Because of a system in which nine different rental car companies use three private toll-collection companies to charge users of toll roads, the process of accounting for toll-road use by people renting cars at Denver International Airport has become complex and confusing, according to the Denver Post.
The E-470 road moved exclusively to cashless tolling on July 4.
The toll option at Dollar and Thrifty, for example, has caused problems for consumers since E-470 went cashless last summer. Richard Klier, the companies’ general manager at DIA, said the situation was improving and added that Dollar and Thrifty are displaying information about the toll-payment plan all around their facility to make customers aware of the options.
The wide variety of rental car toll-payment plans at DIA is a big part of the problem. Until recently, Hertz charged its customers for the tolls they incurred in metro Denver plus $2.50 a day up to a maximum of $10 per rental week in add-on fees. But after renter complaints, Hertz altered the plan to a maximum of $10 a month.
Alamo and National charge $2.50 a day or $10 a week in administrative fees plus tolls for their customers, but Enterprise instead charges $7.99 a day for unlimited use of toll roads in Colorado.
One customer interviewed in the Denver Post article said his bill of about $65 for a two-day rental increased to $200 after $125 in fees were added on top of about $11 in tolls that he incurred. The customer said Dollar recently agreed to waive the $125 in fees levied against him if he paid the tolls he owed.