very unhappy with Avis

[Teresa Pitman]

So for our recent WDW trip, we decided to rent a car at the airport. My son and his wife who were with me have an 8-month-old baby and we thought this would be simpler rather than taking the bus to the parks (we were staying at Pop). I called up to book and paid in advance. I said I wanted a small car - the size of a Toyota Corolla, which is what I drive at home. No problem. I paid accordingly.

Our flight was delayed, and by the time we got to Orlando it was quite late, we were all tired, and the baby was very cranky. I went to the Avis desk, and as we went through the process, the person at the desk said "we are going to put you in a Terrain." I said "I don't know what that is." He said "don't worry, there will be plenty of room for your luggage." He continued on (trying to sell me on a GPS, insurance, etc.) and then had me sign forms on a screen. I could not read the forms (the font was too small) and said so. He said I will tell you what they say. The baby was fussing and everyone was impatient so I signed, and we went across the road to the parking lot to our assigned space.

When we got there, we saw a large SUV in the space. I said "they have made a mistake, this is not what I wanted." My son said maybe they ran out of the smaller cars and this is what they had to give us. I said to one of the people there that this was not what I had booked, he said if there was a problem I would have to go back into the airport and try to fix it. With the late hour and the cranky baby, we decided to take the car and go to the hotel.

We did not want to take a half-day out of our vacation to drive back and forth to the airport, which is what we should have done to get it straightened out. When I eventually looked at the forms, it said I had agreed to an upgrade to a more expensive car and they charged me an extra $15 per day.

I was quite upset about this. I did not agree to an upgrade, and I was not told that this was going to cost $15 a day over the amount I had already paid. One reason I called and paid in advance was to have everything spelled out about what I wanted!

I contacted Avis twice; they said that I was OFFERED an upgrade and AGREED to pay the extra $15 a day. That is not true. At all. They said if I wasn't happy I should have gone back to the airport desk either that night or the next day. I agree with that, but I also feel that I shouldn't have had to. Frankly, the salesperson I dealt with was quite deceptive. Saying "we are going to put you in a Terrain" is not the same as offering an upgrade for $15 a day. When he told me what was on the forms, he did not mention this at all either. I know I was trying to get things moving because of the crying baby but that was not an excuse for what I consider deceptive and unethical behaviour.

All this to say - watch carefully if you are renting a car. Read the entire form before moving away from that desk (crying baby or not). We don't rent cars very often but believe me, I would not deal with Avis again.

TP

 

[sam_gordon]

So for our recent WDW trip, we decided to rent a car at the airport. My son and his wife who were with me have an 8-month-old baby and we thought this would be simpler rather than taking the bus to the parks (we were staying at Pop). I called up to book and paid in advance. I said I wanted a small car - the size of a Toyota Corolla, which is what I drive at home. No problem. I paid accordingly.

Our flight was delayed, and by the time we got to Orlando it was quite late, we were all tired, and the baby was very cranky. I went to the Avis desk, and as we went through the process, the person at the desk said "we are going to put you in a Terrain." I said "I don't know what that is." He said "don't worry, there will be plenty of room for your luggage." He continued on (trying to sell me on a GPS, insurance, etc.) and then had me sign forms on a screen. I could not read the forms (the font was too small) and said so. He said I will tell you what they say. The baby was fussing and everyone was impatient so I signed, and we went across the road to the parking lot to our assigned space.

When we got there, we saw a large SUV in the space. I said "they have made a mistake, this is not what I wanted." My son said maybe they ran out of the smaller cars and this is what they had to give us. I said to one of the people there that this was not what I had booked, he said if there was a problem I would have to go back into the airport and try to fix it. With the late hour and the cranky baby, we decided to take the car and go to the hotel.

We did not want to take a half-day out of our vacation to drive back and forth to the airport, which is what we should have done to get it straightened out. When I eventually looked at the forms, it said I had agreed to an upgrade to a more expensive car and they charged me an extra $15 per day.

I was quite upset about this. I did not agree to an upgrade, and I was not told that this was going to cost $15 a day over the amount I had already paid. One reason I called and paid in advance was to have everything spelled out about what I wanted!

I contacted Avis twice; they said that I was OFFERED an upgrade and AGREED to pay the extra $15 a day. That is not true. At all. They said if I wasn't happy I should have gone back to the airport desk either that night or the next day. I agree with that, but I also feel that I shouldn't have had to. Frankly, the salesperson I dealt with was quite deceptive. Saying "we are going to put you in a Terrain" is not the same as offering an upgrade for $15 a day. When he told me what was on the forms, he did not mention this at all either. I know I was trying to get things moving because of the crying baby but that was not an excuse for what I consider deceptive and unethical behaviour.

All this to say - watch carefully if you are renting a car. Read the entire form before moving away from that desk (crying baby or not). We don't rent cars very often but believe me, I would not deal with Avis again.

TP

I am sorry this happened to you. Obviously, it comes down to a "he said/he said" type of deal. My only suggestion is to call Avis one more time, explain calmly and firmly what happened. If they don't agree to refund your money, then all you can do is spread your story far and wide (maybe include dates & first names of who you talked to on the phone).

