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Avis review: avis is a scam liars cheats 13

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7:25 am EDT
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avis is a HUGE scam, I rented from avis recently, and I told them I did not want their insurance, my own covered it. Well when I returned my car, they had charged me for the insurance! It was 450.00? I said I did not want it, and the sales person just added it on. I had to fight with a *** manager there and they took it off. So then I find out later, that their rental people they make huge commissions when you take the insurance, and they make commissions off their upgrades too. But they add it to your rental without even telling you! Beware and check your receipts to see if it's on there because mine wasn't on my PAPER but it was on my receipt. Also the rental people, I find out from my nephew that they make up their own upgrade prices.

They tried to upgrade me into a bigger car, and the guy told me it was 20.00 a day for the car. I went to another person and they told me the same car was 10.00 a day. My nephew used to work in car rental and said the agents make up their own upgrade prices and the higher the prices the more money the sales people make. This is a total scam! How can they change their prices like this and worse, they just ADDED the insurance to my rental and charged my card 450.00 and I had to FIGHT to get a refund. What kind of *** company does this to people? Don’t ever take their insurance or get their upgrades, or just sit there and negotiate if you have to, the people that working there are snakes and will lie to you and deceive you. their rental people are scam artists and steal money from us hard working folks, and their management seems to encourage it. They just add insurances or upgrades to your receipt without telling you just so they can make a buck! stay away from this company and ALWAYS check your receipts! Avis sucks! they don't try harder they don't try at all and worse, they try harder to scam customers as much as they can!

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The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

13 comments
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Seamus O’Raghaillach
, US
Nov 13, 2021 4:40 pm EST

We rented a car on the 5th of June. There was damage done prior to renting it & my wife insisted that they put it down in writing. She also took video of it. Now FIVE MONTHS LATER, they are claiming damage. I called in to dispute the claim & was told that the charge would be dropped before it was processed. Well, that didn't happen. Now I will have to go in & have a discussion with them & I also have my credit card company disputing the charge. If it is not fixed immediately I will be going to the Better Business Bureau. Even for such a smaller amount of money, I will take them to court if needed.

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jim w,
, US
Aug 18, 2021 11:47 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I was charged $250 for "excessive interior dirt - sand."

I called to dispute. I asked for photos. They sent photos. There was, in fact, sand in the car. About 5 min vacuuming. I was told that I had not returned the car as received and that it is a complicated process involving moving the car to a special area, detailing a staff person.

Of course my reaction is unprintable, but I argued that it was excessive. I kept being told this charge was in line with their policy. I continued to complain to the (very nice) support person. I had some additional ammunition as they had given us a car with defective wipers, which we could not exchange for 5 days, and that, despite the fact that they compensated us satisfactorily, ut was a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

I was told she did not have the authority to cancel the charge, but would try to fund something within the range she was authorized. Apparently she still had to to submit the dispute to higher powers. Eventually she offered me a 30% reduction in the charge.

I continued to complain as aggressively as possible. SHe referred again to the higher powers and offered me 50% reduction. I accepted it. I could not see any possible path whereby I could dispute the charge before a third party. Avis made the rules, and determined the fees... and a lost a customer forever.

Here's a link to the images they sent: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:faaf526c-b116-418f-9ae6-3bffcae8e171

Thanks for a chance to record my experience,
JW

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Landmarco
, AU
Jan 16, 2020 10:25 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I’m indeed surprised that Avis is still around and appear to be prospering despite their modus operande of scamming their customers and/or encouraging their franchisees to act on their behalf “splitting the loot “ with them.
Their strategy is simple: portray AVIS as a high end entity, tie up with established brands (hotels and airlines ) thus attracting a business/ corporate type clientele. These clients are the ones that often do not check their charges, bills and invoices as it’s charged to the company. If a fraud is detected it’s too small for them to follow up . If it’s followed up, Avis makes it so cumbersome for them that it’s not worth their while.
Over time I have studied their strategy, and yet being very cautious and took the risk of renting with Avis Croatia in December, I was stung with an undue fuel charge. Amount involved is under EUR 100 but it astounds the extend Avis will go through to deny the scam. I have posted the details on other chat groups. My request was for Avis to refund the Scammed amount by way of receipt to a recognised charity and a letter of apology from the entity concerned. Avis have thus far declined despite reaching high levels of management and evidence fairly clear.
It’s not the amount involved (as it’s less than a days rental in some countries ) but it’s the principle and I will make it my mission to destroy this Avis scam ring.

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Steve Roland
, US
Aug 29, 2019 10:32 pm EDT

Never prepay, It is hidden in the fine print but they will not reimburse if car is turned in early. They scammed me out of $100. I don't ever prepay but it was on my rental agreement. Never again Avis.

