Avis Car Rental Reviews 102

Reserved a full size car for a 2 week trip. At check in CT location. It was an unexpected lengthy wait time - with zero line but an incredibly inattentive desk rep,
Issue #1) specifically discussed in detail and declined toll service. Was specifically instructed there was no transponder in the vehicle, AND to ensure not used to keep the box in the closed position. Box WAS empty, and kept in the closed position entire time. 9 days after vehicle return received credit card charge for over $400 for tolls plus the Avis daily surcharge fee for privilege of use. MORE: - the charges were absolutely for tolls NOT at all on my route; - Phoned Avis, tolls have nothing to do with them, it’s 3rd party billing!!!! Was given a contact phone number to self manage. Number is an endless message of ‘your call is in line’, after 42 minutes on hold, selected the “call back” option. Amazing there was a call back. Advised by the rep there is no opt-out of the toll fee service or toll charges, the plate is scanned, you get charged - even if you paid the toll by other method!!!!! Called credit card, they said no problem to reverse and dispute charge, and they block the merchant. Thank you credit card!
2) the assigned vehicle offered at pick up was a Dodge Hornet - not at all comfortable seats when we checked it out, and comfort was the big purpose of selecting full size. Went back to desk. Rep claimed that even though we reserved weeks in advance this was the only available vehicle “turned in lately” to fit our rental selection. We were just about to upgrade when she admitted there were other vehicles in “the back’. We went to take a look. Ok. We ended up with a RAV 4, not the comfort sedan we wanted, but it had ok comfort seating and was not too large an SU.
Take-away: highly unlikely to use Avis again.

Overall not a great experience. Firstly on booking you don't add the one way fee to the advertised prices, which all other rental firms do, very misleading and makes it hard to compare. At the desk we were just told which bay and everything was in the car, but then there was no paperwork or damage report. I managed to find someone who explained the paperwork was emailed, which I never got, then they said go to the gate for the damage report, the car was covered in minor but sizeable damage so I pulled up near the gate and asked, she seemed confused and told me to pull up at the gate. Very little damage was recorded and because I was at the gate, a queue was forming and the pressure is then on to accept and drive off. So I had to pull over to photograph all of the damage myself. Also it's worth adding at Midway we got dropped off in a taxi and there was no signage or explanation as to what to do at any stage so we got lost, went to the terminal had to get a bus back to where we started, it was all so unclear.
On returning the car, it turns out that what we had pre paid, which was your advertised price that we agreed to was only an "estimated price" and you can add whatever the hell you like once the car is returned. In this case, $155. That is not made clear when booking, it's in the small print of the receipt, we would not have booked with you and certainly will never again. It's a shameful, sneaky, misleading and disgraceful way doing business. So well done, you scraped every penny out of us but you won't ever get our business again.

Rented a one way hire from Salt Lake City to Denver. The two front tires on the minivan were bald; one worse than the other. Car was not cleaned and the body work was in poor condition.
Contacted Avis via there online service because using their phone service was hopeless. It took them 9 days to respond via email. By that time we were in Breckenridge with one day left before returning the vehicle at Denver. After spending nearly 50 minutes waiting to have me phone call answered the option they offered was have the car towed to Denver, collect another car, drive back to Breckenridge and then return it the next day. The other offer was to refund the cost of the one way hire. Our trip to the states was great apart from our experience with this rental. I appreciate I should have taken more time in inspecting the car but have now learnt my lesson; renter beware.
Would not recommend Avis and more than happy to have this report sent to them

I recommend that you end your relationship with CarTrawler as this is damaging their good name and reputation. They are causing unnecessary frustration and I feel cheated.

Rented a Avis car in San Antonio and dropped it off in Houston. All went well and the car got inspected. 3 months later I got a 150 USD charge on my credit card without previous notice. A couple of days later a letter was sent stating that a tire was damaged. No previous communication, no photographical evidence no nothing. Told them that the car got inspected and if there really was a tire damage they did not notice there was no evidence that I caused that damage in case a damage existed in the first place where I got no evidence of. Asked my credit company to reverse that charge and now I am ready for a fight.