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We used Avis for years, my husband while traveling for work and for family vacations. The last several times we've used them it's been nothing but a hassle and "deceptive" is putting it nicely. Many times I've made my reservations for "X" amount and then when I go get the car, they're trying to charge me $200 (in one case almost $400 more). When I show them my reservation copy (that I now always carry with me) with my price, their response"Oh, you got a good deal." And adjust what they charge. Another time they said I didn't request a carseat, that it wasn't on my reservation. Again, show them my copy. Then they said we're out of carseats but after a lot of back and forth, I get one. Last year my husband returned the car, he never looks at the receipt, and upon return there were all these charges. One for fuel which we fueled up before we returned it. I called Avis (again) and got all the charges removed. I told them their business practices were not right, always trying to "sneak" by more charges and like you said, deceptive. With our next trip, we booked thru National and signed up for the Emerald Isle. Got a great price and from what I've read on the boards, people sound pretty satisfied. Goodbye Avis!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I've never had a problem with Avis.

Just a hint - if you had signed up (free) for their Preferred program, all you would have needed to do was go to the garage, check the board for your car number, gotten into the car, stopped at the exit for a minute to have your license checked, and that's it. This is the same for a lot of rental agencies. It's also true all agencies give you a hard sell at the counter, for a larger car, pre-paid gas, etc.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I didn't know about the Preferred program and perhaps that would have helped.

The problem was that I didn't get a hard sell about the car (I was able to refuse the other things he tried to sell me on). I was TOLD that this was the car we were getting - there was no mention of it being a bigger car than I wanted (and had booked) or of the increased fee. That's not a hard sell, that is being deceptive. I asked him to read me the forms I was signing and he did not read the part about the car upgrade and extra cost. That is deceptive.

I will not deal with Avis again. While I don't rent cars very often, I have certainly never had an issue like this in the past. Yes, they try to sell you things you don't need, but never out and out deception.

TP

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh Teresa, that's awful. I hope you have his name to make an official complaint even beyond trying to get this resolved.


Side note: even with my little family of 3, if there's business to be done, we send just one adult and let the other adult hang out with the kid AWAY from the business area. Unless, of course, we WANT the kidlet to disrupt things (like when we were getting a hard-sell about a car and wanted him to make a ruckus so we could finally get out of that dealership). In this case it would have been so much easier on you if your son and his family had moved out of earshot of the transaction. It's definitely a good thing to think about beforehand, and thank you for bringing it up.

I hope you can get this happily resolved.

 

[DebbieB]

I assume the extra was put onto your credit card. I would dispute the charge, can't hurt to try.

 

[Jimsig]

I assume the extra was put onto your credit card. I would dispute the charge, can't hurt to try.

I agree with Debbie, give AVIS one more chance to fix it and if that does not work dispute it w you credit card company.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Why in the world would you sign something you could not even read! I am afraid they spelled out what they were charging you for and you signed it. Now if it were the other way around, (they charged you for something you did not sign for), then you would have grounds to fight this. But I am afraid you are stuck with the charges and chalk it up to a lesson learned.

 

[anna1111]

I've had this happen with Avis but they got me with insurance they are very slick. I was in a hurry kids were impatient after a long day. Something didn't sound right and I kept thinking about it on the ride to WDW. We arrived I checked my receipt and they had charged me for additional insurance. Called Avis and they told me the only way to correct it was to go back to the airport. Well that's what I did. Now I listen to every word that they say. Don't fall for "your keeping just the basic insurance right?" They like to try the upgrade also. "We have a SUV available for you" as you found out.

 

[Lewisc]

Why in the world would you sign something you could not even read! I am afraid they spelled out what they were charging you for and you signed it. Now if it were the other way around, (they charged you for something you did not sign for), then you would have grounds to fight this. But I am afraid you are stuck with the charges and chalk it up to a lesson learned.

i agree with your point....but there is something wrong with an industry when a customer has to assume the clerk is lying when the customer has trouble reading a screen and asks for help.

I would do a credit card dispute. You'll probably lose but Avis will have to go through the expense of responding. Enough complaints/chargebacks and Avis may have to train the employees to be honest.

 

[drew64]

I agree with Debbie, give AVIS one more chance to fix it and if that does not work dispute it w you credit card company.

You can dispute it, card company will investigate and Avis will produce your signature agreeing to it so you will have to pay.

 

[magicaddict]

I don't know what it is car rental companies but it's the only part of my travel plans where there's an issue. My last rental they were out of what I reserved and the woman said they had Camry I could have. I said that would be great but the next thing you know a much higher price than what I had a confirmation for pops up. At that point I said no thanks - just give me what I reserved. That's when the woman actually said they didn't have what I reserved so they ended up having to give me a bigger car for the same price. If I hadn't been watching the screen I would have thought they were just giving me a nice upgrade by the way she worded things. I'm sorry they took advantage of your inability to read the screen and desire to get the heck out of there. Hopefully you'll be more successful on your next attempt to get a refund.

 

[Jimsig]

You can also check out consumer advocate Christopher Elliot. His blog is here http://elliott.org/ He sometimes helps by acting on your behalf in certian situations.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Things like this show how careful people need to be when renting a car and signing and initialing things. Don't just initial when they say initial here...read what you are initialing. Look at things carefully BEFORE you leave...if question pull up rental quote, ask for manager or call 800 number and see if they can help.
Good luck OP in trying to fix things...

 

[torquelover]

I am a fan of reading all the fine print no matter what. Last rental (not Avis) they were out of the compact class I reserved so the branch manager suggested a full size two steps up. I liked the size/rate I chose so the compromise was for me to pay for a standard and get the full size. I felt this was fair, I stepped up a notch, he stepped down a notch. Sure, I could have asked/argued for the full size at the same price but the guy was honest and pleasant with me so I worked with him and all was good.

If you do contact them on this issue, I suggest being professional and polite but firm on what you would like them to do to make things right.