Avis
reviews and complaints

I've rented audi a3 at avis darmstadt in 2009 aug. While travelling across the europe, someone scratched that car's door. Person who served me while checking-out said that I should no worry and they will contact me for that matter later. What I got instead - they charged my card for usd1300+ - just for the scratch on the door. Moreover, my bank charged me usd180 more for overdraft happened with my card's account. I tried to contact avis and ask for explanations, but they just couldn't send me any valuable information, just kept sending me some papers telling nothing. Simple way to steal your money since you put your signature under the contract letting them charge your card backdating. No matter how serious was damage - they will charge you for maximum possible (or even beyond possible) amount. Simple but unfair way to earn money. I will never use their service anymore and never recommend them even to my enemy. Robbers.

I recently rented a car from avis at the orlando airport. The car was reviewed when I returned it on feb 1, 2010 and I received a 'receipt of return'. The employee stated the car was fine and I didn't need anything else. I just received a letter 2 days ago dated feb 19, almost 3 weeks after the car was returned stating there was excessive soilage damage in the car and they are going to charge my credit card $250. The car was spotless when I returned it! I have left messages to the person noted on the letter who is not returning my calls. This smells of soilage but not by my act.

Ref:avis ra#u126128225, u126128273, u126128170
As president club, I rented 3 full size cars with double upgrade free same day pick up and same date drop for 15 days, insurance included and american covers automatically when rented with amex. I got billed 3 differents amounts, eventhough I had original reservation rate. I disputed several times, amex finally recredit me the difference. I reserve for yesterday trip. Arrived to avis lax airport with my conf voucher. They told me I was blacklisted by avis collection dept. Plz help me. Sending you the last e-mail of jan 7, 2010. I want to be retablish with avis

To: "shaneatkins"
Dear mr. Atkins,

I received ur warning e-mail, eventhough u deducted 500$ for the insurance which I am not responsible, I sent you 3 different reservations with the rates I got for aug 3, 2006, confirmation number:30888093lb5, confirmation number:33499823lb0, and 32524062lb4, including full insurance, eventhough I am protected with amex, you don't seem to understand the situation, I wrote to avis head office explaining the situation by registered mail. I keep on getting threats from you of sending to collection agency. I am sorry that you don't want to understand my situation. You will be hold responsible for any actions against me
Sincerely
Zouhair attoue

I'm a preferred member and up until the last six months, sevice has been great - now the mistakes and errors avis is making is driving me away

1. I've had to go to the counter and stand in line 3 out of 3 times when picking up a car.

2. Avis has added a $13 to my bill for fuel service if I drive the car less than 57 miles without asking me if I bought gas - hey, it's cheaper for you and me if you ask... Did you buy gas before you put the charge on my bill and I have to reverse it with a phone call to your customer support. I can do things too that screw up your day, just like you screw me

3. Avis lot boss in atlanta (fri, 2/6) has his head where it doesn't belong. He's allowing cars to build up at returns so it blocks the bus to take us to the airport (nearly an half hour wait for that problem)

4. The person receiving cars at atlanta doesn't understand the concept of fill each queue in order — people had to wait 10 to 15 minutes because others coming in after were put into an open lane

Avis - I had come to depend on your dependable, efficent service. Your screwing up and falling behind. It can't be good for your future.

Prior to traveling to germany for a vacation, I reserved a rental car through avis at an estimated cost of $463.31. When I arrived at the avis rental counter at the frankfurt airport, I was told that german law required cars to have winter during the winter months, and the same car that rents for $463.31 with summer tires costs 469.94 euro (approximately $690.00) with winter tires. A $230 upgrade just for winter tires.

I wrote avis complaining of the upcharge, and received the following response:
"I have spoken with our international department, and they stated that it
Is german law to have winter tires on cars. Please accept our sincere
Apology if germany did not include that anywhere in your reservation
Confirmation. I have reported this to management for correction."

I filled car before returning to airport and they charged me $13.99 fuel charge after I got home because I didn't drive enough miles and provide proof of fuel! After the surprise charge on my amex, I called and they say they require a gas receipt for anything under 75 miles because maybe you didn't even fill the car... I had to take the time to fax them my credit card statement to show the lousy $4.21 it took to fill the car! And it took three phone calls to find out what this charge was even for.

Also, when I dropped the car early in the morning, there wasn't even an agent there. All other companies had agents then.

Has this happened to anyone else? I'm seriously considering looking at filing a class action...

