Budget Rent a Car E-Toll Fraud

Budget Rent a Car lets you zip through tollbooth areas, they say on their web site, but many consumers don't know Budget also is zipping through their wallets in a possible case of credit card fraud.

Budget customers have been complaining about $2.50 per day or $10 per week charges appearing on their bills for the "convenience," Budget says, of having an E-Toll-equipped vehicle. E-Toll is an electronic toll collection service that allows customers to drive through a tollbooth collection area without stopping to pay the toll. The toll-equipped car has an electronic device that automatically adds the cost of the toll to the driver's credit card bill.

Many customers aren't aware of the charges, especially the $2.50 per day or $10 per week extra service charge added to their bills in addition to the cost of the tolls. E-Toll equipped cars are being used in the Northeast United States from Maine to Virginia; in Florida, Colorado, California, Texas, and the Chicago area; and in Puerto Rico.

Charges appear on the driver's credit card as "Highway Toll Administration." If you want to know what the charges are for, you need to access your receipt online by looking up your credit card number or viewing your car rental agreement. You must wait at least four days from the end of the rental car date to see the charges on the website. Renters whose cards are charged but do not receive a receipt can call 1-866-642-2000.

Once the toll charge is activated at the first toll drive through, the renter's credit card is automatically charged $2.50 per day for the rental period. Renters are charged the daily fee even if they pass through a collection area only once. The $2.50 "administrative fee" is not charged if the driver does not pass through any toll collection areas.

Have you been the charged these fees without your prior consent? Contact a consumer fraud lawyer for help.