FullFare

{Moderated} there is little doubt in my mind that companies like Avis are gleefully ripping off on tolls. They know we have the car and have our credit card number in hand. A definite easy way to pad the income by these daily "fees".

The typical thing is that someone rents a car for, say, a week. For one toll episode that the car may come in contact with, the rental company socks him for a $2.95 daily "convenience" fee. Happened to me on a 1-wk Florida rental over X-mas. I ran into a toll situation in Tampa where they wouldn't let me stop and pay---for a $1.25 toll. They have no humans any more at the tolls, and say they will "bill it" to the car. So they did---and I got hit with $17 + in fees (they mercifully cap the charge at that level). All for a stupid $1.25 toll that I had no control over evading or dealing with.

The bigger point is that these companies are ripping off fairly intelligent people, and I am discouraged that FT posters focus on pounding the OP that he didn't read the fine print---rather than figure a way that we consumers can get around this abuse. What other option does a renter have at the counter? Line out the fine print about the toll abuse? I suppose posters will say forego renting the car. There has got to be a remedy somewhere.

darben

YOU WERE NOT RIPPED OFF.

You went through the toll That was under your control not the rental car companies
You could have purchased your own pass as I have done before and avoided the charges but you chose not to.

The rental car company had a fee for a service. You availed yourself of the service and do not want to pay the fee. Please do not blame others for your actions or lack of action. The fact that there are unmanned toll stations is a known item and is readily viewable on the toll roads website. You did not go there before your trip or ignored the advice.

Please take responsibility for your actions.

Here is a link to sunpass

https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar

The car rental company is in business to make money and this fee is one of the ways.

NO rip off here

FullFare

Appreciate the empathy. I'll try to do better. I'll be sure to read the websites for my rentals, up front, and pore over their policies before renting. I'm applying for multiple transponders to all the regions of the county I may travel to. I'll monitor FlyerTalk for further advice.

Maybe purchasing shares in Avis/Budget Group is consideration now until we can get elected officials/regulators to constrain this practice. I can see them ripping off for the one day someone has to put up with the toll, but not every day of the rental. Your ability to look at the world from the corporate car rental company is impressive.

ExpatSomchai

So what would you suggest for a foreigner visiting the US? Should we buy our own pass?

darben

"FullFare;20177865

Maybe purchasing shares in Avis/Budget Group is consideration now until we can get elected officials/regulators to constrain this practice. I can see them ripping off for the one day someone has to put up with the toll, but not every day of the rental. Your ability to look at the world from the corporate car rental company is impressive."

OR rent from a company that only charges you for the days used.


ExpatSomchai

Purchasing your own is the best way to go.

Sunpass will send you the little sticker form of pass for $5.00 which if you tape it on the windshield you can take with you for the next visit. The account can be set up to replenish automatically and you can get a refund of any unused amount.
Just be sure to register the rental car plates on your account before going through a toll and take the plate off your account when you turn in the car

EZPASS is accepted over most of the U.S and is also an automatic replenishment.

Another advantage of the passes is you receive a lower rate for use of the toll road.

There is also a workgroup trying to make ezpass work on Florida toll roads

IAHtraveler

For anyone not in an EZPass/Sunpass/Etc area, you can purchase one for your use when renting. I live in NC where there aren't any tolls anywhere near me. However, I got a NJ EZPass for the times I'm traveling through the areas with tolls. I keep it in my bag and put it on the windshield of any rental I get in. I also add/delete the vehicle from my account as soon as I get in it. Sure, it takes 2 minutes but it saves me a ton in toll fees from Avis and makes my travel more efficient since I'm not waiting in toll lanes.


Not trying to be mean, but we all have full controls over the tolls. We can choose which roads we travel on and how we get to our destinations. Most GPSs these days have an option to "avoid toll roads" or you can do it the old fashioned way to look for roads on a paper map to get to your destination.

