Avis
Reviews and Complaints

Gary A Kemp
7543 Garland Circle
Atlanta, GA 30349

February 14, 2021

Avis Budget Group, Inc.
6 Sylvan Way
Parsippany, NJ 07054

Dear Sir/Madam,

On January 28, 2021, I purchased a 2020 Toyota Camry from your Avis Car Sales location at 1425 Southlake Parkway, Morrow, GA 30260.

I test-drove a number of different vehicles at this location before making a selection, and found defects with a few of them, such as tire/rotational noises, noticeable exterior scratches, a sizable dent in the left front fender of one car, etc.

In an effort to correct rotational noises on one of the cars, the location's manager, Victor Heredia, changed its rear tires; the noise continued. Afterwards, Mr. Heredia advised that he is "not in the business of reconditioning cars" and declined to address any other notable cosmetic, nor mechanical/noise, defects on other cars that I test drove.

Within a few days of purchasing the 2020 Toyota Camry, I noticed a side-wall bubble in the right-front tire. Keeping in mind Mr. Heredia's admonition that he is "not in the business of reconditioning cars, " I left a voice mail message on his telephone extension at 1:13 pm, Tuesday, February 9. In that message I posed two questions: 1) When can I expect to receive the license plate for the car? And, 2) Who is his contact person at Bridgestone/Firestone to address the side-wall defect in my car's Bridgestone tire? As of this writing, I have heard nothing from Mr. Heredia.

In the meantime, I visited two different Bridgestone/Firestone tire dealers. Both declared the bubble resulted from a tire wall impact while driving through a pot hole, and refused a warranty replacement. Most curiously, both declarations were made before they inspected the tire, and despite the tire side wall showing absolutely no signs of any impact; not even so much as a scrape. See attached photos.

In each tire dealer visit, I explained my background as a retired automobile physical damage insurance claims manager, and that I have inspected literally thousands of tires over the years. My tire's side wall bubble is unquestionably from an internal radial ply separation, which is a manufacturing defect. An internet search confirms this type of defect is not uncommon for this Bridgestone tire type (Ecopia EP 4 22 Plus).

Even further, your website's used vehicle "Certification Process" document states, among other things: 1) "Inspected by ASE-Certified mechanics" and, 2) "All tires match, pressure correct, no damage" (bold italics added), as the last bullet point under the "Mechanical" heading in the same document.

I can but only believe this obvious tire defect existed before my purchase, and was simply overlooked by your ASE-Certified mechanics.

What I seek: 1) An approximate date to expect arrival of my car's license plate, and 2) Replacement of the right front tire.

I look forward to your prompt and favorable response.

Sincerely,

Gary A Kemp

We received a filthy car in the middle of a pandemic. The outside was clearly beyond filthy but we didn't know how bad the inside looked until we left. I have been redirected by Avis customer service 4 times. I have called multiple times, gone through multiple prompts each time and when I finally get someone I ask for reassurance that even if the outside looks like it's been driven in the snow for 2 weeks the inside would have still been cleaned. I get told they can't help me and redirect me to more numbers that say the same thing. I have tried the local location 5 times and it rings off the hook. I'm frankly disgusted and concerned for the health and safety of my family in this vehicle. In the middle of a pandemic the "cleanliness" pledge seems important.

I rented a car from avis for 42.00 dollars a day, and I had the car two weeks, at the end of two weeks I turned the car in and was shocked to find the bill at 1400.25, but I paid the bill and thought I was done with it, then a week later my account is hot for another 218 dollars, this caused so much havoc in my life, bills were bounced returned check fees, just the whole situation was crap, ive tried finding out where these charges stem from but I get the run around, I need this fixed right away, I need my 218 dollars replaced in my account and I need all the bounced check fees paid on their dime, had they called or notified me, I could understand but you think you have x amount of dollars to cover bills just to find out avis ripped me off