I rented a car from avis through hotwire, and when I went to the counter, the agent kept trying to "upsell" me on everything but I said no. When she was going through the options, she either showed me on the form how much the insurance would be and I said no that's ok, then she gave me the form to initial. I asked her why it said $105 instead of the $52 that I paid through hotwire and she said they didn't know how much I paid through hotwire but that was the avis charge in their system and that I would only have to pay what I paid hotwire.

Well, when I went back a few days later to return the car, I saw they'd charged me this same $105. I couldn't figure out why, and so I disputed the charge. They took off a $15 charge for going over the time - the manager said even though I brought it back at the contract time, I picked it up an hour early so they should have adjusted my return time, so he waived that fee. But I was talking about the whole thing, not $15. The manager shows me where I had allegedly agreed to insurance at a cost of more than I paid for the car - $90. (I realized that this $90 plus the $15 equals the $105 initial payment I saw, which makes the initial $15 "late" charge also suspect, unless they knew somehow i'd bring it back "late.") I explained that the agent either circled that herself when she was showing me the options or circled it after I signed because I have never in my life purchased insurance for a car rental since I have my own. We had just gotten a rental car the other day and also declined the insurance.

I did notice that enterprise (the rental company we got a car from a few days prior) also tried to upsell us on options and even asked what my deductible is, like he was trying to scare me into buying the insurance. I'm thinking this must happen a lot?

Avis customer support has exhausted my patience, so I'm considering this the final chapter. If Avis is your cheapest rate when you go to rent a car, take a second to think about the risk you might run of having to deal with customer service. I am not going to be a loyal Avis customer anytime soon.

I used Travelocity.com to book the cheapest car I could find for Kallie and I to use on our flight to California over Thanksgiving. Avis was the cheapest, but not by much. We picked up the Pontiac G5 at Sacramento airport on Nov 25th on our arrival. It was the smallest rental car I've ever been in, which put me more in a contemplative mindset as I wondered why I've never had such a small car even though I've always rented the cheapest before.

The car worked fine until Friday evening in San Francisco. While sightseeing, I parallel parked but was not able to turn the key to power off the car. It was if it was locked in the on position. We couldn't leave the car running and unlocked to sightsee. We tried all the obvious things, then called the 800 number listed with the rental docs, and they had us try the obvious stuff again, then we told them we'd just go to the nearest Avis center and return it. We were near empty on gas, but there was an Avis location in town, not far away. We got to the location shortly after 5, and it closed at 5pm. That meant that we would have to drive ~30 minutes to the San Francisco airport. We got there, with less than a gallon of gas left, I'm sure.

Upon our arrival, I had the 2 employees and a manager sanity check me and they could not turn the car off either. They said to go inside and talk to customer service to get a replacement car. They initially said they would have to charge me for returning the car with an empty tank, but since I couldn't turn off the car, it wasn't safe for me to fill it up before returning it and they let that charge go. The desk representative also volunteered a $25 voucher for our inconvenience, and asked her manager to bring the voucher to the desk for us over the walkie talkie. ~20 minutes go by, the very nice desk rep pages her manager again. We use the rest room, talk about the car, wait around, until the desk rep then physically goes to the manager's office to find the manager had left for the day and locked the office with the voucher inside. When the desk rep came back to us, she said that she would leave notes in their system for our reservation so that when we returned the car in Sacramento, they would give us a voucher for "more than $25" since we had so much trouble and had to wait. We got a replacement Ford Focus, and went about our lives.

...until Sunday, when we realize we may have left Kallie's Macbook under the passenger seat with our only copies of wedding photos on DVD. We called the San Francisco airport location, and they said they don't see any notes on a laptop, but the car is at their repair facility off site, and no one would be able to look for it until Monday, but they would have someone call me back once they were able to look. By 4pm Monday, I hadn't heard anything back, so I called them again, and they asked me where to look for it, so I said, "in the car", and they wanted me to be specific, so I said to try under the passenger seat or in the trunk. They called back after a few minutes and said they were not able to find it there.

Fast forward to Tuesday, Dec 1st at 4:00am. We drop off the car at the rental location to catch our 6:00am flight. The receiving employee only has a hand scanner that prints our return receipts and she has no access to a computer or vouchers. She said that we would have to wait until the desk representatives come in at 7:00am. So I decide I'll have to pick this back up once we get home.

