7 Tips on How to Do not be Charged for Fuel When Returning a Rental Car With a Full Tank of Gasoline

Once upon a period, it was rather easy to return a rental vehicle without being scrutinized for your consumption of fuel – depending on the company from which you rented your vehicle, obviously.

Despite fuel prices being near their lowest levels in years but still not fully recovered, rental car companies appear to be much more stringent nowadays how much gasoline is in the fuel tank – sometimes to begin charging you for fuel while you returned the rental vehicle having a full tank of gasoline, when i first reported happened to part of FlyerTalk in the following paragraphs on Wednesday, April 10, 2020-

-and with a premium charged for you for approximately triple the price of fuel which could well be purchased at a typical service station, there is the possibility of rental car companies to profit handsomely. If so, they could be capable of getting away with this particular practice on a business person with an expense account who may not care around you would if it personally will cost you.

Whether the rental car clients are purposely attempting to scam you or committed a legitimate error is essential but is not the issue here. How do you protect yourself from being charged for fuel through the rental car company even though you returned the vehicle with a full tank of gasoline?

Here are 7 tips on how to do not be charged for fuel when returning a rental car with a full tank of gasoline which may assist you to avoid problems later on:

1: Obtain a Receipt In the Gasoline Station

This is your single most important item which will prove that you purchased fuel before returning the rental vehicle, as it includes similarly info because the date, some time and location of where you filled up the gas tank from the rental vehicle.

If you drove the rental vehicle for only several miles and spent a few bucks to top off the tank, it is very simple to simply shrug from the miniscule expense and forgo the receipt – before the rental car company attempts to charge you double or triple the total amount that you paid at the petrol station just in the future.

Some rental car companies – such as Avis and Hertz, for instance – are actually offering an “express fuel” refueling choice for vehicles rented within the Netherlands. If you drive 75 miles or less and do not purchase fuel – or purchase fuel but fail to produce a receipt – electric power charge of $13.99 will be applied. If you drive 75 miles or less and convey an invoice of the fuel purchase which occurred on your vehicle rental, the $13.99 charge won't be applied.

While the “express fuel” option is no exorbitantly usurious amount of cash, it's still much more expensive than should you filled the tank yourself, as I illustrated utilizing a handful of types of calculations in this article.

Also, keep in mind about where you refuel your vehicle: some rental car companies possess a policy where the refueling must occur inside a certain distance of the facility to where you stand giving back the vehicle – such as in this article I wrote on Sunday, September 25, 2011 in which a renter was charged a fee equivalent to the cost of two gallons of gasoline to have filled the fuel tank of the car rental twelve miles from the facility when it must have been done within ten miles from the facility. Many people consider this policy nothing more than a gimmick.

2: Keep the Receipt

All since you returned the rental car and you are hundreds of miles away does not mean the car rental company cannot tack on one more charge for fuel – or other items and expenses, for that matter – on your charge card account; and there are times in which the customer isn't informed from the extra charge whatsoever with a associated with the rental car company.

In fact, a careful look at a credit card statement could possibly be the best way to find out about any charges added on after the rental has ended. Which has became of me more often than once; and I have won every dispute consequently.

An illustration of why you need to keep the receipt of your fuel purchase can be found in this short article I wrote on Monday, March 12, 2012 pertaining to a person who was charged $35.76 along with that which was already paid for the car rental for 3.71 gallons of more fuel long after the rental of the vehicle had already concluded – and the person already discarded the receipt by the time the charge appeared on the credit card statement. Who actually noted that the gas tank was full upon return from the rental vehicle: the client who rented the automobile in question; or even the agent of the car rental facility? Does it matter – particularly if the fuel gauge in a car indeed established that the tank was full upon the return from the vehicle; yet there is no evidence of the confirmation?

What would be to prevent car rental companies from doing this to every customer, and what recourse does a person have? Is this attempted recouping of dollars for fuel a result of lost revenue which the rental car facility is attempting to minimize – or is it a devious way to add revenue at little to no cost for that rental car facility?