Beware of choosing Avis Car Rental.
We picked up a car Nov. 14, 2024 in White Plains to drive 35 minutes to our home, then drop off early in the morning at White Plains Airport(35 minutes). We were 4 adults. When picking up the car, we inspected it with the attendant for damage. There was a lot of dents and scratches, and it was noted. It was dark when picking up so we didn't notice how dirty the seats were until the morning when leaving for the airport. We figured that they knew the condition of the car. We dropped it off, the attendant at the Avis Airport checked everything and said we were good to go. A week later, while on vacation, we received a notice from Avis that we were being charged $450.00 to clean the interior of the car. We tried to fight it with them. Unempathetic customer service people just said, "No, you must have dirtied the interior." We tried to fight it through our Chase card twice, but to no avail. Avis told Chase that their employees were, "highly trained and competent staff, that don't make mistakes." This is a joke! We have been loyal customers and are highly responsible people. We don't eat in cars, and any reasonable Avis employee would have seen that 4 adults on a quick drive to home then to airport, the stains on the seats most likely wouldn't have been from us. It looked like a messy family with kids had spilled fast food on the seats. I pride myself on honesty, integrity, and taking responsibility for anything I am guilty of. To be charged unfairly for something we weren't responsible for, really upsets me. After googling this issue, it turns out many others have had the same issue with Avis not catching the car returned dirty or damaged and then blaming and charging the next renter instead. Burden of proof is on the renter.
A few weeks later, we used another Avis car(reservation was made before this mess) from White Plains to JFK for a flight on Dec. 19, 2024. This time we took pictures of everything, inside and out. We made sure to fill up the car with gas, just before the airport. This time we took a picture of the gas gauge on the dash board so we have proof of full tank on return. Good thing we did because we got charged and extra $30 for gas not being filled. Honestly, in all the years of renting cars(without incident) from all of the different rental companies, these things have never happened to us. Avis, are you guys desperate for money? You have certainly lost our loyalty and business. I plan to tell anyone and everyone about our experience. Shame on you Avis! Do better!

Avis is a terrible business. I prepaid a rental and then found that they subsequently double charged me for the car rental after we returned. After months of trying to get support from Avis directly, I was forced to dispute the charge via my Visa credit card. Visa ultimately agreed and forced Avis to refund me. I now consider Avis a contemptible company that should be avoided. Funny enough, months after the dispute was closed, Avis sent me an email saying I was blacklisted from renting their cars forever. 😁

‼️ DO NOT RENT FROM Avis Car Rental ‼️
After renting a car in San Fransisco to drive to LA, the vehicle was involved in a hit and run after only a couple of hours. We contacted Avis who sent out roadside assistance to collect the car on 22.10.24. After having the car collected and getting an Uber an hour away from our location, I got in contact with Avis to be spun a web of lies. The first person I spoke to assured me we could get a replacement within 24hours. The next day I recontacted Avis to be told the car had not been returned to the location yet and that I would have to wait. I was then told I could return to the original place of hire to get a replacement, which was now over 6 hours away and with no car, this would be impossible. In the end, we had to go to another car hire company and pay out £600 to rent a new car for the duration of our trip.
Since being home, I have made many attempts to contact Avis to get this sorted with unhelpful responses from them. The company I booked the rental through then contacted me to say that Avis had been in contact with them to say that I had not returned the car. I explained the situation to them and they said they would take over the case. Since then, they have been attempting to get in contact with Avis to tell them what has happened and Avis are ignoring their attempts of contact too.
I also contacted the recovery company in November to find out that Avis had not recovered the vehicle from them.
I have now been charged nearly £6000 for not returning the car. I left America on 2.11.2024. I had all of the correct insurances and the charge is not for damages. With it being impossible to get in contact with Avis USA, I have been in contact with Avis UK who say the charges are for extra days used until now.
Avis customer service is the worst I have ever encountered.

I stayed at Universal Sapphire falls and rented a car from in house Avis. I dealt with Edgar and it was a real pleasure. I received a great price booking online and there was absolutely no problems in picking up the car and drippoing it off. There were no extra charges and had absolutely no issues at all. Because of the ease of it, wetwice rented. Many thanks Edgar.

