Fellow Travelers to France,
If you have encountered a situation similar to mine, please let me know. I am in the process of disputing these charges and any help you can offer is most appreciated. In total, I have been charged $260 for tolls incurred during a 6 day car rental with Avis/Budget France from CDG to Normandy. Below are the details.
Weeks prior to my trip, I reserved a car with Budget France for 6 days, pickup and return to CDG. When picking up the vehicle on September 29, 2025, I asked the agent about tolls. She told me I would be charged for tolls when I returned the vehicle and there is no problem and no worries. When I returned the vehicle to CDG on October 4, 2025, I asked the agent about paying for tolls, he told me I will be charged for tolls and there is no problem and no worries. During my travels through Normandy, I encountered a few toll booths, mostly when crossing bridges. These I paid using a credit card. Otherwise I saw signs on the freeways for SANEF, the toll agency, saying that Free Flowing Tolls Were In Effect. I later learned that these are toll charges for driving on the freeways but there are no toll booths. Apparently they are charged to the automobile tag of the vehicle.
On October 31, 2025, a charge appeared on the AMEX Card I used for my card rental in the amount of $41.35 from AVIS/Budget France. I assumed this was the charge for my tolls. I had not received an invoice or notice explaining the charge, but it seemed reasonable.
On December 28, 2025, two charges appeared on my AMEX card, both for $41.35. I was traveling at the time and when I returned to my home, there were two letters in my mailbox from Avis France, informing me that they were charging me a service charge of $41.35 for having to send my contact information to SANEF, so they could bill me for unpaid tolls and late fees.
On January 8, 2026, I received a letter from SANEF, with demands for payment of tolls, fines, and late fees in the amount of $32.54. I went to their website, setup an account, and paid this charge. If I waited just one more day, I was going to be charged a penalty of 90Euro!
On January 21, 2026, I received another letter from SANEF demanding payment of $107.80Euro for $17EU in tolls, $10EU in late fee, and $90EU in penalties, as the past due date had already passed. I went to their website and discovered that there were more than $300EU outstanding charges on this vehicle! I phoned SANEF and they were able to remove the penalty but I was still responsible for the amount of the toll and the late fee. They were very nice on the phone and apologized for AVIS/Budget not managing this as they should. The gentleman said he gets these calls all the time.
So, in total, I have received 4 charges from AVIS/Budget France for $41.35 each, for a total of $165.40 and I paid SANEF $75.27 for a grand total of $240.67.
I have contacted AVIS/Budget France and asked them to remove these charges and to accept responsibility for the fines and penalties associated with the payment to SANEF. I have also contacted AMEX, who recommended that I wait until I get a final notice from Avis/Budget France before filing a formal dispute.
I will reply back to this thread when I hear back from AVIS/Budget.
If you have any similar experiences, please let me know. Further, if you have a suggestion on how I can resolve this matter, I'm certainly open to suggestions.
I did substantial research prior to my trip to France, which was fantastic, BTW. We had an amazing time. Five nights in Normandy: Mont St. Michel, Bayeux, Honfleur, and Giverny, followed by 8 nights in Paris. I read all of the travel advisories, particularly about cell phone thefts, rental car breakins, and pickpockets. Little did I know that it was my rental car company that ended up picking my pocket!