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Are car rental companies overbilling customers for toll violations?

February 22, 2008

This should come as absolutely no surprise. The fee-happy car rental industry has apparently figured out a way of profiting from customers who blow through an electronic tool booth without paying.

That’s the conclusion of a recent blog post by my MSNBC colleague Bob Sullivan.

Advantage Rent A Car customers who accidentally drive through electronic toll booths on roads like the new Texas Highway 121, which has no human toll collectors, without the proper equipment can expect to eventually receive a bill stating that they owe the state 60 cents – and $5 to a company named Violation Management Services. At Avis, drivers who do the same can be billed $25 for each transgression, in addition to the toll charge.

Sullivan says an increase in unpaid tolls is adding to the already complicated problem of citation and violation collections for rental car firms. Many are turning to third-party firms for help. Those firms, in turn, also tack on sometimes hefty fees.

Violations Management Services, a third-party firm that helps rental car companies track down toll evaders and other violators, suggest violation collections can be profitable. The company indicates on its Web site that it can turn “a costly customer service headache into a profitable customer service solution.”

A check of the company’s Web site this morning suggests that wording has been changed. It now reads:

At VMS we are dedicated to providing the highest quality service available, allowing us to turn your cost center into a self-sustaining component of your business.

Oh, boy. Looks like they saw this one coming.

How to avoid these fees? Sullivan suggests paying a toll violation immediately after it happens in order to avoid a hefty collection fee. But he overlooks one obvious recommendation: don’t use a toll road unless you have the means to pay.

It’s disingenuous of car rental companies to invest in toll collections systems without also offering customers a way to pay for a toll road. Seems to me that needs to be fixed.

Until then, avoid a toll road in your rental car.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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64 comments

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  • Aimee

    Wait a minute. The only suggestion you can come up with is avoid toll roads? How about call your senator or at least complain to the car rental agencies?
    When someone is using a rental car, they are usually in an area that they are unfamiliar with. That would make avoiding toll roads (usually a main highway) very difficult when they don’t know where they’re going to begin with. If they don’t have the money to pay the tolls then they certainly are going to have the money to pay for the navigation system in the car (those things are nice, but soooo expensive to rent). And no one in their right mind will ask a rental agent for directions, as that is the fastest way to end up lost in the worst part of town.
    So tell me again, how is avoiding toll roads even possible most of the time? How about requiring a sign at all rental counters telling renters to have a minimum of $5 in change? Then requiring the car rental agents to actually give that change…

  • Aaron

    This happened to me last summer.
    I was in Dallas TX for a conference, and had a rental car.
    Going out for lunch from the downtown hotel, my car-GPS warned me I’d be taking a toll road, but I considered that fine, since I had cash for the toll at the ready.

    It wasn’t until *after* I’d gotten on the freeway that I started seeing signs “EasyPass Only, No Cash”. I didn’t know how to deal with it properly… I just cruised through the EasyPass lane, and hoped for the best. I paid the 3 or 4 other tolls in cash on my way.

    It wasn’t until a full 3 months afterwards that a sudden, unexplained $25 charge showed up on my credit card. A couple of days after that, I got a letter from the rental company explaining the charge. As seems so common these days, I began to try and fight it. But both the rental company and the tolling agency were pretty non-responsive. It just became easier to let the $25 remain than to push it.

    Who do I blame? First, I blame the tolling authority for putting a no-cash, unmanned tolling place right near a Convention center that attracts out of town visitors with little or no clear signs. They posted no clear way to deal with honestly unpaid tolls, and I think it is excessive of them to pursue a single, missed $0.60 toll.

    Secondly, I blame the car rental company for creating contract that allows them to bill me after the fact, then explain it later. I think its no coincidence that the charge showed up at the *very* end of the 90-day period. I’m sure they’ve learned that the later they bill, the less likely it will be contested.

    Finally, like what Aimee said, I blame the laws (and the law makers) who permit a $25 charge for a $0.60 toll. Its just a scam to help the local economy on the back of out-of-state travelers. Like we don’t already pay enough in airline, hotel, restaurant, and car-rental taxes….

  • Gerry

    I agree that you cannot simply say “I’ll stay off toll roads.” Dallas, for example, is a surprisingly hard town to get around in, and it is all too easy to end up in a turn-only lane with no way out except onto the road you don’t intend to be on. Of course one could argue that it is YOUR responsibility to look at maps and carefully figure out the location of toll roads, but let’s get real: avoiding surcharges, fees and rip-offs in general for rental cars should not require a twenty task check list, each of which must be expertly performed! For a traveler who is tired, far from home in a strange place and juggling many other requirements, it becomes a near-certainty that at least one item will be missed, and she or he will end up potentially footing the bill for some item the rental car company fondly believes it should not have to deduct from its profits.

