View Full Version : Dollar Overcharging on Petrol
PlayneCrazy
23-06-2005, 21:49
Picked up a car from Dollar a couple of weeks ago - at the time the gas price in Cental Florida averaged out at 2.03, although you could pay 1.97 or 2.13 depending where you bought it.
Dollar charged us $44 for the tank of gas - I thought the vehicle must have a big gas tank but I never managed to get more than $26 of gas in it even when the low fuel light had been on for 20 miles and the low fuel warning was pinging fast.
I checked on the car hire agreement and they had charged the gas out at 2.59 a gallon plus 7% extra tax.
Anyway, although I booked the car through the link on this site its not them conning people but Dollar.
I don;t know what can be done about this longterm but Dollar certainly seem to be more expensive on gas than Alamo from my experience.
In addition Dollar really gave me the hard sell on upgrading to a bigger car, told me I'd only get 40mph max if I turned the aircon on as the model I'd booked only had a small engine. The sales clerk was not having a good day, her previous customer, a Brit, had tried to sock her in the face as she refused to rent him a car as he was drunk. I apologised on behalf of the nation and felt very embarassed.She should have had him arrested but didn't. Pretty nice of her.
Anyway an upgrade to a Dodge Stratus would only be $10 a day extra. I turned this down and you know what car we got? That very same Dodge Stratus at no extra charge.Pleased we did too as we had that back seat out and used it hard like a van for 2 weeks with furniture, plants, etc. Heavy on gas though, maybe only 20mpg or so overall, much less in town.
So I won't complain about the extra gas charge as we got a good free upgrade but I thought you should all be aware of the dodgy methods Dollar use to inflate their profits.
The car hire companies do charge a fairly high rate for fuel, as you have found out. We do try to advise people of this when booking over the phone, as the Gold option usually works out cheaper in the long run since the fuel is included.
I don't recall the exact statement, but Dollar say they charge the official national average for fuel (which is quite a lot higher than fuel in Florida) plus a percentage to cover the staff costs, plus tax. In general Alamo (and other car rental companies) use the same calculations.
I was charged a similar amount but then I thought about it and came up with the conclusion that 40-50 cents per gallon wasn't an outrageous charge for Dollar employing someone to take the car to fill it up. The 7% tax is sales tax and you'd have paid that anyway at the pump if you'd filled it up yourself.
I still prefer Dollar cars and have booked again with them through the OV link website for our next Florida visit.
Also, just to put it in perspective, $44 for a tank of fuel in a mid sized car is still cheap compared to the UK (currently equates to under £25). You'd probably pay almost double that in the UK.
Probably the biggest benefit to the rental company is that more often that not, renters probably take the car back with quite a lot of fuel still in the tank. Most people returning to airport locations are not likely to risk running the tank almost empty!
christhear
23-06-2005, 23:37
When I went out recently I had a car from Dollar. As I was the only driver I did not have gold insaurance. I had the option of returning the car full rather tha paying for a full tank. All i had to do was fill the car up less than 10 miles from the airport.
However had i not done this the charge for fuel would have been $5.oo per galleon
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
23-06-2005, 23:46
I paid nearly £70 to fill up my Grand Voyager in the UK the other day. Rip off Britain again. Give me US gas prices (or even Dollar gas prices) anyday :D
Having said that, we do advise people to go for the Gold option for rentals of, say, 2 weeks and less as it works out cheaper in the long run.
PlayneCrazy
24-06-2005, 03:12
I wondered why the Dodge Stratus seemed to be so thirsty in my mostly town driving then I went today to www.consumer.org and found out why I always seemed to be filling it up!They say:
"The Dodge Stratus four-cylinder model is estimated to get 22 mpg in the city, but achieved just 14 mpg in our city test."
Prevoiusly I have had a Chevy Cavalier from Alamo and I returned about 30mpg average from that, quite a difference.
Blott - I hate to disagree with you but I only pay what it says on the pump at the gas station, not an extra 7%, and certainly not on 2.59 a gallon!
Abyway it may not be always the best thing to do to accept a "free upgrade" due to your increased fuel costs. I believe one may have the option to take it back next day to a Dollar depot and exchange it for a smaller car if they didn't have one when you arrived off your flight.
Don't know what happens about the gas you paid for then? Anyone done this?
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
24-06-2005, 12:50
Blott is quite right - I've just dug out various gas receipts from my last trip and the gas price is always quoted excluding sales tax (as is everything in the USA). I clearly see the sales tax being added on the receipts I have.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by PlayneCrazy
Blott - I hate to disagree with you but I only pay what it says on the pump at the gas station, not an extra 7%, and certainly not on 2.59 a gallon!
[/quote]
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by PlayneCrazy
Don't know what happens about the gas you paid for then? Anyone done this?