We rented a car on the 4th of sept. When we got the car the airbag was showing and there was cracks in the wind shield. Went a told the guy at the counter he did flip the car. We returned the car on the 6th of sept. Found out that we were charged for gas when the car was on full. And we got charged for the insurance which we never get. The guy at the counter never went over the paperwork like any place else does. I called and got the gas charge off but was told oh well we can't take the insurance off. We got a call on monday sept 14th and was told it hadn't been returned. I called and got that taken care of then we get yet another call saying it wasn't returned. I called back yet again today. And they said it did show it was returned. I said well for all the trouble we have had I want a full refund. Was told to call the local office. So I called the local office and requested a full refund. And all we got was $25 taken off. That is not what I requested I requested a full refund. We have had so much stress with this rental and it is upsetting my husband who has heart issues. This is not good on him to get upset like this. I know who I talked to at the local office it was jeff. And he was rude, and got smart with me. Accused me of yelling when I wasn't. He really needs to be retrained on how to treat people at the counter.

On Aug 13th, I rented a mini van (vehicle [protected]) from the MSY terminal location. RA633506996. I returned it on the 14th. On the 17th my wife realized that she left her sunglasses in the mini van in the small compartment under the dash in the center of the console. I immediately filed a complaint (ref [protected]) with Avis. They have 3 times thus far told me that they were not found. These are new Costa Del Mar women's Manta Sunglasses in the case. I have repeatedly tried to call the MSY terminal and they do not answer the phone... ever! I just need to see what I can do to further investigate the loss of these sunglasses, which were a gift to my wife from me. Please let me know what can be done to locate them. They would have been found when the van was cleaned either on the 14th or shortly thereafter.

I received a "FINAL NOTICE" two weeks ago for a vehicle I rented a year ago. This is the first notice I have received regarding an unpaid charge which is also not specified. In this notice it says I'm being sent to collections for failure to pay. I have spoken to customer service multiple times to find out what this charge is for and how to pay it. I was sent a PDF with a account number to wire money to and that was all. My financial institution will not authorize "blind transfer". I am active duty military overseas and do not have time to continue to play games with customer service. Also being overseas our mail is tracked and can prove this is the only notice I have received. I have several emails with customer service trying to rectify this issue. This will be my last attempt to do so. If this complaint does not yield results I will let my attorney handle it. I expect to be contacted with reason for charge, over the phone credit card payment, and to retract the notice collections. Should my credit be affected I will also allow my attorney to handle that.

EMAILS
________________________________________
Re: [External] Re: International Customer Service [protected] (KMM21360432V86861L0KM)
2 messages
________________________________________
Avis Intl Outbound Mon, Aug 31, 2020 at 5:14 PM
To: Michael Heagle
8/31/2020

Budget Case: [protected]
Rental Agreement: E857334892

Dear Michael Heagle,

Thank you for contacting Avis Customer Service regarding case number
[protected].

We apologize for any inconvenience but we are unable to request a call
back from a manager to a number outside the US.

In this case, regarding your question, the answer is that the way to pay
it, is just to wait for the letter to be send by the authorities as they
will provide specific details including the notice number and references
to pay it. We do not have that information and can't expedite it. We are
sorry for the inconvenience.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact Avis and we hope you
have a great day.

Kind Regards,

George Cornell
Representative | Email Customer Service
Avis Rent A Car System, LLC

Original Message Follows: ------------------------
From: Michael Heagle
To: Avis Intl Outbound
Subject: Re: [External] Re: International Customer Service [protected]
(KMM21348370V25598L0KM)
Date: August 30, 2020 2:52:29 AM PDT

I want to speak with a manager! Provide me a number please.

On Friday, August 28, 2020, Avis Intl Outbound
wrote:

8/28/2020

Reservation: 12982612GB6
Rental Agreement: E857334892

Dear Michael Heagle,

Thank you for contacting Avis Customer Service via e-mail regarding your

recent rental.

We are not able to tell you how to pay the fine as this information is
going to be provided by the actual authorities with the fine itself once

you receive.

Thank you for choosing Avis your patience is appreciated. If you should
have further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Kind Regards,

George Cornell
Representative | Email Customer Service
Avis Rent A Car System, LLC

Original Message Follows: ------------------------
From: Michael Heagle
To: Avis Intl Outbound
Subject: Re: [External] Re: International Customer Service [protected]
(KMM21342139V41325L0KM)
Date: August 28, 2020 7:15:07 AM PDT

You still have yet to tell me how I can pay!