    Someone (maybe Chris?) should create such a comprehensive list, just so we can see how ridiculous the idea is that the renter is always wrong because you failed to:

    1. Call the rental car company to ask if there were any additional fees that were not disclosed at the time the rental agreement was made (cf “top off” fees as charged by the abominable Dollar Rental Car).

    2. Go over the car inside and out with a fine-toothed comb and note the location of the slightest scratch, regardless of what the renting agent tells you .

    3. Photograph any damage at the time of rental, making sure that the photos showed that the car was in the rental lot. Also: photograph the gas guage at the time of rental, making sure that the odometer shows in the picture.

    4. Make sure that an authorized agent of the rental car company signed the damage form.

    5. Print that agent’s name on the damage form.

    6. Make sure that you had a copy of the damage form with you when you left the lot, and that your copy clearly showed all damage.

    7. Photograph the condition of the car in detail at the time of return, making sure that the photos showed that the car was in the rental car lot and in some way demonstrated that the car was being returned at the time.

    8. Research the area thoroughly noting the location of any toll roads that may only accept transponder payment of fees.

    9. Keep your rental car agreement along with your photos for a minimum of six months after the rental. If you travel a lot, maybe you should dedicate a drawer in your office and label it Rental-Car-Ripoff Prevention.

    10. Read the fine print on the rental car agreement in detail, noting any early return or other fees. Ask for clarification of the obscure and legalistic language in which these agreements are written any time you are not absolutely sure you understand an item, all while not annoying the long line of people behind you….

    ….and on, and on and on.

    All the examples I’ve cited come from complaints I have heard or read, or from experiences I have had with rental car companies. In my dealings with them I have found that their response, from the manager of the rental car location to the customer help line is “there’s nothing we can do until it’s too late to do anything” if they respond at all. They want to put a charge on your credit card for nothing. They don’t want to take it off. Their reaction to your insistence that they can’t charge you is “watch us.” Their response to your demand that they take off their charges is “make us.” People who slap a $25 dollar surcharge on a 60 cent toll that you can’t pay because there are no human toll collectors on a road do not care about doing what is right. They don’t care if they lose you as a customer. What is their incentive not to be greedy, unethical and unresponsive, given that that’s their attitude?

    Flying is a major pain, but once I’ve arrived at my destination, I don’t have to worry about United slapping a little charge on my credit card just cuz. As a result, I find renting cars to be by-far the most onerous part of my life on the road.

    I’m the road this week in an area where rental cars are very useful. I don’t have a rental car! I went to some effort to get a hotel near my worksite, and instead of scoping out the location of toll roads, I located businesses close to the worksite to which I could wak. That’s how you avoid the rental car mess: Don’t rent!

  • Jasper

    Is [fill in what service industry] over charging you?

    Off course they are!

    Why?

    Because they can!

    Again, this shows that we – as customers – are not operating in the free market we are supposed to be in where companies fight for our business by offering great products for a low price.

    In reality, we are operating in a oligopoly where all sellers have figured out that if they all give up on customer service, they don’t need to compete for our business anymore.

    @ Gerry: The list you provide of actions I should take before renting a car makes the product useless. It’s pretty much like the plastic packaging that most electronics come in these days. It looks pretty but you can’t open it without stabbing yourself in your arms at least three times.

  • Elwood

    I rent a lot of cars in my travels and almost all of them from Hertz. Not one single problem ever in 11 years of this madhouse travelling I do. Infrequently, I will be billed for a parking ticket that I did not know I earned but never the speeding camera tickets that come three months later from Australia, Holland, etc… I rented 27 cars from Hertz in 2007 and never a problem. If I had to do all that documentation suggested, it would not be worth it. Concentrate on one GOOD rental or hotel or airline company and relax. They don’t mess with the best… (customers, that is…. ) In the travel business, frequent renter/flier/guest status is REALLY worth something. And like was mentioned in the article… BE NICE ALWAYS!!! That gets more than you will ever know!

  • Chris

    For those that are unfamiliar with TX 121 it is a toll road with NO TOLLBOOTHS.

    “No toll tag? No problem. Drivers without a toll tag also are welcome to use State Highway 121. There’s no need to prepay or register. Cameras above the toll lanes will record the license plate, and the vehicle owner will receive a monthly bill for toll charges.

    The toll rates are one-third more for drivers who do not have an electronic toll tag to offset the costs related to processing the license plate information. Also, a $1 fee is applied to each monthly invoice for non-tag customers.”

