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Fraudulent and Inflated Charges
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

POND EDDY, NEW JERSEY -- We recently rented a car from Avis on our vacation in Colorado. Waiting two hours for the car was very unpleasant on already late arrival, despite filling all the information in advance to expedite. While hiking on our last day we lost the key to the rental car. Our mistake to be sure. When we called the roadside assistance, they told me it would cost us 250 for the key and 300 for the tow. It was a lot of money for us but we had no other choice. We wanted to use our AAA service but Avis would not allow it. We were left no other choice. Our 4 hour wait for the tow was not fun but again, our fault.

When I received the bill by email a week after our return the bill was 1178.67, which was 560 above our rental agreement (our original agreement had added tolls and fueling, a total of 620). All according to our high but expected cost (albeit not very clear). To my surprise I received a notice in the mail on 9/6/23 stating that an additional charge of 564.11 will be billed to my card for the tow. I called on 9/7/23 at 12:25 pm and the customer service representative assured me that the charges already included the key and the tow and that I will NOT be charged any additional fees.

Much to my surprise, I received a second notice today 9/14. I emailed and then called and got the runaround and different answers from 3 different reps. One claimed that this was the Roadside Assistance coverage, since we did not pay it and another claimed that it was the tow. When I asked to speak to a supervisor I waited 35 minutes and finally got to speak a "supervisor" who told me that the previous customer service I spoke with on September 7th was wrong. This is incredible and unacceptable. When searching online I saw many other complaints about "Nora Henry" who sent the letter and who was not available to speak with me. We do not want money back. We just don't want to pay any additional charges. I have been a loyal Avis customer for many years. But never again.

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Deceptive Website Pricing
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

PARSIPPANY, NEW JERSEY -- Deceptive website pricing: First price does not include taxes & fees. Second price is the "estimated" total (which is not the total price). The total price is only shown after you click the reservation/charge my card, shows up and is $100 more. Do not be fooled. Customer service stated that they would "file a report and this would be investigated." They said, too, they would cancel my reservation and refund everything. Also not the case. $50 is being held hostage for 3-10 business days.

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AVIS - Frankfurt Airport, Germany SCAM!!
By -

Had to go to Germany for a business trip. Since AVIS/Budget is a U.S. name, and my company has a contract with them, I went with this company. The guy at the counter was not particularly friendly and, although I had reserved an automatic, he told me they only had one car left and that it was a manual. It was an "upgrade" so I didn't complain. The car was a black Renault Megane. I rented a car from the 4/25/2011 - 5/5/2011. When I did the initial inspection, I couldn't find anything wrong with the car.

I turned the car in on the morning of May 5th, as the contract stated. I thought it seemed extremely strange that the attendant who I turned the car in to walked straight to the back left of the car and pointed to a tiny ding on the wheel well. It was so small I couldn't see it. I actually thought he was messing with me, until he handed me a paper and asked to sign it acknowledging the "dent". I told him I don't see a dent. He pulled me over to where he was and said, "You have to look at how the light reflects from this spot."

There was a tiny flaw, no bigger than a 10 font letter "o". I mean SO SMALL that you need to get 2 inches from it to see the distortion of the light reflecting. He said he was writing it down, but not to worry about it, wasn't going to get charged for anything. He never gave me a receipt or anything. I will admit that there were a lot of things I could have done to better protect myself in this situation, but I trusted AVIS and their reps... That was a HUGE mistake.

When I got back to the U.S. I saw a charge of over $1700 on my credit card. I called AVIS and they informed me that since it's a franchise in Europe, there was nothing they could do about it but send an email. They couldn't even get me a receipt or tell me what had been charged! AVIS stated that I should get a call back in 24 hours. 3 days later I called them: "Still investigating". 4 more days: "No new information, still investigating".

I finally got a letter in the mail from AVIS that said something about over 1050 EUR of damage and that I didn't have to do anything, as they simply charged my card. Gee, thanks for taking care of that for me AVIS... with NO AUTHORIZATION. The back of the letter had 4 pictures on it. One of which was a huge scratch and dent on a zebra striped background that was NOT what they tried to show me when I returned it. I've read on this site another person that got a "photo with a scratch on a zebra striped background". If you are reading this and have the same photo, reply immediately so we can fry these guys for fraud and extortion.

I'm currently in the process of disputing it with AMEX and AVIS, but haven't heard anything in a week or so. I've also compiled a Word Doc of all the other complaints on the "AVIS Frankfurt Airport" that I could get my hands on to try to build a case against them. Almost all of them are from the last 6 months... Kind of suspect.

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Failed to Award Miles for Rental
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

AUSTIN, TEXAS -- Rented on seven occasions with Avis and they only credited miles from two of them. Despite having provided numbers, copies, etc., repeatedly to Customer Service they cannot get it right. Head of Avis-Budget Corporate Resolution apologized profusely in an email dated Dec. 16, 2016 stating miles would be credited. Of course it never happened.

