Originally Posted by
PDXpress
I have rented dozens of vehicles in Oregon, with my spouse as a free driver per state law (ORS 646A.140).
...
What's the best course of action here short of walking into the office with a lawyer and slamming down a copy of the Oregon Revised Statutes?
Anything sounds like a better course of action than that.
Your cited statute does not entitle you to a
free authorized operator; it simply authorizes your spouse to drive the vehicle without running afoul of state law.
https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/646A.140
Hertz's website makes clear that only in California and Iowa is a spouse automatically, for the purposes of
Hertz's terms, an "Authorized Operator" exempt from the $13.50/day fee. Other than for those individuals specifically listed as automatically becoming an "Authorized Operator," there is a $13.50/day fee for all "
Additional Authorized Operators" (AAOs).
Authorized Operators
Acceptable Authorized Operators age 25 and older are automatically covered on the Rental Agreement.
Authorized Operators are:
- The employer, employee or fellow employee of renter on company business, (when booking includes company Corporate Discount Number).
- The renter's spouse for rentals that originate in California or or Iowa.
- Authorized Operators do not have to be present at time of rental.
- There are no fees for Authorized Operators.
Additional Authorized Operators
- Individuals not automatically covered on the Rental Agreement as Authorized Operators noted above may be signed on as an "Additional Authorized Operator" (AAO). AAO's must be present and may be signed on to the rental agreement at the time of rental or during the rental at any US corporate location.
- Renter and each AAO must be present to sign Rental Agreement, present an acceptable credit card or debit card (if renting city accepts debit cards) in their own name, or a current round-trip ticket (air, train or bus), show valid driver's license, and must be a minimum of 20 years of age. For those 20 through 24 the location's age differential will apply.
Additional Authorized Operators Fees
At corporate and participating licensee locations the additional fee is $13.50 per day with a maximum of $189.00 per rental and per Additional Authorized Operator.
Exceptions
AAA - Spouse/Domestic Partner* of AAA members are not required to have a separate AAA membership in order to receive the free AAO privileges. For other rentals, the AAO fee is also waived when both the renter and the AAO are AAA members.
*Domestic partner: An unmarried partner of the same or opposite sex (not a relative) who permanently resides as part of the same family unit, at the same address as the renter, as validated by the address on the driver's license.
USAA - No charge for qualified additional operators who are USAA members when signing on to a USAA rental when booking includes USAA discount number.
https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/reser...RS&EOAG=EWKC31
The Hertz rules are clear and unambiguous. By adding your spouse as an
Additional Authorized Operator, you incurred the $13.50 per day fee. Of course, you would be correct to argue that as a matter of state law, you were not required to add your spouse as an AAO in the first place to avoid risking her legal liability for unauthorized operation of your rental vehicle. But nothing you have pointed to prevents
Hertz from requiring you to do so (especially when you asked to do so), let alone from charging you for it.
(Note: if you were a AAA member, you could have avoided the fee that way.)