Avis
reviews and complaints

I rented a car on hotwire.com the company that provided the car was avis. When I went to pick up the car, I was told there was none. I was over an hour late (I did not plan for a delayed departure due to fog, a delayed arrival because of a busy airport in aruba, and taking the time for aruba customs.
Avis policy is if you are an hour late you do not get a car. When I sent a complaint, through email, the response was I should have called from the plane. Really? For such a large company, it is run by #.

We picked up car right after our flight. Took van to their site which was not on airport. It was about their closing time and dark out. Reserved a small car for high mileage but was given a Jeep with low mileage. We didn't notice small crack int the windshield under the wiper blade until we were driving & on coming headlights reflected on the crack. We called the next morning & were told we had to pay $500 for a new windshield. We wanted to talk to manager but was told we could not. We immediately brought the vehicle back to the agency. The clerk said she talked to the manager already who told her the cracked windshield wasn't identified previously and we will have to pay the $500. The clerk refused to let us talk to the manager. I contacted the corporations and was told this Budget Agency is not part of the corporation but they will check on it. I know that will go nowhere. We feel scammed by this company. Giving us a car we didnt request that had a crack in the windshield where the customer has to pay for a new one. We will NEVER rental from AVIS/Budget ever again and will make sure everyone knows what they did to us and possibly others.

On Friday, February 17, 2017 I had a reservation to pick up a 12 passenger van. I had just rented the same type vehicle a couple weeks prior. Both times, I had my service dog with me. On this day, a man named, Charlie Allen was on the phone when I walked in. He started shaking his head and waving his finger at me. I was kind of confused as this was not the first time I had my dog with me. I stated she is a service dog and presented my service dog tags and he was hanging up the phone. He said, "I can't do business with you." I told him this is my service dog and I have a reservation when he told me he didn't care she wasn't allowed in. Then, a lady behind the counter stated she was allergic. I had to have the van that night or I would've left and taken my business elsewhere. My friend, Matt, was with me and took my service dog outside. After he left the lady behind the counter not only locked the door behind me but continued to make rude and snarly comments regarding dogs in general the proceeded to admit she is not allergic to dogs but has "extreme allergies". Out of anger and frustration I replied to her by saying, "then I suppose you're highly allergic to me as well as I not only rescue and transport dogs but I have many at my house and they have been all over me today". I further told both there behind the counter I'd suggest they read ADA Guidelines regarding service dogs. After signing the necessary forms I just wanted to get my rental and leave as I was experiencing high anxiety and did not want to have a panic attack. When myself and Charlie walked out front to get me into my rental, it wasn't parked out front. When Charlie told me and Matt the van was out back, the lady said they're not walking through here with that dog, I'll bring it around. I do not appreciate being treated so rudely nor the fact my dog was refused to accompany me. If an employee has an issue and two are present, why could she not go to the back until after I signed my rental agreement and left? Why are your employees not aware of or simply choose to violate my rights and ADA Guidelines? The last comment regarding my service dog is another huge reason I will never do business with Avis Budget again. Charlie stated, "If there's any dog hair, even a little, you will be charged a $250 cleaning fee." I asked, "Do you pay for these vehicles to be cleaned? Charlie then stated the vehicles are cleaned on site but their vacuum does not work well especially with removing dog hair. Is it really the customers fault he or the company has inadequate equipment to properly clean a vehicle. I did not complain neither time regarding how poor the vans had been cleaned. As a matter of fact, the first Ford Transit was rented to me with expired Florida plates. The only good thing I have to say is that during my first rental and with returning the second time I rented, a lady named Jennifer waited on me. She was very courteous not only to me but to my service dog.

Had planned to move on a Saturday, reserved a truck Friday morning with a confirmation number via email. I received a call later from the location I was to pick up the truck from telling me they got my reservation, but have no trucks to rent...all unavailable. I called Budget, they promised me they would find one for me and call me back right away...never did. I'm not done with this, they absolutely put me in a real bind. My confirmation number was [protected] and occurred on February 17th, 2017.

I rented a car and picked it from Memphis Avis on 1/27 about 9:30 pm. When I handed the agent (male, id52383) my AmEx card he asked me if I wanted to decline optional insurance since AmEx covers rental insurance. I said 'yes, that's why I always use AmEx for car rentals' and he went about entering my information. When he was done he said insurance was declined and told me to click 'accept' a couple of times then sign, which I did. When I returned the car Sunday morning, yep, the receipt showed charges for insurance and the man taking the car told me to speak with someone at the counter or call Avis.