On Thursday, August 27, 2020, Avis Intl Outbound
wrote:

8/27/2020

RE: International Customer Service [protected]

Dear Michael Heagle,

Thank you for your email. We apologize for the delay in response.

While I understand your frustration and your desire to resolve this
matter quickly; Budget respectfully requests that all of our
correspondence be handled in a professional and businesslike tone. We
ask that our valued customers, such as yourself, please refrain from
using language that may be considered offensive or abusive. We trust you

understand our position and appreciate your cooperation.

When the liability is transferred over to yourself the issuing authority

will reset the deadlines on the penalty's to allow you a reasonable
period of time within which to pay the basic fine amount. Unfortunately,

Budget has no influence regarding the speed of reissuance of the PCN by

the authorities and this is highly variable depending upon the
authority
involved.

Thank you for choosing Budget, if you have any further questions, please

let us know.

Regards,

Allan Anderson
Budget International Customer Service

Original Message Follows: ------------------------
From: Michael Heagle
To: [protected]@avisbudget.com
Subject: [External] Re: International Customer Service [protected]
Date: August 27, 2020 5:50:29 AM PDT

Im absolutely pissed! I am not disputing the ticket, I just want to pay
it! I dont understand why this is such a [censored]ing process. I'm active
duty military overseas and do not have time to deal with this! I've only

received one notice about this infraction and it was a Final Notice
informing me that you were sending me to collections. I called half a
dozen offices to pay this and no one can give me any information as to
how. I demand over the phone payment option immediately or I am
contacting my lawyer. If my credit score is affected I will also be
contacting my lawyer. I have documentation to support all of my claims.

On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 9:47 PM wrote:

Reservation: 12982612GB6
Rental Agreement: E857334892

Dear Michael Heagle,

When a traffic offence has been identified, Budget is notified by the
relevant authorities as the registered owner of the vehicle in order to
identify the driver of the vehicle. As required by law, liability is
transferred to the driver of the vehicle at the time of the offence and
the authorities re-issue the [Penalty/Parking] Charge Notice (PCN) to
the driver. An administration fee is charged by Budget to cover the cost

of the time and labour to complete this process.

Please note following liability transfer, the authorities contact the
driver directly by post with the re-issued PCN per governmental
processes. Unfortunately, Budget has no influence regarding the speed of

reissuance of the PCN by the authorities and this is highly variable
depending upon the authority involved. When the liability is transferred

over to yourself the issuing authority will reset the deadlines on the
penalty's to allow you a reasonable period of time within which to pay
the basic fine amount.

For traffic offences that occurred in France or Italy, I would like to
inform you that the delay in reissuance of the PCN may be significant.
It frequently takes a few months for the updated PCN to be received by
the driver of the vehicle. Additionally, Budget are not given specific
information regarding the nature of the offence due to local data
privacy laws.

To dispute the offence, the authorities must be contacted directly.
Details of the dispute process and all contact details for the authority

will be detailed on the re-issued PCN that you will receive. Upon
receipt of official confirmation that the fine has been cancelled, a
refund of the administration fee will be performed. Please note, the
confirmation that you receive may be forwarded to us via email to
expedite matters.

Kindest Regards,
Aaron Guadarrama
International Resolution Specialist

xRef:[protected]

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CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the Avis Budget Group -
corporate email environment. Do not click links or open attachments
unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

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________________________________________
Michael Heagle Tue, Sep 1, 2020 at 9:17 PM
To: Avis Intl Outbound
I HAVE THE LETTER! IT DOES NOT HAVE A WAY TO PAY!
[Quoted text hidden]

I, Aleksei Kostarev, the main driver of the AVIS car rental Rental Agreement No. : E556523262 Invoice No. : 9A0106233-1,
am writing to you with respect to the fines received by the AVIS office on Viale Trieste 16
D [protected] 47900 Rimini, Tel: [protected] (follows as "the Office")
from the Italian police.