Avis are the worst company I have ever had to deal with.
They provided a car that was not only dangerous but illegal and should never have been allowed on the road.
It had a steering defect and both front tyres were bald. One was down to the steel bracing!!!!
They obviously do not check the cars between customers.
It took a whole day to sort out and wasted two days of a very expensive holiday.
Dealing with their Emergency "Hot line" was very stressful - the initial phone call took an hour.
They even told me to drive to Portland Airport to get a replacement - in a car that was dangerous and illegal!!!
I insisted on a recovery truck which took 6 hours to arrive.
I have been trying to get realistic compensation.
I've got nowhere with Customer Services so have written to the CEO and every member of the board but to no avail!!
I will never use them again

Rented a car via Miami downtown office for collection after disembarking from cruise. I chose Avis as they advertised a shuttle service from the cruise terminal. For starters, the port shuttle service didn’t turn up. They say they have a shuttle service but it’s a lie. Tried calling the office multiple times but no one answers the phone; we will see why in a moment. After getting cab to rental office we were faced with utter chaos. As it turns out there were limited numbers of cars available. There was a huge group of people, some having been waiting for several hours after their collection time. None of the staff gave a crap. The staff were friendly enough and the issue with car returns may not be their fault but I doubt anyone left waiting on the sidewalk will think that. Many people were calling around trying to get a rental elsewhere. Fortunately, having ordered an SUV rather than more economy model they put me in a mini van that had been returned shortly before; not the vehicle I wanted but the alternative was to wait an unspecified amount of time for an SUV. I asked about the shuttle but the lady at the counter did not know anything about the service. She did say that there had been many complaints because no one knew where the shuttle collected passengers; she had no idea.

In short. DO NOT rent from Avis Miami in expectation of using the shuttle. If the shuttle exists, no one knows where it collects passengers The downtown office is a mess. There are no cars and you may be left waiting for hours. I won’t use Avis again - ever.

Absolutely appalling experience with Avis. From unclear contracts to a customer service team that seems intent on evading responsibility—every step of the process was a nightmare. Not only was there a lack of transparency in their contract terms, but when I faced issues with extra charges, I was met with a customer service team that outright refused to send me any proof of a supposed refund.

Despite my requests for a confirmation, they kept insisting on the refund status while it didn’t appear on my account, leaving me in the dark and without my money. And to make matters worse, they piled on additional charges with vague explanations and zero accountability.

It's shocking that a company of this size fails so completely in delivering even basic customer service. I will never be using Avis again, and I strongly advise others to avoid them as well. Save yourself the headache and go with a company that actually respects its customers.

I booked a car via Expedia and paid the full price. On return Avis price was magically $125 extra and they took the money from my credit card. Naturally, I queried this, bur they have not answered nearly 2 weeks later. The invoice does not explain the extra charge either. I chose Avis because it is a recognised brand and asdumed they would be honest and straightforward. I am very disappointed.

Huge line to rent at Boston Logan for a rental we had pre-booked, car was not ready when we got the paper work and had to wait for another 15 mins in the garage while to got it 'ready', and when we got it had not been cleaned or fueled but we took it because we needed to get to a meeting and were running late. And to top it all off when I got the bill they had added $ 68 for extended road-side assistance which we had declined but the agent included anyway and I didnt check carefully before signing. When I called Avis customer service to explain they were like robots repeating the same thing - you signed for it, you have to pay! I am not sure what part of 'we try harder' all of this represents, but I will never rent with this company again. Hertz is #1 for a reason!