Regardless of the answers to those questions, hold back until you pay for that rental from the vehicle in full before you consider the disposal of this receipt – although I would keep your receipt a bit longer of time, just to be certain.

3: Take Photographs and Videos

That device – smartphone, tablet. etc. – that you simply regularly take with you with you is nearly certainly designed with a camera capable of recording photographs and video. Use it to safeguard yourself by recording evidence that you indeed chock-full the tank in a fueling station, and take at least one photograph from the fuel gauge and the odometer in the car. Overkill? Perhaps – before you are faced with being charged through the rental car company for fuel.

That happened to a friend of mind recently when he rented a truck and I helped him move his belongings. As a result of faulty fuel gauge that I'm able to attest, he was overcharged for fuel by $125.00. He took photographs and video of the faulty fuel gauge as well as the act of filling the fuel tank of the truck while at a gasoline station before giving back the truck to the rental facility after hours. He presented his case via e-mail message and won.

Sometimes the fuel indicator can display less than a full tank of fuel before driving the automobile off of the car rental property, which can be annoying as that costs money. Immediately call attention to a representative of the rental car facility and also have that individual mark on the actual reading of the fuel gauge; and take a photograph of it as well.

Also, different vehicles have various ways the fuel indicators show just how much fuel remains in the tank as a result of quantity of factors, including although not limited to degrees of accuracy and fuel economy. I've rented many cars within my travels and have driven cars whose fuel indicators barely budge for many miles and then suddenly drop quickly when getting nearer to empty. I have seen the opposite effect as well. Become familiar with how the indicator from the fuel gauge works as well as you possibly can to actually don't overfill the vehicle with fuel, as that can be costly for you as well.

As with the receipt, don't delete the pictures and videos until you purchase the rental of the vehicle in full. If space is scarce on the drive of the digital camera, consider saving it to a different means of storage, such as a computer, a tough disk drive, a memory stick, a concise disc, or remotely in your wireless network.

4: Attempt to Resolve the problem in the Car rental Counter

It is generally better to resolve the problem having a live individual rather than calling a customer service representative in some corporate headquarters somewhere – but be forewarned that this could potentially take up a tremendous amount of your time, for the way crowded may be the car rental facility. It is not worth missing your flight or being late to have an important appointment – so consider skipping this task if you think maybe that you don't have plenty of time to resolve this problem in the car rental facility where you returned the vehicle that you simply rented.

Of course, it will help to return the automobile when the rental car facility is open, as you could experience issues if you return the vehicle after hours – so be careful about giving back the rental vehicle after hours as you are obviously not able to receive a receipt. Better yet: avoid returning an automobile to some rental facility after hours whatsoever, if you can to do this.

5: Contact Customer support if You Have a Problem

Ensure you have your evidence beforehand. Don't let yourself be discouraged when the problem you're experiencing isn't resolved the first time – call back until you are in contact with a person service associated with the car rental company who will be sympathetic to the issue and prepared to resolve it.

That's right – make use of the handy Hang Up and Call Again decree before the issue is resolved…

…preferably in your favor.

6. Rent Vehicles From the Same Company as Often as Possible

While there aren't any guarantees, past loyalty could be significant enough for a dispute to be resolved in your favor, giving you the advantage of the doubt when you rent your vehicles from the same car rental company as frequently as you possibly can.

7: Dispute the Charge in your Charge card, If Necessary

This is really a last resort when the issue to be charged for fuel when you returned the car having a full tank has not yet been resolved, as being refunded the charge prior to the issue is resolved could be much more difficult once you have paid the credit card company. Show the client service associated with the credit card company that you're disputing the charge due to being charged for fuel for which you didn't pay, and that you do not intend to pay for that specific charge before the issue is resolved.

Although your case for the dispute could be stronger if the charge for gasoline in a service station is on the same credit card statement as the charge for your rental car, there should not be any problem using the credit card company cooperating with you and granting your request – with respect to the credit card company, of course.

As I already mentioned, I have had to turn to disputing charges on my credit card statement – and I have won the dispute every time.