I give a phone call to the customer support number. I explain the voucher situation to them, and they say they'll send it in the mail to me right away. Seemed easy enough. I also called the SF location again to have the search the whole car, thinking it might have moved or we put it somewhere else. They said they will leave an open case in the lost and found if it ever turns up, but it's not in the car.

A week or so later, I receive a letter from Avis with a voucher attached to the bottom for $25. The letter is your basic canned apology letter, but the voucher, at least, had something identifying on it...an expiration date of 12/31/09. They had given me less than a month to use the voucher. That's pretty much insulting, and I said that in my letter to them. I used the contact form on their site to send it to them. I could repost it here, but it's basically the same as this post and carries the same tone.

I rented a car from the Pittsburgh Airport through Avis on 11/14 and returned the car on 11/15, less than 24 hours later. I received a phone call about a week later from Loss Prevention, who cannot speak English, asking when I was planning to return the car. Long story short, Avis charged my credit card an additional $382.00 without notice. After 9 calls and a month later to customer service, who is useless, I was promised a refund in 3 to 10 business days. That time has come and gone. I come to find out the refund was never submitted as promised. I can't speak for anyone else, but that is a lot of money to charge someone who has done nothing wrong except use Avis. Believe me, my friends and family will never make that mistake again.

I rented an Avis car after my car was in an accident. 1) After being paid $877.36 by my insurance company, Avis billed me for $157.36, claiming the insurance company only paid $720. 2) $82.51 of the charge was for an "airport fee". I did not pick up or deliver the car at an airport. 3) Later, I was billed $82.25 for Avis eToll. I never authorized, activated, or used Avis eToll.

11-05-2009

With the holiday’s approaching I want to share my experience. Although my car rental was related to an auto accident Avis Budget Car Rental, LLC. requested my bankcard for a minimal deposit until the insurance could be verified.

Having failed to either contact us to verify information provided on the claim, or bill the insurance company properly four months later a charge of over $400. was applied toward the bankcard using the same authorization number from the date in which the deposit was made. After contacting Avis Budget Car Rental, LLC., customer service department about the matter, I was made aware that not only did Budget fail to handle billing correctly, but they overcharged by a whopping 5 days.

The representative kindly adjusted the bill, which zeroed the balance out, right? Not so, I was reimbursed by the insurance company as expected, but another four months later this past October, Avis Budget’s 5 day overcharge was re-applied to the bankcard using the very same authorization number.

Although Avis Budget has a contract with my auto insurance carrier in eight months not one of their representatives attempted to contact us to verify the information on insurance claim. Adding insult to injury although the overcharge had been previously adjusted, and the date of the rental’s return is verifiable Avis Budget Car Rental, LLC. representatives have refused to re-adjust the bill, or forward the matter to their corporate office for resolve.

Brenda (Florida)

2 weeks ago we rented a car from Avis through traveljigsaw with conf number [protected] with no legal docs in, signages not working at all and a warning is always on on the screen. And we could not come back bec we rented the car from Geneve airport and immediately went to the highway to Paris. The renting period was 24 hours but we gave it back in 6 hours as soon as we arrived in Paris. So we paid for a service not taken, even taken badly bec they put our lives in risk and caused us to travel with a car with no legal docs though they said they were in the car during rental. I sent a complaint to Avis but the reply is we are sorry. I demanded my money back but Avis does not even care about it. This is the ref of our case opened to Avis: RA# : E470989304 with reservation number 41244769GB6.

Think once more while you are renting a car from Avis next time...

While on holiday in New York I rented a car for 2 weeks at $930 a week. As usual they wanted my credit card details and they blocked off around $1800. I returned it and fly back to Cyprus where I live. Then when I checked my account I found I'd been charged $2, 795! I managed to get in touch with the lady who rented the car and she said it was a mistake and they'd charged for 3 weeks instead of 2. but a month lated they have still not refunded the money and I can't seem to get in contact with them any more. I queried the sum with my credit card company but they aren't interested. It seems once they get your card details car hire firms just charge whatever they want.

Be careful using AVIS rental car in Las Vegas Nevada. I returned a car there after driving from out of state. I explained to them that the AVIS that rented me the car explained the price differently and that they were overcharging me $200. A man named Frank, got aggressive right away, telling me basically to F off just not in those words. The lady helping me was Liz and she actually told me to call the other AVIS because they had charged me too much. II asked her to call them and she replied that she couldn't? Arent you the same company? They then said let me gewt the manager he came out Anthony Sailer, He was pushy and stated that we can pay now and deal with the problem over the phone. At this stime I got a business card and started to make notes. I am so suprised after all the loyal business my company and all the other companies and associates I reccomended AVIS too, fo that I am truly sorry.

