if you bring the car back
100% full and with a receipt to show it, the office will remove the FPO. However, if you use
any amount of fuel at all, even only half a gallon, and do not present a receipt at return, then the
full FPO will remain on the contract, and you'll be paying for a full tank, not a prorated amount. There is no
partial refund for unused fuel; it's an all-or-nothing option: either bring the car back full or pay FPO for the full tank.
I don't know whether this is now an official corporate policy, but if an agent verbalizes this to you, I would safely assume you could get it removed at the return, but if you want to be sure, have the agent make a note on your receipt to that effect. If you absolutely insist it be removed before leaving the counter, though, they should eventually comply (perhaps informing them that you will be in a hurry when you return and do not want to have to wait in line to remove it). The sales consultant firm that pushes this tactic generally does so in a relatively low-pressure, customer-friendly way (as a "you don't have to think about it now, we'll let you decide later" kind of thing), but since Hertz corporate has moved away from using that particular sales training firm, it doesn't surprise me that management has twisted the tactic away from its original intent and into a more pushy form.
