PlatePass is a total scam

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Exposing a scam:

ODS rented a car from Hertz for the last couple weeks of August. He stayed local in Maryland with a one-day foray to Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Hertz cars come with a toll transponder you can turn on and rent for $4.95/day plus tolls. The transponder program is called PlatePass.

ODS' credit card was hit this week with more than $400 in tolls. We looked at the receipt online and the tolls were all incurred in the middle of the night crossing the Throgs Neck Bridge, going through the Lincoln Tunnel, etc. -- ALL in NYC. ODS was never in NYC.

We called to complain and they wanted to "investigate" (hold onto ODS' money longer). I asked for a picture of the license plate associated with these tolls. They wouldn't provide it. I asked to speak to a supervisor. I asked if they'd been hacked or if they had a problem with skimming transponder numbers. Needless to say, they denied it. I told them I was calling the credit card and disputing the charge. Capital One said it was fraud and issued a new credit card.

How many people overlook this bogus crap and let PlatePass getaway with it? I'm thinking of business expense accounts and such. ODS is just a poor college student, so we probably keep a closer eye on his accounts than most folks (obviously, not including YMers). Still what a scam. They should be sure the tolls are accurate before charging them. They clearly have access to the license plate pictures and so can easily determine if the charges belong to a particular rental BEFORE charging the credit card because guess who got a $400+ refund this morning? 😡

[justme]

I forgot who it was, but when I last rented a car they rental company itself just charged me for tolls. It was several dollars more than what the tolls actually were for a service fee or whatever they call it.

[wvugurl26]

I never do plate pass. The only time I considered we would have been out $40+ from the daily fee before you added tolls.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Sept 22, 2018 8:19:53 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I never do plate pass. The only time I considered we would have been out $40+ from the daily fee before you added tolls.

That's the thing (I forgot to mention above), ODS never turned PlatePass on!!! So charged for tolls he never incurred on a transponder he didn't use.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

This happened to my dad.  Not sure how he fought it, but he refused to pay the tolls when he was more than 300 miles away.

We had a transponder on our car in South Africa and the CC got hit with the tolls after we got back to the US.  Most of the roads there are toll roads, particularly around Johannesburg.  I don’t think our tolls for the 3 weeks we had the car amounted to more than $15, and they didn’t charge us for the transponder.  What a scam!

[Opti]

Wow GRG that's awful. I'm glad you were able to correct it.

[iono1]

To get $400 in tolls someone would have to do a lot of driving.  If the mileage in & out is low enough that it was impossible to drive that far, I'd think that would be pretty good proof the charges are erroneous.  Also, if there is any proof he was in Maryland, like a CC receipt for dinner when he was allegedly in NYC, that could be proof.  

[Cheesy FL-Vol]

Sept 25, 2018 17:56:53 GMT -5 iono1 said:

To get $400 in tolls someone would have to do a lot of driving.  If the mileage in & out is low enough that it was impossible to drive that far, I'd think that would be pretty good proof the charges are erroneous.  Also, if there is any proof he was in Maryland, like a CC receipt for dinner when he was allegedly in NYC, that could be proof.  

You ought to be slapped silly for talking common sense like that!