(MENAFNEditorial)
Contact: Charles Trammell
Phone: (865) 335-1184
Email: Ctrammel@vols.utk.edu
“After walking away from a car accident that left my car totaled I proceeded to rent a vehicle from a well-known car rental agency. Like most customers I agreed to return the car with the same amount of gas as the time of rental. After a number of days I refueled and returned the car to the rental location. Upon receiving my bank statement I realized that the agency charged me more than just the rental fee. Totally shocked I questioned the agency about the additional fees and was told that I had not returned the car with the exact amount of gas and was charged a refueling fee. As one could imagine I was enraged by the fact that I ended up spending more money even after putting gas in the car.”
Complaints like these are far from uncommon. While working as an Assistant Manager with Enterprise Rent-A-Car Charles Trammell received grievances like the one above from a growing number of customers.
The standard fuel policy across the industry gives customers three options which are all designed to take money directly from its customers. At the time of pick- up customers are presented with three refueling options: return the car with the exact amount of gas as when rented pre-pay for a full tank of gas or at a significantly higher price allow the rental agency to fill the tank.
Allowing the agency to refill the tank at a higher rate some prices surpassing a $1.00 more per gallon can cost patrons a pretty penny. When pre-paying for a tank of gas consumers lose money if the car is not returned with the gas tank completely empty. Consumers are basically handing the rental agency free money! Most customers select the first option of refueling on their own before returning the car thinking that they will save money but either of two things usually happens. The customer will add more gas than what was in the tank at the time of pick-up or they assume that they put the right amount of gas in the car only to find out later that it was not enough. Herein lies the problem although consumers can visualize how much gas to add if the gas level is not exact the higher refueling fee will be added to the customer’s final bill.
Troubled by the concerns of his clientele Charles Trammell set out on a quest to provide a solution for this problem in 2008. After two years of technical reports summaries protocols research presentations and quantitative analyses Charles completed The Gas Chart a small handheld booklet people could use to refill their gas tanks to the exact gallon prior to returning their rental car.
In 2013 Trammell took it one step further and created the MatchMyGas App for iPhone and Android users; giving those who frequently rent cars as well as those driving personal vehicles the ability to calculate gas purchases to the exact dollar and gallon for most makes and models.
TheMatchMyGas App/The Gas Chart allows consumers to keep their money where it belongs in their pockets.
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