Rental Car Contract Marketing BS

I had cause to rent a car during the last week. I was handed a small addendum to the contract. It read

Save time! If you are going to drive less than 75 miles, don’t refuel. We’ll do it for you and a flat $9.50 refueling charge will be automatically added to your charges. If you do refuel, simply show your receipt to the customer service representative at car return and the charge will be removed.

I asked to just do it the old way. They insisted I didn’t have to choose. “This is automatic, sir.” I soon learned that automatic really meant mandatory. And all the BS on the ticket meant “We are going to charge you an additional $9.50 unless you bring back a fuel receipt.” Why didn’t they just say that?

That’s marketing.