Avis Car Rental Advisory       

They Don't Try Harder!

                                            Travelers Digest 2005 - 2009                 

 

AVIS CAR RENTAL HORROR STORIES

 

My name is Mike Smith. I am the editor for Travelers Digest. During our extensive world tours we rent cars from a variety of international rental companies. In our opinion they are the world's most unscrupulous companies. The below postings are from our own experiences, as well as from our readers. Avis is by far the worst of all car rental companies. We have concluded that the only thing Avis tries harder to do is to totally 'RIP OFF" its Customers. Just one more example of corporate greed and irresponsibly.

 

Warning Alert for AVIS CAR RENTAL anywhere in the World.

 

Our most recently received horror story will shock you!!!

The latest and most horrific story received from an Avis client.

Received Nov 12, 2009
From: Jules Tonkinson" <jtonkinson@philasd.org>
 
Date:Thu, Nov 12, 2009 12:49 pm;

To:<mikesmith@travelersdigest.com>

Hello Mike at Travelers Digest. Below please find a copy of the last email correspondence I sent to Avis.

Sent to avis on July 29th, 2009 and still no response.  Definitely another Avis horror story
  
Our Avis rental van spontaneously caught fire and exploded while my family was driving along a French highway last Friday a mere 3 hours after the rental van was picked up from Charles DeGualle Airport. No one from Avis has done anything to help my family during this time of tragedy. We lost all but the clothes on our backs when the van caught fire and exploded leaving me and the six teenagers and my wife stranded in France for 5 days with no money, food, clothes, medication, ATM cards, credit cards, cell phones etc. We pleaded with members of your organization to assist us and do the right thing for our family, but no one stood up and helped us. I am a disabled person who requires medication which was lost in the blast and no one even cared that I had to go 5 days without my pain medication! Thanks to the US Embassy we arrived back in the United States yesterday afternoon only after they loaned us the monies to get our kids home but we are still out so much in material possessions as well as spirit. Today I have once again spent all day trying to speak with anyone on Avis's corporate level and your customer service reps have not only been rude and unresponsive to our plight, but one rep even hung up the phone on me when I told her I needed to hold the line until she found someone to help me. Someone from your organization needs to step up and do the right and humane thing and contact me at xxxxxxxxx. My family needs help as a result of what we lost when your van exploded with all of our things inside of it.
 
Jules & Lisa Tonkinson

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I received this incredible story on Oct 16th 2005 from a 68-year-old man from Lancaster County Pennsylvania, who not only had a terrible experience in renting a car from this non-caring, money hungry Corporation…he may go to prison! Take a moment and read his horrific story! Click Here To Read His Horrific Experience!
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Travelers Digest Warning Alert for AVIS CAR RENTAL!!


Travelers Digest's Personal Dealings with Avis.

Rental Car Advisory and a direct warning to our readers. Do not use the services of Avis Car Rental if at all possible. If you do rent a car from this company be extra careful when dealing with them in any country or location, especially in countries where your legal options are extremely limited.

While traveling the globe we found that dealing with most car rental companies is a nightmare. They quote one price, but always bill you excessively and in some instances even fraudulently. This happened to our crew on several occasions as we traveled. Car rental agencies are undoubtedly masters of deception in preparing illegible contracts. In our many such incidences with this company and in regard to their stated fees, in most cases, any potential additional fees were never mentioned, either at the time of rental or even upon returning the car. While dealing with this company, in several locations in many countries, we were literally lied to and cheated out of several thousand US dollars. They continued to debit our credit card for several weeks, and at times even several months after closing the contract. I always keep a close eye on our card account and noticed several additional charges on my bank statement from Avis that were not owed or even discussed. Not once were we actually charged the amount of agreement, it was always more...much more! The Avis representatives were never honest in their charges or their disclosures. As far as our company is concerned their conduct was nothing short of fraud. Each occurrence we emailed their main office and filed written complaints and except for two automated responses...never received an actual or official reply. Their main objective is to maximize their profits...no matter the cost to their customers. They are nothing more than criminals...stealing money from our account without notification or permission.