I called Avis, but the [protected] said that I'd have to speak with Memphis customer service directly. I called them numerous times today, Monday (because Memphis Customer Service is closed on Sundays), and the automated recording says they are busy with other customers and it transfers me back to the national 1-800 number.

I've rented cars for years, and in many countries, and this is the first time I've ever been manipulated to pay more. But when the agent says he declined insurance and says to accept and sign, that's what I did.

I have never gone on-line to complain about a bad product or service. But I am so upset and concerned about the ways Budget Rental Car have conducted their business. I'm traveling a lot and usually renting a car at the airport.
I have chosen Budget because they offered low renting daily rates. They did include hidden fees but I did not pay attention since I needed a car at the time and agreed to pay all of the insurance fees they added to.
The last time when I rented the car, I did not buy the damage insurance because I just did not think I needed it as I kept good care of the car. Right at the time I was at the counter, the clerk was warning (actually threatening) me that I would pay the damages if I declined to buy additional insurance for damages.
Then they gave me a car in very bad condition, dirty and previous damaged. I should have changed it but since I just needed to drive a few miles a for a couple days I did care to spend more time to make the change.
When I returned the car, there were two employees checked the car and they agreed the car had been previous damaged with the paint still there; otherwise they would do a report and would not let me go without my acknowledging it.
A few weeks later they sent me from Viking Billing Service, Inc, asking me if they could charge my insurance for the "false" claim. I wrote them both Budget and Viking Billing but they sent me another letter asking to charge my insurance again. I don't know if they have not read my letter or just ignored like they have not received it.
I will call them. They cannot do this to the customers who have done business with them.
If anyone has the same problem or other false charges on their accounts, please make your voice heard.
We need to stop this illegal practice.

I am a frequent traveller to Europe and always prefer car rental than travelling in trains :

During my last trip to Europe I took a car on rent from AVIS at CDG Airport, Paris. The rental was for 3 days with full insurance cover (zero excess).

The day after I took the car on rent, while I was driving back to my hotel in Paris, the car hit a raised culvert on the road and the two tyres on the driver side got flat. I immediately contacted on-road agency (ADS), who provided with an on-site repair truck. However the agency said that they would have to send the car for checking and offered us to drop at our hotel in a taxi. Since it was wee hours of the morning (almost 1 am), I agreed.

I enquired from the agency person at site and he informed me that in the morning I would receive a call from AVIS and that they would be sending a replacement car at our hotel.

However, I did not receive any call from AVIS as informed to me. I tried calling up the agency and also the numbers provided to us in the Rental Agreement. The numbers mentioned for assistance ([protected] and +33 [protected]) failed to help me and asked me to contact AVIS. We tried calling up AVIS from various numbers mentioned in the rental agreement but of no help. Then I took another number from the agency (of CDG airport AVIS counter) but no one picked up the phone. I must have tried calling up over 20 times but there was no one to help.

I had two very important business meeting south of France that day, and since AVIS did not send me any replacement car, I had to, perforce, cancel the meetings, leading to loss of business and trust with my customer.

The next day I had a flight from CDG airport and had to take a taxi to the airport. At the airport I approached AVIS help desk in the morning. However the person at the help desk (surprisingly) said that for the replacement car I should have come to CDG airport. I failed to understand that how I could come to CDG airport when it was informed to me that the replacement car would be sent to me at the hotel. Who had to inform me regarding the procedures. I made an effort to call up AVIS but the call was never answered. When I said that why your phones are not getting attended, he (with a mocking sneer on his face), said that the phone is out of order. I feel this was the most childish of replies as AVIS help desk at CDG airport cannot have a phone which is not working. Perhaps the staff at the desk were too busy to attend to such calls from customers.

All in all it was a very bad experience on part of AVIS.

On a recent business trip I rented an Avis vehicle as I have been doing loyally for the past 4 years. After returning the vehicle the Avis PDX in Portland I boarded the plane to return home only to realise I had left my sunglasses in the centre console between the two front seats. I called Avis on Sunday the 13th of November and had to leave a message on their answering service as nobody was working in the lost and found department that day and they would only be in on Tuesday the 15th. I called again on Tuesday as I hadn't received a return call and was told they had put a stop own the vehicle and it would be checked at some point over the next few days. After hearing nothing again I called back on Thursday the 17th only to get the answering service again! On Friday I called again as unbelievably no one had bothered to return my call and spoke with a lady in the lost and found department. She was unable to explain why, after an entire week, no one had checked the car even after I gave her the registration, rental agreement number and they had put a stop on the vehicle so they knew exactly where the car was parked.

