Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

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tooluser
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Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by tooluser »

I have never been fond of Avis, but my company has a very good discount with them for both business and personal rentals, so they have been my go-to for over 30 years. This post is a warning on how awful their customer service is. It is actionable for others doing business with Avis.

Avis recently tried to charge me for an eToll that was billed during the time of my rental, but clearly was delayed from the previous owner, based on the car's out-of-state license plates. I disputed it through their regular customer service channel, but was aggressively denied each time during several exchanges of emails, even though it was obviously impossible that I could have incurred the eToll charge (miles on car were not enough to travel to the destination of the the eToll). All of the idiotic responses to my dispute can be paraphrased as "We sent you a bill and that is proof that you owe us the money." No thought, effort, or attention went into actually understanding my dispute.

I cannot imagine why their customer service is so incompetent as to attempt to purposely lose a customer of over 30 years, by being non-responsive to a legitimate dispute of a mistake on their part totaling all of $7.

I finally got it fixed through the Avis Office of the President, a link available through the Avis Budget Group Investor Relations website. It was resolved with one short email, as it should have been in the first place. In general: If you give the regular customer service a try, and can't find out how to escalate a customer service issue that is not being resolved, always check the company's Investor Relations site. This has worked for me a few times now (Marriott, AT&T, Avis).

I will now think twice about ever renting from Avis again, though I have had other issues with other rental car companies over the years, so maybe there is no hope. At least the other ones all fixed the issue the first time with no nonsense. I do not understand how a business, as a first choice, desires to sacrifice thousands of dollars of future revenue over $7 of nonsense on their own part.
Like good comrades to the utmost of their strength, we shall go on to the end. -- Winston Churchill
quietseas
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by quietseas »

I stopped using Avis years ago due to nuisance billing and false damage findings. They twice claimed I dinged a car (employer handled it), and were going to do it a third time as I was rubbing a spot of tar off the car while the lady was telling me to stop. Her behavior led me to believe she was on commission to find damage.

I haven't rented a car in a few years but I never had these problems with Hertz (but again that was all pre-pandemic).
PNWpilot
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by PNWpilot »

Had a similar problem with another rental car company a few years ago. Billed me $XXX for fuel saying I brought it back empty, despite being brought back full. I disputed it with the company and was told the same thing "we billed you, therefore you owe us." I then disputed it with my credit card company and was told "they provided us with a copy of your receipt. The fuel charge is on the receipt therefore you owe them."

I ended up sending an email and a time-stamped fuel receipt to the Better Business Bureau. The problem was resolved in about 3 business days. I would highly recommend BBB as well.
tibbitts
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by tibbitts »

tooluser wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 8:58 pm I will now think twice about ever renting from Avis again, though I have had other issues with other rental car companies over the years, so maybe there is no hope. At least the other ones all fixed the issue the first time with no nonsense. I do not understand how a business, as a first choice, desires to sacrifice thousands of dollars of future revenue over $7 of nonsense on their own part.
I had my own issue with Avis that was eventually resolved. Similar to your situation, it was not disputable that I could not have incurred the charge. However I wouldn't especially avoid Avis in the future, just because I don't think it's necessarily different than other companies. Possibly having a problem escalated is more difficult at Avis: that was my experience. Once I managed to have my $150-ish dispute escalated, which was very a painful and prolonged process, I could tell it was actually investigated carefully, and was resolved to my satisfaction.
Trism
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by Trism »

After making a reasonable attempt to resolve this with Avis, your credit card company would have credited the $7 in a five-minute phone call.

I have somewhere around 2 million air miles behind me, and in my travels literally every single company I've used regularly for air, hotel or rental cars has done something infuriating and, honestly, completely indefensible.

In September a Hilton property refused to fully honor the daily food and beverage credit which is a clearly-defined benefit of Diamond status, and I had to contact Hilton Honors to recoup the difference. This was a stay booked with Hilton points, so I didn't have the credit card charge-back option.

Regardless, I just booked the Hilton London Hyde Park for a weekend in May, which I expect to go perfectly.
River in Sight
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by River in Sight »

Avis/Budget and Hertz all have poor Customer Service, in my opinion, however there is not much choice. I understand National may be better but their coverage is not broad enough for me.

The biggest nuisance for me is fuel billing. I just checked out a car at 7/8th (printed on the contract), brought it back at 7/8ths, made sure the clerk was aware, and still received a $40 fuel charge that I had to escalate to customer service. Luckily, I had a photo of the contract and the gas gauge at return. I also routinely have problems if I drive <75 miles, even with the receipt, even verbally confirming with the clerk, the fuel charge still appears and Customer Service has to be contacted.

