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Six months after Zimmery Harvey returned his last rental car, Dollar surprised him with a $1,900 “final invoice.” The car rental company says it neglected to charge Harvey the required $10-per-day airport concession fee for his multi-month reservation. According to Dollar, it has no ability to waive those charges since the airport collects the mandatory fee.
But there is something awfully fishy about this bill, and it’s not just the long delay in its appearance. The primary oddity is the location of the Dollar branch where Harvey rented the vehicle — a whopping 25 miles from the nearest airport.
However, that pesky detail didn’t stop Hertz (Dollar’s parent) from sending the bill to collections after Harvey didn’t pay it.
Now, with the collection company in hot pursuit of that $1,900, Harvey is asking Consumer Rescue for help. He hopes I can investigate and make that phony bill go away.
So is Hertz really charging airport fees at non-airport car rental locations?
That’s sure what it looked like, but then came a twist I did not see coming. Here is Harvey’s outrageous story.
A multi-month Dollar Rental Car contract
Last October, Harvey, who is from Tennessee, needed a rental car for several months. Scrolling through Priceline he found a decent deal on a long-term rental at a nearby Dollar location. The price would be about $600 a month.
On October 15, Harvey made his way over to the Dollar rental location in a rural area of Franklin, Tennessee. He picked up the vehicle and was soon on his way.
Fast forward four months, Harvey filled up the gas tank, documented the rental car’s condition and returned it to Dollar.
“The attendant handed me a receipt and that was the end of it,” Harvey told me. “I had no problems with the vehicle. It was a smooth rental from start to finish.”
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Unfortunately, it was many months before he would learn that Dollar did not consider the rental finished.
A collection notice from Viking Client Services
In mid-August, Harvey received a collection notice from Viking Client Services, a company he had never heard of before. The non-itemized bill stated that Harvey owed Hertz Corporation $1,905, and Viking intended to collect it.
Harvey assumed the bill was a mistake and called Viking to clear it up. But an agent there informed him it was not a mistake. Hertz expected him to pay the bill and he would be on the Do Not Rent list until he did.
“I asked Viking to send me evidence that shows I owe Hertz $1,900,” Harvey says. “But the agent told me that the evidence was this demand letter!”
Harvey’s next call was to Hertz.
“An audit shows we forgot to collect airport fees and taxes on your rental.”
Soon, a Hertz representative reiterated that the $1,900 bill was not a mistake. The employee explained that the new invoice was the result of a June audit of the Dollar rental. He also told Harvey that Dollar had sent him the bill several times before turning it over to collections.
But Harvey had not received anything from Dollar since February when he returned the rental car and the lot attendant handed him a receipt.
The Hertz agent then forwarded the original invoice, dated June 1, to Harvey. That’s when he says he knew he was being scammed.
“First, I noticed that they had been sending the invoice since June to the wrong address,” Harvey says. “But beyond that, I paid my balance in full on February 5. How did an audit months later determine that I was required to pay airport fees to a branch miles and miles from the airport?”
How, indeed.
Asking Consumer Rescue to investigate
Despite the invoice’s glaring problem which included nearly $1,400 in airport fees and taxes, and an additional $500 which seemed to be a rental fee, Hertz refused to call off Viking.
That’s when Harvey’s request for help landed in my inbox.
It appears [based on the stories on your site] that I’m not alone in my experience with Hertz/Dollar Car Rental attempting to secure fees that the company is not owed. I want Viking and Hertz to erase this debt and all my information from their databases.
Can you help me?
Zimmery Harvey
My initial impression of Harvey’s complaint was that it would be easy to resolve. In fact, I only needed a map to prove that Dollar’s audit was categorically flawed.
I assured Harvey that I would take care of this “oversight.” I sent his case to my executive contact at Hertz and expected a swift end to Harvey’s strange, frustrating problem.
But then Hertz had another surprise and took this case down a completely different road.
Related: 8 expensive car rental mistakes that will wreck your wallet
Asking Hertz to correct this billing error
I sent my request over to the Hertz team, showing the location of the Dollar branch in relation to the airport. I assumed by the end of the day, the case would be positively resolved. How could it not be?
Hi ******
I have another unusual case here that I think should be easy to resolve. It seems from the evidence here that a local Dollar branch in Franklin, TN, 25 miles from any airport, is charging customers $10 per day in Airport Concession Fees and other airport-related charges.
This was a long-term rental from October 2025 to February 2026. He returned the vehicle to the same residential location and received a zero-balance receipt.
6 months after the rental ended on August 17, he received a demand from Viking to pay an updated bill that included a $1,130 airport concession fee ($10 per day for the rental) and a License and Tax reimbursement of $65 that I think is also associated with the airport, plus $207 in taxes on those fees. And also, suddenly, he was charged for car insurance products, which added another $498.
Viking is now attempting to collect $1,905 from Zimmery.
Could you have a look at this documentation and the location of this branch and figure out why it is charging customers Airport Concession fees when it is a local branch, not anywhere near an airport? This looks like a giant mistake… or something sketchy is going on at that location. 😬
Thank you! Michelle
But, as it turns out, I had spoken too soon. This case was not going to be easily resolved.