    It is similar to Ontario 407 in Toronto.

    The problem is, many tourists are used to toll booths, and even though they may have change and small bills, once you are on TX 121, there are no toll booths. I think there has got to be a better way, other than the current system of gouging unsuspecting renters for an insane processing fee.

    As I frequently travel to Orlando, I found it more economical to invest in a SunPass transponder. Perhaps purchasing a TXTag for frequent travelers to the DFW area may be a way around this?

    Maybe the rental car company can have cars equiped with TXPass, and deducts the tolls at the end of the rental? AHHH, but this would make too much sense, and I think the car companies are all too happy to continue to gouge customers than to do whats right!

  • Christine

    I was in a pretty large car accident a few months ago on the PA Turnpike and my car was totaled. The insurance company paid for a rental car through Enterprise, which I was very happy with.

    My husband and I both have EZPass transponders in our cars. I was very careful about removing my transponder from my car and putting it on the dashboard of my rental car so it could be read. I even held it up, in the correct position, when going through the tollbooths on the Turnpike (which I commute to work on every day).

    Well, a month later I got about 10 letters in the mail directly from EZPass (it was apparent that they first sent them to Enterprise and were told I rented the car during that period of time). My transponder never read correctly in the rental car and EACH letter had a $40+ charge on it!

    I quickly contacted EZPass and the situation was corrected within an hour or so. Turns out I didn’t have “authorization” to fix the problem and dh had to call and repeat the process! In the end I owed a total of $11!

    In this instance it wasn’t Enterprise that was the bad guy, but EZPass. I am sure that I would have had to pay significantly more if I wasn’t able to provide my account number so quickly!

  • Bob

    There are many new roads being contructed today that are going to be toll-roads. But, they will NOT have toll booths.

    Your plate will be photographed and a bill sent. Even if only 1 trip per month @ 75cents, you will received a bill. No extra charges as there is no violation, they’ve just decided this is the way to collect tolls.

    How is someone going to deal with this? Rental car companies and those idiots at that violation company see this as a way to line their pockets.

    I know this is a litigous society, but look at what sometimes forces us to be just as down and dirty.

    Class action is the way to stop this.

  • Irate Customer

    All I want to say is thank you for making people aware of this situatiion.
    Last Christmas, I had an experience with the unmanned toll booth in Dallas with my rental car from Dollar Rent A Car. The exit did not even had a coin drop tub. Although I have tried to explain the incident at the car return desk, the agent said that there was nothing she could do at that point.
    Then, just about three months afterwards, I have received $25.75 charge for a 75 cent toll. After visiting your blog, I contacted Dollar A Day Customer Service and had the fee waived. I believe the car companies are realizing that it is a customer service to caution the customers at the time of the rental instead of seeing the unfortunate toll experiences as a profit opportunity three months after the rental.

  • Garth

    I want to know where to sign up for the class action lawsuit? I traveled to Dallas in January and was notified by Thrifty Car Rental on March 28 that they had charged my debit card $25.45 for a .45 toll. Not only once but TWICE for the same toll. And of course this resulted in $250 in overdraft charges from my bank before I realized it 3 days later when I received the letter.

    This is such a scam they have going at car rental companies. I have asked for all of their documentation proving that I didn’t pay the toll but I’m sure there’s going to be some reason that they don’t have to give it to me. Let me know where to sign for the lawsuit or I may see a lawyer about this myself and let you guys know. Thanks, Garth

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  • Kevin

    Has anyone else actually paid the toll with cash, and then get your credit card charged for the EZPass they put in the car? This has happened to me twice, and I NEVER open the EZPass box that Avis puts on the windshield. They say if you don’t open it, you won’t be charged, but the signal is getthing through.

    Avis contracts the toll tag management outt to some company called Highway Toll Administration LLC…htallc.com. From their website they look like a sham shell company. I’ve tried to contact them, but no response.

