Apr 3, 2019, 9:51 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: FlyinHawaiian
Suggested process as of April 2019:
- If you are charged for PlatePass tolls in error, you can either call PlatePass customer support and hope that it can be resolved there or you can email your dispute and provide supporting documentation/evidence to: platepassexpedite@platepass[dot]com. Be sure and reference your Hertz Rental Reservation Number (RR) in the subject line of the email.
- The SLA to obtain a response to emailed disputes is five business days.
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Oct 31, 2014, 1:31 pm
#1
lililolo
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 321
How to dispute PlatePass toll charge in error?
I was in Seattle and got on a toll bridge by mistake. There was no way to get off and there was also no way to pay. The sign on the bridge indicated the charge is somewhere at $3.85.
I mentioned the toll when I returned the car. The agent told me once I activated the device?, there will be a daily charge regardless I used it or not. He did not have the info and told me to wait.
Today I received a $30+ charge on my credit card from Hertz. Since the Seattle rental was the only rental in the past 6 months, so that must be the toll charge. It seems very expensive for a toll charge.
I was not aware of any toll charge to cross the bridge until I got stuck on the wrong lane. Hertz never mentioned anything about any toll situation i should aware of. Is there any way to dispute it?
Any advice, thanks.
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Oct 31, 2014, 1:51 pm
#2
Often1
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
You can call Hertz and ask them to explain the $30. Chances are that it is a fee for using the device or for not activating, having the invoice sent to Hertz and an administrative fee for processing it. But, you won't know until you call and ask.
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Oct 31, 2014, 1:55 pm
#3
jerry a. laska
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Juneau, Alaska.
Programs: AS 75K;BA Silver;AA G;HH Dia;HY Glob
Posts: 15,917
After using the toll bridge and becoming responsible for the toll you could have immediately paid the toll which should have resulted in the toll not being reported. Since you did not you are responsible for the toll and the additional fees.
From the WSDOT:
Rental Cars
Each rental car agency has different policies surrounding how they process tolls or pass them along to their customers, so we encourage drivers to check with their rental agency before incurring tolls. A rental agencys terms and conditions generally include information on whether any tolls incurred while driving a rental vehicle are subject to additional fees or fines. We have no say in how rental agencies pass toll charges on to their customers.
If you are driving a rental car, you can call customer service at 1-866-936-8246 or go online to mygoodtogo.com within 72 hours of crossing the SR 520 or Tacoma Narrows bridges to set up a Short Term Account. Once this account is set up, each day's toll transactions are charged directly to your credit or debit card. The account will automatically close after 14 days. Short Term Account toll rates are 50-cents less than Pay By Mail toll rates.
It also doesn't sound like you signed up for platepass, which would have resulted in daily fees for use but no penalty.
https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/produ...Splatepass.jsp
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Oct 31, 2014, 4:23 pm
#4
lililolo
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 321
I would have paid the toll if only I knew how.
I asked the hotel front desk the same night and I was told there is no way to pay on site. The toll charge will be mailed to the car registrant. I think this is very tourist unfriendly practice.
Even if I knew about the short term account, I did not honestly think I would sign up. Reason being I had no idea about a toll road in Seattle and had no intention to use one when I visited last time.
This was a very expensive toll, imho.
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Oct 31, 2014, 4:59 pm
#5
Dave Noble
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,920
Originally Posted by lililolo
Even if I knew about the short term account, I did not honestly think I would sign up. Reason being I had no idea about a toll road in Seattle and had no intention to use one when I visited last time.
This was a very expensive toll, imho.
You could have signed up and paid after travelling ( up to 72 hours afterwards ) ; you did not have to know that you would use a toll road, just pay afterwards
Alternatively, Hertz does offer its own system for tolls if you had chosen to accept it
Neither paying the toll company nor taking out Hertz's offering was the cause of the charge; the high cost is down to you.
It is a very easy search on google to find out how to pay
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Oct 31, 2014, 8:43 pm
#6
TerryK
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: New York, NY, USA
Posts: 12,519
Originally Posted by lililolo
I would have paid the toll if only I knew how.
I asked the hotel front desk the same night and I was told there is no way to pay on site. The toll charge will be mailed to the car registrant. I think this is very tourist unfriendly practice.
