Hertz Class Action Says Gold Plus Members Charged Excessive Toll Fees

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The Hertz Corporation charges its Gold Plus Rewards program members excessive administrative fees whenever they pass through a toll booth in Southern California without paying a toll, a class action lawsuit filed Monday in California federal court alleges.

According to the Hertz class action lawsuit, the rental car company offers an electronic toll collection service called PlatePass.

The PlatePass service allows customers to pass through many toll lanes that are equipped with the electronic toll collection capability.

When Hertz’s PlatePass transponder is activated, it will automatically pay the toll and charge it to the customer’s credit card.

If a toll road only accepts electronic payment, PlatePass is a Hertz customer’s only option of paying tolls, unless they are carrying their own personal transponder, according to the Hertz class action lawsuit.

Hertz charges a flat fee of $4.95 per day for the PlatePass, with a cap of $24.95 per rental. These fees are charged regardless of the number of tolls that are paid.

Although PlatePass is widely recognized, there are reportedly some toll roads in Southern California that do not accept PlatePass. They only accept a local electronic toll collection system called FasTrak.

Many customers who rent vehicles from Hertz are unaware that Hertz’s PlatePass transponders do not pay the tolls when they pass through tolls that only accept payment via FasTrak, according to the Hertz class action lawsuit.

Hertz does not inform its Gold Plus Members that PlatePass doesn’t work on many Southern California toll roads, according to the Hertz class action lawsuit.

The company also allegedly does not notify Gold Plus members that the only way to avoid a toll violation is to either register with FasTrak or pay the toll online within five days of the violation.

Plaintiff Edward Schwartz, a Hertz Gold Plus member, claims that Hertz’s contracts do not allow the company to charge Gold Plus members administrative fees in excess of the amount necessary to reimburse Hertz for the expenses it incurs when collecting unpaid tolls.

On Sept. 1, 2015, Schwartz reportedly rented a car from Hertz at its Los Angeles International Airport location. He says Hertz charged him a $30 fee after he passed through a Southern California toll booth without paying the toll.

He claims that this fee “grossly exceeded” Hertz’s administrative costs for collection and other related expenses.

As a Gold Plus member, Schwartz was allegedly not given a copy of the Hertz Rental Record, which did include disclosures about the Southern California toll road situation, until after he returned the vehicle.

According to the Hertz class action lawsuit, the Rental Record simply stated at the bottom of the last page: “GOLD-SIGNATURE ON FILE.”

Schwartz seeks to represent a Class of all Hertz Gold Plus members who rented Hertz vehicles and paid $30 administrative fees related to toll violations in Southern California.

The Hertz class action lawsuit asserts claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, conversion, and violations of California business law.

The plaintiffs are represented by Mike Arias and Alfredo Torrijos of Arias Sanguinetti Stahle & Torrijos LLP; Jason S. Hartley of Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP; Daniel R. Karon and Beau D. Hollowell of Karon LLC; Bruce D. Greenberg of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC; and Vincent J. Esades and Dylan J. McFarland of Heins Mills & Olson PLC.

The Hertz Unpaid Toll Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Edward Schwartz, et al. v. The Hertz Corporation, Case No. 2:16-cv-07713, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.