  • Cathy

    Back in October my sister and I visited Houston to relocate our ailing father to Virginia. We rented a car through Advantage. Neither one of us had been to the area before and were not familiar with electronic toll roads. We are a military family that has moved around the country for 26 years and have never seen this before. It turned out that the hotel we were staying at was a good ways from where my dad lived. The first night we tried using a map which resulted in getting lost in a questionable neighborhood. We called it a night and the next day started again. We decided to try a navigation feature I have built into my cell phone through Verizon. The virtual lady directed us to West Park Toll Road. While on it, we saw signs for a toll due which we were prepared to pay but found no toll booths to pay at. We did think this was odd and asked the hotel manager about it but was told that we probably got off early and therefore did not have to pay it. This sounded like a reasonable explanation so we did not give it another thought. We were there back and forth for 5 days taking care of our father. About a month later I began getting bills from VMS in access of $1500.00 along with the Harris County Toll Road Authority for about $250.00. I called both and tried to explain our situation/ignorance but it all fell on deaf ears. I did notify my credit card company to reject any charges by VMS which thankfully they did. However, I was told by the toll agency that I owed the charges which had now doubled because I did not pay it in a timely manner. They threatened lawyers and a court appearance in Texas, which I deducted would cost me more than the $548.55 which I now owed. I ended up paying it because I was so stressed and losing sleep and felt I had no choice and just wanted to put the ordeal behind me. Now for the VMS charges, I have not paid them and I am sure they have doubled or possibly tripled by now. I am not sure what I can do about it. It is so hard to believe that a law abiding citizen of this great country can be forced into paying excessive fees/penalties for a wrong I did not intend to commit. This is truly “highway robbery” and if anyone has any ideas of what I can do to correct this, please let me know. I am open to any and all suggestions.

  • brad davis

    these motherfuckers charged me $440 for a single parking ticket in houston texas. i cant contest this charge. this is garbage.,

  • Rod

    I’m having the similar experience as Kevin in dealing with Avis’s firm — the Highway Transit Administration. Get this — my alleged unpaid tolls are from Sep 2006 and they just notified me 2 years later. This company provides a dispute process, which I followed and received no response. Two months later, I receive a 2nd notice — this time with additional late fees of $10. There were $2.40 worth of tolls, which they are now trying to collect over $165!

    I’ve filed the on-line dispute. Left them a message on-line and several voice mails. Not a single response.

    On top of it all, I’m familiar with the area where the unpaid tolls happened and I’m certain that they are bogus!

    I’m boycotting AVIS – that will cost them far more than the alleged $2.40 in tolls that I didn’t incur.

  • Kimberly

    I had rented a car thru one of the major rental companies. I too ran into the proverbial EZPass lane on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I don’t have any toll booths where I come from and I had no clue what EZPass meant. I had stopped with intent to pay so the camera got a GREAT picture of my rental car. When no one appeared to take money I noticed the sign that had “HAVE A NICE DAY” on it. So…I continued on my way and had a “nice day”. I didn’t realize till “later” what EZPass was. Doh!

    But the company’s “admin” fee for “tattle-taleing” was ridiculous.

  • Carver Farrow

    Am I the only person who has never had these experiences. I have never inadvertently been on a toll road, nor have I ever been in a situation where I couldn’t pay the toll with cash and didn’t know about it beforehand. And I’ve been all over this great country.

    I am having trouble feeling too sympathetic. If you go through a toll booth, you have to assume that you need to pay a toll. At that point its your responsibility to take care of it. The same would be true if you used your own car.

    I’ve gotten a couple of parking tickets on rental cars. I immediately paid them when I got home without problems. If you don’t pay them, you should expect that the fine will increase and two the rental car company will charge youa surcharge because your rental fee did not contemplate their time and effort in dealing with unpaid parking tickets.

    Having said that, I do believe that any collections attempt must be reasonable in light of the toll amount how long ago the charges occured. Brad’s situation is unreasonable. You should not get a bill years later.

  • J

    I received a bogus charge for a toll from the Avis eToll collection department. They claim the violation was on a toll exit 33 for the Chicago O’hare Airport. The thing is I never used that exit. I flew into Midway. They’ve got a great scam here. Since it isn’t your car the toll road agency won’t talk to you, and Avis won’t talk you because it is in the hands of their “collection” agency. They gave me this notice a year after my rental, I’ve already tossed the records on my trip. They probably think people won’t fight. They think people’s memories gets fuzzy, but I’ve only been to Chicago once, but had alot of unique experiences this trip stands out in my mind. I’m going to fight this two ways, one taking it to Avis eToll collection department, getting a copy of my receipt, comparing the tags to this supposed violation, trying to get a copy of the enforcement photo, and two never ever renting from Avis again.

  • Sunny McKegg

    AVOID THE FINES –

    So you don’t get a fine in Dallas – Just call (972-818-NTTA) up 2 days after you have returned the car and pay NTTA directly.

    You need your license plate of the car you were driving, plus a credit card to make the transaction.

    Took 2 minutes to do and they were very helpful. In fact they took a very dim view of the rental car practices in terms of invoicing a hefty fine for a $2 toll…

  • Disgusted

    I too received a letter with the letterhead “Avis eToll” claiming they will charge me $45.85 for an .85 toll infraction in Chicago A YEAR AGO.