I don't worry about dings/dents as I always use a credit card with coverage for that. Anytime I have had issues with dings/dents (only one of which was legit, when another car drove into me), my credit card issuer has always taken care of it.

For fuel, if I take the car out less than full, I always ensure it is printed on the contract, I take a picture of the contract, and of the gauge at check-out and check-in.
niagara_guy
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by niagara_guy »

I rented a car from Hertz 3 years ago, found small amount of damage when I returned car from someone evidently getting out of a parking spot. I had declined the extra insurance so they billed me (I think) about $100 for the damage which darn near caused me to fall off my chair because it was so low. It's good to deal with companies that treat their customers fairly.

I do insist when returning car that I get a signed paper saying 'no damage' before I leave. And I take pictures of car when I get it and when I return it.

Some credit cards provide rental car insurance (read the fine print) so I always decline the costly insurance pitched at the counter.

For companies out there that treat their customers fairly, keep up the good work!

I rented a car overseas through I think expedia, when I picked up car they were going to charge me about $2,000 more than my reservation. I had printed the reservation and had a copy so they finally relented and charged me the price I had made the reservation for.
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tooluser
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by tooluser »

River in Sight wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 9:28 am Avis/Budget and Hertz all have poor Customer Service, in my opinion, however there is not much choice. I understand National may be better but their coverage is not broad enough for me.

The biggest nuisance for me is fuel billing. I just checked out a car at 7/8th (printed on the contract), brought it back at 7/8ths, made sure the clerk was aware, and still received a $40 fuel charge that I had to escalate to customer service. Luckily, I had a photo of the contract and the gas gauge at return. I also routinely have problems if I drive <75 miles, even with the receipt, even verbally confirming with the clerk, the fuel charge still appears and Customer Service has to be contacted.

I don't worry about dings/dents as I always use a credit card with coverage for that. Anytime I have had issues with dings/dents (only one of which was legit, when another car drove into me), my credit card issuer has always taken care of it.

For fuel, if I take the car out less than full, I always ensure it is printed on the contract, I take a picture of the contract, and of the gauge at check-out and check-in.
Avis has gone paperless (at least at my last rental location), so the risk of shenanigans is now larger. Literally nothing to take a picture of but the car.
Like good comrades to the utmost of their strength, we shall go on to the end. -- Winston Churchill
bhrjwx
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by bhrjwx »

I would recommend Enterprise if it's an option. They seem to have the best objective definition of damage (this isn't their US site, but I've seen the damage evaluator tool being used in the US: https://support.enterprise.nl/hc/en-us/ ... ental-car-) and it's more generous than one might epect. I've never had an issue with unauthorized charges and generally find the experience of renting with them quite pleasant.
ddbtoth
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by ddbtoth »

tooluser wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 5:56 pm
River in Sight wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 9:28 am Avis/Budget and Hertz all have poor Customer Service, in my opinion, however there is not much choice. I understand National may be better but their coverage is not broad enough for me.

The biggest nuisance for me is fuel billing. I just checked out a car at 7/8th (printed on the contract), brought it back at 7/8ths, made sure the clerk was aware, and still received a $40 fuel charge that I had to escalate to customer service. Luckily, I had a photo of the contract and the gas gauge at return. I also routinely have problems if I drive <75 miles, even with the receipt, even verbally confirming with the clerk, the fuel charge still appears and Customer Service has to be contacted.

I don't worry about dings/dents as I always use a credit card with coverage for that. Anytime I have had issues with dings/dents (only one of which was legit, when another car drove into me), my credit card issuer has always taken care of it.

For fuel, if I take the car out less than full, I always ensure it is printed on the contract, I take a picture of the contract, and of the gauge at check-out and check-in.
Avis has gone paperless (at least at my last rental location), so the risk of shenanigans is now larger. Literally nothing to take a picture of but the car.
I shoot a before and after video, slow mo, around the car and interior, starting and stoping on the gas gauge. Used it 3 years ago when Alamo said there was a serious scratch on a fender. I sent them both videos and demanded to see their proof. They replied that it was marked on their little cartoon picture sheet showing damage. I said I would forward their response, my videos, to USAA and to see them about it. Never heard from them again.
brawlrats
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by brawlrats »

I had a bad CS incident with Avis two years ago. On business travel, asked for tolls to be charged as I used the ez pass. CS rep told me (lied to me) that wasn’t an option any more and the $25 per day charge was the only option. I was going to have daily tolls but nowhere near $25 per day, but sucked it up and signed since I needed to get to my customers office.

When I got to the hotel they night, I looked it up and sure enough the “pay as you go” option for tolls still existed. Contacted Avis and was told I needed to deal directly with the CS reps at the airport rental office, who of course were of absolutely no help.