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Diane Etzkorn
, US
May 21, 2019 8:55 pm EDT

The same thing just happened to us. A lawyer should sue them! They charged us $300 more on a rental adding extra extras to the rental!

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Harshal Magar
, US
Mar 29, 2019 5:27 am EDT

I had a similar experience in Netherlands recently. They gave me a faulty car with a small crack on windscreen & a small scratch at the back. I took the picture of that. While returning a car they charged me EURO 765 for that. I had showed them that this was not my fault and they said it will not be actually charged to your bank and we will waive off the charges. But when i receive my bank statement i can see the amount is been charged. Now i have to fight with a bank to get the money back. They are real frauds. AVIS should be avoided by all means. I am planning to sue them for this kind of service that they are providing. THIS IS FRAUD.

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Caffeinated
, US
Jan 04, 2019 5:39 pm EST

I travel to Chicago 4-6 times a year. My husband has been a Avis customer for over a decade. On all of our trips, we declined the use of a toll transponder and pay all of our tolls via cash. Our latest trip, December 21-25, Avis proceeded to charge us for a toll transponder use and all the tolls even though we paid every single toll. All the tolls were manned with the exception of one, where we paid the $0.60 via change into the basket. We paid cash for all. When we contacted Avis regarding this, they disputed it as we did not have cash receipts for any of these tolls and charged us $24.70 for the use of the transponder and service charge for not signing up for the use of the transponder. This is ridiculous. No matter if I get a receipts for each toll paid or pay online after charges are processed via the license plate, Avis appears to have found a way to force you to use their transponder regardless and charge you upwards of 4 times the cost of any toll. If you do select to use their transponder, you have to pay $20 just to use it upfront. Not fair business practices. Regardless, they will screw you over if you have to use a toll road.

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John Smith23
, US
Dec 30, 2018 3:05 pm EST

Terrible experience with Avis. Since then I have never rented from there. I rather pay extra and rent from another company than Avis. They should be sued because they openly cheat customers and ride on the difficulty to fight charges on Credit cards...

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YesI agree
, US
Aug 03, 2018 11:18 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Norfolk Airport Avis is beyond laxy, confused and useless. Im on lunch, I cant find tour total miles. Im to stupid to call the garage.

Never Again

Dollar is even smarter. Great car, stupid and lazy talent. 3 Aug 2018 Lura on front desk.
Inept.

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Poaylum
, US
Feb 15, 2018 12:19 am EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Avis Spain billed my credit card for fuel tank top up after I returned to my home country. They had earlier billed me over 250 Euros for other extra charges which i disputed and which after many rounds of complaints they credited me back those wrongly billed items. They still insisted their charges for 132 Euros fuel tank top up in the 2 cars I used are correct and i am still trying to find a way to get back my money

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Consumer_Rights
, CA
Dec 07, 2017 1:59 pm EST

Avis India is similar scam, they don't have their fleet, on their website they try to sell expensive, luxury and high end car, but when it comes to pick up car, they will say they do not have because previous customer did not return, when you have no choice they will push you cheaper cars, which are 10 years or more, This is about self driven cars, which are even more expensive than chauffeur driven car along with fuel. They outsource old and outdated cars from third party agencies. Avis doesn't have legal status in India, they goes by name Mercury Car Rental Pvt Ltd, and use third party facility services to pick and drop, They do not have their own address and operate with proxy and anonymous location.
The car I received was old broken ( i had to take, no choice after paying full in advance ) at airport bought by driver from outsourced facilities. He did not make any proper documents and no copy of one sided documents given. Big scam.
Car had issues with engine and suspension. ABS was mal functioning. Car fuel was almost empty but marked half in night at airport arrival point.
Overall AVIS INDIA doesn't exist, but operate through local thugs who will cheat, I got low end car, paid for luxury car. They agreed to replace next morning but now they stopped taking any calls. Total cheats, Avis India aka Mercury car rental must shut down. They are risking lives of customers by giving unfit broken cars. Avoid them by all means.

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David D32309
, US
Jul 28, 2016 2:16 pm EDT

Avis wants to charge a $50 cancelation fee, ever when you cancel 48 hrs. before hand and have prepaid. Don’t ever prepay with Avis. In fact avoid their scam altogether by booking with another reputable rental company.

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613 Buy
, US
Aug 04, 2019 12:36 pm EDT

They did the same thing with me. I asked for a specific vehicle and they said they will check if they will have it available and if not they would refund my full payment.
They never even sent me a confirmation of my booking so I called daily. Eventually they said the vehicle I wanted to reserve will not be available. When I asked for a full refund they said 'no problem" and then they credited my initial payment less $50.
This is my second rental with them and both times they were not honest with me.
Stay away from Avis, they will lie and cheat you out to every dollar they can.