    The name of the collection company doesn’t appear on the letter, but the link http://www.htallc.com takes you to a bogus scam looking site that says “Highway Toll Administration”. Calling the 800 number (800) 482-0159 gets a ridiculously unprofessional sounding message saying to leave your info and they will get back to you. Of course, they don’t. Filling out their web form to contest the charges gets no response either.

    Has anyone ever contested these charges on your credit card? Did you get anywhere?

    Needless to say, I’ll never rent Avis again.

  • Anon

    I too was nailed in Chicago for a I-Pass toll run, twice. However, according to the Tollway’s web page, you’re allowed 2 misses in 24 months with no violation. So, when I got the letter from Avis (htallc), I used their web form at http://www.htallc.com, reminded them of this allowance, and they dropped the violation a few weeks later. It actually was pretty smooth.

  • Kristine

    Has anyone started a class action lawsuit against these people? I paid approximately $20 (they originally tried charging me about $45) for a $ 0.75 toll last December (travelled to Texas in September 2007) and they are coming after me again for an additional $ 6 for some other incident. That was a year and a half ago and why isn’t the car rental company contacting me for payment (or just charging my card)? Why do I have to hear and argue with a 3rd party and be charged ridiculous amounts of money? I will gladly join in on a class action lawsuit to stop this insanity!

  • Linda Walsh

    We received a notice 1 & 1/2 years after we were in Chicago that we went through an e toll. The toll was .85 cents and the fine is $45.00. This is outrageous.We are appealing. This is the only time we’ve receive a fine! This was with Budget rent a car. I have called and left messages and can’t get anybody on the phone. Can anybody help?
    Linda

  • Tarek

    The same thing happened to me, I’m afraid, I’m pretty much mad about it, I mean, can you imagine the hundreds of people paying for things like this? They’re probs racking millions a month for this stinky thing. And I’m sure we’re not the only ones here. Oh, my Gods, this Avis Rent A Car SUCKS, big time.

  • Lafedur

    Equally, I received 14 letters saying I did not pay tolls while in Chcago. Each ticket plus administrative fee came out to be $ 45.40 each totalling $635.60. It’s not only outrageous but scandalously outrageous. I was only in chicago by the Airport for less than 2 days attending a conference at the nearby Marriot Hotel. My car was parked most of the time. This is about the most annoying and awfully irritating false charges you can ever think of. I will fight this with all my guts until this company or Avis is sued for false charges on customer. Effective immediately, I will never use Avis as my car rental company anymore.

  • manjencich

    We rented a car in Dallas, Love Field from Dollar……two months later received a bill for running a 70cent toll gate with a $25 charge…. the car was turned in at 5:32 pm, and I apparently ran thru the toll at 5:27pm… does anyone know if there is a toll gate within a minute or two of the rental complex? The bill called it Main Lane Plaza 1— anyone have an idea how I can find out where it is?????

  • Cindy Seidler

    Me too. I found a mysterious charge on my credit card TWO YEARs after the 2 supposed violations in Illinois ($92) which I never received letters or violation notices about. I had moved to California from Illinois and rented a car from Budget. I was finally able to get in touch with someone from
    htallc (did not give up). I actually had an IPASS account when renting the car and had used my transponder in my rental car so the person told me that if I faxed her a statement from jan 07 showing that I had a current ipass account they would waive the $92 fee. It has taken me 4 weeks and countless calls and emails to ipass to get the account activity statement. My online ipass account did not go back as far as Jan 07 which is what caused the problems (plus a bunch of incompetent ipass employees giving me incorrect information). I’ve actually just faxed the statement tonight – we’ll see if I get my money back. What a racket! All I can say is DON’T GIVE UP!!!

  • Alan

    I just received a toll violation in Chicago while driving a rent a car. I have 3 in total for an extended cost of $62.40…Its bad enough they have toll roads which slow down traffic, and suck…I just returned from Colorado where rental cars can run through the I – pass lanes, and the charges go to the rental car company which pass the toll only charge on to the driver…I guess Colorado has a much better system …States that have toll roads that are not sensitive to out of state travelers suck, and give you a negative feeling towards the state.

