Dollar Rent A Car Systems, Inc. Complaint - Denver toll roads fees Aug 2009

Posted by LadyScot on 2009-11-20:

You pay up front for any tolls, the bill comes to Dollar and once the bill is cleared, you should receive a refund of any overage minus their fee for paying for you. What does your contract say?

Posted by Ben There on 2009-11-20:

So they tried to upsell you on the toll tag package which you declined, and now you are upset because they didn't push the toll tag as hard as they did the larger car upgrade?

Posted by LadyScot on 2009-11-20:

I just read it again. How do you know how much the bill was? Did you get a copy?

Posted by James236 on 2009-11-21:

The OP doesn't seem to know the exact amount so he wouldn't have seen the toll bill. But a person passing toll booths usually sees the charge on a sign and may make a mental note of it. I for one would be inclined to accept his approximate figure. But he can request the bill from Dollar, and see exactly what it was, and then look at his contract and see how much over and above that bill, Dollar is entitled to charge him. It seems to me that a $55 profit is too much for paying a $25 toll charge. But perhaps $55 is not worth fighting about and the OP may consider it paying to learn about toll coverage

Posted by Ben1941a on 2009-11-22:

Dollar did not mention the toll situation at all during the sales pitch for upgrades and extra things. It would seem to me that they should have a notice that the toll roads' collection system was broken and that they would be billed for my toll road travel should I accidentally take any toll road. This is a "road hazard" situation that existed for several months (and may still exist). I do think that they did have a note explaining that they would charge you (generously) if you did not pay tolls--but I always pay as I go. They did not explain that the toll roads did not have working toll booths and I could not conceive (personal ignorance) of a toll road that would not collect the money. I really wanted to make two points. One was the toll situation on the Denver roads at the time. The toll roads did not warn either that they would bill the license plate rather than just take my money. The second was Dollar's huge over charge for the service (which consisted of their paying the tolls and then carding me a lot more). No bill was sent other than the strange charge on my credit card a couple of months later. I have no business issues with Dollar, but bad behavior does have consequences. They got me once and I am now wiser. I will ask about the toll situation if I ever again see the offer of "prepaid tolls." Education is expensive--for both Dollar and me. :) No business lasts for years!

Posted by tjsaprilia on 2010-02-03:

Dollar is working to rip off good customers. That is it plain and simple. Check out http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=71605&s=1426 . I received a bill from Dollar for $104 ($4 for tolls and 100$ for them telling me about it). On top of it, the car that ran the tolls was not the car I was in, and I was over 1 hour away from the locations of the tolls with proof coming from purchases I made at a Starbucks.

Posted by Ben1941a on 2010-02-04:

I saw the bill in my "annual review"--well, not the bill, just what they dumped on my charge card. It was $81, I think (forgot the exact amount). I think that the tolls were $9 each way. The tolls involved were two trips from the airport entrance to where you get off to go to Colorado Springs. In retrospect, I should have demanded a bill and contested the charge. It is interesting to note that they have even improved on the scheme by both increasing the amount and adding it to cars that apparently were not involved.

Posted by LadyScot on 2010-02-04:

Ben, they had the advertisement about tolls up. You said yourself. Even if you did not rent the car, and drove your own, WHO would be responsible for the toll charge since the toll roads were not accepting money at the booths? YOU. So I am not understanding how you don't think you owe this?

Sorry, but common sense would state that if you blow through a toll road without paying it will come back to you, regardless whether the booth was accepting the money or not. They are able to track you down. You also get a fine for them having to bill you.