A TikTok creator says she is still seeing charges appear on her credit card months after returning a rental car. Now she’s warning others about her experience.
Lauren, who posts on TikTok under the handle @laurenmarymoore, recently shared a video describing what she says has been an ongoing billing issue after renting a vehicle from the car rental company Hertz.
In the video, Lauren claims that despite returning the car without incident, unexpected fees have continued to appear long after the trip ended.
A Lot of Charges
“Let this be your sign to never, ever rent from Hertz,” Lauren begins. “They’re refusing to answer my emails… they don’t pick up my phone calls, and I’m still getting charged for things.”
According to Lauren, the situation began about two months earlier when she rented a car in New York City for a trip to Virginia. During the booking process, she says she opted to add a toll pass to avoid dealing with individual toll payments while traveling.
“They asked me if I wanted a toll pass… it’s like $20, $25 per day,” she says. “And I was like, yeah… I know I’m gonna go through a lot of tolls.”
Lauren explains that the trip itself went smoothly and she had no issues returning the car once she was finished using it.
“I bring the car back, I drop it off, all is good,” she says.
However, she says the trouble started roughly a week later when unexpected charges began appearing on her account.
“I get a charge of $85 for toll charges through Hertz,” she says. “And I’m so confused because I purchased that pass.”
Wanting clarification, Lauren says she attempted to contact the company to understand why the charge appeared despite the toll pass she had already paid for. Instead of resolving the issue directly, she says Hertz referred her to a third-party billing service responsible for processing toll-related charges. According to Lauren, the third-party company acknowledged the issue and told her she would receive a partial refund.
“They say… we’re gonna reimburse you half,” she says. “Did I ever see that reimbursement? No, I did not.” Even after that conversation, she claims the billing problems didn’t stop.
Lauren says the charges continued to appear weeks after the rental had ended. At one point, she says she received an $11 congestion fee in the mail, which she paid using a check in an effort to settle the charge.
The Chaos Didn’t End There
@laurenmarymoore ‼️ DO NOT RENT FROM @Hertz ‼️ #hertz #carrental #storytime #nyc ♬ original sound – Lauren
But the situation apparently didn’t end there. “Unless you’re someone who wants a rental car company to just continue to charge your credit card months after your rental, never, ever rent from Hertz,” she concludes the video.
She also says additional notifications continued arriving.
“Last week, I get another email saying that my credit card is about to be charged $10 for a congestion fee,” she says. “I then get a reimbursement in the mail for that $11 that I sent the check for.”
And according to Lauren, the billing saga still wasn’t finished.
To “wrap it all up in a bow,” she says she got another congestion fee of $23.
Throughout the ordeal, Lauren says she repeatedly attempted to contact the company but struggled to reach anyone who could help resolve the issue.
Her video has since sparked conversation online, with some viewers sharing similar frustrations about rental car billing. Others, however, suggested the charges might stem from how toll programs work rather than a specific issue with the company.
Is it her fault?
In the comments section of Lauren’s video, several users suggested that confusion over how toll passes function in rental cars may have contributed to the issue.
“This isn’t a Hertz thing, depending what city you’re in, the toll device is just so you can either get mailed the toll fees or pay from their app like in Bay Area, [California],” one user wrote. “I had to learn the hard way as well when I visited Chicago. We live and learn.”
Another commenter explained that the toll pass typically doesn’t cover the cost of tolls themselves.
“You paid like $15 to enable plate pass but you still need to pay the tolls. The plate pass just allows you to go through tolls seamlessly in your rental without having to stop and pay cash or put your personal E-ZPass in the rental,” they explained. “If you went without plate pass at all, they would’ve charged you about an extra $100 for the process of sending you the bill they received, which is ridiculous.”
Understanding toll charges in cities like New York can also be complicated. The city alone has more than 30 toll routes, each with its own pricing structure, meaning a daily pass fee would not necessarily cover every toll a driver encounters.
On top of that, certain areas also enforce congestion pricing policies designed to reduce traffic. In parts of Manhattan, for example, drivers may be charged simply for entering or driving through specific zones.
While Lauren’s video highlights the frustration of unexpected charges appearing after a rental ends, the discussion online shows that toll systems, especially in major cities, can sometimes be confusing for drivers who assume a toll pass covers the fees themselves.
For many travelers, the situation also serves as a reminder to carefully read the fine print when adding optional services to rental agreements. Toll passes, insurance add-ons, and third-party billing systems can vary widely between rental companies and cities.
As Lauren’s experience shows, what seems like a convenient add-on at checkout can sometimes lead to unexpected charges long after the trip itself is over.