Avis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The worst incident occurred when we rented a car from them when leaving Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on the 25th of April 2004. our agreed rental was for an entire month. We rented the car from their downtown location. The manager spoke good English, but we were aided by our interpreter. Our desires and requirements were detailed and fully explained. We were to drop off the car in Iguaçu Falls, Brazil, on the border of Paraguay and Argentina, and there we were allowed to change cars. Their company did not have authorization from neighboring countries and no Brazilian rental car was allowed to cross the border. At the end of the one month we arrived at our destination and proceeded to drop the car off at the city's airport. I have dealt with some rude and belligerent people in my life, but the Avis personnel were contemptible and as stupid as rocks. Not only did they not speak a word of English, which is understandable, they advised me that I could not rent another car at their location for access to another country. Our interpreter was with us and as the entire situation unfolded it became an apparently unsolvable dilemma. After some heated discussion I agreed to just drop off the car and would proceed to rent another one after crossing the border into Argentina. Well, this was not the only issue it seemed, nor was it the main one. They inspected the car and finding absolutely nothing wrong, printed the final bill. It was 40 percent higher than the original contract had declared...an additional $800 US dollars! Another car rental nightmare was forming. I argued and argued and pointed out that the rental agent in Rio had been made clearly aware of our intent to drop the car off at this location and that he unmistakably and undoubtedly stated there would be NO additional drop-off fees. My complaints fell on deaf ears. They were going to charge us an additional $800 USD for the drop-off fee. When you are dealing with unscrupulous companies it really doesn't matter what you believe is correct, as I was quite loudly informed by our interpreter, translating the bellowing words of their agent. He repeatedly commented that it didn't matter if I agreed or even if I signed the new agreement to pay the new charges. In boast, he stated that they had my credit card information and would bill me at their discretion. We left and even after sending an email to Avis customer service dept. in the United States and an email to my bank in regard to the possibility of an unauthorized transaction...regardless, our Visa card was debited an additional $2000 USD.

Avis and their gang of thief's charged us an astronomical fee for the privilege of driving a small Fiat for thirty days. The car, itself wasn't worthy of even being allowed on the road. Its brakes squealed, the small motor had great difficulty in transcending the mountains. The seats had no recline adjustment. There was no front stereo speakers, the antenna was hung off the rear-view mirror and the cheap radio couldn't capture a signal 50 meters from the radio station. Even worst...there was NO CD or even a Tape  Player. To think that we were swindled in to paying over $65 USD a day for this car was unbelievable. Our company has emailed AVIS on several occasions and have received nothing but corporate rhetoric and they have still, after several months, showed no real resolve for dealing with this urgent matter.

Our other Avis Experience!

While we were touring in South Africa in 2004 we had two terrible experiences with different rental companies. The overcharge issues by the second car rental company have been resolved with all unauthorized fees being re-credited to our account...the issue with the Imperial Rental company in S. Africa have not been resolved as July 17th 2009. Their office in Cape Town quoted around forty US dollars a day which included the absolute best insurance coverage. They stressed again and again there was no deductible. We supposedly had full coverage. The car was inspected and I watched closely, as I always do. Several small dings and scratches were marked on their damage form. We left Cape Town and commenced driving to Durban, our destination on the east coast of S. Africa. At the end of our rental agreement we drove to their drop-off location in Durban. Not knowing the area, I couldn't find a petrol station and thus delivered the car on less than a full tank. I knew I would have to pay extra. The staff at the rental location were not easy to deal with and in fact were quite rude. The young African male was behaving like a child and was very critical to the fact that I did not fill up the car with petrol. He did not make any inspections as to the cars condition prior to sending another man to drive the car for petrol.

