Avis Reviews 

Booked a Mercedes A Class, Audi A3 or BMW 1 Series via Expedia but at arrival at the airport they told me none of these are available so I have to take a Ford Ecosport! They told me these cars are in the same category and I can check this on their website. NO cancellation was offered they told me I have to take the Ford or lose my entire amount of £1100 for a 5 day hire. Yes £1100 as I paid for a PREMIUM car not a ford. Had I booked elsewhere I would have been assured to get the car that I am paying for. The Ford given to me had 80,000KM on the clock, after driving off in the day I got to the night only to find that one headlight is not working on the car. I was heading to the Amalfi Coast when this happened so was on where near to turn back to them to change the car. Highly dangerous - I had to continue my entire mountain driving using the fog lamps and constantly being flashed by other cars. The brakes were also grinding and squeeling like a rat. The car was not fit for purpose and I paid £1100 for this pile of junk. These guys are arrogant and there was no apology or any sort of refund or goodwill offered when I returned the car. All I got was that I should have come back - not ideal when I was staying 2 hours from the airport - would have meant I wasted 1 whole day out of the 4 days to change a car due to their negligence! AVOID THEM PLEASE YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Do not use them.

We picked up a hire car at the Florence office. The car was not the standard we booked, was manual when we ordered automatic. The car was is a separate poorly lit garage with two cars parked adjacent to it.

After a discussion about the standard of the car I decided to give in and drove it off. At the next opportunity I parked at a services and looked around the car because I was unable to do so at the garage and found a scratch on the rear wing and photographed it.

We dropped the car off at Florence airport a week later. Their agent identified the issue and said I would be charged. I showed him the picture of the scratch and he said he was unable to accept the photo.

I have since read reports about Avis and would never book with them again. I though I was relatively safe booking through BA.

Complete Scam. Pay the extra and go with a reliable company such as Hertz or Sixt!!
Received a car at Pisa airport, the lady serving me hand marked with pen on her contract the existing damage on the car, however, she did not mark up my contract and when I returned the car they charged me for this "new damage".
Rental Agreement Number: 211309490
just take a look at the rest of teh reveiws, don't just take my word for it......it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise AVIS throughout Italy is a scam looking to rip you off.

Beware of games played by Avis and other car rental companies in Italy!
I go to Italy every year and have rented cars in Rome, Milan and Bologna, mostly from Avis but from other companies as well. I have NEVER had a smooth experience without them trying to find some way of squeezing you to enhance their margins.

Most recently in July 2022 at Bologna Airport, this is what happened:
1. at the check-in counter they tell me "sorry we don't have your car category available, but we can give you X car for "only €12 extra per day, or y car for only €15 extra per day"! This adds up to a lot for a 21 day rental. As I'm familiar with these tricks I refuse, show them my prepaid agreement and say that I won't pay any extra as I had booked the car 8 months ago and being an "Avis Preferred" member they should have planned for my arrival. They made me wait one hour, (with no other customers at the desk) whilst they "tried" to find me a car.
2. I finally get the car, go to the garage which is quite a ways away and find the car is a banged up Ford, with a list of 7 dents, scratches or other damage. Plus a whole section of the lower dashboard inside was missing - that's right, a gaping hole! Have no idea what should have been there, but since it wasn't on their damage list I called the avis guy over who was in the garage, took a photo of it and made a note of his name. I took photos of every side of the car, front and back, al the dents and all the scratches & marks as not all were listed on the contract.
3. I pull out of the airport garage and see that the tank is only 3/4 full, not 100% full as it should have been. The garage is very dark so I didn't notice it until I drove out into the light. I stopped and took a photo of the fuel gauge, just in case.
4. When I returned the car, the Avis guy did a detailed inspection and tries to tell me I put a scratch on the back of the car, which was absolute rubbish. Again I expected this tactic to try get more money out of you. However as mentioned, I learned long ago that Avis would try to find some way to gouge you for more money, so I showed him the photos with the time and date stamp as proof that the scratch was already there. He then just took the key and finalised the contract.
4. I always take photos of inside the front and back seat when returning the car. I once received an invoice 2 months after the rental trying to charge me €100 to clean the car as they said I had left rubbish all over the back seat, which was absolute crap! Fortunately I had taken a photo of the car along with the Avis guy I returned the key to, and sent that as proof that they were lying. I never heard back from them again about the charge!

