Routes Car Rental
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Beware of Routes rental state border crossing fees
Since last year had rented from Routes on trips in Hawaii, Denver, Florida and CA. This trip I tried to call for pickup at the airport. No one answered. Waited a long time for shuttle. Reserved a mid-sized car from Routes in Chicago. They didn't hold the vehicle. Gave me a Jeep instead. Rough ride bad for my back. Agent rushed me through the rental agreement and I didn't get any time to read it before signing. He then required a $500 security deposit on my credit card. At pickup the agent had me chose between instate unlimited miles or multistate limit of 200 miles a day in response to a sign posted on the wall about crossing the IL state line. Choose in state not knowing the sites of interest at my destination. That was a mistake. However, when I arrived at Hamilton, IL I decided to cross the bridge to Keokuk, IA to see two sites across the Mississippi for 2 hours and 40 miles of driving. Got an email with a GPS tag that I crossed a state line without written permission. Fined a daily crossing fee for every day of the trip not just for the day I went into IA even when the car was sitting unused while back in Chicago under the hotel for the last two days of the trip. The state line crossing fees were $186 which was added and more that the original 5 day rental fee of $168. Emailed the Routes customer service afterwards. They didn't address all my concerns about the rental just told me the crossing fee is stated in the Routes website. It made me feel like I broke the law. Total driving for my trip < 600 miles. I will rent from a different car rental company from now on. My response the the Routes reply. I have already send an email to the Routes costumer care site to seek a resolution and they didn’t address my concerns. That is why I posted this negative review. The agent's email reply referred me to their website. He told me to read the policies there and comprehend them. Another issue I have about being informed prior to signing a rental agreement is that I booked my car rental through Priceline and there is no notice or link to review Routes policies by booking that way. I did not use the Routes website. They should include their policies of rental and fee schedule as an email on confirmation of booking through Priceline. I received a notice from Routes today 10-31-24 for my road toll fees which I fully expected to pay while in IL. But beware, should you pay the road tolls as you go because Routes charged me a $50 administrative fee for $10 in toll charges while driving in IL. That high of a fee is excessive. I just finished another trip 10/30/24 in NE, KS and IA and rented a car from Alamo out of Omaha. It was a very good experience, unlimited mile, freedom to drive anywhere and no need for a security deposit.