WATCH OUT FOR AVIS RENTAL IN LAS VEGAS www.AvisBudget.com 7135 Gilespie Street

We rented a car from Avis from 3/29/2008 to 4/14/08. The agreeable rental total was $531.00.

Unfortunately, when we received the credit statement, we were billed for $696.55. We were very frustrated and immediately went through the a seris of events of contacting the local place, the fleet/district manager and the Corporate Office.

The AVIS TEAM took side of one another and quickly turned our case now. They said that the extra charges were for clearning but when we returned the car, we were told that everything ws OK.

The recent rental experience with Avis was very terrible and unacceptable. When we brought the car, we returned it to the branch manager's husband. Upon inspecting the car, he informed us that everything was fine and we were free to go. We asked him twice to give me some form of paper indicating the car was OK. Twice, he said it was OK and we could leave. We both left after the second verbal OK. This means this is the termination of our contract between us and Avis. At that point, we are no longer held responsible or liable with the car.

If there were issues, we should have been informed back then. A claim should have been filed at the moment when we returned the car. We brought the car back four hours before it was due and we even cleaned it beforehand. If the condition was not acceptable, we could have done something to work it out. The extra cleaning fee charged on the credit card is excessive. A car cleaning usually costs from $15.00 - $50.00 at the max. The price charged appears to be synonymous to a detailing fee.

Teresa (the manager) and her husband do not run the rental car agency in a professional manner. They are very dishonest, unethical and irresponsible in this matter. Teresa was out of the country when we returned the car so she had no idea of the car‘s condition. When a car is discharged, this should be the end of the rental. Adding extra fees after the car is signed off leads to bogus charges which I have no way of verifying. The car is no longer in my possession. There is no way for me to dispute the claim. False claims can be fabricated.

I have to vent on the horrible experience I had recently with Avis out of Boston Mass. I am a premier member with Avis and had no real complaints prior to this. I rented a car at Boston Aiport. Upon arrival, I had to stand in line for well over 30 minutes just to get my car. There were 2 people working the desk and for some reason, they did not have my name listed on the premier list. I got a disgruntled clerk. The car they set me up with was a stripped down PT Cruiser. I drove from the airport to my hotel, about 35 minutes away. After checking in, I was told that they would be expecting snow in the next few days and asked if I had a scraper for my car (at the hotel, mind you)or if I needed one. I went to the car and decided that I better check the wipers. Well, lo and behold, the wipers were non-functional. The wiper arms moved, but the blades were not wiping anything. I called Avis and was told to either buy a replacement set or bring the car back. I drive back to the airport and stand in another line, to get a replacement car. I waited a total of an hour to get the replacement car because a midsize car, which I rented, was not ready. Fine. After an hour, I complained that I was tired of waiting and the clerk upgraded me to an impala (I dont know what size that was). When I got in the car and started it, the power steering made a grinding noise. I walked back in to the clerk and told them about it. They came to check it out, but of course, the noise was not there. Fine. I figured it was just the cold. I drove back to the hotel. 2 days later, after a snow storm, I go to get in my car after a long meeting offsite. The power steering makes that same noise again and it would not work at all. It was like driving a 1966 car with no power steering. As I go to drive out of the lot, I notice that the tire is making noises. I pull over to check and find a flat tire. Great. It's probably 15 degrees out and I have to change a tire. I go to the trunk and there is no spare tire. The place where it belonged was emtpty! I called the 800 number and was told that all they could do was tow a replacement car to me but it would be 2 to 3 hours from the airport! WoW! No repair trucks with tires? I waited in the car for 2 hours before the replacement car showed up. The driver tells me that he did not have a replacement contract because the computers were down at the Avis place. Ok. Fine. I drive away in my Hyundai beater and prayed that nothing else happened. Well, nothing else happened to car but when I went to return it a week later, they couldnt find the contract on the car because no one ever put one in when they replaced it. Wait another 45 minutes and I am fnally out the door to my flight. I wrote Avis twice with the complaints, via their website and I have yet to receive a response. This was over a week ago. I am so disappointed with their customer service and lack of care about their customers that I am going to start using a different car service. I know that I am just a little fish but I think that renting around 12 weeks a year would at least get me a "We're sorry about your experience, we value our business and here's something to make up for it". Heck, even a free upgrade would have been nice. It's nice that Avis is not suffering financially like the rest of the world and they can afford to alienate loyal customer. It's a good thing my manager runs the travel dept at work too. Maybe if I get the word out to 1500 travelers where I work, it might cause Avis to think twice about their customers' needs.