We had a long wait. The man, driving the car for petrol, was gone over an hour. When he finally returned the first man inspected the car. The car should of been inspected previous to allowing the car to be moved. This is not a good business procedure under any circumstances and can and mostly likely lead to many problems and for us...it did indeed! He marked down several scratches and a ding in the rear of the cars panel. Most of this additional damage was not viewed or posted on any form before the car was driven for petrol, while the other minuscule damages were clearly detailed on the original form. After an hour of heated argument I refused to sign the claim form. The final payment they were trying desperately to get me to pay was twice the original price. It totaled over $80 US dollars a day. I was furious. We had been here for over three hours. After demanding to see their manager and after some heated exchanges, she finally agreed to lower the total fee back to what was originally agreed. I believed the problem was solved, and taking delivery of the final and supposedly correct bill, we left.

About a month later I noticed several additional charges on my bank statement from this company. They had proceeded to charge me for all the additional fees even though they had confirmed the lower original price. There was absolutely no honesty on their part. The total was, and still is, over twice the agreed amount. This is nothing short of fraud. Not only did they lie, cheat, behave like criminals...they actually stole money from by Visa account without my permission and never even provided a notification of their intent.

When you rent a car from any company anywhere in the world be extra careful in identifying all charges and make sure you get a true and accurate damage report before you sign anything. If you are over charged notify your bank or credit card company immediately. I also suggest that you file complaints with the rental company, your credit card company or bank and file an additional complaint with the local Tourism Board. Believe it or not in most countries they do respond and will investigate said business in the interest of promoting tourism. In South Africa, as well as in Brazil...we did that and more!

Our second situation involves one of the worlds largest car rental companies, AVIS. While this was not the first incident with this company it was by far the worst.

It is sad that such companies feel the need to stoop to such outlandish behavior in effort to increase their profits. Their contracts are specifically designed to confuse and belittle their clients and even worst, they maintain the right, thanks to the bank and credit card companies, to charge you exorbitant fees at any time. Their trusting customers become their unwilling victims. They can debit your credit or debit card indefinitely. As I was informed by our bank there is no protection against such actions and any company processing your credit card or bank details can literally steal you blind.

I am appalled at the behavior of this internationally known company. They have shown their true merit and the only issue in which they TRY HARDER is to relieve you of your money! Travelers Digest and its affiliated companies strongly advise anyone of renting a car from Avis. In reference to any car rental company, be extremely cautious and be sure to get every detail of the transaction verified in writing. Do not take the word of any employee, not even the manager. Inspect the car yourself before leaving the rental property. Take a small camera and shoot photos of the cars entire interior and exterior. Get a written form declaring you rights and if you are planning on dropping the car elsewhere make sure it is clearly stated on the contract and that the final price clearly reflects it. Clarify each and every detail...no matter how insignificant it may appear. Get it in writing and then even after the transaction has been completed...watch your bank statements for unauthorized charges. If you see any such unauthorized charges contact your bank, your credit card company and file a written complaint with all proper agencies, both in the location of the rental and in your own home country. No matter the results...if you have been cheated...don't give up. Keep after them until the problem is resolved!
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While we do receive several Avis complaints a week, we can not post them all, but here's an interesting complaint we received 07-17-09;

Another story of an AVIS car rental.

From: Timothy Pillion <timwp48@gmail.com>

Date:Fri, Jul 17, 2009 3:33 pmTo:mikesmith@travelersdigest.com
His Email;

To keep it short, my family went to Florida on spring break. Rented from AVIS, didn't get the car we rented and had to rent a step up costing $100 more. Upon our return was charged $140 for having sand in the car. We went to the beach twice and each time showered our feet before getting back into the car. I spoke with management at the Dayton, Ohio site and they informed me that there was a ton of sand in the car. Well there wasn't a ton of sand in the car when we had been to the beach 2 times and used the beach shower. AVIS is an acronym for A VERY INVITING SCAM!!!!!!!!!!! bottom line don't rent AVIS CARS. EVER.
Thank you, Timothy Pillion

BE AWARE AND ALERT AND DO NOT GET SCAMMED BY AVIS!

Send your complaints regarding such issues to me, Mike Smith (mikesmith@travelersdigest.com) and we will gladly post any and all valid grievances and claims against any car rental company, regardless of its location.
 

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