  • Jan Hart

    Wow!!!! I am so relieved but unsettled at the same time. Knowing that I’m not the only one this has happened to. But I am just recovering from identity theft resulting from a mortgage application over 5 years ago!! This brings back bad feelings. I just made my final payment to my credit card with intent to cancel the account and 1 single charge came through dated on 2-24-09 for $4.50 under Avis tolls. I have not rented in years and on that date I was unable to drive since I am STILL recovering from rotator cuff surgery done on 2-05-09 !!! When I requested a reciept from Avis on their site, conveniently they could not issue one and said it would be sent via e-mail. If anyone has any additional sites or info that can help me, PLEASE DO! Much thanks! Jan

  • Pepper

    I’ve heard that in Illinois, they can only pursue payment on a Toll Violation for 2 years? I just got a bill in the mail from July of 2007, for pete’s sake……I’m wondering if I should just wait it out??

  • Steve

    I just got back from a weekend trip to Dallas where I rented a car and drove on the tollways there. I had 3-4 instances where I did not have change for the toll booth or the bill changer was out of service so I had to go through the toll area without paying.

    I tried calling the NTTA to explain the situation and pay the tolls before they bill the rental company and assess me outrageous admin fees. NTTA says they can’t accept my payment until a violation notice and invoice are mailed, but since I was driving a rental car, the invoices will go to Alamo/National and I’ll get hit with the fees.

    My solution is to sent payment to the “North Texas Tollway Authority” via certified mail and keep copies of all correspondence, then dispute any charges that come through on my credit card and send the credit card company proof that I paid the tolls proactively.

  • larisa

    About year ago I was in Chicago visiting my mother . Last Saturday I received 7 violations for avis stating that need to pay $350 in unpaid Toll.
    as far as I can remember I have paid every toll . I have tried and tried to get in contact with them but they keep giving me run a rounds .
    I don’t what to have my license suspended. I have called IL toll way and they are telling me that they don’t have any info on me .
    please let me know what can I do . these are Toll plazas 41,39,33,36,73

  • Lori Vann

    Just got a call from my husband saying they charged his American Express for 25$ (Thrifty Car Rental) and when he called it was for a toll violation.

    He got turned around (easy to do in Chicago – we live in Atlanta), and turned mistakenly down a toll road. Backing up is illegal (and not possible), and there was no way to pay for the toll with cash (as many toll lanes allow with a person) – so he proceeded through.

    Guess we’ll be getting a bill soon.

    IL Toll authority website states that they waive 2 incidents (toll violations) a year (or 1 a year cannot remember off the top of my head) – so you’d think they’d waive this for my husband who was only there for 4 days. We shall see, since I’m sure the rental car he rented had multiple violations.

    UGH!!!!!!

    Although his trip was only 2 months ago, not years like some of the above incidents.

  • Carver

    @Lori

    Is the waiver per person or per car. I suspect its the latter.

  • Brian

    If you have your personal GPS unit, program it to avoid toll roads. It may take more time getting to your destination, but you won’t be charged toll fees by the car rental company.

  • bob

    We are Australians who recently visited the USA. We hired an Avis rental car in mid town manhattan. We drove to Washington, initially via the Lincoln Tunnel. From there, through pa to Niagara Falls, then saratoga Springs in upstate New York, before back to JFK. We paid cash at all tolls.
    Upon arriving home, we found a credit card charge for Avis tolls. With further information, we found the charges related to the George Washington bridge, when we were in either Washington or Niagara Falls, and have documentation to prove it. They’ve either charged us for someone else’s travel, or had a major equipment malfunction. We don’t understand how this could happen. Avis don’t want to know about it. HTA are considering our case, and the battle is not, as yet, lost. But it has taken faxes of documents etc to attempt to prove an error. We were simply 300-400 miles away from where these tolls are alleged to have accrued. Does this happen much??

  • jeff

    Glad I found this site. I just got a letter for at $0.50 toll from a trip in January with an Avis rental car. They want a $25 ‘administrative fee’ for this.

    I know this is bull, and will fight tooth and nail to keep them from getting it. Its ridiculous.

  • Kay

    I live in Nevada and was in the Chicago area in May of 2008, rented a car through Budget . In June of 2009 (over a full year later) I received two separate notices of toll violations / one for $1.00 and one for $2.00. The Chicago area tolls are confusing and I was not aware of any violation. The letters stated that I will be charged $46.00 for the $1.00 toll, and $47.00 for the $2.00 (after Citation fee and Administrative fees are applied) from Budget eToll, which also uses the website http://www.htallc.com/etoll.

    I am appealing these charges on their website. I will certainly dispute any charges through my credit card company if any should appear.

