themicah

Just looked at my latest credit card statement and I noticed a $15 charge hit my account last week from Kesher Rent a Car in Tel Aviv (Hertz's local agent at TLV). Considering that I haven't been to Israel or otherwise dealt with or heard from Hertz TLV in over 6 months, I have no idea what the charge is, and Kesher didn't provide any contact info, so on to the dispute process I go.

Anybody else experience this? This is too bad, because I rather enjoyed renting with Hertz in Israel.

Dovster

I have never rented in Israel but I have often rented in other countries through Kesher and have never had a problem.

themicah

Yeah, I rented with them twice in the last year at TLV and had perfectly fine experiences. But now this... Anyway, a quick call to Citibank and it's taken care of (hopefully). I wonder why in the world they charged me $15 six months after my most recent rental (and months after they snail mailed me my final receipt).

Dovster

Is it possible that you got a parking ticket? It generally takes about 4-6 months before notification of unpaid tickets are sent to car owners (in this case, Hertz).

craz

Did you drive on Kirvish Shais (Hway 6), its a toll road and most companies charge from $10 to $15 just if you drove on it, the tolls are collected Electronically and charged to the owner of the vechile that used the road. So in this case Hertz would be charged as the vechile owner and then they would pass it to you.

some outfits impose the Fee per month, so if you rent the car on say Sept 30 and drive on H6 then return back the next day 10/1 you will be assesd the Fee twice - once for each month. And Yes if the car is rented out to 7 different people one each day and everyone drove on H6 then they would collect the Fee 7 times even thought they are only charged it Once per month by the Authority.

Kep in mind that the Toll itself depends on the length of teh H6 that you drove and is addition to the Monthly Fee thats charged.

themicah

Actually, now that I think about it, that is a possibility. We didn't drive on Highway 6, but I did get a parking ticket in Jerusalem that my hostess said she would pay. I wonder if she never paid it....

Dovster

Of course she didn't.

Israelis never pay parking tickets. In fact, anytime a parking ticket is actually paid, the Shin Bet investigates as it is obviously a foreign spy.

craz

On my recent trip to JRS I had a few people that left things in my room. When I checked out it there were charges on my bill that I didnt make or Authorize. The Hotel agreed to remove them for 2 weeks till I was able to see if they were from someone who was using my room.

2 days later the charges appeared on my online statement as a Temp charge and 2 days after that as a bonifide charge even though that was still 1 1/2 weeks before the end of the time period that teh Hotel had said they would await my findings.

Needless to say I disputed the charges and the rep said he was going to simply credit me for the amount since Ive been hassled by the thing enough already and seeing that I was an excellent customer (wish the Hotel felt that way). anyway if you did Dispute it most likely since its such a small amount and old the CC will probably credit you too.

themicah

Ah, but she is an American who was just living in Israel for the year, and didn't pick up every Israeli habit. She also says she definitely paid the ticket, so at least I don't feel bad about filing the dispute. I called Kesher in TLV and asked what the charge was. They said if it was $15 it was definitely a fine, and I can't imagine I was fined for anything other than that parking ticket.

I just hope the Shin Bet doesn't share the parking-ticket-payer blacklist with the TSA!

apirchik

Nowadays, on a single unpaid parking ticket, the local municipality can (by court order) take ownership of your car and prevent you from selling it in the future. If you have many unpaid tickets, they can come and take your car away from you.

Still, many parking tickets are given just because the inspectors have a number of tickets they have to give on any given day and you should always check if the ticket is valid and if you indeed did something wrong. Liveing in Tel Aviv, I have a "Zone 1" parking permit and still I do get parking tickets from time to time for paring in my own zone. One day I'm going to shoot one of those idiots who give them ...

Mutang

In December 2008, while in Jerusalem, I rented a car for two days, which I drove in and around Jerusalem on the first day, before driving it north to Tiberias, then south through Nazareth to Ashdod, finally returning it at Ben Gurion Airport on the evening I departed for Bangkok. Kesher Rent A Car charged US$284 to my credit card in late December, and I received no more charges until another US$7.44 was charged 09 March 2009, without any other communication explaining this charge. I suppose I may have driven over some section of highway for which a toll was levied, as suggested in this thread. I am not particularly worried that this might be bogus, unless it recurs in future. I'm not aware of having received any parking tickets.

damaxer91

Yes, when driving to the North, you probably used Israel's only toll road "Highway 6". The bill usually doesnt appear on your CC for a while. Makes complete sense

Mutang

Thanks for the confirmation, which is comforting. Mention of "Highway 6" evokes a slightly faint memory of passing over a section of very modern roadway as I travelled south from Tiberias, through Nazareth, toward Ben Gurion (which I overshot on my first approach, reaching Ashdod before getting turned around). On that contrary, my route northward was on the road which goes directly eastward from Jerusalem, turning at Jericho to the north. I don't seem to recall any toll roads in that part of my trip. Anyway, I hope to return and see more of Israel.

apirchik

When renting the car, one of the papers you signed said that if you drive on hwy 6, you will be billed separately a couple of months later. Hwy 6 runs North-South through central Israel. There are no toll roads when going through Jericho.

Pmetter

I rented a car in Israel in September 2010. I was told that if I used the toll road H6 Hertz adds a $5 handling fee.
Three weeks later my Amex now shows a $27 charge for the small stretch I drove on H6. Based on Internet information including the maximum mark up plus Hertz's $5 handling charge, the $27 is more than double what I should have been charged.
Amex is crediting my account for 1/2 this amount ($13/50) "because you are a great client". This does not make me feel any happier about the overcharge from Kesher.
Beware!