Post Trip Headaches with Avis/Budget UK

Yes. You didn’t pay the toll so now the cost has increased. Didn’t you check before or just after going through the tolls on how to pay?

https://www.gov.uk/pay-dartford-crossing-charge
And
https://www.tt2.co.uk/pay-for-passage

I don’t know what will happen if you ignore the fee’s but my opinion is, yes you should pay.

Yes you are responsible for paying any tolls that you incur while driving a rental car. Budget's website has this statement Budget re tolls

I suppose you might be able to query the £30 additional charge, but I'm not sure why you didn't pay the tolls yourself while you were in the UK. You would then only have paid the two small amounts of £2.50 and £1.90.

And of course they will add an admin charge for now collecting the money from you. Again you might be able to dispute the amount, but they have to employ people to collect monies such as unpaid tolls, and these staff have to be paid for. The alternative would surely be to make everyone's rental charges higher than they already are.

It's a pity you've been stuck with these charges, but the way to avoid it would have been to pay the tolls when in the UK.

Can they do this?

Yes they can. From Budget's terms and conditions:

You must pay for any parking charges or traffic fines incurred during
the rental period related to your use of the vehicle. You must pay
our processing fee to cover our time in dealing with these fines or
charges,

When you sign the rental agreement, you are agreeing for us to charge
all the costs you incurred during the rental period to your payment
card.

YOU didn't pay within 14 days, hence the extra £30+30.

But it's a "gotcha" situation. They put the transponders in the rental car and then wait for you to go through a toll area. And the costs start adding up.

I ran into this with a rental car on the Maryland/ Virginia Eastern Shore . If you used the transponder once, you'd be charged a transponder daily rental fee for the duration of your rental. Some business school genius thought up this moneymaker.

I would be thankful it was only a relatively small amount that you owe. Yes, there is a grace period for crossings of 24 hours but then it goes up and rental companies are going to add their admin fee. It is allowed and it is common in the UK. You are going to have to pay it and canceling a CC is not going to clear the bill. You will get flagged for non-payment. May not be able to rent again from that company. Not sure what else can happen.

There are so many highway rules in the UK these days, Parking lots, bridges, congestion charges for London - even dropping off passengers at Heathrow (you need to book online and pay a £5.00 fee).

I am still wondering if I will get a charge from my rental company for a mistake I made at Stansted airport in June. My daughter needed a covid test in the outside tent located in the yellow parking lot. (use to be a drive-thru but it was now behind a barrier). I could see the tent but couldn't get into the parking area, so I told her to get out and walk. apparently £100 fine for that "drop off" error. Then I went around the roundabout and picked her back up when she noticed the sign stating no pickup or drop-offs. another £100 fee. no charges yet, but there were cameras everywhere and I was just angry at myself for missing it and making the mistake. I'm now over it and the irony was that the requirement for covid testing to return to the US was then lifted the next day!

I would just admit the error and pay the bill. In the big scheme of a European trip cost, it is not much money. Mistakes happen. unused train tickets lost luggage, lost wallets, etc. Stuff happens on a trip. It all happened to us this year, but we still had a great time.

I don't know about the bridge up north but as a regular user of the Dartford Crossing (I hate it - pay to go slowly) I can tell you that you will have passed at least half a dozen or more billboard sized warnings to pay the toll as you approached either the Queen Elizabeth Bridge (southbound) or the Dartford tunnels (northbound), and with the usual slow traffic had plenty of time to read them.

Here is the government website for the Dartford Crossing: https://www.gov.uk/pay-dartford-crossing-charge

Note what they say about not paying immediately -

You must pay the Dartford Crossing charge by midnight the day after
you cross.

You can get a fine if you’re late or do not pay.

Both tunnels clearly state that they are toll roads. I use the Dartford Crossing regularly and numerous boards on approach say “you must pay the toll by midnight tomorrow” and give details of the website to contact. You didn’t, so they have approached Avis, who are perfectly within their rights to charge an admin fee - presumably you agreed to this when signing for the car.

Ok. I read Nigel's link and understand how it works now. But what a pain for non-locals.

Yes, the op should have either taken care of business right away, which would put a damper on evening pub time, or been expecting a bill with administrative fees of some sort. And leaving it for the rental company to pay, it could have taken longer and incurred even more penalties.

Good lesson for all of us.