[/quote]
No!
Belt up! It's just not worth the hassle. You're supposed to be on holiday. Fill it up, switch on the radio, put your foot down and enjoy it.
dolphinv
24-06-2005, 13:52
From what I remember the price displayed on the pump inc taxes but the price on signs could be ex taxes.....just to confuse us[msnoo]
I returned my 7 seater minivan to Dollar last week. The guy who checks the car when you return it handed me my receipt. It had a charge of around $75 on it. I asked what was it for and he said 'gas' I had returned it a third full. A rip off you might think but what was worse was I had paid for my gas in advance and was supposed to return it empty. When I went to the Dollar desk they quickly corrected their 'mistake'. My experience of Dollar is that I find it necessary to double check every transaction with them as they seem to make 'mistakes' on a regular basis. I know for a fact that Dollar will charge you a minimum of $5 a gallon if you buy gas from them.
Robert5988
26-06-2005, 13:22
Apart from the 40-50c extra per gallon, they have another way of maximising their profit.
The car is supplied with a full tank and you are charged for the total capacity of the tank. The fuel gauge reads full but within 10 miles or so the needle is starting to drop.
When I fill it up I can go 60-80 miles before the needle moves from full.
So you are paying for 2-3 gallons of fuel you don’t receive; and there are invariably a couple of gallons left in the tank when you return the car.
Small beer really, but annoying.
SunLover
03-07-2005, 19:12
As John & others have said, choose the Gold Option when hiring from OV and all your concerns are covered.
You have a tank full of fuel included in the price you pay, and are fully insured.
We have been using Dollar in the USA for approximately 14 years now, and have never really had a major problem with them in that time.
Compared to most rates for USA car hire, the OV car hire charges are amazing value for money, and I for one wouldn't even consider looking elsewhere for my car hire needs.
We also take the gold insurance even though my husband is the main driver we do this because of the price of petrol and he is very good at driving a car on fumes[msnwink][msnsmile2]
Katys Grandad
03-07-2005, 22:46
If you want to get even with the car rental companies, rent cars in seperate weekly periods. If you go for say, 3 weeks, take it back empty and rent another after each week. You pay exactly the same amount of rental charges but get 3 full tanks of petrol instead of one!
I couldn't be bothered myself but I have heard of people doing it.
Robert5988
04-07-2005, 11:59
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote: Blott is quite right - I've just dug out various gas receipts from my last trip and the gas price is always quoted excluding sales tax (as is everything in the USA). I clearly see the sales tax being added on the receipts I have.
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by PlayneCrazy
Blott - I hate to disagree with you but I only pay what it says on the pump at the gas station, not an extra 7%, and certainly not on 2.59 a gallon!
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[/quote]
Is there some confusion here?
The sales tax is added on top when you pay for a tank of fuel from the car rental company.
However the price displayed on a gas station pump is the price you pay. i.e. If the displayed price of fuel is $2 a gallon and you set the pump to give you $20 of gas it cuts off when 10 gallons of fuel are delivered(and the pump reads $20) and you pay $20 at the kiosk or your card is charged $20.(which is what PlayneCrazy said) Admittedly the pump price will include the sales tax.
That said you might get a receipt showing fuel $18.60 and sales tax $1.40. Total = $20.00
PlayneCrazy
05-07-2005, 02:18
Robert I know we are right - I just thought I better not argue as I have seen nasty ugly things happen here when uppity low post count members like me try to make a valid point.
I already got told to belt up by Snapper, thought I better not argue with floridadreamvillas, would be like suicide.
KatysGrandad has the right idea, a full tank every week for 12 quid, very good value. And it wouldn't have to go back to the airport to be swapped every week, just the local depot.
i always book the dodge stratus with Dollar and pay for the tank of gas out there. The way i look at it is as i am the only driver if i took out the tank of Gas over here it would cost me about £40 for two weeks and i would still be the only driver. In florida Dollar would have to charge me $70 for the same amount of Gas. Incidentially I have never actually recieved a Stratus it is usually some thing like a Concorde, or as last year they gave us a Dodge Caravan as a free upgrade. Nice and roomy for just three of us![msnsmile2]
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
05-07-2005, 02:37
I'm sorry you feel like that and am somewhat bemused at your comments. I'm not sure why you would be "arguing" with me and why would it be "suicide".
Your comments about me and "low post count members" have really lost me. I treat all forum members equally and always have.
I've just re-read this thread and my comments in particular and cannot see anything I have said that might upset you. I'm confused!
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by PlayneCrazy
Robert I know we are right - I just thought I better not argue as I have seen nasty ugly things happen here when uppity low post count members like me try to make a valid point.
I already got told to belt up by Snapper, thought I better not argue with floridadreamvillas, would be like suicide.
[/quote]