Our experience, we are sharing for all our friends, who book thru internet companies.

We rented a premium car from AVIS, MCI (Kansas City International Airport) thru Hotwire.com
When we went to pickup the Car, they didn't give us two choices 2 different types of cadillac,
without any explanation or clarity they gave the papers to sign. We are in a hurry and we believed
AVIS company we initialed, thinking that we are getting the car we booked.

When we returned the car after six days and they gave an additional bill for $240 saying that,
that is for the upgrade and charged on the credit card. We said we never asked for an upgrade and they said we put initial for the upgrade.

Later we get to know from our friends that by hiding and misleading us they make money from the
customers who booked thru internet companies like hotwire, priceline etc.. We complaint about this and
got an as usual "regretting letter" from the manager.

This is a daylight white collar cheating. Don't be cheated with this types
of frauds. Double check and ask before you put initial. Make sure if there is
any additional charges, before you pickup a car.

BEWARE and AVOID AVIS MCI(Kansas City International Airport)

A ripped off customer.

We booked a rental car using online and they assured us with a Aveo car and the estimate given was $98.07. When we went to pick the vehicle the Aveo changed to Ford Focus and the estimate also changed to $117. We paid the money using debit card. they charged $400. They didnt inform us that they are charging this much amount. Anyways that was our need to have a car. so we hired it. After 2 days when we went to return the car the bill amount changed to $135 and paid us back the remaning amount. They gave us a stupid reason for that. I feel they are the most cheating people.

I rented a car from Avis on [protected]. My son and I were asked if we wanted insurance we said no, it was to much. The employee tried to overcharge us by saying it was $339.00 to rent a car. My son got on his cellphone and called Avis representative and told him it should only be $183.99 to rent. We kept the car until 6-4-2007. When it was turned in at Atlanta airport my son was told we owe for insurance. He tried to explain that we had not purchase insurance he was very upset. I called AVIS on 6-6-2007 to try and get this matter resolved spoke with two employees, one was a supervisor. Spoke with her explained what had happened. She told me to fax my contract and she would look into it that was on, gave her my home number I have not heard from her yet. I keep calling there is no answer and still not returning my calls. Avis took oyt $537.97 out of my banking account, the only money that was suppose to be taken out was the money for the rental of the car. This is my hard earn money I work for and I'm single parent. Iwould like to talk to an Avis representative that is willing to listen and find out what is going on. If this is how Avis is going to run there company by not talking to there customer who are very upset and unhappy, I personally not rent from them again. What the young man did at Atlanta Airport Avis was very dishonest.

I work for United Airlines and I rented an SUV from the OKC airport for a vacation trip to Destin Florida. I had my mom and my two small kids with me. Along the way I was stranded in Memphis, TN with major transmission problems. I called their road side assistance and it took them 2 hrs to send me a wrecker with another SUV that had bald tires. I followed the wrecker back to AVIS and returned both cars. Then after waisting 3 hrs of my vacation time they gave me a third SUV. When I made it to Destin after the 4th day of being there, a light came on my drive mode. Once again I called and told them they had given me another car with transmission problems. I ended up speaking with someone that spoke very bad english from their Tallahasse road side assistance who didn't know how to use a GPS to track me down and find me. The worst part was this person lived in Florida but didn't now where Destin was so he tried to find me and with no success was unable to locate where I was staying because he was 700 Miles away from me! I called the Fort Walton road side assistance and at this point this had turned into a nightmare for me and I was becoming more and more agitated that I wasn't getting the proper assistance I needed to replace the bad car with something else that would get me and my family home safe. After serveral hours later, I received a phone call that someone from road side assistance in Fort Walton, Florida was finally coming to rescue me and take their lemon back. When I returned home and presented my complaint to the OKC Airport check out counter along with all the paper work I had acquired from each bad car and what I had gone through just to get a safe car to take me home, they only deducted 2 days worth of rent. I felt very cheated after I had paid over 800.00 just to go through 3 bad cars and my vacation time very interrupted with something that should have never happened in the first place had they kept up the maintenance on their cars. As I mentioned before, I work for United Airlines and I assist 100's of custmers day in and out, but the one thing I always do is make good on a bad situation.