I speak Italian, have been renting cars in Italy for over 20 years and always find it stressful as I've never had a completely pleasant experience. But I've found all car rental companies in Italy play these games and prey on more naive tourists. Just be prepared for delays, take precautions, take photos of everything, especially any dent, scratch, mark or blemish on the car.

And don't be pressured into taking extra insurance if you credit card company covers the excess, as they really give you the hard sell on this because it's very profitable for them.

Bad experience.

There was nothing wrong with the car. It was clean, and we even got a free upgrade, because the one we booked, was broken.

BUT,
The guy at the rental place, had us pay a deposit (100 euros) when we came to pick up the car. We had already payed that online, when we booked the car.
When we came to deliver the car, four days later, he then proceeded to tell us, that we needed to pay the 100 euros, because it wasn’t payed. We then pull out the bank registration, that the 100 euros had been payed. When we tell him, that it has been payed, he started shouting.
When it came to paying (because we couldn’t go on without) the guy told us, that we needed to pay 15 euros for gas, I then gave him may card, and next thing I know, he had taken 95 euros from my account.
I do NOT recommend this place. They are just trying to get as much money out of you that they can. Be aware of what exactly you are paying for!

Avis is a joke - several bas experiences this year. Unfortunately also the Malpensa station. We were robbed more than €600 for a Renault Clio (2,5 days). Waited more than 50 min. in the airport, gave all info again - only to find the car dirty (as in not cleaned or washed) with massive glue (?) and insekts on the windshield. Finally, the car's tire pressure was low (control lamp).

Me and my fiancé paid extra to reduce the excess to £0 for the insurance like any other car rental does and now we have been charged £250 extra for a damage (no damage was done also). They do not respond to email and take ages over the phone. It's a scam, don't use them.

Supposed to pick up rental car at Milan Centralie station. I was given an app of how to find my car at an underground car park about 1.5 kilometres away. Not knowing Milano it took us 45 minutes dragging suit cases to find location. Avis attendants presented me a car with considerable panel damage. I refused and they gave me another. Service is terrible. They should have shuttled me to location, not argued with me when I refused the damaged car. When we asked for directions out of city the 2 attendants ignored us and walked off! No service, consideration, or courtesy 🤔 never again Avis!!

Update:
So after 9 months, many long distance calls and multiple emails, AVIS finally responded and admitted there was an administrative error that caused the issue and refunded me 725 Euros. Unfortunately, the Euro declined in value while AVIS had my money, so I am still out $110 from this rental. AVIS thinks I should be responsible for the exchange rate and refuses to refund the full overcharge!

If you use AVIS, beware! Check every detail in the contract (to make sure you are getting what you booked) and look at receipts before leaving their office. Their customer service is not helpful!
________________________________________________
Last September, I booked a car from AVIS with pickup in Venice (VCE) and drop-off in Vienna. When I picked up the car, AVIS changed the drop-off location on the rental agreement. We noticed the change in address before dropping it off, so we went there. However, there was no AVIS rental desk at the address, it was just an office building with nowhere to return a car! So we drove to the originally booked location (8km away) and returned it fully fueled with no additional damages. I was told I would be emailed a receipt.

Later, after reviewing the receipt, we noticed an additional 725 Euros. We were charged 1,637.03 Euros instead of the agreed 912.03 Euros. We returned the next day (a Sunday) and the representative (Ali Asanovski) said they should not have put the new address on the contract and he would get us a refund.

Well, there has been no refund and I have reached out numerous times to AVIS in the USA, Europe and Austria. I spoke with Gabor Oltvai (AVIS station manager at Parkgarage Votivpark, Vienna) and he tried to get me a refund. However, AVIS Italy says the charges are fair!

There was no way to return the car to the new address, so we should not have been charged. Additionally, 725 Euros would not be a fair charge for the 8km difference between locations! This is simply theft! Beware!

My husband is a Preferred Member and we have rented numerous times. If AVIS chooses to steal from us, we are done renting from AVIS!

Be careful! We arrived a day late by plane on May 22nd 2022 due to weather conditions in Germany. We had payed in advance for a 9-seater. 25 calls to their direct number at the airport went unanswered. When they finally picked up the phone, they said that the 9-seater was not available any more (even though we had paid for it for a week). Only after much "convincing" did they give us the car we paid for. And this from an established renter - or is it just the Italian mentality?

AVOID. Wish I'd read these before - returned a pristine car this morning and landed in the UK to a €200 bill via email for supposed scratch repairs. Some other folks on the same flight had exactly the same issue. Clearly something dodgy going on there. Even more annoyingly I avoided the local cheap car hire companies for a (supposedly) reputable company like Avis that I use regularly to avoid EXACTLY this problem!