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Very Poor Service
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

PHOENIX, ARIZONA -- Last November, I rented an Avis car at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. Less than a half hour after leaving the airport location I had a flat tire directly in front of an auto repair shop. I immediately turned into the parking lot and asked if I could pay someone to change the tire for me. A manager told me would be happy to change the tire but wouldn't think of charging me for it.

Upon opening the trunk, we discovered that there was no spare tire which was the first issue. So, he brought out an air compressor to get enough air in the tire so that I could slowly drive to a satellite Avis location less than a quarter mile away. It quickly became apparent that the tire was not holding the air. In trying to determine why, he noticed that there was a large hole in the interior portion of the wheel. So, all the air being pumped into the tire was immediately coming out of the hole.

Given the location of the hole it was obviously a defective wheel and not something I had done. The nearby Avis location exchanged the car which made me happy until four months later when I received a repair bill for $677.44 for damages that I did NOT cause. Now I am decidedly UNhappy and will NEVER rent from this company again.

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Bad Service, Bad Policies
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- Arrived SLC 5PM Friday and waited 96 minutes in line as 3 agents did their best, when they weren't taking a break. Hertz next door had 8 agents and no one waited. Then, all I had was my debit card as I forgot my AMEX at home. They were not going to rent me anything, but wait, I prepaid this rental with my debit card and was told too bad, I should have read their terms... all 8 pages I guess. They finally assigned me a lesser class car that had muddy water in the washer fluid, bad wipers, oil change required warning and melted chocolate all over the display, I hope that's what it was. Don't use Avis. They've really gone to the dogs, which is what they'll rent me next time.

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Never Again
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA -- I rented a car from Avis at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport. My contract called for a rental cost of $82.01 but I was charged $124.46. I called customer service and I was told this was a gas charge. Putting aside the fact that the tank was 3/4 full when I returned it, the gas charge policy was not clearly spelled out during the rental process. The customer service agent simply told me this was the Avis policy and he was unwilling to do anything about it. If you decide to rent from Avis, hire a lawyer to go through the fine print and the entire rental agreement or you will be paying for "sneaky" charges that you never anticipated.

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Tricked Us Into Signing For LDW
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

RENO, NEVADA -- Rented a car online 6/16 to be picked up at Reno, NV. Paid for the car online in advance and declined LDW online. I am 75 years old and have never gotten LDW on a rental car. When I picked up the car at the airport, somehow the rental agent at the counter tricked me into initialing for LDW, even though I had declined it online. I have told them through email and correspondence that if I had wanted LDW that I wouldn't have denied it online, when I paid in advance for the vehicle. They have now given this erroneous bill to a collection agency. Beware the Avis Budget Group rental cars, THEY ARE UNETHICAL!!!

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Unscrupulous
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

KANSAS CITY AIRPORT, MISSOURI -- I reserved a car at Avis for pickup at the Kansas City International Airport (reservation made through American Airlines). The daily cost was quoted as $52. When I returned the car, I noticed I had been charged a $15 per day "upgrade fee." I called the Avis customer service and asked why. I had not requested an upgrade and to be honest by the size and comfort of the car, I don't know how you get any smaller.

The "customer service" representative asked if I had read the contract before renting. I said not really as the only thing the desk agent went over was declining insurance and prepaid gas. If there was something about an upgrade in the two pages of 8 font, single space document that was displayed on a tablet screen, I did not see it. He came back with "You signed the agreement and it was in the agreement so you have to pay it." So basically, the desk agent upsold me and didn't tell me she was upselling me nor tell me I was being charged extra for the upsell. How unscrupulous can you get? Sickening that Avis has to stoop that low to get more money.

NEVER AGAIN. I implore anyone considering renting from AVIS (or Budget for that matter as they are owned by the same company) to think twice and if you are still bold enough to go through with it... Read every freaking word of the agreement even if it takes all day. I won't worry about that as I will not rent from them again and I travel a heck of a lot.

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Terrible! Liars!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

ROCHESTER AIRPORT, NEW YORK -- I reserved a car but because my flight was due in pretty late I called to confirm that it wouldn't be a problem. The person said they always wait for the last flight even if it's delayed. Liars! My flight was 45 minutes late. I went straight to the counter from the plane and I watched them walk out as I approached the rental counter. The guy said the manager had left and there was nothing he could do. He said he was calling someone but then he got in a car and left. My group had to spend $300 renting a hotel room for the night! I won't EVER rent from Avis again! Terrible!

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Avis Rating:
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1.3 out of 5, based on 27 ratings and
120 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Avis
900 Old Country Rd.
Garden City, NY 11530
800-352-7900 (ph)
www.avis.com
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