Avis Reviews 

The Avis rental counter at the CDG Airport is to be avoided, I believe you will have a 100% chance of being cheated on.

The agent at the rental counter tried at least 2 scams on me, one of which was successful - I am in the process of reclaiming my money for a Super CDW insurance I never asked for.

First scam was to ask me to type my e-mail on a touchscreen. Allegedly, this is supposed to be a valid signature in France (!!!). I have never been informed by the agent about the "signature" I was placing on a contract that was never presented to me nor about the fact that he added Super CDW which I clearly refused, because I had already bought insurance separately.

About 30 minutes after leaving the desk I have been e-mailed my rental contract with the additional unwanted insurance. Still, no signature next to the "request for optional services" section of the contract - that didn't prevent Avis from charging my debit card after returning the car in perfectly shiny condition! Also, the contract has been "signed" by Avis with a no-reply countersigning party, very professional!

Second scam was to try to give me an SUV instead of the Peugeot 208 I had ordered. Still unaware of the bad intentions, I luckily refused.

Some lessons learned and advice:

A. Before renting:
- don't book via Avis; there is only one car rental company with decent (4.0+) opinions present at the Charles de Gaulle airport
- if already booked, do not type your e-mail on a touchscreen; ask for a printed version of the contract
- refuse and be wary of any "upgrades": "would you like an SUV?"
- refuse to sign the contract before checking the car - get the keys, go to the parking lot upstairs, take pictures and return once happy with the condition (take a photo of the fuel indicator too)
- take time to read the contract; ask the agent to sign it first
- get CDW, TP & Super CDW from a third-party provider
- for the deposit, only transfer the requested amount to the debit card's account; you risk getting additional funds blocked and potentially charged otherwise

B. During rent:
- if you discover anything suspicious on the contract, don't use the Avis hotline - they will forward you from one IVR to the other while charging 0.50 EUR per minute
- contact your bank about options for saving your blocked funds from being consumed by the fraudsters

C. When returning:
- take pictures of the parked car
- ask one of the employees to inspect the car in your presence; try obtaining a confirmation in writing about the condition of the returned vehicle

Good: The car was nice, new, and a good size.

Bad: 2 hour line-up to pick up our car
- Drop off location moved, no one tried to contact me, email or tell me about this change, while looking for the Avis car drop off /coming out of the parking garage my tired got snagged on a piece of metal sticking out of the ramp and popped. Fixed the tire, found Wifi and drove the car to the next drop off location.
- I was charged $300 for the tire but never received a receipt or detailed breakdown of the costs, no email, or call again. Which also makes it hard to claim it with insurance even if I wanted to.
- I Never received an email or call about receiving the car.
-After my vacation I email Avis with my issues and received the usual automated response which also clearly stated "we will get back to you within 15 business days. It has been 18 business days and I have yet to hear back from the "specialist"

I am kind of wishing I just dropped the car off at the location we agreed upon and let them figure out the rest. Instead of popping my tire, putting the donut on, hunting down Wifi and then returning it to a new location which cost me about 3 hours (almost one night) of my trip in Barcelona, stress, and $300. The customer service with Avis is none existent and I would suggest using another company who probably would have tried to contact you about a change in the agreement, sent you a breakdown of costs, and would actually get back to you when they say they will to try and resolve an issue.
Case#28552077

7 days with a car that was not ok, because the navigation failed.
From home (Denmark) travel agency FDM promissed, that ALL was paid for.
Today AVIS charged me 270 euro for ekstra insurrance and other smart costs that I have never asked for.
So NEVER again will I rent at AVIS

I booked a rented car on the internet for a 5 days trip in Croatia. When I arrived at Zagreb Airport, as I went to get the car, sign the papers, etc. I was asked if I wanted some insurance completion (to avoid pay the excess in case of an accident). I clearly said "no", that my Visa card covered those kind of fees and that I wanted to stick with the "normal", "basic" insurance.
After drafting the contract, Avis' guy pointed to me the part where my personal information were written for me to check. Little did I know that he'd still added this option. Of course they didn't say it and didn't ask for payment at this time because I would have said "no I told you I don't want it" so they used the debit authorization I had to give in case of damage to pay for this option AFTER I gave the car back.
When I complained, I was told I should have checked the contract but two things :
- I was misled into thinking the important part to check was personal intel
- The line displaying the optional service was lost in between lines of fees I'd already paid and moreover bore the title "SCDW Insurance" which I had no way of knowing wasn't the "classic" insurance.

This is clearly a display of dishonesty from Avis

Rented a car, gave it back two days letter in perfect condition and with full gas.

Two weeks later check my credit card, I'm being debited an extra amount! Avis never contacted me and now they are not answering any message I've sent! Feel disgusted and cheated.