At this point I asked to speak to a manager who was extremely grumpy to say the least, he also went on to say they couldn't tell me when the car would be checked and proceeded to hang up on me! I called back and requested to lodge of formal complaint and he put down the phone again! I finally managed to register the item on lost and found through the international call centre who email me daily to say the item has not been found... talk about rubbing salt in the wound. Avis Lost and Found department should be renamed Avis "if it turns up we might contact you" department had the agreement number, had the registration, knew where the item was left, knew where the car was parked and put a hold on it and are now telling me they can't find the item. I am utterly appalled and disgusted by the way I have been treated and the lack of formal platform to feedback this childlike behaviour. You will not be receiving any further business from me and would strongly recommend no one else use #Avis #Avisrentacar in the future. The staff are lazy, disinterested and unhelpful. Absolute disgrace!

confirmation #: 08106233US2

I recently was traveling through Colorado with my 14 mo old daughter and rented a car through avis. I had selected a full size SUV, because I needed a car that would be able to handle the road conditions in CO. When I got there, the SUV I rented only had front wheel drive, and the only option to have all wheel drive was to upgrade $50/day. This meant doubling the amount I had originally agreed to... but for the safety of my daughter and myself. I paid for the upgrade.
The next day, I was on the road and a semi drove in front of me, spraying muddy water all over the windshield. Which should be fine... however the wipers were so bad that I had to pull the car over to the side of the road to be able to clean off the windshield to see. Leaving me with the only option of going to buy windshield wipers for the remainder of my trip to be safe.
Once i had taken time out of my vacation to research and purchasing new blades... I got back on the highway to find that the windshield wiper fluid was empty. So I made another stop to buy fluid.
THEN, once I was up in the mountains, 15 mins from the nearest gas station - the "turn engine off" light came on, telling me it was out of coolant. Luckily the people we were staying with had extra coolant, and we were able to fill it.
I have tried 6 times to talk to someone from avis, and the call has been "dropped" every time.
I am so incredibly angry that Avis would put the safety of myself, and more importantly my 14 month old baby at risk, in the mountains of Colorado by not maintaining their vehicles. Especially after I paid $50/day to upgrade my vehicle. I have never had a rental car that had basic maintenance needs that I had to take care of on my vacation. I am utterly disappointed and would love someone to contact me to compensate me for my troubles.

A car was rented at OR Tambo airport Avis car rental, i used my cheque card from fnb, a 3000 rand depost was taken, the car was a polo tsi, it was used for about 3 weeks. on my payday when my salary came in (at this time the car was already returned) a R15000 amount was taken from my account, leaving me unable to pay my credits rent and food, few days later the initial deposit of 3000 came back into my account i withdrawn the money from my account, then again few days later R17000 was deducted from my account (at this time my account was R0 balance)
I do not even have overdraft, how is that even possible i do not not, i keep receiving sms that my account is over drawn, i am not left as if i am owin fnb money, my life is a complete mess because of this, i have a family i have a child, why?

Total amount of R32000 at the hands of avis for borrowing A POLO TSI 3 WEEKS, Not even a luxury car. who ever can help please help me. what will i do this holidays, my next salary will even go on the same account on the negative balance

This complain is about unauthorized credit charges on my Card. I rented a car from Avis Budget from 7th September till 17th September from Heathrow airport. On 31st October 2016 when I saw my statement, there was an additional charge of 95 pounds into my credit card. No explanation was given. I have sent an official complain to them on the 1st November and they gave a tracking number and after several reminders, I did not get any reply from them.

My rental agreement number is [protected]. Reference number GB393043740.

Complain ticket number is TKT003282548

Avis has been tacking multiple charges onto our credit card months after the car we rented in Europe was returned. These charges are purportedly due to Avis being requested to provide our contact information to undisclosed municipalities which requested it. Yes, you read that correctly. Avis provides our name and address to some municipalities and then bills us for 50 bucks for each request. Avis is not being fined or incurring any other cost. They are simply giving out our information and then charging our credit card for $50. The implication is that we received citations of some kind in these municipalities, but we got no moving or parking violations during the trip. When I ask them their justification for charging us, they reply that it is in our terms of service. Avis knows that no one reads the entire terms of service, and even if they did no one would ever expect the rental company to brazenly bill the credit card for something in which they incurred no cost and provided no service. Avis may have the terms of service on their side but they have no concept whatsoever of business ethics or customer service. I intend to make sure their costs in lost business exceed whatever funds they are able to extract from us, and also to make their task of extracting the funds as difficult as possible by disputing all their charges.

