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Post by katlady on Jul 26, 2016 5:31:55 GMT
I just saw on the news that California will start issuing temporary plates for new cars in 2019 because the state loses money when new cars without plates use the toll road.  |
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Post by beanbuddymom on Jul 26, 2016 13:28:47 GMT
Holy crap, I had no idea there were so many variations - we have either pay as you go lanes or EZ Pass lanes and you pick a lane to go through at the toll booth. I always pay as I go, but many that travel the highway have those EZ Pass transponder things. (Am I the only one that thinks of Chandler Bing when I hear the word "transponder?")
I would have assumed the rental car would have an EZ Pass account set up for this type of thing where it's on the car and they just charge you the appropriate toll, etc. and all would be done, not extra charges for having the use of the transponder on a daily basis on top of that. That seems excessive.
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quiltz
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,698
Location: CANADA
Jun 29, 2014 16:13:28 GMT
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Post by quiltz on Jul 26, 2016 14:19:01 GMT
Holy crap, I had no idea there were so many variations - we have either pay as you go lanes or EZ Pass lanes and you pick a lane to go through at the toll booth. I always pay as I go, but many that travel the highway have those EZ Pass transponder things. (Am I the only one that thinks of Chandler Bing when I hear the word "transponder?") I would have assumed the rental car would have an EZ Pass account set up for this type of thing where it's on the car and they just charge you the appropriate toll, etc. and all would be done, not extra charges for having the use of the transponder on a daily basis on top of that. That seems excessive. Every State has their own Dept of Transportation & they all make rules/laws that suit that State. In some States a company like EZ Pass will make agreements with various states. Remember that toll road/bridges charge a fee to pay for the construction & maintenance of the road/bridge for the people who use them. What is so difficult to understand? It is business and a successful business makes money. |
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georgiapea
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,846 
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Post by georgiapea on Jul 26, 2016 15:14:51 GMT
The last time I was in Florida I encountered quite a few toll roads. Some had attendants, some only had camera recordings. After arriving home I received a bill for the tolls that had no payment station to drive through. If I'd been in a rental car those tolls would have been charged to them. The rental agency has to sort out all their toll charges for which customer had possession of which car, when. $25.00 per toll charge seems reasonable. Pay it and learn from your experience.
One solution would be to buy your own transponder. Another would be to request a rental car with one.
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Post by jenn on Jul 26, 2016 15:55:31 GMT
My experience with tolls and rental cars is that you stop and pay the tolls like everyone else. If you don't then you get a fine. The rental company got your bill for non-payment so that cost them a lot of extra money in wages, etc. In the future, you have to stop and pay those tolls as you go. That's not really an option in Southern California. You can either register your license plate with the Toll Agency or have a fast tract in your car. Attendants have been gone for a couple of years. |
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Post by cade387 on Jul 26, 2016 16:00:59 GMT
My experience with tolls and rental cars is that you stop and pay the tolls like everyone else. If you don't then you get a fine. The rental company got your bill for non-payment so that cost them a lot of extra money in wages, etc. In the future, you have to stop and pay those tolls as you go. That's not really an option in Southern California. You can either register your license plate with the Toll Agency or have a fast tract in your car. Attendants have been gone for a couple of years. Yes but at least newer Irvine and heading out to Riverside they make it very clear that you are getting on a toll road. You have options, if someone ignores it, then they have to pay the penalty. |
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julieb
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,845
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Post by julieb on Jul 26, 2016 16:04:39 GMT
When we were in San Francisco the rental company gave us a brochure about the bridge toll and how to go online. I would definitely dispute those charges.
We were in Florida in the spring and dh got the car and the agent talked him into paying $40 for a toll responder. I was mad (not at dh) because agent told dh there were unmaned toll booths and I knew, because I had been there a few months before, that we would only be going through one toll to get from the airport to Disney area and they were always maned. We ended up only using $10 in tolls, which we could have paid cash for. Total rip-off.
