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Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, a rental car company that does business as Dollar Rent A Car, was hit with a class action lawsuit on May 16 accusing the company of charging customers inflated administrative fees for processing electronic tolls.
Florida residents Stephen and Anne Sallee allege in the Dollar Thrifty class action lawsuit that they rented a car from Dollar Rent A Car in November of last year for a trip in Texas. During the trip, the Sallees allege that they incurred four toll fees using Dollar’s e-toll service totaling $4.70 by the time they returned the vehicle.
The Sallees claim that when they returned the car, a Dollar Rent A Car agent advised them there were no additional charges. After returning home, however, they allegedly received a notice from Dollar Processing Center entitled “Dollar Rent A Car Toll Charge Notice.” The Notice instructed that each toll charge was subject to an “administrative fee” of $15.00 for a “Total Administrative Fee” charge of $60.00.
“Thus, for four tolls totaling only $4.70, Plaintiffs owed Dollar $64.70,” the class action lawsuit says.
According to the Dollar Rent A Car class action lawsuit, “Dollar’s e-toll service electronically identifies Dollar vehicles as they travel through [electronic toll collection “ETC”] sites. This is accomplished by various means depending on the vehicle’s location,” explains the complaint, “[s]ome transactions are captured and processed by recognizing license-plate numbers while others are captured through an electronic transponder device in the vehicle…[o]nce the identification is made, the e-toll service receives data identifying the Dollar vehicle and the tolls incurred on specific dates.”
The Dollar Rent A Car class action lawsuit claims that since at least 2008, Dollar has charged its customers who travel on toll roads and use its electronic toll collection (“ETC”) service a fee of $15 or $25 per toll in addition to the cost of tolls. These toll fees are described as an “administrative fee” in the materials comprising Dollar’s standardized rental contracts. However, according to the class action lawsuit, “the administrative cost of Dollar’s ETC is only a fraction of these $15 or $25 charges, and the vast bulk of the charge (and all successive $15 or $25 charges per toll) are a means to charge more for customers’ rentals without including this price increase in customers’ rental rates. This allows Dollar to represent to customers that Dollar’s rental rates are less than Dollar is actually advertising and charging.”
The Dollar Thrifty class action lawsuit alleges that thousands of people have been victims of Dollar’s increased rental costs that Dollar falsely describes as “administrative fees.” The Sallees argue that Dollar’s administrative fees amount to breach of contract, a violation of state consumer-protection law, and request damages for unjust enrichment and injunctive relief.
Over the past several years multiple class action lawsuits have been filed by rental car customers over similar allegations. Hertz reached an $11 million class action settlement over claims it conspired with an electronic toll company to charge customers excessive fees. Fox Rent A Car and Avis were also hit with class action lawsuits over their toll charges to customers.
The plaintiffs are represented by Tony M. Graham and R. Jack Freeman of Graham & Freeman PLLC, Jeffrey W. Lawrence of Lawrence Law Firm, Bruce D. Greenberg and Jeffrey A. Shooman of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC and Daniel R. Karon and Laura K. Mummert of Goldman Scarlato Karon & Penny PC.
The Dollar Rental Car Toll Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Stephen Sallee et al. v. Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. et al., Case No 4:14-cv-00250, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
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51 thoughts onDollar Rent A Car Toll Fees Rack Up Class Action Lawsuit
I recieved this bill from dollarrental. I just recieved it a week ago and its due 12/2/17. Says 3 different times charged for tolls. 1st-.0.95
2nd- 0.5.
3rd- 0.81. Admin fees are 15.00 each. Not even sure we were on tolls. And, i googled the addresses and they dont look right. Should i pay? I wanna see if i need to be on ur list.
The case is still moving through the courts and has not yet reached a settlement. Claim forms are usually not made available to consumers until after a court approved settlement is reached. We recommend you sign up for a free account at TopClassActions.com and follow the case. We will update the article with any major case developments or settlement news! Setting up a free account with Top Class Actions will allow you to receive instant updates on ANY article that you ‘Follow’ on our website. A link to creating an account may be found here: https://topclassactions.com/signup/. You can then ‘Follow’ the article above, and get notified immediately when we post updates!
I got a bill for $9.07 plus $15 Admin Fee. What should I do?
The case is still moving through the courts and has not yet reached a settlement. Claim forms are usually not made available to consumers until after a court approved settlement is reached. We recommend you sign up for a free account at TopClassActions.com and follow the case. We will update the article with any major case developments or settlement news! Setting up a free account with Top Class Actions will allow you to receive instant updates on ANY article that you ‘Follow’ on our website. A link to creating an account may be found here: https://topclassactions.com/signup/. You can then ‘Follow’ the article above, and get notified immediately when we post updates!
I have a bill for $75 but tolls totaling only $9.85. Is this class still open. Dollar Rental
Can I also join this lawsuit? I was charged $30.00 administration fee for tolls that amounted to only $3.98.
This is outrageous!
Charlotte Jiricek
Jiricekca@hotmail.com
I just received 4 separate bills…$21.57, $90.14, $115.22 and $117.37!! These people are on some good good!! How do I join this lawsuit?
Unfortunately, this particular lawsuit was dismissed in favor of the defendants in March 2015. We offer a submission form on our website for you to fill out if you are seeking class action legal help. Attorneys will then review your submission to determine if you have a case. If they feel you qualify, they will contact you directly. You can submit your information here: https://topclassactions.com/start-a-class-action/.
FYI – if you call the processing company for Thrifty, which is ATS Processing Services, at 1-877-411-4300, they can switch your bill to the ~$12 per day all-inclusive rate which avoids any fees. The lady I spoke with offered this up-front without my having to argue about how the toll fees werent disclosed when I rented. What happened to me was basically: at the rental counter, the agent started to ask me if I was planning to go on any toll roads, but then stopped and said nevermind, you probably wont…..that was the extent of the disclosure I received. I get why they have the two options: if you go on one toll road during a week-long rental, its cheaper to pay the admin fee than the per-day rate, but why cant it just be a per-day-on-days-where-there-are-toll-charges rate? Anyway, my bill was $111 because even though it was only a 2 day rental and I only went on a toll road twice, it was actually 3 tolls each way (avoid the e470 from Denver Airport to Westminster, CO!); after the adjustment my bill is only $24 (and the tolls themselves were nearly $22, so thats a bargain).
Just received my bill , toll 2.64, administration fee $30… RIDICULOUS!! I want in on your class action!!
Is it too late to join? Dollar charged me $30 for $1.40 in toll. I avoided all toll lanes and roads but somehow still got these charges. When I called the toll company with the rental plate number, they had no records of any violations. Dollar said they paid the charges, thus no records and no prove of any violations. Sounds fishy to me. Bunch of crooks with no ethics at all.
Soo…how do I join this lawsuit? Dollar is into me for $105, for going thru ONE electronic toll! They billed me for all the tolls I went thru. Even the ones where I handed cash to an attendant! This sucks!
I am chargded $120/ in Dallas by Dollar. What a shitty practice?