Over the holiday break I took a trip up to Lake Placid with the family, and for a New Yorker that can't afford a parking space, let alone a car, this means getting a rental. So I discovered that Avis just started something new: It's offering an E-ZPass device mounted on every rental. Finally, I get to take the fast lane through tolls! At first, I thought that Avis had negotiated some special rate and was offering to pay my tolls for free. Not so. I was quickly billed $11.10 for my time on the New York State thruway, and the charge went straight to the credit card I used to rent the car. At least, it should have.
Turns out the charge, listed as "8004820159 HWY TOL" on my online statement, confused the folks at Citibank so much they put a fraud hold on my credit card. The company gave me a courtesy call, but it was to my home phone. A message I would get much too late to spare me the indignity of having my card declined at dinner. No, really, honey, I did pay the bill on time.
When I called Citibank, they knew about the charge. They also knew about dinner. And both of my attempts to buy gas at a pump on the way back. (When was the last time you went inside the station to buy gas?) Every swipe was there, and I had to approve each one. Even the time charge for the rental balance, which was just 15 minutes old when I made the call.
Having a sales rep know so much about you is disconcerting, but this has happened to all of us. I have written a lot about the RFID payment systems and have caused a lot of discontent among privacy advocates. Yes, RFID tokens will be hacked. (Although I still, haven't gotten proof that anyone has broken the PayPass system yet.) Thing is, plastic gets hacked all the time. In this case, my card wasn't hacked so much as the payment system malfunctioned. The E-ZPass was supposed to make my ride smoother--and eliminate traffic congestion--but ended up embarrassing me and forcing me to call customer service to remove the hold.
It is easy to point to an RFID token and say it is insecure, but insecurity surrounds us. Credit cards companies profile everyone and buy and sell that data with near impunity. And there is nothing you can do about it. Not without some new legislation, anyway. Why worry about hackers brushing up against you in Grand Central and cloning your token, when it is the plastic card in your wallet, and the system it connects to, that is the biggest threat?
That and those damn E-ZPass readers.
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January 5, 2007 6:56 PM
Actually, there is a surcharge associated with the rental car E-ZPass. It is run by a third party company called Platepass (www.platepass.com). You were charged with a daily surcharge for having the tag. It's only fair, because there is a lot of back office support needed for this system, which is not a subsidiary of, but connects into and reconciles with the E-ZPass database.
Nothing is keeping you from getting your own E-ZPass and then attaching it to your windshield of your rental car with an E-ZClip, suction cup mount. That's what I do with my E-ZPass. I live in Georgia, but when I travel occasionally up to the northeast by plane and rent a car, I just take the E-ZPass and E-ZClip along and put them up on the rental car, remove them when I return the car.
ezpassdrba ( ) com
ezclip ( ) com are the domains you'd want to check out.
January 5, 2007 8:45 PM
::giggle:: I have an EZPass as well, and never had a problem, I kinda dig it and it came in very handy when my girlfriend lived about 2 hours north of me and I wound up visiting her every weekend.
Still, I think your problem here isn't so much with the EZPass, Dan, but with the system in general. I agree with you that the charges that companies send to credit card companies should be more clear and concise about the nature of the charge, and what the charge is for-but I don't think EZPass is to blame-your credit card company would have put the annoying hold on the charges reardless of the EZPass tolls, in fact, I used a credit card I hadn't used in years for a few holiday gifts and they immediately called me to make sure I was making the charges.
That brings forward a different point though: all of my credit card companies have called first, placed hold second-why didn't they bother to call before putting a hold on your account? Afraid you were already headed out of town? I think the real frustration here should be aimed at your bank for taking action before even bothering to call-although I could just as easily argue the opposite: "why wait when you have evidence of fraud! Clamp down first and the customer will surely appreciate the fact that you were proactive!"
Cuts both ways, I suppose.
January 8, 2007 10:51 AM
I've been wondering why rental car services haven't been hooking people up with EZPass. The "cash" lanes are usually not labeled very well, and once I accidentally pulled into an EZPass lane--luckily a toll clerk happened to be standing there and helped me out. (Saving me from a huge ticket, no doubt) Not owning a car, it makes little sense to get one just for very occasional use--and I thought they were associated with your license plate number anyway. I think the toll charge should have gone to Avis, and then when you returned the car, transferred to your credit card, to avoid all of that confusion. Or, how about simplifying the way they itemized the charge?
January 9, 2007 9:24 PM
You are *driving* a rental car. Thus you have a need for an E-ZPass if you are going to be using toll facilities occasionally. With four or five uses, you've already recouped the initial $25 investment in the tag. No monthly fee with most agencies either and the tag itself is free.
I get to use my E-ZPass in *two* days when I return to the Northeast on a trip. :-p
January 24, 2007 12:12 PM
We can protect you from "the plastic card in your wallet", i.e., the RFID enabled card that may contain your credit card info or driver's license info.
We have an RFID Shield that lets you selectively turn on and off the RFID portion of your credit card, so it transmits your information only when you want it to.
Info is at: http://smarttools.home.att.net/rfshield.htm
Otherwise, send questions to smarttools@att.net
January 27, 2008 8:25 PM
You can get a free E-ZPass transponder with no monthly fee from the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, the Maryland Transportation Authority, the Peace Bridge Authority of NY & ON and the Illinois Tollway. Another good choice is the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. The PTC does charge an annual service fee of 3USD, however their transponder is free and they do not have any other fees.