    The Illinois Tollway website states the following verbatim:

    “Maximum charge per toll:
    Passenger Car (2 axle) – $2.00
    Small Truck (2-axle) – $3.00
    Medium Truck (3-4-axle) – $4.50
    Large Truck (5 axle) – $8.00
    Missed the 7-day Grace Period?
    The unpaid toll has now become a violation.
    THE TOLLWAY RECOGNIZES THAT HONEST MISTAKES HAPPEN – WE ALLOW 2 MISTAKES IN A 24-MONTH PERIOD.
    Upon your third unpaid toll within a 2-year period, a violation notice will be issued and fines assessed.”

    Since there are two violations, it appears I am excused. We’ll see! I would be happy to join a class action lawsuit…. what a rip-off. This can’t be legal!!

  • Carver

    @Kay

    Perhaps because its early morning, but i don’t get the point. If you incurred a toll and didn’t pay it, how is that Budget’s fault. I think that as a good will gesture they should waiver one of the admin charges. But I don’t see what’s illegal.

  • ko

    I also have a $46 charge for a $1 toll which I know I paid for and htallc.com is telling me I have to show a receipt (for cash?) and I have 2 witnesses. They have told me I have to get the picture from Budget (which I have now been holding for 30 minutes.
    What a scam!
    This was Toll Plaza 1 in Chicago.

  • Tracey Miller

    Today I recieved 10 letters from Budget eToll, each saying I owed $45.80 for an .80$ unpaid toll. This was over a year ago,, I didn’t know how the system worked, no idea til now that there was any kind of an issue. I’m looking at a total of over $450 in fines, for $8 of unpaid tolls. Is there really no way to fight this? What if I just contest the charges on my card?

  • Carver

    @Tracey

    Budget tends to be reasonable. I’d just call customer service. I’d be really surprised if they didn’t waiver most of the service charge, given the circumstances.

    Remember, these bills are generated by a dumb computer

  • Carver

    @Aaron

    I just stumbled across your post by happenstance. It seems to me that you’ve absolved yourself of any responsibility. Yet, you knew that you had a toll violation. Who did you think was going to have to pay that? Why should the rental car company pay for your toll violation.

    If car rental companies did that poeple would violate tolls with reckless abandonment. The rental company would have to pay the tolls and hire more staff to handle the paperwork resulting in higher costs for everyone. No thanks.

    As far as the $25 charge. I think its reasonable. The rental car company has to hire staff to deal with the toll. That staff needs to be paid. I figure that’s about the same as a bounced check,

    You should have called the tolling authority and detemined how to deal with the toll violation. That would have prevented you from having to pay for the service charge.

  • Twinkie Cat

    @Carver

    Sounds like you may work for Highway Toll Administration (http://www.htallc.com/) since you believe that the $25.00 “administration fee” is reasonable.

    Frankly, it isn’t reasonable but rather it is a rip off and a scam.

    Look at Tracey Miller above she received 10 separate letters for 10 unpaid tolls and each of those letters contained a $0.80 toll fee, a $20.00 violation fee and a $25.00 administration fee. This letter was sent with a letterhead that says “Budget eToll” when actually it is from Highway Toll Administration, not Budget. The letter isn’t even on quality letterhead stock, it’s just laser printed on standard white copy paper and then bulkmailed. There is no way under the sun that a total of $250.00 in administration fees is warranted for this.

    These bills aren’t generated by a “dumb computer” they are generated by Highway Toll Administration which is nothing more than a collection agency.

    The rental car agency has a problem. If 10 different people rent the same car in a month’s time from the rental agency in Chicago and then each person accidently passes through the “I-Pass” toll plaza, the rental agency receives at least 8 violation notices from the Illinois Tollway for each of those. The Illinois Tollway website clearly states that each individual is allowed 2 mistakes in a 24 month period and upon the 3rd a violation notice will be issued. It is quite possible that all 10 of the people who rented the car only had 1 violation in the 24 month period and therefore would not have received any violation but the car is registered to the rental agency not the 10 individuals who rented the car. Therefore the rental agency gets the violation notice.

    So, the rental agency pays for the missed toll and lists it as a business expense. Along comes Highway Toll Administration and says “Hey, rental agency we can help you eliminate that cost center for you” and also turn a profit for ourselves (administration fee). So the rental agency signs on with Highway Toll Administration.

    As @Kay and @Anon have said inform Highway Toll Administration (http://www.htallc.com/) that the Illinois Tollway website states that you are allowed 2 violations in a 24 month period and that they can cease & desist in their efforts to collect from you.

    If you have more than 2 violations in a 24 month period, you have another problem to deal with but you should not have to pay a $25.00 administration fee for each violation, that’s just bull. Make Highway Toll Administration provide you with documentation as to when the rental agency received the notice and a copy of the notice, they’re trying to collect a debt and therefore they have to provide the documentation (it’s the law). Tell them that you do not give them authorization to make any charges to your credit card.

