My daily letter/bill from Hertz at Fort Myers

[stevej37]

Rented a car at RSW for a week from Hertz over the Labor Day Holiday.

When I picked-up the car, I asked about tolls and was told the transponder in the car would identify me and send a bill for the tolls.

Traveled to Sanibel and back six different times. The toll is $6 for over and back each time on the bridge from Fort Myers....no problem.

Starting last Tues., I have received a bill every day for $15.99 for each pass....$6 for the toll plus $9.99 Administrative Fee for each time.

I'm not arguing the toll...It's fair and I owe it.
What burns me is sending an envelope with a bill for each bridge pass...instead of combining them into one.
$60 of administrative fees...plus $36 for the tolls.

Rant over.

[berettafan]

Sanibel is pretty though isn't it? Quite the contrast to the dumpy areas of Ft Myers nearby.

[stevej37]

^^^ Yes...along with Captiva Island it's very nice.
Because of the Holiday...traffic was real bad. After Labor Day it was the opposite.

[Seahawk]

I learned the same thing years ago with Hertz.

Now, I just put my E-Z Pass thingy in my briefcase and go. The gear is free without monthly fees in Maryland. Info below.

I never leave home without it.

https://e-zpassiag.com/get-e-zpass

https://ezpass.guide/

[masraum]

Originally Posted by stevej37

Rented a car at RSW for a week from Hertz over the Labor Day Holiday.

When I picked-up the car, I asked about tolls and was told the transponder in the car would identify me and send a bill for the tolls.

Traveled to Sanibel and back six different times. The toll is $6 for over and back each time on the bridge from Fort Myers....no problem.

Starting last Tues., I have received a bill every day for $15.99 for each pass....$6 for the toll plus $9.99 Administrative Fee for each time.

I'm not arguing the toll...It's fair and I owe it.
What burns me is sending an envelope with a bill for each bridge pass...instead of combining them into one.
$60 of administrative fees...plus $36 for the tolls.

Rant over.

That's pretty seriously fubar. They should advise you of that when you rent. If they don't, I'd be hoppin' mad and would be a pain in their rear. Spend a ton of time on the phone with various people until you eat up the $60.

[stevej37]

^^^ Seahawk
MI has no place to use an E-Z Pass.

I'm just wondering why they tack on the admin fee for every crossing?
I have no problem with the toll.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by masraum

That's pretty seriously fubar. They should advise you of that when you rent. If they don't, I'd be hoppin' mad and would be a pain in their rear. Spend a ton of time on the phone with various people until you eat up the $60.

Yeah...I thought about calling. It's near impossible to speak to someone live...I've tried it before with car rental places.

Last year, when renting out of FLL, the counter guy would not accept my statement of "I have my own rental insurance".
He said they needed proof...in the form of paper or a phone call from my Ins. Co. I gave up and purchased their insurance. It was a Sunday...what else could I do?

[dad911]

Uggh, Hate rental company scams. We bought and used our own sunpass with rental cars in florida.

Timely tread, as we are currently trying to figure out if our NJ ezpass works in FL. Per NJ site it does......

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by stevej37

^^^ Seahawk
MI has no place to use an E-Z Pass.

I'm just wondering why they tack on the admin fee for every crossing?
I have no problem with the toll.

You can get one for the State you travel to the most. Order one for Florida and it will be good for the whole system. No fees or minimal fees. They sent it to you in the mail.

My daughter lives in South Carolina and still keeps her E-Z Pass for travel.

The convenience is great.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by stevej37

....I'm just wondering why they tack on the admin fee for every crossing?
I have no problem with the toll.

There is NO WAY it's about the easy $$$ that almost everyone just pays due to the hassle.... that would be unheard of !

[stevej37]

^^^ Seahawk
I might have to do that.

Maybe I will see my name on a plaque on the Sanibel Bridge...."Major Donator....Stevej37"

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by KC911

There is NO WAY it's about the easy $$$ that almost everyone just pays due to the hassle.... that would be unheard of !

It keeps my mail carrier busy....the same envelope 6 days in a row.

[berettafan]

So how does the rental not still get charged when you go through a toll with your own ezpass?

[stevej37]

^^^
Others can prob answer that better than me....but with an EZ pass transponder, the bill goes directly to the rental co. it's passed to the user.

If no EZ pass they have a pic of the license plate that they use to track down the user.

If you have your own EZ pass....no bill is generated at all.

[McLovin]

I had a similar thing with a rental car company this summer.
They wanted to charge some outrageous daily fee for an “unlimited use” transponder, which was even worse for me since I was only going to use 2 toll crossings over the course of a week.
While I was in the 45 minute line at the rental counter at midnight, I Googled it and found you can create a “rental car” EZ pass account directly online. You create the account, give them a CC account #, and enter the rental car license plate number and the start and and date and time of your rental.
Then, EZ Pass directly charges you, just the actual toll. A bill never goes to the rental car company, so there’s no up charges or “processing” fees etc.
Very slick, but not very well known. Everyone ahead of me in line was falling for the rental car company transponder.

[stevej37]

^^^ That sounds like the way to go. I will try that next time.
Eliminating the ad fees is what I want. If it was just one ad fee..I would be ok. But an ad fee for every charge is ridiculous.
Thanks.

[stevej37]

Total bill came to $96
That's for 6 trips over the bridge.

$16 for each crossing. (over and back)

[URY914]

Next time go to Publix and pick up the EZ Pass.

[GH85Carrera]

When I was in Florida I ordered a Sun Pass for my turnpike trips. Weird billing system, and I had to replenish the funds manually. This summer I drove out to the Poconos of PA. I looked for a no monthly fee EZ pass, and most states wanted residents only. Finally I found the New York EZ pass web site. They charged a buck per month for the honor of having the pass. It worked, and it would replenish the funds automatically.

Oklahoma was one of the first places to have a turnpike system, the PikePass. I have an account with them for many years. The best feature, I can blast through the turnpike gates at 75 MPH (legal limit!) and just keep on going.

The EZ pass makes the driver slow to a crawl and flashes lights if you are going more than a few MPH.

Now my Pike Pass is good in Texas, and on I-35 in Kansas.

Texas has a really dumb system. They would not sell one to a non resident. And they had like 5 different systems that were not compatible. I hear that is fixed now, and they all work together.

Rental companies and toll roads are a total money grab. When the administration fees are more than the toll, it is just a scam.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Rental companies and toll roads are a total money grab. When the administration fees are more than the toll, it is just a scam.

Agreed.