Beware! If you rent a car in California you may get ripped off as I was recently by the State of California and the rental company. I rented a car from Avis and 3 weeks later was billed $15.20 for a mysterious "tolls and bridges" charge. Evidently California has toll roads which aren't marked as toll roads, and it is necessary to actually exit from the freeway - well, it's not "free" is it? - to pay the toll. Avis has equipped the car with transponders which somehow electronically pay the toll. Avis will not inform you these transponders exist. Then Avis charges a $2.95 per day "convenience fee" on top of the 45¢ toll... And they keep charging you $2.95 per day, every day, without informing you they're doing it, even though you only went past the phantom tollbooth only once, on one day. (Trust me, you'll be fooled by these unmarked toll booths, if, like me, you come from a civilized state like Illinois, where the toll roads are clearly marked and it's impossible to blow through a toll gate unaware). After 4 long phone calls to Visa, to Avis, and to E-toll (which is a subcontractor evidently) I got them to charge me only the 45¢ plus one day's "convenience fee." Needless to say, I will never rent another car from Avis, and my advice to those who do is: get them to explain this before you sign the contract, and beware of toll roads which are not clearly marked as such. (It may be that other rentacar companies participate in this outrageous scam, too)
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