Toll Violation

[dc1964]

We returned from Florida on 12th January and today we recieved a letter from Dollar staing we had a toll violation from 29th December at the MCO airport toll booth. The Toll was 75 cents and an admin fee of $25. The time was just after we collected the car but i have no recollection of missing a toll, never have before,anyway i have phoned Dollar who were very helpful and they have agreed to waive the admin fee as long as i pay the 75 cents, which i did with my visa card over the phone.
I had asked for photographic evidence or a copy of the citation from the toll company just before she waived the admin fee.
This is the first time this has happened to me in a dozen or so visits.
Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[alisonbestford]

I've seen a recent thread about this happening to someone else - don't think I followed through to the out come though

I remember there being several of replies

 

[wayneg]

Glad you got the fee removed, I don't think others have been so lucky.

I don't like posting threads from other forums (mod will remove if needed) but I think this one needs highlighting as it seems to be an increasing problem yet I don't recall any on here yet. I have only had a skim thru and can't work out where the problem tolls are but theres a lot of replies to go thru.

http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=273768

 

[jsandwich]

think I might choose budget for our car hire next time

 

[dc1964]

thanks Wayne, interesting thread that, i will stand the 75c this time.

 

[wayneg]

think I might choose budget for our car hire next time

Although I like Dollar very much I am glad my next 3 rentals are with Budget. Hopefully when I next rent with them this issue is resolved.

thanks Wayne, interesting thread that, i will stand the 75c this time.

No problem, did you understand which toll is the problem? did they tell you which yours was supposed to be at?

 

[paulh]

over here in uk we have had cloning of numberplates for a while now.got widespread after congestion charge in london.
Seems that its happening over there.they know there are lots of rental cars around.its easy to do and if the car hire opperater trys to charge you and you know you havent violated any charge ask for a copy of the photo,more than likey they will back down in this cas i would have refused to pay the 75c as well.
There must be a way of stoping this type of abuse by the car rental firms they know were a easy target,as they think were not to sure of the roads
Personly an embedded chip in plate would do just like the transponder for sunpass to confirms car identity unable to copy and distroyed if removed.
Just my 2 pence worth
Paulh

 

[dc1964]

Although I like Dollar very much I am glad my next 3 rentals are with Budget. Hopefully when I next rent with them this issue is resolved.

No problem, did you understand which toll is the problem? did they tell you which yours was supposed to be at?

it just said toll road at airport.I was going to dig deeper but they accepted the 75c so could not be bothered, the lady did say it was possible that i missed a toll on the exit of airport due to roadworks, not very likely, i would encourage everyone to challenge it in future.
Next time i will also use a different company, Dollar have let me down this time, there have been a number of **** ups by them this time, least of all asking for another $800 when i returned the car due to the fact they put the wrong return date in their computer.

 

[dc1964]

in this cas i would have refused to pay the 75c as well.
Paulh

i am sure u are right but it has been a long day and i could not be bothered quite frankly

 

[rpbert1]

It happened to me and lots of others, i just paid as have not the time to be phoning around trying to chase Dollar for all the info. But i have Budget booked for this year, and in future visits will definetly not be using Dollar again.So while they gained a few pounds from me this time, they will have lost a lot more with rentals in the future

 

[wayneg]

I wonder if anyone had emailed Dollar threads like this and the one from Dibb? They might change their policy when they see how we feel. I doubt it but you never know.

 

[Rosie]

I have heard that Virgin Holidays will be using Alamo for packages from 2010 - perhaps complaints from their customers have influenced this decision.
If you get a photo from one of the tolls what angle would it be taken from? Would it be the front or back plate?

 

[rpbert1]

Probably a photo of the driver from the front ,and the plates number from the back, don't the cars only have plates on the back of their cars

 

[Pegasus928]

I am fully expecting to receive one of these letters as I have the horrible feeling we missed one of these tolls.
It happened on the day we arrived and we were on the airport road, heading towards Kissimmee I believe it was. At some point the signs appeared for the toll and the right hand lane was for exact change - which we didnt have after - only $1 bills. This lane went off to a sort of slip road while the main road - which we were on - carried straight on. We could clearly see where other cars were throwing their change into the collection area but we never came across any booths or collection methods at all.
I remember turning to DW and saying "should we have gone that way and paid here??"
Up to now we have received nothing - but we only returned on the 18th Feb so there is still time - and Dollar never said anything when we handed the car back.
I will let you know if anything happens.

 

[virginflyer]

I wonder if anyone had emailed Dollar threads like this and the one from Dibb? They might change their policy when they see how we feel. I doubt it but you never know.

I know someone who was hit with exactly the same fine as the OP. When they emailed Dollar their response was "There is a lot of ORT (open road tolling) in Florida with no change buckets or toll booths. The Beeline - ORT West is a SunPass Only interchange. There is signage on the roadway that states "No Cash Accepted". There are no toll booths to accept payment, customers paying cash must exit prior to or after the Beeline interchange. "

They sent them links to the dibb thread, but Dollar made no comment on it. It seems a lot of people who are quite familiar with this road are getting stung by this scam. There was also a lot of roadworks going on around this area at the time of the alleged incidents and it seems the signage wasn't great. Funny how it doesn't seem to affect other drivers using different rental firms like Alamo, Avis and Budget etc.

 

[wayneg]

Well I just hope it significantly affects reservations. Looks like Virgin are stopping using them, if private renters also stop they might start looking at why.

 

[Byron13]

The toll has altered. I think it is either the first or second toll from MCO airport. We were in Florida in June and the toll booth was straight across the road. When we went back in November you needed to get in the far right hand lane, pay booth, it looks like a exit lane. We nearly missed it. You could easier drive straight through without realising there is a ticket booth. More visitors will be getting toll violation fines, it is so easy to miss.

 

[Groovee]

Does this affect people who rent from any other rental places or is it just Dollar?

 

[Cyrano]

We are booked with Dollar so I will be watching out for this

 

[wayneg]

Does this affect people who rent from any other rental places or is it just Dollar?

So far I have only seen it being a Dollar problem.