Never thought I would ever get scammed in broad daylight, but I have been scammed for £540 from Avis. I hired a van for 1 day from Avis in Glasgow , After returning the van I got charged £540 for ''damaging'' the van a small 4 inch scuff on the side panel that was already on van , I asked to see the van but the co never got back to me. Avis /budget have been doing this to customers for years and will continue to do so even after so many customers have complained against them

No stars deserved. Excessive fees to refill car. Absolute robbery! This was my first and last time with AVIS. And no recommendations from my side to anyone, except a recommendation to AVOID!

AVOID AVIS!

Do they care? Hope so.

Well known for INSURANCE SCAM !!
There is enough evidence online, unfortunately I haven't done my research about Avis before holidays.

After I have returned from my trip, they have charged me without my permission GBP 454.39 extra for insurance I didn't order!!

This nearly tripled the cost of my car rent which I have paid a week in advance and which cost me GBP 240. I paid over the phone and I have asked for extra insurance they told me quote £180 and I said "no, thank you" since I am driving rather safely and never had an accident or even scratched car in last 10 years.

No one made me aware about the extra cost, they just debited GBP 454.39 without my knowledge from my account! Customer service didn't reply to any of my queries on email, after many conversations over the phone they finally advised me to "look for legal advise" if I want (yes, seriously) !

Never rent from AVIS !! They've scammed thousands of people - Look up for "Avis Insurance Scam" online. I am raising this issue with the government.

I just rented from avis Bordeaux merignac. There was a big dent on my car which was not shown on my original contract. The guy just said, just take photo and we will add it later.
Indeed, no hassle and totally easy quick drop off. I didnt have to go through one of those horrible post drop off inspections at all. Dropped keys on counter and was off.
Plus i got a free upgrade because they didnt have smaller car.

Beware Avis / Budget rent a car are careless and negligent putting travelling families in danger.

My wife, myself, our friend and three young children picked up a K class Renault Grand Scenic in Paris (Avis rent a car, 21 Place De La Madeleine, 75008, Paris, France) on July 24, 2018. There were no visible signs of damage or problems with the vehicle upon my initial inspection. However, over the course of the next few days on our way to Noyers, France, for a wedding (approximately 200kms south of Paris), the steering wheel began to increasingly wobble while driving. After visually inspecting the wheels on the vehicle when we got to Noyers, I noticed that the tire tread was badly damaged. We spent the next few days leaving the vehicle parked, having to hitch rides with other family members for the wedding events fearing the poor condition of the tires.

On July 30th, after the wedding, we were scheduled to make a six hour 550km drive to Brittany for the remainder of our trip. At 8h30 in the morning, we took the vehicle to a nearby AVIS location in Auxerre, France (Avis Location Voiture, Rue Paul Doumer, 89000 Auxerre, France) hoping to exchange it. The representative there told me that this AVIS location was franchised and he could not provide us with a K class vehicle in exchange that we could return to Orly, even though there was one available in the lot. I suggested we replace the damaged tires at a local garage in Auxerre but had to ask the representative to help us locate a garage that could do the repair. He reluctantly called one garage in Auxerre that did not have replacement tires for this make of vehicle. Then he told us that in his opinion, no other local garage would either. He refused to call elsewhere and started serving other customers. We were forced to find a solution on our own.

I decided to call the rental agency in Paris where we picked up the vehicle. The manager there said she would try to find a garage on our route and get back to us. We waited. When she finally she got back to us and she suggested we drive for one hour to a Speedy garage in Sens, France to replace the tires. Reluctantly, we agreed to travel another 100km on the damaged tires for the repair. It was a stressful 100kms. Upon our arrival, the service technician at Speedy told us they didn’t carry replacement tires for this make of vehicle. He suggested we try the nearby Renault dealership. Fortunately, the Renault dealer had four tires in stock. I called the manager in Paris and she authorized us to go to the dealership and change the tires but we would have to pay for the repair ourselves. She told us she would put a note on our rental agreement so we could get reimbursed when we returned the vehicle to Orly on August 2nd.

After spending four hours with an unaccommodating representative in Auxerre and four hours in Sens getting the tires replaced to the tune of $600 Euro, we finally got back on the road to Brittany. 30 minutes later, the clutch on the vehicle failed leaving us stranded in the middle of an extremely busy intersection of the A6 highway for 30 minutes. The tow truck took us to the towing station where we were told to contact AVIS Assistance. AVIS Assistance told us they would send a taxi to take us to Orly airport where we could get a replacement vehicle. However, we were told that they could not send the taxi until the replacement vehicle was reserved at Orly and that the wait time in the cue for AVIS Assistance to reserve the vehicle would be at least one hour before they could make the reservation and contact the taxi.

