No longer content gouging customers who return their rentals with less than a full tank of gas, Dollar Rent A Car is now assessing a $2.00 “top off fee” for cars that have already been topped off.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Steven Dentali, who was charged the fee in October after renting a car from Dollar Rent A Car in Manchester, N.H. “I said to them, ‘You’re telling me I’m penalized no matter what? There’s no way around me having to pay something?’”
That’s precisely what the rental car agreement said. Here’s the exact wording he received in his e-mail confirmation:
“Gasoline Policy: Vehicle must be returned with full tank or local refueling charge applies. If car is returned full a $2.00 top off fee will be applied.”
When Dentali started asking questions, he said he was told that the fee was being test-marketed by Dollar at select locations in New England.
Dentali demanded a refund and was told he had to talk with a manager, who in turn told him to call Dollar’s corporate offices. He did, and said he was promised a refund. But the $2 never arrived.
Dentali received a personalized response and a refund after complaining to the corporate office:
“I am unable to advise you as to whether or not this is a permanent policy or what the purpose is for it, but in an effort to regain your confidence in Dollar Rent A Car, I have requested a refund check in the amount of $2.16 to be forwarded to you from our accounting office. Please allow up to three weeks for processing and mailing.”
A corporate spokesman claims the fee is the creation of a local franchise and is not a standard charge for corporate-owned locations.
At least it’s cheaper than United’s $50 fuel surcharge. Has anyone else seen and fought the top off fee? Send your experiences to tips at consumerist dot com.
Sneaky fee alert: rental car ‘top off’ [The Red Tape Chronicles]
(Photo: fabbio)
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@dorksandlosers: yeah, I’ve always felt like they’d get fewer unhappy customers if it was just a $X all-inclusive rate and you didn’t have to dick around with refueling or paying a 30-cent premium per gallon to have them do it for you. If they roll that premium into the rate, I think people would be way less annoyed in the end.
Is this any different than what Budget Rent-A-Car was doing. They settled with the FTC after being sued because “… Budget’s fuel fee program was deceptive and violated federal law”.
“Budget Rent-A-Car has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it failed to adequately disclose a “fuel” fee automatically charged to customers who drove fewer than 75 miles.”
[www.ftc.gov]
I rented from Budget last, and they gave me a free upgrade to a mid-size (Prius) because they were out of compact size cars. Not only that, but when I returned the car with its full tank, and complained that it had only a half tank when I took it out (it did), they refunded me $40, which *more* than payed for my gas costs. Go Prius!
Once my father rented a nearly brand-new Chrysler from Hertz. He made it only a few miles before the thing died and wouldn’t start back up. He called Hertz for a tow, and the first thing their CSR asked was, “What, did you run out of gas?”
They eventually picked him up, he cancelled the rental and went elsewhere, and everything seemed hunkydory. Until a month later when they billed him a bill for a full tank of gas.
Well, if you really think about it, you are burning some gas from the gas station to the rental agency…
Last month I was in Tucson. I rented for a week from Dollar. When I had reserved I did for a full-size car (a charger or the like), they upgraded me to a Pacifica even though there were 4 Chargers on the lot. I was glad because it gave me some extra space.
The car had 4k miles on it and was spotless, it drove great.
I returned the car, drove up, they looked it over and handed me my receipt. No extra fees, no troubles whatsoever and they were easily the cheapest rental place in Tucson.
So the fee was certainly not universal and as Dollar said it was not being charged by corporate but by the regional franchisee I presume.
The sad part is that people here will slam Dollar simply because of this one story when I can produce a counter story and corporate has already stated that this was a fee from the regional area.
Moving towards the additional fee, it’s a fine line in the business. You certainly can’t tell if a tank is full just by looking at gauge, it’s impossible. Requiring a person to fill it up within 5 miles of the location and produce a receipt is really not that ridiculous a request. Think of it this way, they can ask that, or they could just assume you won’t do it and raise the rates to compensate. I’d rather avoid the fee by simply showing a receipt than be charged regardless.
@dmolavi: HAHA! I win that game — we DID return ours completely empty once. It died about 0.2 miles away from the rental return entrance and we had to push it in
However, that also gave me a huge dose of incentive to never, ever play that game again. Pushing a car through O’Hare airport totally sucks.
Don’t they know that “topping off” is not recommended and potentionally dangerous??? And how about the cars which kick the pump off before the tank is full due to pressure/tank design?
If they want to charge me this fee then I will want to rent a car where I see the gas sloshing around under the gas cap- ie topped off. I usually can over-pump (pumping after the pump automatically shuts off) enough gas into a car to get me 20-30 miles to the airport rental place and the guage still show full.
Bring a gas can with you, and top it off in front of them until it overflows.
@whzsutton: True — but do you really think they are actually topping it off? You most likely receive the car with a half gallon gone when you first leave the agency.
I’ve never had a problem with Enterprise; in fact, I totalled one of their cars in Savannah, GA, and they replaced it same day. But boy was I glad I bought their insurance.
My wife and I rent from Enterprise all the time and have never had a bad experience. What’s nice is that you only have to return the car with as much gas as you started, no bogus fees.
@RagingBoehner: No way they would be that devious! In fact, I rather think that they must have a team of highly-trained top-off specialists that handle these situations as they come in. That’s what you’re probably paying for: The top-off specialist.
@SuperJdynamite: I learned about that bit where the vapor recovery system will suck up any gas that you overfill your tank with, I’ve had some good luck by pulling back on the nozzle so the rubber hood doesn’t cover the gas filler.
One time in California a treehugger got pissed off at me because I spilled a little gas. I calmly told her not to worry, it would soon evaporate and not leave a mark. Have you ever seen a treehugger with a face so red you’d think blood was going to shoot out of her eyes?
@ Dollar Rent-A-Car
Does. Not. Compute.
I could see where you could create a nice bit of bad publicity for them and make them scramble by accusing them of “Not Being Green”. As a few folks have already said, it is not considered environmentally sound to be topping off the tank. I’m sure a few such accusations would reverse this policy pretty quickly.
If the rental agencies were being completely honest, they would just charge a set rate for the amount of gas they need to add to the tank when you return. It wouldn’t disadvantage them in any way. By setting it up as a “gamble” at the beginning of the trip, they are hoping you will make the wrong choice and lose. All customers know it, and it makes them feel taken advantage of, so why not just stop it? I suppose it’s like skimming a little off of every customer. There is no real way for the customer to come out ahead given those two options.
@BoC: Gaaah, you did it too fast.
You win!
The reason this practice was done is because of cheap customers who only drive the car for one day and maybe put 40 miles on it and never gasses the car back up. the needle is showing full until the rental car company moves it around there lot and now is not showing full. they have to put gas in the car because of the cheap customer. Trying to recoup some of there losses i guess. I work in the rental industry and the majority of the time the rental company is the victim. someone cries wolf and most of the rental companies will give reimbursements to oblige the customer and give good service When actually the customer deserves nothing. Customers actually believe they deserve reimbursement for getting a flat tire. They cannot understand that they are responsible that they were driving the car when the tire went flat and that the car left the lot with perfectly good tires.