I haven’t been truly fucked over by a rental car company like some people but nonetheless, these guys are beneath contempt. I just turned in a rental car after a 3 day rental and they printed out the bill. Here are the good parts (after the daily charge):
Ok, it’s not a ton of money but WTF? What’s next, going to the grocery store will have a “cart usage fee”? There’s no end to this kind of thing. Then the “free market” types wonder why there are regulations. Hint: IT’S BECAUSE, AS SOON AS YOU ARE NOT LOOKING, THESE GUYS WILL FUCK YOU OVER, THEN SPIN YOU AROUND AND FUCK YOU AGAIN!
They are dishonest unless you force them to be honest.
No kidding, but they make up for it by being dumb as posts sometimes. One time they charged me for the insurance, which I had waived. I called them back, and they said they would reverse the charge. Turns out, they refunded the whole rental charge, close to $400!
The fees are not the car rental company’s fault, but rather the greedy tax authorities in that area who see tourists as easy targets for legal robbery.
Try renting a car in Phoenix. The taxes and surcharges on my last weekend rental nearly doubled the rental price.
Read the list again. Those aren’t taxes. Those are fees that the rental car company dreamed us. I left off the taxes. In fact, on the bill there are asterisks at the end of each line indicating they are subject to tax. If it was a tax, it wouldn’t be subject to tax.
There’s a worrying trend of businesses charging consumers for things that really should be included in the price, or- worse- charging them for paying their bill.
Pay with Credit Card? There’s a Non-Cash Processing Fee.
Pay with Cash? There’s a Customer Service Assistance Fee.
Pay with a Cheque? You can’t, for many things (not that anyone here really uses them anymore), and even if you could, there’s that Non-Cash Processing Fee again.
Pay with Direct Debit? There’s an Administration Fee.
Pay with Livestock? Sorry, they haven’t been legal tender since the days of Governor Macquarie.*
The problem is that once a couple of businesses start doing it, it becomes “standard industry practice” and then everyone starts doing it, shafting consumers in the process because there’s nothing they can do about it.
*That’s a joke, before anyone comes in to comment on the real-life legality of using livestock as currency in the modern world
Eh, the companies might be charge happy but you can still find good people working there. I recently left an expensive digital camera in a rental and didn’t discover it until the next day when the car had already been rented out again and I was flying home.
The staff were very considerate and kept me well informed, and then when the camera was recovered they shipped it to me at my expense. They could have just as easily kept it and said that it was returned without the camera and I would have been left with no recourse.
Thanks Enterprise!
Tell that to my provincial tax dept who charges a 10% Provincial Sales Tax after the 5% Federal Goods and Services Tax has been applied to the total. Hurrah for getting double dipped.
This is generally a charge to pass on the upkeep costs of the lots, offices and tranportation at the location.
These are generally taxes disguised as fees. The first is probably local or at least county level, the second is the same thing only State level. They are used to fund infrastructure improvements that get approved by passing the expenses on to the tourists rather then the local taxpayers. If you stayed in a hotel/motel you probably paid the exact same fee or an equivalent there.
The reason they are not included in the price is that it allows they rental company to advertise the same low price nationally, then you get hit with all of these fees and taxes that are set locally to the rental location. This also allows the municipal governments to change the fees as need to raise additional revenue without affecting the rental company.
The State of Florida imposes a base tax of $2 per day on any automobile rental (but not bus rentals - grab a Blue Bird and go crazy!) That’s where your “Florida surcharge” came from.
A bunch of the other fees on there are local and state fees too - renting a car in Florida costs about 25% more than in most states because we gouge tourists (and rightly so).
Next time I fly to Florida and need a car, maybe I’ll sign up with ZipCar for just the trip. They probably can make a good market for incidental users who don’t want to pay the annual fee, just a per-rental rate.
When I was living in Anchorage, my son came up with his girlfriend and her father for a visit. I took the father to the rental car place and the guy tried to whack him for $800 for the week. I asked about what discounts they had and the guy had the balls to say “Oh, all those are already figured in.” I asked him how the hell he could possibly know what we qualified for (AARP, military, AAA, etc.) and he backed down. The bill still ended up around $700. I guess most tourists just pony up the money without question.
It was several years ago now but I recall at the time turning in my rental car and the final bill was nearly doubled. Among many things on the bill was a fee for their new baseball stadium.
I do not give a shit about their new baseball stadium. I do not live there. I will not benefit from it. Outright bilking of their visitors.
I propose there should be a truth in advertising law where all these fees are tacked on and most be disclosed in any advertisements and definitely at point of sale before you take the car.
I am seriously fed up with the nickle-and-dime bullshit you get everywhere these days from car rentals to banks. Tell me up front what the costs are and we’ll go from there.
I know from reading Dorsey and Hiassen that things are…different…in Florida, but that doesn’t necessarily sound like a very good idea.
Husband (H): Honey, I found us a good deal on a car for the weekend. We’re going to be chauffeured.
Wife (W): That will be too expensive!
H: No, we just have to buy him beer.
W: And just when will he be drinking it? :dubious:
H: Uhmm, we didn’t negotiate that.
Weak. If they had just lumped all those fees together in the basic rental price you still would’ve paid the exact same thing, but would’ve been more ignorant than you are now.
They gave you the courtesy of itemizing their cost of doing business with you. So what? Consider the other costs they didn’t break out… the salary of the person who prepared the paperwork and handed you the key, the salary of the poor shlub who vacuumed the floormats, the cost of the electricity to run the overhead lights and computers and everything else necessary so you can walk into a retail location (cost of the lease) and walk out with a car (cost of the car). Sheeesh. You do realize, don’t you, that all those costs are also being paid for when you rent the car, right? And they’re all, in one way or another, lumped together in the price you eventually paid, right?
So what if you paid six cents for “tire/battery fee”? Would you have been happier if your total bill was just six cents higher, but that one line item wasn’t included? You probably would’ve.
Instead of market regulation, how about we require people to take, and pass, a basic course on economics before being allowed to rent a car?
Tell you what, Spartydog, why don’t you go get a $79 brake job and a $19 oil change and report back what you end up paying for those, too. Because it’ll be good for a chuckle when you come back apoplectic and insisting on “regulations”.
I had a pit thread once about being charged sales tax on a ‘license’ I needed from the county for an underground sprinkler system. The license was pure tax because they didn’t do any inspections or anything. Being charged tax on a tax…
Gahhh…still burns me up even though it was 10 years ago.
I, for one, would be much happier if all these stupid little fees and charges were included in the base rate. What do I care what the Concession Recovery fee is if I don’t have the option of not paying it? It’s just a gimmick so they can advertise a lower rate to attract business, then add on all the extras once they’ve got you.
Same thing bugs me with airfares. Don’t tack on a security fee unless I have to option to waive it and fly on a less-safe aircraft.