Interesting. Well thanks for all the replies. This is quite the devious little scam, I sure didn't see any signs saying "pay by midnight", but also didn't know I should be looking for them. And today I got notice from Avis/Budget UK that I have a "traffic charge" for...?...issued by the Glasgow City Council. With an additional 30 pound fee.

Hadn't been to the UK since 1995, but I've rented from Avis/Budget in France several times. When you return your car they had a list of any tolls or speed camera or parking fines incurred at the ready.

Don't think I'll be using them again.

There was absolutely no scam here. You made a mistake. Mistakes happen to everyone, especially in unfamiliar places with procedures that are different than you are used to. Instead of blaming the rental car company, just pay the fees and go on a little wiser about driving in another country.

Well, definitely a head, a pain, slightly expensive, etc. And whether or not it had anything to do with that rental company or not, I know I would have a bad taste in my mouth and rent elsewhere next time. But basically the first question was a simple is this legal, with an explanation of the situation. Piling on with the “yes, you dummy - and by the way, we are all smarter” isn’t really helpful. I suspect the “scam” comment came out of a bit of frustration. And he is FAR from the only person with this situation - people come asking this same question about Italy non-stop.

So, yes, legal and not a scam. A learning experience for sure. And hopefully by posting the question, Bets is right that maybe others in the future will learn and be saved the expense as well. We don’t want to make this one of those posts where the poster just wants to come back and delete.

Don't think I'll be using them again.

If you do not pay, that is quite likely be the case.

I suspect, that as a contractual obligation, it can be enforced through legal process, debt collection, and credit bureau report.

I am not an attorney so my 'suspicions', are just that.

I drive mainly in NJ and NY. Virtually all the EZPass lanes are now unmanned. For those who do not have the transponder, they are sent a bill in the mail. Did you have the opportunity to go through an actual toll booth and pay? If so, I'd say this is a "public service announcement" to those here to either do that or, if not, to know exactly how to pay for the toll and when.
It sounds as though you thought the car rental company would simply bill you for the amount of the tolls. It also sounds as though Avis did not contact you until last week but tried to bill you several weeks before which your credit card company flagged. I understand your confusion. While I don't believe it is a scam, perhaps communication could be more obvious by the car rental companies. If you still have your paperwork, I'd go through it with a fine-tooth comb for an explanation of tolls, but something like that shouldn't be in the fine print. You should take this up with Avis if for nothing more than to ask them to consider having a more transparent form of communication.
A few years ago we rented a car in France. I diligently read the lengthy contract. Did you know that the driver had to keep breathalyzer kits in the car? Most do not read the contract--should they--Yes, but . . .

I don't want to harp on this, but for those folks who have never seen the warning signs an image from Streetview of just one of them, over a mile before the Dartford tunnel - https://tinyurl.com/Dartford-tunnel-warning

The one before the last chance to avoid it is https://tinyurl.com/last-dartford-exit

For the question about toll booths, they were removed several years ago to speed up traffic flow and have pretty much worked...

As Nigel said, you can’t miss the signs for the Dartford Crossing as they are every few feet and on the overhead gantries and start miles out. The traffic usually moves so slowly there that there is plenty of time to read the signs! It isn’t a scam, but ignorance isn’t a defence for not paying. Sorry.

How do the signs at Dartford Crossing affect the drivers of rental cars?

How do the signs at Dartford Crossing affect the drivers of rental cars?

They are cars like all the others and driven by drivers. All drivers must pay the tolls.

How would the toll roads around you affect the drivers of rental cars? Are they given a "bye"?

How do the signs at Dartford Crossing affect the drivers of rental cars?

or put another way, the signs affect rental car drivers by warning them of their obligation. One sign I didn't link to even gives the exact amount owed for each class of vehicle, identified by an outline of a motorcycle, a car, a truck, a car with a trailer.

The signs say "Pay by midnight" but it doesn't say how. Do you just Google "pay blablabla" and hope you find the right website? Lesson to me is that it's too complicated to rent a car nowadays.