I rented through travelocity a car from avis turks and caico airport location for july 30th to august 6th). When I reached, I noticed very few cars in the front (little did I know that they have many cars in their back parking lot.) the car I rented was too small, so I requested a larger one, and I increased the rental by 1 day. The rep showed me a grey car, and stated that is the only car she had at the moment (mid-size) I checked the car which had a lot of dents and scratches. As it was the only one in the lot that was not a mini, I had no choice but to take it. I was charged over $500. The rep tried to tell me to get road assistance but I thought it was an over kill, if the renting place take care of the car, I don't have to worry about it breaking down on me.
Of course, the same technique, they tried to get me to get insurance for it.
On august 7th, went to fill up the tank before returning the car. I decided to check the glove compartment and read about the car. To my dismay, I found out that the car was not suited to be driven since 2013.
Upon my return home, I contacted avis. Its rep send me this long message that can be summarized as "we don't care, it is not our problem."

Back on July 7, thru July 10, 2016 our family rented a vehicle from Avis Rent a Car at Bergstrom Intl Airport; we recently reserved a Luxury car, a Lincoln MKZ via Priceline. I had bid for this vehicle for approximately two weeks trying to get the best deal and finally got accepted approximately $56 dollars a day. During the bid process, I received many rejected offers and with each rejected offer, Prineline offered other vehicles at a much lower price. Example would be a Chrysler 300 for approximately $24 a day. Which I did not accept as we wanted the Lincoln. Finally my bid was accepted at $56 dollars a day and I made confirmed reservations. Sidebar - the $56 a day turned out to be $87 a day with fees and taxes! Anyway, we arrive at Bergstrom Intl Airport and go to get our vehicle only to be told they do not have that vehicle and that they will substitute it with the Chrysler 300; WTF. I told them that is not acceptable and they stated the only other option with be to pay for an upgrade (started at $28 more a day and talked they down to $20+ additional a day) to get the size vehicle we needed. Reluctantly, I decided that we needed the space and did the upgrade. Going upstairs now to get our up-sale, I mean upgrade I notice the vehicle they assigned to us had a dent in the door. Then, I looked to the right of that vehicle, then to the left and see two, not one, yes two, Lincoln's. I went back to the office and addressed this issue. They apologized and assigned one of the two and gave me my credit for the up-charge, I mean the upgrade. They explained that those two vehicles were not in their computer. I now have returned and addressed this with Priceline. Priceline said it's their partners issue and they (Avis) will have to address. After weeks of no response, I communicated again today with Priceline and they said Avis resolved the issue and gave me a coupon for $25 off my next rental. Come on... I asked Prineline what they can do to ensure their Clients are not taken advantage of in the future and they said that our chat conversation will be reviewed by management. I wish I could say that to my customers/clients - No I don't; what a convenient response. Words to the wise, be careful with the bait and switch and the name your price on Priceline. Sorry so long winded but this is terrible, a large company with the name Avis. wow, Wow, WOW!

My grandma passed away so had to fly to Michigan from Georgia, I flew into Chicago Airport and went to Avis to rent a car, I had the car for literary 2 days and was charged $400. I am outraged, how can anyone afford to rent a car, that was just as much as my flight was. Ridiculous! I rented the vehicle on july 25th returned the 26th, so really just a day 1/2 rental.

I made a rental car reservation from Avis via Expedia with a total expected charge of $60.57. I picked up the car at the CMH airport location on May 13. There was a long line at rental counter. The person at the counter was named Mohamed. He was friendly and asked about insurance and the gas option. I declined all additional coverage and pre-paid gas from Avis. I was asked to review information on a small screen and then sign electronically. Upon returning the car, the "rover" check in service was down so I again had to wait in a line to get checked in. Given this delay, I did not have time to examine my bill in any detail. Once I had time, I noticed the total was over twice the amount ($130.54) I agreed to with Expedia. When I called Avis, they said there were roadside assistance and XM Radio charges. These options were never discussed with me nor were they pointed out in discussion or on the contract. They just slipped them in without any notice. (Rental agreement number [protected])

After several calls to Avis, their stance is that I signed a contract and they are sticking to the charges even though I have repeatedly told them that those options were never discussed, asked, highlighted, mentioned, etc. Nothing. I have AAA so I would have never agreed to a roadside assistance program from Avis. I also listen to podcasts and had no need for XM radio service - I was not even aware the vehicle was equipped with XM. For Avis to slip these in and then just say that I signed a contract is a good indication of their deceptive business practices. They hide behind a contract without addressing how these charges got added. They have ignored my statements about never having these charges mentioned and just say that I signed the overall agreement.