ExpatSomchai

Unfortunately i live in the UK and travel infrequently to the US

FullFare

Appreciate the effort not trying to be mean, but I dispute that we all are in full control of our life against tolls. I doubt there will be any of the adamant and confident posters who have postulated that this is a reliable, predictable system---who won't get confronted with an unexpected toll situation. I am confident that that will happen, and when it does, we should not be expected to be taken advantage of by the rental company.

I don't think anyone has considered my point that the charging of $2.95 for every day of a rental, when only one day will involve a small toll that the driver could not have evaded---is a predatory more and certainly a poor value for what was received. I won't be convinced otherwise. I'm stunned that so many come to the support of a rental car corporation to rip off renters for this poor value.

I carry an E-Z pass for California and an I-Pass for Illinois and the East Coast (did not bring it to FLA because I didn't think I would encounter a toll road and had fairly good avoidance tactics not to). One thing I used to do was log in the rental I would get at ORD and put it on my I-Pass account. An Illinois Tollway person told me that was the way to go. Well, it didn't work and I would get charged for subsequent renters' tolls even though I de-activated the car as soon as I brought it in. I was even chastized by an I-Pass person that that was not the way to go (classic conflicting instructions). She said I should just mount the I-Pass on the window, not log in, and wing it.

Regardless, much of travel is unpredictable and, on some days, a crap shoot. I remain unconvinced that "we all have full controls over the tolls". Inevitably there will come an instance when we don't.

Critic

For clarification's sake: EZPass is common among states in the mid-Atlantic up through New England (basically VA up to ME), extending as far west as IL.



It is not, however, nationwide. TX, CA and - as mentioned previously - FL have their own systems that aren't interoperable with EZPass. SunPass, in particular, operates on a different technology than EZPass and would require significant modification to the toll booths/gantries in all involved states (or replacement of the existing SunPass hardware) to make the two systems interoperable.

That being said, Florida does quite a good job at explaining the SunPass system to visitors - they have a dedicated page on the SunPass website for rental car users. There is no need to preorder a SunPass tag - the tags can be obtained at major supermarket and grocery chains for a minimal cost.

Similarly, EZPass tags can be purchased at retail in some member states. I know that NJ sells them in the larger service areas on the NJ Turnpike. The moral is that getting and registering your own tag to replace the Avis tag is quite easy.

FullFare: the CA system is FasTrak, not EZPass. The tags look similar, but I don't believe the two systems are compatible. And for the record, the fee for using the Avis tag is pretty clearly disclosed - as is the fact that roads like the Selmon Expressway in Tampa are toll facilities. There's a difference between being unable to avoid a toll and being unwilling to circumvent a toll.

sdsearch

If you read carefully, the issue was not that the OP didn't know there was a toll, it was that the OP diddn't know that they couldn't pay for the toll any other way than through the pass.

Are all "pass only" entrances to toll roads in FL (and elsewhere) clearly marked now? I had an issue with unclear toll payment acceptance marking on previous visits to Florida, but that was many years ago, before Avis had the toll option.

If you come from a place where all toll roads are easily and clearly payable by cash, you may not realize that is not an option some places you travel to.

Critic

I don't know about the Tampa area, but there's quite a bit of information about the cashless section of Florida's Turnpike in Miami-Dade. I suppose the real lesson is to research your routes in advance, especially if cashless tolls are involved.

bkafrick

Predatory? Wow.

Rental cars themselves are rip offs. I spent $390 last week on a rental. My monthly loan on my personal car is $329. Should I consider their pricing for rentals predatory? I mean, I dont have a choice, right?

nova08

I'd at least like a itemized receipt of tolls.

I just received a ~$14 toll charge from Avis.

I think it is for one week but it may be for 2. I take one toll road from the airport to office on monday and back to the airport on Thursday. I just looked at the toll rates and it looks like the trip is ~$5 roundtrip.

Tolarian Wind

I have a Wizard number with Avis. They are free. As part of the profile you can provide an email address. Several days after turning in the car you will receive an email with a link to a page where you can view and print the toll detail.

TW

nova08

Wow, don't know how I missed that. So I was hit by their convenience fee. I have a $1.50 and $1.90 toll charges and a $11.80 convenience fee.