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Post by jenn on Jul 26, 2016 16:06:05 GMT
That's not really an option in Southern California. You can either register your license plate with the Toll Agency or have a fast tract in your car. Attendants have been gone for a couple of years. Yes but at least newer Irvine and heading out to Riverside they make it very clear that you are getting on a toll road. You have options, if someone ignores it, then they have to pay the penalty. Very true! The first year of the cashless system I had to pay a lot of fines. That was not fun. 😜 Since I so infrequently use the toll roads, I do not have a transponder but I did register my car with the Toll Roads and it works just about the same. I just don't get the discount of the transponder. While I Am not a fan of the toll roads, they were pretty nice when my son was going to college out on the 215! 😀 |
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Post by crittsmom on Jul 27, 2016 4:51:01 GMT
Lucky for you California only has tolls when you cross bridges. There are a few toll roads in California that aren't connected to bridges. We drove on a few when we were traveling in So. Cal. I'm not sure where the toll roads that are connected to bridges are in Southern California. But it can be confusing because some toll roads will let you pay on line ( such as the 241 through Orange County) but you can't drive the 91 without a fast track. It can be so confusing. |
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Post by Meri-Lyn on Jul 27, 2016 12:17:48 GMT
The last time I was in Florida I encountered quite a few toll roads. Some had attendants, some only had camera recordings. After arriving home I received a bill for the tolls that had no payment station to drive through. If I'd been in a rental car those tolls would have been charged to them. The rental agency has to sort out all their toll charges for which customer had possession of which car, when. $25.00 per toll charge seems reasonable. Pay it and learn from your experience. One solution would be to buy your own transponder. Another would be to request a rental car with one. $25 is excessive to me. It's not that much work to just pass the bill on to the consumer's credit card I go through 2 tolls on my way to work. That's 4 a day. That would be $100 a day. For what amounts to less than $10 in total tolls. I would say maybe $5. That's how much Enterprise charged when my car was in the shop. (And that was my own stupid fault, as I forgot to take the transponder out of my purse and put it in the windshield.) The biggest issue from what I'm reading is that the fees are not being addressed up front. |
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Belle
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by Belle on Jul 28, 2016 18:29:14 GMT
***Update**** ***Good News****
DH has left 5 messages with Budget and sent an email but I decided to try calling today and got right through! The gal I spoke to even referenced getting DH's email!
She told me that as long as we pay the toll bill (which we paid before we got the Budget letter) the $25 per toll fee would be waived. Yay!!!
When I mentioned that we were not offered the $4 a day/toll road deal she said Budget has 2 different types of rental cars - one type has a transponder and one does not. If you get one with a transponder, you the pay the $4 a day for the toll roads for everyday you have the rental whether you go on a toll road or not. Sort of clear as mud but I guess it worked out okay for us as we only drove on the toll roads 1 day out of our whole trip.
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pridemom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,843
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Post by pridemom on Jul 28, 2016 18:37:50 GMT
The last time I was in Florida I encountered quite a few toll roads. Some had attendants, some only had camera recordings. After arriving home I received a bill for the tolls that had no payment station to drive through. If I'd been in a rental car those tolls would have been charged to them. The rental agency has to sort out all their toll charges for which customer had possession of which car, when. $25.00 per toll charge seems reasonable. Pay it and learn from your experience. One solution would be to buy your own transponder. Another would be to request a rental car with one. Yikes! We were just in Orlando a few weeks ago. We knew some of the tolls were unmanned, but all took change. We went prepared with a roll of quarters for tolls. I grew up with the tolls on the Illinois tollways. It wasn't a big deal, you just made sure you had change. On road trips, we'd bring our penny collection. The navigator counted out the pennies for the driver to toss in. Good times. |
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georgiapea
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,846
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Post by georgiapea on Jul 28, 2016 18:38:01 GMT
Meri-Lyn, it takes someone's time to process bills from the toll agency and assign the charges to whoever rented the car that day. $25.00 for the rental car company to find who the renter was and contact them is a very reasonable fee.
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Post by its me mg on Jul 28, 2016 18:44:37 GMT
There are definitely toll roads in California that aren't bridges. We take the 73 (a freeway), which is actually a toll road, technically. It is a huge time saver for us when we go to San Diego. I was working 5 days in San Diego then traveling to LA on my days off for 6 weeks and I used that Toll Road every time. |
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Post by anniefb on Jul 28, 2016 21:33:56 GMT
Well glad to read your positive update!
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Post by melodyesch on Jul 29, 2016 0:35:23 GMT
The last time I was in Florida I encountered quite a few toll roads. Some had attendants, some only had camera recordings. After arriving home I received a bill for the tolls that had no payment station to drive through. If I'd been in a rental car those tolls would have been charged to them. The rental agency has to sort out all their toll charges for which customer had possession of which car, when. $25.00 per toll charge seems reasonable. Pay it and learn from your experience. One solution would be to buy your own transponder. Another would be to request a rental car with one. Yikes! We were just in Orlando a few weeks ago. We knew some of the tolls were unmanned, but all took change. We went prepared with a roll of quarters for tolls. I grew up with the tolls on the Illinois tollways. It wasn't a big deal, you just made sure you had change. On road trips, we'd bring our penny collection. The navigator counted out the pennies for the driver to toss in. Good times. As an aside, I think Illinois is the only state that will allow you to use pennies on toll roads. It was on a West Wing episode. Because Lincoln was from Illinois.  |
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