gashwingomes

I normally stick to Hertz, but on a recent trip to the West Coast, used Dollar in the SF Bay Area. I crossed the Bay Bridge twice. There was no option to pay the toll in cash — either use a transponder, or have the toll invoice mailed to the owner of the car. While my rental had a sticker about how to use a transponder, there was no actual transponder that I could find. Anyway, the bill arrived today — for *each* toll, a $15 “administrative fee.” So a $6 toll is actually $21. Wow. I know rental agencies make a killing this way, but didn’t realize how much of a killing. And what is one supposed to do when there is no way to pay cash for the toll at all?

At least with Hertz, with a transponder, there’s a flat fee per day. A per toll tax (over 100%!) is a bit excessive! Is this something worth taking up with Dollar? Or just suck it up, and avoid them in the future ?

AutoSlash

You can set up a FasTrak account next time and then set the start and end date for your rental and they will bill you directly. I honestly don't know if you can do it after the fact once you've already crossed the bridge, but I know for a fact that in New York, the Toll by Mail option lets you do this after the fact and as long as you enter your billing info within a few days of using the toll crossing, they will bill you directly thus avoiding the rental company entirely. I've used it many times when I forget my E-Z Pass at home and I'm driving a rental.

The other option is to just ask the counter rep or lot attendant to make sure the car is equipped with a transponder and/or ask and accept the toll plan offered by Dollar. It's just a matter of remembering to ask/check.

AutoSlash

A couple of follow-ups here...

a. You may find this blog post informative --> https://www.autoslash.com/blog-and-t...-renting-a-car

b. Also some relevant info in this blog post --> https://www.autoslash.com/blog-and-t...al-disfunction

gashwingomes

Thank you very much! I'll be back in the Bay Area next month most likely, so this is very helpful!

garykung

Also - there have been extended discussion about getting a transponder in advance, and not being a sucker.

gashwingomes

Lesson learned. I live in the South. There's no mandatory toll highways in GA (the Metro Atlanta express lanes are optional) and pretty much in all previous visits to toll happy regions, there was always the option to pay in cash. Or use Plate Pass with Hertz, which seems to be the cheapest option as far rental agency transponders go.

m907

The NC QuickPass works in all the EZPass states plus Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida. I keep one in my laptop bag.

gashwingomes

So a follow up: I ordered a Toll transponder from FastTrak and used it quite successfully for my rentals in my two most recent Bay Area trips. I stuck the transponder on the windshield and entered the rental vehicle license tag number in my online profile. No problems there, and the toll was deducted fine. No charges from Hertz Plate Pass yet. Unfortunately, I forgot to put an end date on my second rental ... and when my card got charged for a reload, I checked my profile, and realized that my account was getting charged for the car being used by someone else for the past week! A total of about $23 in charges! :: facepalm :: ... I deleted the rental car off of my profile. However, it is interesting that my account got charged even though the transponder was clearly not in the rental vehicle -- it was with me! Well, someone got some free tolls this week ... Gotta laugh!

garykung

License plate. That's why.

Brighton Line

Absolutely and if the transponder failed to read or was a bad read you would be charged via a picture of your plate as well with some jusrisdictions charging you a hire rate for not using a transponder (hello NY). Too bad they don't have an expiration date field for rentals.

lo2e

Yep, that's exactly how most (or possibly all?) toll transponders work across the country. If they don't detect your transponder, they will charge your account by the license plate number.

This is especially tricky if you're supposed to get a discount for using the transponder and the system doesn't detect it when you go through, it will read your plate but deduct the full cash amount from your account instead of the discounted amount. Been there done that, thanks EZPass. I've now learned to make sure I check my account every so often to make sure I got the discounted rate deducted and not the full cash amount.

gashwingomes

An update: I emailed Fastrak customer service, explained the situation, and enclosed a copy of my rental agreement. I also mailed the transponder back and asked for a refund of my balance. 5 days later I got an email back saying they will check with a supervisor to see if the charges that were made to my account after my rental contract ended, but before I actually deleted the vehicle off my account, could be refunded. And yesterday, I got a refund on my account of the balance as well as the other charges. I'm impressed!