Rental Car Company Charges More In Taxes And Fees Than For Rental, Cites "Co...

Rental Car Company Charges More In Taxes And Fees Than For Rental, Cites "Computer Error" [Fee Frenzy]

via Consumerist by Phil Villarreal on 7/2/09

Dick thought he was getting a fair deal by renting a car from Dollar for $28 a day. He was shocked to see that his bill had been jacked by nearly $130 in taxes and fees when he returned the car.

Here's how Dick says it went down:

I booked a compact car for 4 days in Las Vegas from Dollar Rent A Car through Southwest Airlines' Vacations, agreeing to pay the taxes and fees above the cost of my rental.

Imagine my surprise when I was socked with taxes and fees of $129.64, when the cost of renting that same car for a whole week was only $140.00!

(Since this is a "package" deal from Southwest, I have no idea how much I was really paying for the rental car, but a reasonable hunch would be to call shenigans here, as the entire "cost" of my vacation was only $232, including a round trip plane ticket.)

Even when you use their daily rate ($28.00/day), the cost of renting ($112) is still less than the $129.64 in taxes and fees they charged, even though THEIR calculations of the percentages only come up to 29.75% (plus a $3 day facility charge).

Dick understandably called to complain and was told a "computer problem" had caused the error. They issued an $88 chargeback to his credit card. But before he called customer service, he brought up the issue to the guy at the return counter, who blew him off.