Related: Our Avis rental car was stolen from the hotel’s valet. Why are we responsible?
What kind of car rental shenanigans is this?
I’ve been mediating customer complaints with the Hertz executive team for over a decade. The good news is that the team quickly resolves nearly every case I bring to them. There is a reason: I only bring cases I’ve thoroughly investigated and where I have evidence that the customer is right. The map I shared with Hertz should have made Harvey’s case open-and-shut.
So when several days went by with no vindication for Harvey, I sent a follow up to the Hertz team. They assured me that they were conducting their own investigation and that it should be concluded soon.
Another week went by, and I was becoming increasingly puzzled by the lack of a quick walk-back from those airport fees.
Finally, I received a message that the investigation was complete, and what I heard next took this case to a different level.
The Hertz team had determined that the charges were valid but had simply been mislabeled. According to the investigator assigned to review Harvey’s complaint, the $10 per day was a mandatory “Motor Vehicle Leasing Fee (MVLF)” — a state tax.
The conclusion: Harvey still owed the $1,900.
There was only one problem for the car rental giant and the executive customer service agent who confidently signed her name to the letter: the MVLT doesn’t exist.
Did Hertz or AI hallucinate the Motor Vehicle Leasing Tax?
I’ve been writing about the perils of relying on AI to research and resolve problems for some time now. In my experience, I’ve seen AI hallucinate laws and regulations and needlessly escalate consumer problems.
Related: How using AI to solve travel complaints can go all wrong (my report for The Points Guy)
When I read the Hertz customer service agent’s response, my first thought was that she asked AI what else the charge on Harvey’s bill could be. Alternatively, “she” could actually be an AI agent handling customer service. Whatever the explanation, the result was a fictional mandatory state tax that miraculously mirrored the $10-per-day airport fee already billed to Harvey.
Problem solved for Hertz’s investigation.
But my investigation proved something very different.
Related: Hertz charged me $1,648 to fix a rental car that I never drove. Help!
Tennessee Department of Revenue confirms: No MVLT
To confirm that the MVLT does not exist, I reached out to the Tennessee Department of Revenue. The agency’s spokesperson quickly confirmed my suspicion, and she told me something else very interesting.
Not only is there no such thing as the MVLT in Tennessee, but long-term car rentals are also exempt from the 3 percent auto rental surcharge.
Hi Michelle,
The Department of Revenue does not impose a long-term rental surcharge on vehicle rentals. Sales tax (7 percent state rate plus the applicable local sales tax rate) would apply, but if the rental is for 32 days or more, the auto rental surcharge would not apply.
Spokesperson for the TN Department of Revenue
Finally, good news for this car rental customer
Armed with proof from the TN Department of Revenue that the $10-per-day MVLT does not exist, I went back to my executive contact at Hertz.
…This is a significant amount of money that this branch incorrectly charged Zimmery, and now Viking is pursuing him to pay a fee that the branch self-created. Given [the spokesperson for the TN Department of Revenue ]’s confirmation, I see no fair outcome other than immediately removing these charges from collections and zeroing out Zimmery’s bill. Thanks!
Michelle Couch-Friedman, consumer reporter
Then the good news came for Harvey.
The same executive customer service agent who introduced the MVLT idea messaged Harvey again. Not surprisingly, the email didn’t mention the previous ghost tax.
Harvey told me that he did pay the final balance and believes this is another mistake; however, he’s just relieved to be able to put this battle in the rearview mirror.
Thanks Michelle, I’m elated.
You and your team demonstrated the expertise needed to resolve this matter in a timely manner. I’m thankful and your professional work will not go unnoticed.
Today, I will be making contributions to your team’s endeavor to assist those who are in need of your services. Again, thank you very much and many blessings.🙏🏽
Zimmery Harvey
I’m very happy I could help, Zimmery. This is exactly why we are here.
Related: After I crashed my rental car, Hertz charged me $1,900 in tow fees
What to do if a car rental company bills you incorrectly
Renting a car can be tricky in 2026. Not only are false damage claims on the rise, but so are “billing mistakes.” It is crucial that travelers be proactive before, during, and after their car rental reservation.
- Carefully review the contract at the counter, ensuring that you are not accepting any add-on products you don’t want.
- Use Consumer Rescue’s free car rental inspection checklists to thoroughly document the vehicle’s condition at pickup and return.
- Make certain the car rental company has your correct address on file so that you’re promptly notified of any “final charges.”
If you believe a car rental company has tacked fees onto your bill that you don’t owe and are getting nowhere with regular customer service, here is what you can do to fight back.
- File a complaint with the state attorney general: This should be done in the state where the rental occurred. Use the Find My AG tool to locate contact information for all state attorneys general.
- File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Consumers can report bad business practices, fraud, and scams directly to the FTC.
- Send your request for help to Consumer Rescue: Of course, you have one more completely free option. You can ask my team and me to investigate your complaint, and I’ll mediate the issue if the evidence supports your claim. (Michelle Couch-Friedman, Chief Fiasco Fixer and founder of Consumer Rescue)