I am certainly willing to pay for everything I knowingly agreed to (namely the $60.57 I had expected from Expedia).

I will never rent from Avis again. They are deceptive up front and tone deaf afterwards. Nor did they recognize any of their service shortcomings. Super disappointing.

I booked an AVIS vehicle for my trip to Panama City on the AA.com website. During the booking process I was offered an insurance policy from ALLIANZ. I paid for this policy and went on my merry way to Panama. On my arrival at the AVIS counter in Tocumen Airport, the agent at the AVIS counter totally ignored the insurance policy that I showed from ALLIANZ and insisted that no car rental firms in Panama accept insurance Policies from Allianz. For me to get a car, I had to pay 31USD per day and a 300 USD deposit. So here I am thinking that all I had to do was pick up my car and pay the 90USD for the week, I ended up having to put out over 700USD extra. The 300USD deposit is supposed to be refundable. Todate I am still waiting for it. The 31USD per day was totally unexpected and I am trying now to alert all travelers that they should be careful when booking AVIS from a third party website. I called Allianz and they refunded me my money and told me that it was unethical for AVIS to deny coverage because they are a globally accepted company. Anyway, I got caught in this deceptive trade practice so I am warning all travelers to please find out if the insurance they bought in the US is valid or be prepared for huge rates for insurance on arrival in Panama,

I sent a complaint to AVIS and no one had the courtesy to respond. I also copied AA.com customer service and have not gotten a response. So looks like this is a learning experience. Will try another car company when next I visit but I am sure to call before to make sure I don't get trapped into this type of mess.

I rent a car nearly every week from Avis and have "Preferred Status". Each time I inquire about my points for a personal rental they are clueless.

Yesterday I was given a 1-800# to call. Today they informed me they cancelled the old program in July and eliminated all of my points. Furthermore, they went on to tell me I have no points since I haven't re-enrolled in their new program.

Avis is horrible.

Their service is horrible.

Can't wait to move to Enterprise.

I rented a car from avis south africa arranged via my tour company. The car was delivered to my hotel in cape town on 22 february. I paid 2500 rand deposit via a debit card. I knew there was a one-way charge to pay as we were dropping the car at port elizabeth but was told this could be deducted from the deposit which would be repaid in pe.

The car was great and served its purpose well for the next 11 days. When we returned the car (with a full tank and no damage) there was a bill of 1, 113 rand for the one-was charge and delivery to the hotel in cape town. I asked for the balance of my deposit 1, 387 rand but was told that this couldn't be paid immediately and would take a few days. I was not happy and asked why it could not simply be repaid to my card but was told "the system won't allow this". I was not happy to leave the country owed money but had no choice as my flight was about to leave.

Three weeks later the money had still not shown up in my bank account, so I sent a message via the customer services page of the website. I got an automatic reply saying I would get a reply in a maximum 10 - 15 days. After 10 days I chased but no reply. I have since sent another un-answered reply.

I would never use avis again in south africa or any other country and would advise all travelers to south africa to do likewise.

Rental agreement [protected] refers.
I collected the avis vehicle on 16/3/2016 and delivered the vehicle 23 hours later on the thursday. Upon collection I was told the estimated rental costs would be r379 for which avis reserved like r2352.30 on my credit card on the 16th. Today, 5 days later on the 22/3/2016 - the credit card reservation is still held by avis and I have no access to my money on the card. I called on the 18th to query about the release of the credit card reservation after taking the due rental invoice amount and was promised that it will take 48 hours. I called today again, 5 days later, and was told that they will action a cancellation instruction to nedbank and that will take another 3-4 days to affect the release of the card reservation. This is totally unacceptable to say the least. How can a company hold your reserved money at ransom for 6-10 days for a one day car rental? It is ridiculous and totally inconvenient.
A customer's credit card reservation should be released with 48 hours of returning the car as promised... Not 10 days thereafter. A customer does not have a credit card facility so that avis can play with it for as long as they wish to.