Avis/Italian police scam
 

My husband and I rented a car from Avis in the Bologna airport last August. We drove the car and returned it without incident. Then, about a week ago (five months after our trip), we received a notification from Avis's Rome office that my credit card had been billed 11 Euros in 'administrative fees' due to a supposed 'traffic violation' we committed in Arezzo. We never received any traffic tickets when we were in Arezzo--no parking tickets, no interactions with police, nothing. The notice we received claimed that it was part of my rental agreement that I would be charged such administrative fees if the police claimed I had committed a traffic violation, and that my contact information would be given to the police. This information is not included in the extensive rules and regulations to which I consented when I made the reservation on Expedia, and given that I don't read Italian and my rental agreement was in that language, I can hardly be considered to have consented to this when I picked up the car. Now, it may indeed be the practice of the Italian police to try to swindle tourists into paying fines for traffic violations they never committed months after a trip, but it's quite another thing for a car rental company to charge me a fee for passing on my contact information to the Italian police without my consent. I will never rent from Avis again, I am telling everyone I know about this experience, and I will be posting this comment on every online travel reservation site in my bookmarks list.
And by the way, I have cancelled my credit card, so you won't be make any more unauthorized charges to my account.

Suggest you post this on the Europe board. Or, first, do a search there for similar posts. If you commit a traffic violation - which you may not realize you are doing - the Italian police will contact the rental agency, since that's who the car is registered to. The agency will give the police your contact info, and charge you a fee for doing so. You will no doubt receive something about the violation in due course. This hasn't happened to me, since I use public transport in Europe, but I have read several posts from other people in the same situation.

Hello drpain, I understand your frustration but if you scroll through the various threads on the Fodor's Europe Forum you will find many travellers to Italy have experienced the very same thing. You probably drove in area where only residents are allowed to drive their cars. That is usually what what the citation is regarding. Signs are posted regarding this but they are sometimes hard to see or you did not realize what they indicated.

It doesn't matter what car rental agency you used as you would have the same problem, again as other travellers renting vehicles in Italy from various car agencies have had.

The various car rental agencies have to advise the police department as to who the vehicle was rented to and the fact that you could not read the contract in Italian has no bearing on the matter. Yes, in that you did sign the contract you did consent to the rules and regulations.

As I understand it the Italian government has a year to fine you for an infraction of any of their laws. The fact that you did not receive a citation while in Italy is like here in the US where various cities have cameras on the streets especially at intersections and mail a citation to the owner of the vehicle when say they go through a red light.

Some Americans chose to ignore the citation fine when they receive it and some choose to pay it. But in any case you will no doubt be receiving a citation and fine from the government agency in Arezzo.

Your car had been photegraphed for some traffic violation.

What AVIS has done is standard procedure and the 11 Euro fee is very reasonable. AVIS has acted totally correctly.

If you get a letter from an Italian police or law-enforcement authority just throw it into the bin.

If they charge AVIS for the traffic violation you have to reimburse AVIS the fine. It is your obligation.

<<If you get a letter from an Italian police or law-enforcement authority just throw it into the bin.

If they charge AVIS for the traffic violation you have to reimburse AVIS the fine. It is your obligation.>>

Traveler - isn't it your obligation to pay the fine regardless of whether AVIS is charged? It was your violation.

drpain: Since this is your first post it is highly unlikely you will ever be back to read our responses -- but just in case . . . .

&quot;<i>Now, it may indeed be the practice of the Italian police to try to swindle tourists into paying fines for traffic violations they never committed months after a trip, but it's quite another thing for a car rental company to charge me a fee for passing on my contact information to the Italian police without my consent. I will never rent from Avis again, . . . . . . .
And by the way, I have cancelled my credit card, so you won't be make any more unauthorized charges to my account. </i>&quot;

Your are soooooooooo far out of line it is silly. It is a requirement of Italian law that car rental agencies turn your details over to the authorities. Sheesh - do you want them to break the law and possibly lose the right to do business in Italy?

OK - you'll never rent from Avis again. I'm sure they are quaking in their boots over that. But just be clear -- every other car rental agency will do exactly the same thing. It is the law.

You cancelled your credits card over this?? Ridiculous. A bit of cutting one's nose to spite one's face IMO. Where will that get you. It is a debt you owe.

There are ways to get fines/tickets/citations all over Europe w/o the driver being aware until after the fact. Maybe you should not drive in Europe -- safer all around . . . . .

And &quot;<i>I am telling everyone I know about this experience, and I will be posting this comment on every online travel reservation site in my bookmarks list. </i>&quot;

MY goodness - then you should be warning your friends to obey the laws of the countries they visit - not that Avis cheats. They don't.

It's frustrating when people find this forum &amp; register to post only one time just to complain. It is not &quot;swindling tourists&quot; if you drove in an area that needs a permit and you did not have one. It is your responsibility, not Expedia's or anyone else's to understand the rules of the road when you are driving in a foreign country.

Wait... You drove or parked a rental car through a pedestrian area, locals only, off hours, or weekday only driving and got busted by a camera cop and you think Avis is in cahoots with Arrezo?

You don't think you did any of these or possibly deserved that fine? Didn't see the restricted parking sign?

How much Italian do you speak, err read?

Pay the fine. Don't be petty.

We got a parking ticket one time in Minori. It was about 30 Euros and I was a bit miffed, but as it turned out, we parked in a two hour beach parking zone for just over two hours while we paid our lunch bill. Even though we knew it was a two hour zone because we read the sign, we risked it by not splitting up and running off to move the car.

And we read enough Italian to understand the signs. It can happen to ANYONE!

Suck it up and consider it a departure tax.

((C))