I ultimately gave up since the cost was only about $100 and my company was reimbursing it and spending hours to fix it wasn’t worth it, but left a very bad taste in my mouth for Avis, particularly at the Newark airport.
Arabesque
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by Arabesque »

I only rent cars about once a year, but Since Covid, I am always charged for some few of the tolls. This is despite me using my toll tag. At first I assumed it was because it was impossible to totally cloak their tag, but then they went to better tag holders. I now think it borders on a scam. They are able to tack on charges for the tolls collected on their tag and billed later.

I just pay as the few dollars aren't worth the fight.
neilpilot
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by neilpilot »

Last week I rented from Avis at LAX. I always decline fuel service and simply fill up just before return. However, the on-screen rental agreement REQUIRED that I agree to their fuel service, and both the customer rep and his supervisor said that my agreement was a requirement if I wanted to rent the car. They explained that if I did return the car full, I wouldn't be charged for the fuel service. However, the screen certainly didn't say that, and I was left having to take their verbal assurance. That, as well as a few other statements they made at the counter, resulted in a very negative experience.
sidartvader
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by sidartvader »

We received a letter in the mail from Sedgwick (a company that administers claims for Avis), claiming a car we apparently rented from Avis has some damages on it and we should pay ~$2,000. The rental agreement number does not correspond to any of our past rentals (we have rented twice from them over the last 2 years). Numerous phone calls and emails have been exchanged. They seem to acknowledge that the rental belonged to someone else, but they keep asking inane things like our bank statement with the dates of the rental period! The last agent could sense my frustration and told me yesterday to not do anything till I see any charges on my credit cart.

We like the good rates we get from them and the Avis Preferred service is nice when picking up your vehicle. Now, if they could only do something about their customer service…
FireProof
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by FireProof »

Car rental companies simply don't have customer service, in a way that no airline, for example, could get away with. I recently reserved a car with Hertz two months before pickup recently. When I got to the counter, they said they were "out of cars." What should I do? "You can call customer service and see if there are cars anywhere else." After two long calls with customer service, they agreed that they could transfer my reservation to another location. I spent about two hours on public transit to get to the other location. When I got there, they said they saw no record of my reservation being transferred, but that they could give me a car. The only catch? It was more than ten times as expensive as my reservation. In the end, I lost a day of my trip and had to reserve from another company the next day, paying twice as much for a shorter rental.

Basically, a reservation means that you guarantee to give them money if they feel like giving you a car, and they guarantee absolutely nothing - it shouldn't even qualify as a contract. They take as many reservations as they can, then honor only the most lucrative ones.
egrets
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by egrets »

I rent from Enterprise about once a year. I have never had any trouble with them.. They even pick me up at my house and drive me home.
talzara
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by talzara »

bhrjwx wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 6:25 pm I would recommend Enterprise if it's an option.
egrets wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 9:44 am I rent from Enterprise about once a year. I have never had any trouble with them.
In 7 of the last 10 years, Enterprise, National, and Alamo have ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the J.D. Power survey for rental car satisfaction. The only years that the three Enterprise brands didn't have a clean sweep were when Hertz made it into the top three. Hertz was buying its way to the top of the rankings, and it couldn't keep it up after it went bankrupt.

Here's the latest J.D. Power survey from 2021: https://www.jdpower.com/business/press- ... tion-study

Enterprise is playing a very different game from Avis and Hertz. Enterprise is owned by the Taylor family, and the founder's granddaughter recently became the company's third CEO. Avis and Hertz sometimes go through three CEOs in 10 years! Enterprise can do a lot more long-term planning because it doesn't have to answer to Wall Street.
doobiedoo
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by doobiedoo »

I use National [Emerald Aisle] for car rentals. I have NEVER had these problems with National. When there is no National car rental, I use Enterprise. Again, I don't see these problems. I use National once or twice a year. I rent from Enterprise once every 3-4 years.
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tooluser
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by tooluser »

talzara wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 6:22 pm
bhrjwx wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 6:25 pm I would recommend Enterprise if it's an option.
egrets wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 9:44 am I rent from Enterprise about once a year. I have never had any trouble with them.
In 7 of the last 10 years, Enterprise, National, and Alamo have ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the J.D. Power survey for rental car satisfaction. The only years that the three Enterprise brands didn't have a clean sweep were when Hertz made it into the top three. Hertz was buying its way to the top of the rankings, and it couldn't keep it up after it went bankrupt.

