Originally Posted by
kda0000
What should I be expecting to see from Hertz because of this? I looked up the toll rates on the Massachusetts website, and they aren't that bad. Will a bill for the amount (which seems to be south of $10 total) just be sent to me? I have been searching and there are some pretty scary reports of ~$90 charges on top of those fees, which is nearly 70% of what I paid for the rental itself.
AFAIK, the fee is the cash rate of the toll plus a $25 administrative fee for each toll. So if you hit two tolls, you'll probably be looking at $50 in administrative fees plus whatever the tolls are. An expensive lesson, but it could be worse.
You could try calling the toll authority and providing them the license plate number of the vehicle and seeing if there's a way to pay the tolls that way. YMMV.
Originally Posted by
kda0000
I'm somewhat hopeful that because my girlfriend opened-then-closed the transponder perhaps that triggered something that activated it, as that seems like the far less pricey route. I guess I'm just assuming though that the little box it's in deactivates it and/or blocks all signals, so my presumption is that unless it somehow has a history of the box being opened that Hertz electronically accesses and considers to be an addition to my rental, then it would likely be a plate-associated matter. Still, I think I'll give Hertz a call and see if it's too late to tack on the box, and then have any charges I incurred directed through the transponder. Guess we'll see what happens.
Simply opening and closing the transponder box doesn't do anything to "activate" the transponder. It's a basic E-ZPass transponder inside a basic lead-lined box. All the box does is prevent the toll gantry from reading the transponder when you go through it. Having the box open when you're not driving under a toll gantry has no effect.
It's unlikely Hertz would retroactively add their toll pass service to your account. If the toll authority won't let you pay them directly, it can't hurt to ask Hertz, but don't get your hopes up.
Originally Posted by
guv1976
What's the penalty for using a PA E-Z Pass transponder in a rental car without first notifying the Turnpike Commission?
Absolutely nothing. One time, I was in a rental car and accidentally went through a toll gantry on the PA Turnpike without holding my E-ZPass up to the window, so it didn't get read, and Hertz got the bill instead, even though I
had added the vehicle's license plate to my account. I called the PA Turnpike Commission to inquire/complain, and the agent told me that the way the E-ZPass computer systems worked, it only paid attention to the
very first entity (i.e. the lowest sequential registration number) to register the vehicle's license plate in the system. Since Hertz registered the plate when they bought/titled/registered the vehicle, they were the owner of record inside E-ZPass's systems and would get the bill for any video tolls. She said it basically doesn't matter at all if I add the plate to my account, because the system ignores any subsequent registrations.
Just be sure to hold your transponder up to the window (velcro/tape is even better) so it gets read. The E-ZPass system completely ignores license plates as long as the transponder gets properly read.
FWIW, the toll system in the southeast (FL/GA/etc.) works the opposite way--their system pays attention to the
most recent entity to register the plate, so if you add a rental car plate to your SunPass account and your transponder doesn't get read, they'll still bill your account for a video toll. Of course, this makes more sense, but SunPass is a newer system, and good luck getting the huge E-ZPass consortium (which probably still runs their systems on an AS400) to change ways.
