HELP! Charged for Florida sun pass tolls in Budget Rental Car

[saroede97]

Ask Budget or even the tool authority if the tolls were paid thru the device or by the tag on the car. If you can prove that the device was off than maybe you have some leverage in your fight. I have had friends who rented a car and used my device and still were sent letters from the rental car company that they owed tolls, good thing I had my statements which had the exact dates, times, and lanes to prove them wrong.

[Capt_BJ]

funny thing

 

having a 'pass' in central Fl I've never had a dispute on my bill

 

OMG ... State of Florida must have found a way to target tourists .... AGAIN

 

Thank goodness

 

I don't want to pay state income tax!

[toberman]

How would a tourist from Georgia, driving their own car, or a trucker from Texas know that before getting on the toll way and then what happens?

 

Guess that was my previous question.... Nobody 'In The Know' has offered an answer yet. Unless, of course - nobody really knows! :rolleyes:

[FLAHAM]

sadly a common scam a tunmanned toll booths with baskets, is to put something in the bottom of the basket like a rag or a cup - to stop the coins from actually making it into the machine. The car's plate is then recorded as a violation and the scammer comes by later to find sufficient coins for a bottle of Mad Dog and a pack of smokes . . .

 

 

So the car just smashes through the gate which did not raise because the car had no Sun Pass and the coins were blocked?

[Capt_BJ]

How would a tourist from Georgia, driving their own car, or a trucker from Texas know that before getting on the toll way and then what happens?

 

The answer HAS been provided but is mired in a BUNCH of misinformation.

 

There are only a few "100% electronic toll" areas in FL AT THIS TIME. yes FL says they are going that way but for example the toll recently added on the BeachLine between Orlando airport and Port Canaveral was built with manned lanes. I'd conclude the time we'll be 100% electronic is far away.

 

The two areas that I know of today are the Tampa Crosstown expressway (used primarily by commuters and not tourists) and the "Turnpike Extension" which is basically the Miami by-pass which runs from the Dade/Broward county line, west of Miami to Everglade City and the beginning of the Keys Highway. In BOTH cases there are BIG signs that tell drivers that the section will take Sun/E-PASS, or if there isn't one picked up, the TOLL BY PLATE method kicks in. In TbyP the plate is photographed and a toll bill is mailed with a small service charge added.

 

TOLL-BY-PLATE is a toll collection method that takes a photo of a vehicle’s license plate as it travels through a Turnpike tolling location. It then mails a monthly bill for the tolls, plus a $2.50 administrative charge, to the registered owner of the vehicle. So just drive!

 

I'm not aware of any 100% electronic tolls ON the roads around Orlando - there might be an exit that is unmanned but they are not electronic only - they usually have a basket machine (with no gate). In some places in FL, esp new toll plazas, the electronc lanes are "pass with no slowing" and easy to miss (the manned lanes look like an exit). If you accidentally fly thru these no slow lanes, the toll goes "toll by plate" ..

 

http://www.floridasturnpike.com/all-electronictolling/ESP/

 

The real issue here is NOT the state having a problem ... the states service charge IS minimal. The problem is certain rental companies which SCARE folks into paying for the rental car's pass or worse adding CRAZY processing fees ($25 per toll)when the rental company gets the small bill from a bill by plate transaction ($2.50 per month for one plate).

 

one final complication tho - there ARE 'private toll roads' in FL - ones not operated by the state. Several of the toll roads around Orlando are operated by the Orlando authority ... same thing in Tampa - the Crosstown is not a STATE road ... the state web sites don't include all the details about these roads but in my experience they DO play by the same rules.

Edited October 8, 2012 by Capt_BJ

[toberman]

Capt BJ - thanks for the detailed report. Works for me.

[miamiyogi]

CAPT BJ Thanks for the detailed right on post.

How would a tourist from Georgia, driving their own car, or a trucker from Texas know that before getting on the toll way and then what happens?

 

To answer this question. If you drive your own car, you just drive through the toll by plate system. The registered owner of the car/truck will get a bill for the tolls in the mail, plus a small administrative charge ($2.50).

 

BTW, truckers use a different tolling system all together....its not even worth mentioning here. Suffice to say its more of a nationwide system.

 

The problem being discussed on the thread is RENTAL CARS

 

Here's another guide:

http://www.floridasturnpike.com/all-electronictolling/index.cfm

[seashells]

The problem is with RENTAL Cars.

 

Until and Unless people write to the State of Florida Attorney General it will continue.

 

 

http://myfloridalegal.com/

 

IF enough people complain she is very good about investigating it as a scam of auto rental companies.

 

Let her know of any infraction so it may be investigated OR it will continue.

 

This comes up all the time ON Cruise Boards but nobody does anything and the rental companies are raking in the dough.

[Red Hat Cruise Cat]

FLL to Pompano Beach, any tolls?

Do I have to worry about this electronic toll issue if I am driving from FLL to Pompano Beach then to the Port Everglades then back to FLL?

[FLAHAM]

FLL to Pompano Beach, any tolls?

Do I have to worry about this electronic toll issue if I am driving from FLL to Pompano Beach then to the Port Everglades then back to FLL?

 

 

No.

[LynneL]

So the car just smashes through the gate which did not raise because the car had no Sun Pass and the coins were blocked?

 

Nothing so dramatic as smashing through a gate - lol. The toll we had a problem with when using a rental car had a red/green light. We paid but light never changed, no one around to assist & at 4:00 a.m. we had to make a decision to go thru & hope for the best rather than sit and wait for help that might not arrive.

 

Must say I can't even think the last time I traveled on a toll road with a gate, always a red/green light or the overhead dectectors that don't require any stopping. Envisioning the whole action movie scene did put a smile on my face : )

[greensj]

paid for a sunpass in Ft Lauderdale $ dollar car rental, drove to Orlando to switch car, told them i had a sunpass they told me that the dispatcher at Ft L had not put the order onto the system [although i had been charged for it]

So ANY sunpass roads i had been throu were not covered.......$ at orlando agree with me and sorted out a credit.. but if i had not noticed after a month of driving around i would have had a hefty bill to pay... SO check that the sunpass you buy has infact been activated by the dispatch clerk at the pick up point.

[Capt_BJ]

ummmmmm

 

that's not how SUNPASS works

 

not even close ......

 

on a DOLLAR rental you pay to assume responsibility for "pay by plate" for the days in question

 

If you "buy a SUNPASS" - online or in a store (grocery / drug), you see no 'agent' but go online to activate your account

 

see https://www.sunpass.com/rentalcar