Even if I knew about the short term account, I did not honestly think I would sign up. Reason being I had no idea about a toll road in Seattle and had no intention to use one when I visited last time.
This was a very expensive toll, imho.
More and more states have those electronic tolls. Many highways in FL are like that. I think you are allowed 30 days to pay in FL after which a fee (penalty) will be charged. You don't need to sign up before the toll, you just need to go to respective website and pay, or mail payment following website instruction, after you incur the toll.
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Nov 1, 2014, 12:33 pm
#7
seawolf
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NYC
Programs: AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTT, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,735
How to dispute toll charge
Technically there is nothing to dispute as rental contract spells out the toll admin fees. Call hertz or the toll partner they use and beg for mercy or better yet start a class action (which I'm confident there would be many in that same scenario as this whole tolling business model is in my opinion borderline gouging as it is based on out-of-towers not being familiar with local tolls/program and nailing them on daily charges even if they only used it for one toll road).
For example in FL, driving a rental car on a road with a $0.75 toll can cost you around $20 with their tolling partners but you can buy a temp Sunpass for $5 plus the $0.75 toll.
jackal likes this.
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Nov 3, 2014, 1:58 am
#8
asv2
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: Macro Polo - Cathay
Posts: 111
When travelling to SF, the agent did explicitly reminded me when he noted that I am a visitor, that driving to the Golden Gate Bridge would trigger the PlatePass, and putting on like $5/day throughout my rental on top of the actual toll.
Guess I met a kind-hearted guy that time and I should not take it for granted.
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Jul 18, 2016, 10:12 am
#9
Brattflyer
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Brattleboro, VT
Posts: 706
How to dispute a erroneous Hertz Platepass charge?
My wife rented from Hertz at BWI. She was taking care of a sick relative and never left Baltimore. No one else drove the car. She received a $100 charge from PlatePass for charges on the NJ turnpike, NY and other places she never drove to.
She disputed the charges with her bank credit card and called PlatePass and told them the charges were a mistake and weren't hers.
PlatePass responded to the bank and said according to the rental agreement she was responsible for all charges whether she was driving or not. They never acknowledged their mistake which I believe to be some computer glitch. The bank lifted the credit they had given her.
Not sure how to proceed from here. Should we dispute again, try calling PlatePass again or just give up? At some point the time spent disputing a $100 charge isn't worth it
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Jul 18, 2016, 2:05 pm
#10
FlyinHawaiian
Moderator: Hawaii-based airlines & Hawai'i forums
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Ka ʻĀpala Nui, Nuioka
Programs: NEXUS/Global Entry, Delta, United, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, and Hertz
Posts: 18,129
So the dates of the toll charges coincided with the period of your wife's rental?
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Jul 18, 2016, 4:42 pm
#11
Brattflyer
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Brattleboro, VT
Posts: 706
Yes, it was the same dates but my wife was with her dying father, not on the NJ turnpike and no one else had access to the car.
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Jul 18, 2016, 4:45 pm
#12
ExpatSomchai
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: LHR
Programs: Accor PLT,Thai Silver, HH Dia, SPG Titanium (LT Gold), Aegean Gold, BA Silver
Posts: 5,126
Was she staying at a hotel with Valet parking?
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Jul 18, 2016, 6:54 pm
#13
Brattflyer
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Brattleboro, VT
Posts: 706
No hotel. No one had access to her car. This is a Plate Pass computer glitch.
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Jul 18, 2016, 7:46 pm
#14
Often1
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
A CC dispute is just one way to resolve a billing error, but it does not always work. Your wife ought to send a simple and short communication, email/webform to Hertz as the vendor, explaining the facts, e.g., that she never drove to the locations in question and that the charges are an error (whether she is legally responsible or not).
If that does not work, she should then send a complaint to the Maryland Attorney General.
Agreed that $100 just is not enough to make it worth suing Hertz in SCC and the way Hertz writes the contract, she agrees to pay the charges no matter what.
Dolphin2 likes this.
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Jul 19, 2016, 9:16 am
#15
Westcoaster
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Seattle WA, USA
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott LT Plat, AS Lounge
Posts: 3,478
How many miles did she accrue during her rental? Is it possible to claim based on miles driven that it would have been impossible for the car to have been all of the places that Platepass charged her for? Maybe her bank would listen to this type of argument and reconsider.
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