I reserved and prepaid for a full sized car from Avis Car Rental located at 2110 Ventura Street, Fresno, Ca. The reservation was prepaid from Sept. 19th through Sept. 21st.
This morning, September 19th, I received a call from an Avis employee that my rental would not be ready at noon unless I wanted to downsize. I said "no" and the employee said that she should have a return before 1:00. I agreed to wait.
The employee called back at 12:15 saying my car was ready. My husband drove me to the location where I was informed that they were having trouble with Prepaid customers, and I would have to call customer service and cancel my reservation and redo/start over on the reservation OR drive another 15 miles to another Avis location where there was no trouble with" prepays. this still meant I had to cancel my existing reservation and redo a new reservation. These options all imposed on my (customer) time.
I should have been informed of the situation/problem with "prepays" during one of the 3 calls I received from the Avis employee/s prior to my arriving at the rental location. The Buick SUV I settled for was unable to be washed as the employee said their car washing equipment was not working. She said that they had washed the windshield.
We were offered nothing for our trouble by the location but only asked to handle /change/cancel my reservation and start a new one which the Ventura Street location could do for me.

In today's world customer service is "when provided"
your best tool. I hope you will make the changes necessary to improve so I am the last customer you loose.

I have called Avis Customer Service and they offered me a 3day rental coupon which I declined. The agent was professional and had a clear understanding of our poor experience.

Rented a car from Avis Heathrow. Booking: 0637-3914-GB-1, 1 day from Aug 17th, 2024 to return the next day. Prepaid online(£91), had an Avis employee call me to make some verifications so I can have a QuickPass. QuickPass was issued. I showed up at the Avis Heathrow counter (Saturday August 17th, 2024) only to be told that 'I could not get a car as I was on 'some Avis list'. The person at the counter had zero people skills, no apologies, just laid my driving licence, ID and credit card on the counter. I asked what was that 'list' and what and when caused me to be on that list. She could not tell me. I asked the attendant if I was on that 'list', how coud they take my money and even issue me a QuickPass? The Avis person could not answer anything, and was just standing there. Filed a complaint to get a refund. Nothing is happening. Aweful company and service. Joining the long list of 1 star reviews I wish I had consulted before I rented. Don't make my mistake and avoid them at all costs. Plenty of comeptitors happy to serve paying customers.

Booked flight from London Heathrow to Jacksonville via Miami on March 9. When arrived at Miami was advised that flight to Jacksonville was delayed due to weather then mechanical issues. I rang you on 1 904-741-2327 to advise that I would not be able to pick car up that evening as flight would not arrive in time. Twice I went through to the correct option to speak to someone and twice I was cut off. I therefore e-mailed your customer service team (case reference 63302967) for advice and advised that an agent would get back to me.
We finally got to Jacksonville late on March 11 (earliest flight we could get on!) and when I went to check in with Avis I was advised there was no car as 24 hours had elapsed. I explained that I had rung them and e-mailed them (still no reply at this point) so what was I supposed to do. She said that as I had booked the car with Avis via British Airways I should have rung them! Nowhere on my Car Rental Voucher does it say this. As we had now effectively been travelling for 3 days I left and paid USD120 out of my own pocket to our destination in St Augustine. Therefore I am £338.77 out of pocket fo the car hire that did not materialise and USD120 foŕ the taxi fare to final destination! I finally got a reponse fom a Karla at Avis Customer Service just as I was leaving the airport stating that they could not trace my reservation.

We were given a rental car that had bald tires, a gas tank that was duct taped together, and massive dents on the car. And it was an expensive Jeep Wagoneer. And many of the features inside the car did not work. The woman refused to refund and I begged her to take the car off the road because it was deemed unsafe. I’ve never experienced something like this in my life. And I’ve been traveling and renting cars for 20 years. If you need to rent a car at BWI do not and I repeat do not go to Avis. It is unsafe.

Never Avis Chicago
I will start to say tanks to Hertz for helping out

We have ordered a car for 14 days with ending Ind JFK new your.
But when we came to pick up the care in Chicago we meet a nazi costumer service
We showed a digital drive’s license and an international drivers license and a passport but that was enough for the costumer service so we cut not have the car. The costumer service strictly requires a Danish license where the same information was as the digital and the international license
So we ended up with Hertz but the same trip was 3000 $ more for the same trip
So thank you Avis Chicago for ruining or vacation 👍

Rented a car from Avis at Excalibur in Vegas. Ended being charged for damage that was not there when I turned in the vehicle. I am currently fighting the charges. My advise to anyone dealing with these crooks is to take a extensive video of before you pick up and after you drop off the car. They are nothing but thieves.