Avis Toll road scheme

[magickate]

I hadn't seen it mentioned on here (though it probably has been!) so thought I would mention it.

I thought they charged $3.95 per day to use their toll pass up to a maximum of $20 plus whatever the tolls are. We collected from Tampa on October 25th & had a very pushy sales woman who said it had changed and we needed to pay $59.95 per week which as we had the car for 16 days would be $179.85. We politely but firmly declined.

She was then insistent we will be charged $11.99 per day instead which would be $11.35 more expensive overall and did her very best to insinuate she was doing us a favour by charging us the $179.85 instead.

A little investigation on my phone and I found that while the policy had changed the price she was trying to charge us was for the e-toll unlimited which was clear we didn't need. The unlimited includes the cost of the actual tolls as well as their charge for using it but as ours would total no more than $10 it was completely unnecessary. I'm sure she knew this having already asked us exactly where we would be travelling to.

The standard e-toll which used to be the $20ish dollar one has gone up to $5.95 per day and capped at $29.75 per rental. Plus the cost of the tolls you drive through.

We declined that too in the end and just set the sat nav to a toll free routes only. On the way to and from Port Canaveral we kept some change to hand and paid the couple of dollars as needed.

I expected some upselling at the desk and as we hadn't hired from them before we couldn't go straight to the garage. She did try the usual extra insurances and bigger vehicle sales pitch which again we politely but firmly declined. A part of me wanted to go back to the desk with a picture of our luggage all nicely loaded into the car that she was adamant wouldn't fit but I resisted

I did feel though that the toll thing was unacceptable and had we been less aware or not been able to check for ourselves it would have been a costly error. I hope my rambling makes sense and can maybe reassure another family.

[xXxSammi88xXx]

Did the same to us. We returned the car and tried to charge us over 150 dollars for tolls. Hubby had an argument with them about it and refused to pay. In the end we just got charged for the tolls we used which was hardly anything. I wouldn’t use avis again not impressed by their service

[Alibayparc]

Hi
Good information thank you. Feels like the rental companies are going back to the bad old days when you had to on your toes the whole time.
Alex

[ManCity]

The Avis web site explains the options and also how to opt out. Third party web sites might be out of date.

"In the state of Florida. You are responsible for payment of all tolls incurred during the rental period. Avis offers an optional service called e-Toll that allows customers to use electronic toll lanes on highways, bridges, tunnels and other tolled passages. All Avis vehicles are pre-equipped to electronically process tolls. Unless you directly pay the toll yourself as described below (see “Opting Out of e-Toll”), you will automatically opt-into e-Toll and pay the fees described herein if you drive through an electronic toll. e-Toll fees (Standard): If you use the e-Toll service at any time during your rental, you agree to pay a convenience fee of $5.95 for each day on which you incur a toll up to a maximum amount of $29.75 per rental period (not to exceed 30 days). In addition, you will pay all tolls incurred at the maximum prevailing non-discounted or cash rates posted by the toll authority. e-Toll Unlimited: Avis also offers e-Toll Unlimited, which includes the cost of tolls and convenience fees. If you choose e-Toll Unlimited, you agree to pay a flat fee of $11.99, depending on checkout location, for each day of the rental period, regardless of whether or not you incur any tolls, up to a maximum of $59.95 per week. e-Toll Unlimited must be selected at the time you reserve or check out your vehicle, otherwise you agree to pay the standard e-Toll fees if you use the e-Toll service. Opting Out of e-Toll: If you do not choose e-Toll Unlimited, you may avoid the standard e-Toll fees on any day during the term of the rental if you ensure the transponder shield box is in the “closed” position and you (i) pay cash for all tolls, (ii) use your own adequately funded, properly mounted and compatible electronic toll device to pay for all tolls, (iii) pay the toll authority directly through any available online or other service according to the toll authority’s rules and requirements; or (iv) avoid electronic toll roads or passages. Toll Administrator: If you use the standard e-Toll service, a third party toll program administrator (the "Toll Administrator") contracted by Avis will process payment of each electronic toll that you incur during the term of the rental and charge your credit/debit card for the amount of tolls and convenience fees set forth above. Regardless of the service you choose, you agree that, in connection with e-Toll, we may share your personal information, (including your address, credit card/debit information, and other rental information) with the Toll Administrator. You also authorize the Toll Administrator and Avis to charge your credit/debit card for all e-Toll fees described above based on the option that you select. You agree that the Toll Administrator may contact you directly regarding the e-Toll fees. The e-Toll fees may take 4-8 weeks after the rental concludes to be billed to your credit card/debit card on file. You agree to indemnify and hold us, the Toll Administrator, and any other agent we authorize harmless for any fines, charges or administrative fees incurred for any toll violations for which you may be liable. e-Toll does not cover airport parking. Customers must use a personal transponder or another approved payment method to pay for parking."

[sotagals]

Thanks for the heads up.

So avis have got a product called e-toll unlimited which they are trying to flog to unwary travellers.

If you had your car as part of a BA fly drive it would be good if you could complain to BA about this.

If they are providing cars as part of package deals their customers shouldn't be subject to sharp practices at the airport.

[coinneach]

An option in the future could be using Visitor Toll Pass which is free until next July I believe?
We used it last month and we avoided the daily charge with Alamo (which is reasonable compared to Avis) and only paid for tolls we drove through and most of them were discounted.
Hopefully the VTP trial will be extended beyond next July as we will definitely use it again.

[Mickie]

Thanks for the info was about to ask a question about Avis (and Budget) Am considering flying BA for first time and depending on route adding a car would be considerably cheaper than renting separately and have the benefit of turning it into a package for extra protection

I usually rent with Alamo and have had no issues possibly as it’s easy to Skip the counter. Happy with their toll charges as we normally only rack up any tolls on a few days so happy to pay for the convenience.

Was wondering whether either Avis and Budget was any different in terms of having issues such as this, any other issues and of course specifically toll charges.

Maybe I’ll just pay extra and stick with Alamo!

[magickate]

Yes it was part of a BA fly drive, I'll drop them an email.

The standard e-toll pass isn't too bad if you're happy to pay $30 I suppose but there was a laminated a4 sheet she had on the desk & that only had the unlimited e-toll information on it. Very naughty!

We flew into Tampa, I don't think the VTP is offered from there yet unfortunately.

[Melvin Pearce]

We also love the visitor Toll Pass, used it in September. Hope that they will get a desk at Tampa.

Melvin and Lesley

[ellie666]

yeah, visitor tollpass for us to, costs nothing but the discounted tolls, did a whole week and ended up with a bill of £9 for all our tolls!

btw attendant at garage noticed for us that Avis tend to leave their toll flaps open, so thank god we closed it! cheeky bustards