I recently returned from hiring a car through Avis in France. The entire experience was awful. Unhelpful and disinterested staff. Ambiguous contracts and charges. On my return, I discovered Avis had charged almost £500 to my credit card without providing any documentation or explanation. It's taken literally hours to unpick and have the unwarranted charges refunded. If I were being truly cynical, I would say the behaviour of Avis extends beyond dishonest and into the realms of fraudulent. Right up there with one of the worst customer experiences I've ever had.

Worst experience ever.

I collected the car in Rome Campino and straight away the sale representative was attempting to charge me for snow chains even though they are a legal requirement in Italy and should be free. He then at the end gave them to me for “good will”. How nice of him….

Having previously worked with avis in Ireland I knew not to bother taking out the insurance as it’s all a scam. I therefore had the sales rep come out to the car with me and mark all the unmarked damage on the car, which was A LOT. He proceeded to down right refuse to mark some down as he said “no need to worry. This scratch is too small it’s okay” even after me insisting to sign it off. Lucky I took photos and time stamps of it all. Also the tank was not full which I also have photo proof of.

For return we had to drop the keys in the box even though it was only 6pm as the office closes at 4pm on a Monday. We again took all photos of the car and proof of the petrol that we filled it up, even more than when we got it.

Of course as soon as I returned home a day later I received a lovely invoice for damage to the car along with photos of said damage. And what do you know, it was damage that was ALREADY there and that I had the exact photo of along with time stamps of. Also one the guy told me NOT to worry about. So they have already charged me for damage and even though after multiple contacts have told me oh yes the damage department will get back to you. It’s been almost 20 days and the money is taken out of my account. THAT IS NOT ALL! They also charged me a late fee! Even though I actually dropped the car back 30 mins EARLIER than my agreed time and even have video evidence with a time stamp of me dropping the car key into the return box. How convenient of them to try charge me a late fee even though their office wasn’t open AND I have a video of me returning before my rentsl was up.

All I can say is this place is a total scam and that comes from a ex Avis employee. So please please do not rent from them. Their customer service is also just the most unhelpful experience ever. I’ll be sure to let my company know to cease trading/renting with them which I can assure you will be a big loss.

They are real thieves! Please save yourself from them

Catania Airport, 11 pm, 40 people in line and only 1 operator. 2 hours to fly to Catania, then 2 hours to get a car.

We had a number of incidents from Budget-Avis in Malpensa airport. The following occured:
1)We booked a car from Terminal 2, however the terminal has closed down and nobody has informed us about that. We learnt this from a taxi driver on our way to terminal 2. We had to go to terminal 1
2) They gave us a different car from the one that we booked
3) We had to wait 1,5 hours on the queue
4) The key issue is: I supposed to pay 74 euros for the deposit, however the amount of 225 euros was extracted from my account without any notification. Even the contract is about 74 euros.
5) The amount of money did not return within two weeks, as promised from the company.
Therefore I have communicated with my bank (HSBC, Greece)where I have fill-in to cancel the transanction and get my money back.

The company rented a car for me from Avis at Providence RI airport.
When I got there, I was shown to a car that smelled like a whole army smoked in it. When I asked for a non-smoker car, the woman gave me a toyota camry with numerous dents and scratches. But that was not the worst of it. I just took pictures of those, not to be held responsible for those when I return the car.
But the interior was a disaster: Seats had large stains and felt sticky.
This was hands-down the dirtiest rental car (or any car!) I have ever seen!
When I asked to change it, the woman said all other cars were smoked in!

Bad bad bad! We didn’t get the car we rented!! Don’t rent cars from this company they don’t have the cars people rent and they can’t keep a promise about the car people have paid for!!! They gave us a huge bus full of dirt and with scratches all around the car it was smelling and just NOT WHAT WE PAID FOR!!!!!

Terrible service. We had to wait for one and a half hour because they tried to do everything by phone even when there was someone at the desk. They sent us to two different locations at the airport and still were not able to give us a car. We finally decided to cancel the reservation because it took so long and they charged us 65 euros cancellation fee. How they treated us comes close to criminal behaviour. I would strongly recommend you to avoid this firm and use one of the more reliable car rental companies.

I rented an Avis car in Florence and months later was charged an extra €42.70 for a fine that the police were allegedly going to inform me about in writing. Three years later and I’m still waiting to hear about what I supposedly did wrong!

Shame on you Avis Florence. You can’t be the same company that I use in the US!!