This is how Avis handles tolls in my state: "All Avis vehicles are pre-equipped to electronically process tolls. Unless you directly pay the toll yourself as described below (see “Opting Out of e-Toll”), you will automatically opt-into e-Toll and pay the fees described herein if you drive through an electronic toll. e-Toll fees (Standard): If you use the e-Toll service at any time during your rental, you agree to pay a convenience fee of $5.95 for each day on which you incur a toll up to a maximum amount of $29.75 per rental period (not to exceed 30 days). In addition, you will pay all tolls incurred at the maximum prevailing non-discounted or cash rates posted by the toll authority. e-Toll Unlimited: Avis also offers e-Toll Unlimited, which includes the cost of tolls and convenience fees. If you choose e-Toll Unlimited, you agree to pay a daily flat fee of $10.99 - $25.99, depending on checkout location, for each day of the rental period, regardless of whether or not you incur any tolls, up to a maximum of $54.95 - $129.95 per week. e-Toll Unlimited must be selected at the time you reserve or check out your vehicle, otherwise you agree to pay the standard e-Toll fees if you use the e-Toll service." READ THE CONTRACT is my takeaway.

There are numerous large signs for miles before the Dartford Crossing giving the website on which to pay. Granted, you may not have had a pen to hand, but it’s easy to Google something like “m25 toll” etc to work out how to pay. You can’t fail to notice that it’s a toll tunnel/bridge as there are numerous boards and usually, the traffic is stationary here, so therefore, you must have been aware that a fee was due.

The older system was better when there were toll booths and it’s not much quicker without them.

The signs say "Pay by midnight" but it doesn't say how

next line down on the sign reads, "Dart Charge find us online" and if you put Dart Charge into the online browser you get the first link I posted.

The older system was better when there were toll booths and it’s not much quicker without them.

wait until the new crossing is built. I read the consultation document and I am assured it will solve all the problems.

Removed my post with apologies to Lindy.

joe32F my state does not apply to everyone. The point is that to really understand the rules of a rental company for toll payment/collection, the contract needs to be read thoroughly. You can research car rentals websites for specific information relative to you.
Even then, in my experience the contract isn't necessarily up-to-date. My experience in France (up thread) about needing to have breathalyzers in the car is an example because when I questioned the clerk in Paris, he said that no longer applied! Yet, it was still in the contract.
I will add that toll companies can also make mistakes, so read the bill carefully: (https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/ezpass-refunds-trenton-morrisville-bridge-overcharged/)

My experience in France (up thread) about needing to have breathalyzers in the car is an example because when I questioned the clerk in Paris, he said that no longer applied! Yet, it was still in the contract.

Actually I believe that the never-enforced law is still on the books as is the decision not to apply the law.

Every time I drive to France I check that nothing has changed. When that law came into effect I was prepared to get my pair of cheapie tests when just a couple of weeks before the trip I got advice that there had been a decision not to enforce it. Never did buy those tests.

Sending traffic violations through the post (or direct via your credit card plus accompanying administration charges) is not a scam nor is it confined to Avis/Budget. Pretty much all the rental agencies have a similar process. The details regarding the process and fees is outlined in the rental agreement. Admittedly most people don't bother to read it but that's no defence.

I've received a couple of speeding fines from Spain from both Sixt and Hertz and also a failure to display a vignette when entering Austria from Germany, all were sent via post and incurred additional administrative charges. I simply paid up. I broke the rules and was punished accordingly. I really don't understand why some people feel so aggrieved about it.

So not to add any fuel to this fire, just a clarification...
It wasn't really clear if the OP had purchased a transponder or any toll coverage. If one had been in use, would this entire situation have been avoided, although granted having to pay the transponder rental rate? Curious because of the 24 hr pay requirement for the tunnel.
I originally read this thread thinking the transponder rental had been done and couldn't understand the tone of discussion, but if non was purchased then it all seems more reasonable...

@Nigel, Lindy--they gave up on having breathelizers in the cars very soon after the law went into effect. You do have to have the yellow vest (gillet jaune) and triangle in the trunk, however. And they are usually in there when you rent.

yes, and if you have a gillet jaune you can also join the protests. Funny I haven't heard of the gillet jaune protests since covid??

No, the OP would not have had a transponder for the Dartford Crossing. They don't exist. Locals and regulars (like me) have an account (saving a whopping 50p per crossing) which has to be pre-loaded with money or done automatically, which gets dinged everytime I cross. Other less frequent crossers have an account linked to a credit card which gets dinged at full price but no balance is deposited.

But no transponder. (I do have a transponder for France where it works very well).

It wasn't really clear if the OP had purchased a transponder or any toll coverage.

No transponders in the UK due to a limited number of tolls, 23 of which 18 are river crossings.