Here's the latest J.D. Power survey from 2021: https://www.jdpower.com/business/press- ... tion-study

Enterprise is playing a very different game from Avis and Hertz. Enterprise is owned by the Taylor family, and the founder's granddaughter recently became the company's third CEO. Avis and Hertz sometimes go through three CEOs in 10 years! Enterprise can do a lot more long-term planning because it doesn't have to answer to Wall Street.
Very interesting! I have always been treated well by Enterprise, but they have often been the most expensive for me when evaluating options.

The other two I have had occasional problems with, but they always fixed it the first time, if it was fixable. Alamo once required me to return a car and rent another of the exact same model in order to extend a rental at a reasonable price. This makes no sense to their customers, nor for their business. It could not possibly have been cheaper for them, as they could have simply rented out the car I was exchanging for. National once ended up buying me a plane ticket because they messed up their rental to me. These situations did resolve amiably in one go.
Like good comrades to the utmost of their strength, we shall go on to the end. -- Winston Churchill
Super Hans
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by Super Hans »

doobiedoo wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 6:53 pm I use National [Emerald Aisle] for car rentals. I have NEVER had these problems with National. When there is no National car rental, I use Enterprise. Again, I don't see these problems. I use National once or twice a year. I rent from Enterprise once every 3-4 years.
I've done very well over the years with National "Executive Service," but as the car supply situation started to deteriorate in 2020, I found myself at JFK with only one lousy car to "choose" from--or one mediocre car for which I'd have to pay extra. And then my neighborhood Avis made me stand outside waiting in line for over an hour on a hot summer day, although eventually they gave me a nice car.

I leased a car and haven't been an active renter since. How are things these days? Are the lots full of cars again?
28fe6
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by 28fe6 »

Another vote for National. I switched from a company that used national as preferred company to one that used Avis and I'm sort of shocked with how bad Avis is. I usually assume they are all crooks but apparently some are worse than others.
jmw
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by jmw »

Trism wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 4:47 am In September a Hilton property refused to fully honor the daily food and beverage credit which is a clearly-defined benefit of Diamond status, and I had to contact Hilton Honors to recoup the difference. This was a stay booked with Hilton points, so I didn't have the credit card charge-back option.

Regardless, I just booked the Hilton London Hyde Park for a weekend in May, which I expect to go perfectly.
Was the September hotel in the US? If so, that benefit was already devalued officially by Hilton. That makes sense because US Hilton elites can gain status by holding a credit card.
Tenesmus83
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by Tenesmus83 »

every company is automating their "customer service" to reduce overhead costs. Farming it overseas of automating it.
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illumination
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by illumination »

The worse part is, when you rent a car, you almost never have time to properly address any issues. You're catching a flight or coming in and have somewhere to be that's time sensitive.

The last rental I had, there was minor body damage down the side when I got possession of the cat. I had just waited about 45 minutes to get through a line to get the keys, and then take a long walk to get to my car, am I really going to take another hour or so to make sure they know I'm not responsible even though I have no idea if they caught this from the last customer? It ended up working out fine, but I've heard the horror stories. I just try and take pictures and document when I get the vehicle. I also got an AMEX as they seem to have some additional consumer protections for rentals on there.
Trism
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by Trism »

jmw wrote: Thu Jan 27, 2022 8:54 pm
Trism wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 4:47 am In September a Hilton property refused to fully honor the daily food and beverage credit which is a clearly-defined benefit of Diamond status, and I had to contact Hilton Honors to recoup the difference. This was a stay booked with Hilton points, so I didn't have the credit card charge-back option.

Regardless, I just booked the Hilton London Hyde Park for a weekend in May, which I expect to go perfectly.
Was the September hotel in the US? If so, that benefit was already devalued officially by Hilton. That makes sense because US Hilton elites can gain status by holding a credit card.
Yes, it was a US property. The benefit is a daily credit for the Diamond member and up to 1 guest.

I made the reservation for two people but they refused to honor (get it? :D ) the daily credit for my guest.

The property claimed that they didn't have to honor the guest benefit because I didn't explicitly include the name of the guest on my reservation.

Hilton Honors finally mailed me a check for the difference, not as a pat on the head to make me go away, but because the property refused to honor the loyalty program's terms. They also gave me 10,000 Hilton points as a token of apology.
Horologium
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Re: Avis Rental Car, almost "No Customer Service"

Post by Horologium »

ddbtoth wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 9:19 pm I shoot a before and after video, slow mo, around the car and interior, starting and stoping on the gas gauge.
This.

It irritates the wife because she's always anxious to get going. But, as another poster said, sometimes it seems like rental agency employees are incentivized to ignore scratches, dings, etc. when you're picking up the car, yet scrupulous about the slightest blemish when you drop it off.

I take pictures and a walk-around video. I haven't had an issue yet. But, part of me suspects the reason is that the rental agency employees see me taking those pictures and video. :happy
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