Having already spent over 8 hours trying to resolve this issue, we were once again left to find a better solution on our own. I suggested calling Orly myself to make the reservation instead of waiting in the cue, then calling AVIS Assistance with a reservation confirmation so that they could send a taxi. The AVIS assistance representative reluctantly agreed. I called AVIS reservations and explained the situation but was met with another unaccommodating and extremely rude representative that refused to take our reservation stating that this was not the right procedure. After pleading with him for at least 30 minutes and explaining what we had already been through, he was unapologetic and continued to refuse to help us. I asked to speak with a manager, he also refused. Frustrated and with no other choice, I decided hang up, take a moment and check on the family. I then called back to speak to someone else. Fortunately, this time, after explaining the same situation again, the woman I spoke to agreed to take our reservation (attached), I called AVIS Assistance with the reservation confirmation so that they could send the taxi. It took another hour for the taxi to arrive.

We picked up the replacement rental car in Orly and got back on the road at 10h30 pm with a four-hour trip ahead of us. All told, we had spent 12 hours trying to resolve this issue. What should have been a six-hour trip to Brittany, took over 18 hours, was extremely stressful and terribly hard on the young children. We arrived in Brittany just after 2h30 in the morning on July 31st.

Still, the ordeal wasn’t over.

On August 2nd, we returned the replacement vehicle to Orly only to find out that no note had been posted to our agreement and the manager in Orly refused to refund the cost of the new tires we had installed on the damaged vehicle. He offered to refund the cost of our rental agreement but the amount was slightly less than the cost of the tire replacement. After what we had been through, I had to refuse on principle. I asked that he send an email to his boss to resolve the issue. His boss never replied and I was once again forced to try and recover our out of pocket expense upon our return to Canada.

From Canada, it became even more complicated. Both AVIS international and AVIS France told me I had to contact the manager of the location where we initially rented the vehicle directly, to resolve the issue. AVIS has no international toll-free phone numbers and no one at AVIS was willing to connect us to the rental location or to the manager in Paris. It took days to get through with multiple international long-distance phone calls at our own expense. When I finally reached the manager in Paris, she promised to refund the cost of the tires but offered nothing else. By the time the refund was processed two weeks later with no correspondence or apologies from anyone at AVIS, the refunded amount on my credit card statement was $873.93 Canadian dollars but the cost of the tires was $940.23 Canadian dollars. We were still short $66.30 out of pocket.

I am not frustrated with the fact that our rental vehicle broke down. That happens. I am frustrated with the carelessness and negligence of renting a damaged vehicle in the first place. Either AVIS neglected to properly inspect the vehicle or simply ignored its condition prior to this rental.

I am also shocked that throughout this ordeal, no AVIS representative came to our aid or had any reasonable solutions to offer. No one at AVIS seemed to care. The only people that were generous and truly helpful didn’t work for AVIS. The Speedy service technician who helped us find replacement tires, the pleasant young tow-truck driver who came to our rescue when we were stranded on the highway, the nice lady at the towing station who gave the kids snacks and drinks while we waited for hours and the friendly taxi driver that finally took us to Orly, these are the people who helped us.

I finally sent an email formally requesting that AVIS refund the cost of our rental ($914.25 Canadian dollars) and the remaining un-refunded balance of ($66.30 Canadian dollars) as compensation for the hardship my family and I had to endure on this trip thanks to AVIS Car Rental. I got no response.

We were very lucky that we avoided a serious accident on this trip but there’s no excuse for this kind of carelessness and negligence. Stay away from AVIS / BUDGET rent a car.

Avis rental agreement # 134122866

Absolutely abysmal customer service from a shambolically greedy company. Misleading genuine customers by taking admin fees (40 Euros!) from their accounts without informing them.
Apparently I owe a speeding fine to a French Traffic authority, but have never been sent any information regarding the offence or indeed the fine.

The only evidence I have is 40 Euro's which was taken out of my account by AVIS (without my knowledge) and then only sent an invoice for said charge, after I had queried it with AVIS.

a month later, still NO EVIDENCE from AVIS, NO EVIDENCE from French Traffic Authority, NO RESPONSE from AVIS....... and certainly NO future Custom for AVIS from Me.

Avoid Like the Plague!!!!!!!

The rented contract said to return it to a point just outside of the station. Turned out to be a tiny place mired in one way streets, with no signage to help navigate. Nor were there signs on approach roads towards St Jean station. If returning car to Bordeaux train station I suggest researching another company with an easier return location.

We had a great experience with avis, everything was as stated and planned.

Booked an Espace, when we arrived we told the only car they had available was a Clio. Try fitting 2 adults, a 1 year old baby and everything a baby needs for a holiday into a Clio! We had to leave half the luggage at the hotel. AVIS ruined our holiday. Do yourself a favour, book your rental car from someone else.