    Contrary to what others have posted here, you can reach Highway Toll Administration via their website.

  • Carver

    @twinkie cat

    I do not work for the highway toll. I do believe however that if you get a ticket violation you need to pay for it. The various charges are wholly avoidable if you simply take responsibility for your own actions.

    I rented a car in LA and I got a ticket. I paid the ticket. No administrative charges or anything.

    What you fail to appreciate is that if you paid for the violations that you incur instead of waiting for someone else to pay it you’d be fine.

    As far as the fee being reasonable, of course it is. When you get a violation, Hertz has to hire people to pay the violation then try to collect it from you because you didn’t pay it.

  • Twinkie Cat

    Carver,

    You may not work for Highway Toll Administration but I find it interesting that you appear to hang out on this blog and have made more comments than any other poster and your comments have always been in defense of the rental car companies. So, it definitely appears that you have a hand in the game.

    You missed the point that I was making entirely.

  • Tvango

    I am reading these posts because I just got three letters from etoll 10 months after my trip thru Chicago. I had not travelled the toll roads of Chicago for many years but remembered that there are tolls to pay. I pulled out the change from my backpack when I loaded the rental car at O’Hare.

    Things do change and some do not. I was somewhat confused finding my way out of the airport and making sure I was headed in the correct direction. The big change that I did not notice was that you could drive right past a toll station and not even notice. In the past you had to pay a toll, there was a person there observing you paying the toll. If you did not have correct change they could make change.

    I was fully expecting to pay tolls and willing to but with traffic and confusion I apparently missed 3 tolls on I-294. Nearly a year later I am informed that I must pay $25 admin fees for these tolls. Thats crazy! There is surely something rotten in going on here. I am a reasonable person… I’ll pay the tolls but not the fees. They need to more clearly mark the payment locations.

  • Marge

    I was sent two notices stating that I had violations I paid one but I do not believe that the second one is mine because I did rent a car on the date in question. Can something be done about these errors put on citizens.

  • charles Flournoy

    I rented a car from Avis on 10 /19/2008 to 10/20/2008 in Chicago. I was sent a toll violation letter in the amount of $45.00.The violation number is V02129992. I stated in the letter that I did not go through a toll, and this was the same route that was driven from April 2008 to October 2008.I am disputing the charge and I will notify my credet card company not to pay this amount if charged.

    Charles Flournoy

  • jeff

    Carver, I’m not sure what your deal is, but you really do come off as a tool or a moron. I’m not sure which, but anyone reading your posts should avoid them like the plague.

    To follow up on my previous post on my violation: The clowns at HTA, LLC caved. I filed an online dispute and called them. The first guy I talked to went through the same routine as noted by others, asking me if I had a reciept (for a $0.50 toll from 7 months prior). No, of course I don’t. I asked him if he kept reciepts for 50 cents for seven months?

    His response: Well, they really come in handy in times like these.

    My response? OK, well do you have a video showing I went through this toll, a copy of the reciept issued to HTA, LLC from the New Jersey Turnpike saying that you did in fact pay this toll to them on my behalf, and a copy of my signature on the HTA, LLC customer agreement that says I agreed to the terms and conditions you’re trying to hold me to now?

    Dead.
    Silence.

    Another woman, his supervisor came on the line and asked me more questions trying to bail the first guy out. Asking if I’m a prefered Avis customer, a AAA member, a bunch of questions to put me in a category where they can help me out…after answering know to all of them, he offers to reduce my administrative fee anyway, because he’s such a nice guy.

    So, now its a $15 administrative fee instead of $25.

    I laugh hysterically.

    I explain that its still at ridiculous charge, and up to this point they haven’t even established I did ANYTHING WRONG, that they have PAID THE TRANSIT AUTHORITY, or that I ever AGREED TO THE TERMS.

    Dead.
    Silence.

    I tell them I submitted my appeal, and they say they will review it. I stated that its bull, that I wanted videographic evidence of the violation, a copy of the bill from the actual toll agency sent to Avis, any paperwork transferring my violation from Avis to HTA, and a copy of my signature that showed my acceptance to terms and conditions to the polices and fees of HTA.

    About a week later I got an email that they accepted my appeal and were going to charge me the $0.50 toll plus a $2 “administrative processing fee”.

    They are a scam operation trying to scare people into paying a ridiculous fee. Anyone with half a brain should see that, realize it, even Carver.

    Anyone reading this, take the proper steps to appeal anything you get from these people any they’ll fold up pretty quickly.

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