Consumers who prepay for their gas with the rental company usually have to pay about a quarter more than the typical price at the pump. But those who waive that option can be charged $5 to $7 a gallon if the company says the tank isn't full enough.
The problem with having to refuel so near the return site, consumers say, is some gas stations use their proximity to rental-car drop-off areas as an excuse to gouge customers. "That does go on," says Geoff Sundstrom, a spokesman for AAA, the automobile association. Smith, the National renter, says that is why he filled up 15 miles away from O'Hare.
Some new car-rental policies are hitting the companies' most loyal customers. Hertz has become a bit less generous with its loyalty program and has added some new fees. The company -- which Ford Motor Co. sold two years ago to a group of investors (the Carlyle Group, Clayton Dubilier & Rice and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity) -- recently announced that, in many cases, the cost of redemptions in its 1 Awards program will rise starting March 1. The cost of a nonpeak free rental day certificate, for example, will increase to 600 points from 500. (Generally, members get one point per dollar spent.)
In addition, Hertz last February instituted new charges for after-hours returns. Hertz customers who return their car after the rental location has closed now incur charges until the location reopens. The company says it made that change because of an increased number of disputes over both vehicle damage and the exact time when cars are returned.
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