I've read about people intentionally swap EZ pass in rental cars so someone else will get the toll charge... I now suspect that happens here, and my EZ pass wasn't even associated with my own rental so my plate got charged...

Thanks! Learned my lesson.

I actually did, AMEX withheld it once after I disputed, but rebilled me today. They even sent me a document reiterating the reasons PlatePass gave. I called the AMEX customer service and they told me there's nothing they can do unless the merchants agree to pay me back.

To clarify, I did not elect anything upon picking up the car. The guy at Hertz didn't mention anything about Toll at all. I was charged the all-inclusive fees which was substantially more expensive than the actual toll amount.

In the past, I have rented Hertz cars in many other locations. One time, I was told by a Hertz person, as long as I take out the EZ pass in the PlatePass box attached to the windshield, I would be charged per-usage fees. If I don't take it out, they will charge by plate (which was the same as all-inclusive, because I actually forgot one time before).

Today I called Hertz and was told I need to opt-out of all-inclusive explicitly.