Terrible Terrible awful rude and would never book again. We were late coming in due to transportation delays Planes/trains and such. We booked with Avis and it said they had "on sight in the trains station counters" when we arrive no such thing exists. First off, no car companies are IN the train/gare stations as you might see in normal areas like Paris, Bordeaux, etc. We walked outside and across the street was two auto rentals but NOT Avis. we walked all around in the blistering sun, to Finally find a tiny Avis sign on a door behind the side door of the train station. EXCEPT when we walked over to it, locked shut, out of business looking and abandoned. We called the # 4x trying to find them via phone. no answers EVER. No one in the Angouleme station was in the "information" area, and its a tiny station with no services whatsoever. except for SNCF office that had 8 people deep. we kept walking around for another 15 min and finally stood in line at SNCF to find someone to help us. the two ladies tried in our terrible French and their terrible English to help us. Finally, she went in back and after several minutes a lady came from behind and said in very broken English that Avis is outside, up the street and very hard to find. she said "sometimes they have someone there and most often not!" FINALLY we walked totally out and away from the train station, up the very steep street into town and and FINALLY see a tiny sign showing Avis in this "garage" looking location. like where they fix cars not rent them! unknowing whether this was correct we enter the tiny office only to be met with the RUDEST man ever as the counter person. Its 33+celsius and they have a tiny box fan pointed at this rude man, at a "fix it garage looking interior" office. He very very rudely states" you were suppose to be here 2 hrs ago" "I walked ALL the way down to the station to meet you and you weren't there!" as if you EVER had a rental car place meet you at the station like a limo service??? So hot and so frustrated, I simply let it roll off and waited. He then made another rude snipe about us being late and I simply said no idea what you mean. My husband chose to say nothing and try and humor the man who then, did the rental arrangements and admits he is ENGLISH not French and has lived in France for 10+yrs! Trying to ignore the rudeness we let it go until not 3 but 4x he says something snide about our late arrival and him having to walk ALL THE WAY to the trains station! I no longer could handle his rudeness and went off on him. he just badgered further and rudeness continued. then he gives us the keys and tell us to walk ALL THE WAY back to the train station, beyond it to the dirt/rock parking lot to get our own car that was sitting in the 33+ degree sun with windows up, dirty and NOT the car we rented. a terrible OLD dodge Ford Fiesta or some such, with 20k+ miles on it, dirty with the same power as a hamster! TERRIBLE TERRIBLE NEVER EVER RENT FROM THEM AND THIS ENGLISHMAN SHOULD BE THE FIRST TO BREXIT AND GO BACK TO ENGLAND AND BE FIRED FROM AVIS

Rented a car 2 weeks at Nice airport.
Fast expedition, as I am a preferred customer. Otherwise, the queue at the airport was pretty long.
No problem getting the car or returning it. Only complain I have is the refuelling level. They must know exactly how much they can tap, and still make it look like it is full. After refuelling it myself, I could drive 150 km+ before getting down to the same level. Guess they have a rotten employee among them.

The only pity is that I can use the BNP ELCTRON card to book a car, however, when I pick-up the car, the staff tell me I can not use the ELCTRON card. In order to get the car, I need to pay another 108 euros by adding another driver, if not, I should cancel the order and the deposite is gone.

We needed to urgently get in touch with Avis office in Nice, where we rented the vehicle - no phone numbers that we were given worked! We called the international Avis and where told to go to the nearest Avis office instead - which we did. When we got there they could NOT help us! Absolutely useless that we couldn't get in touch with Avis in Nice. Pas plus Avis pour nous!

I just realized that Avis France put a un-warranted charge on my credit card for a broken handle even though I had bought extra insurance with zero deductible. This is terrible customer management and it's going to take me forever to get this large amount of money back. Really bad service!

I am very upset and unhappy about a charge showing on my credit card that I discovered on my return from a trip in France.
I booked a car through Auto Europe in Australia and prepaid a Voucher with AVIS.
We picked up 308 Peugeot from Toulouse on 02 July. The car was returned at the Nice Airport on 21 July.
The tank was half full and the agent noticed a light scratch on the hubcap and informed me that he had to open a case and that was 50 Euros + repair fee.
He said that I will be contacted to discuss the cost that could be up to 200+ euros.
I felt confident that the repair fee would be around the 20 euro mark which is the price of a new hubcap. I believed I could trust the AVIS and its staff.
I was very surprised upon my return to see a charge of 431 euros on my credit card.
Auto Europe emailed me an invoice from AVIS showing a misc fee of 370 (I suppose for the hubcap) and 60 euros for the petrol.
I was expecting a 70-80 euro fee including the 50 case fee for the hubcap and 30 euro for the fuel.
I am very disappointed to see that AVIS is trying to cheat its customers for as little as 30 euros on fuel. That's absolutely disgusting.
I have contacted Auto Europe as well and they informed me they have emailed their contact about it but I would like my credit card refunded the 320 euros.
So, before you book AVIS think twice...