It appears from the police documents that you have kindly sent to me after my call that:

1. The Office has received 4 letters: 2 letters dated 17.09.2019 from Forli police about two fines dated 08.09.2019 at 15: 26 and 16: 33 (attached) and 2 letters
dated 7.10.2019 from Ravenna police about two fines dated 07.09.2019 at 12: 26
and 20:16 (attached).

Please send me the copies of all four letters sent by the Office to the polices .

2. • The Office had the opportunity, but did not pay the specified fines by my
credit card within 5 days with a 30% discount.
• The Office did not even timely send me an e-mail with the fine details so I
could not pay them by myself within 5 days with a 30% discount.
• I asked you about the fines only after I accidentally discovered on 21.11.2019 that the Office had made an unexpected charge (attached) of 195.2 euros.

3. Thus, because of the Office, I lost 99.6 euros of a 30% discount on the above fines:
• 49.8 euros on the two fines dated 08.09.2019 : (87.50-62.60)x2=49.8 euros
• 49.8 euros on the two fines dated 07.09.2019: (84, 20-59, 30) x2=49, 8 euros

In view of the above please refund at my account (details attached):

1.99.6 euros for The Office depriving me of paying the above fines with 30% discount,
2.195 euros compensation for the Office failure to comply with the obligations specified in the voucher, and for not informing me properly about the fines, which led to a strong stress and extra expenses, namely:
a) no one met us at the Rimini airport, as it is promised in the voucher (attached).
b) the Rimini airport do not have any AVIS office for more than 3 years, though it is listed in the voucher (attached).
с) I may have never found out about the above fines until 05.12.2019, the date after wich I would have to pay 333 euros per fine.

With hope for a fare attention,
Aleksey Kostarev

I rented a vehicle from budget at the Dallas Texas Airport in January 2020 and returned it damage free. Two weeks later my debt card was charged for damages to the wheels. I am a 54 yo male with a perfect driving records, there was absolutely no damage to the vehicle. So I requested pictures of the damage an the invoice from where it was fixed. The sent me an generic invoice produced in MS Word with no company information and they could not produce any pictures. Budget refunded my money for that bogus charge. Then a month later they debted my card again for damages to the window for the same vehicle, again a bogus charge. This time they are pulling a stalling tactic, so I am going to speak with my lawyer about a possible class action lawsuit because this is obviously something they do to create income from those that decide to use their own insurance and based on other post they do quite often. This is the response I received back on March 2, 2020.

Sent: Mon, Mar 2, 2020 7:03 am
Subject: Your message has been received (KMM20477307V50531L0KM)

Thank you for contacting Budget Rent a Car North America. This is an
acknowledgement. We have received your inquiry; it is in our queue for
review and processing.

The still have not gotten back with me, nor substantiated the charges. Do not use Budget or Avis, it is not worth the hassle!

I live in Canada but rented a car in Prague to travel through Austria. I am having the same issues with a car rental last August in Prague. When we returned the vehicle we had no damages and even signed off by an attendant at the Prague Airport at 7:30am. Received my credit card statement in September with a charge which was double what we expected to pay - $510Euros but was charged additional $885Euros instead for damages (false). I contacted AVIS and they told me there had been some damages on the car, which is false. I had taken photos and kept proof since I had read so many complaints. Well after many request to get proof of the damages, I received photos of a different car (Mercedes when I had rented a Arona). Time stamped on photos is also day after we had returned the car. Avis NorthAmerica have stopped helping saying they have to follow what Avis Prague tells them. That is not what I call a good investigation even after I sent them proof of the car we had rented and photos with no damages. BE VERY CAREFULL I WILL NEVER AGAIN RENT A CAR IN EUROPE OR IF SO - DOCUMENT - RECORD CONVERSATION AND TAKE MANY PHOTOS. SHAME ON AVIS FOR SCAMMING SO MANY PEOPLE. I now have to try to get my money back with my credit card insurance.

On January 14th, Avis withdrew $267.99 from my debit card on file. That same day, I received an email from Avis, to my personal email address.
In the body of the email, Avis was writing to some person that i have never met, showing their name, address and contact info. It further went on to state, to this unknown person, that they were going to debit their account for $267.99 for a rental in Punta Gorda, FL Airport. They proceeded to show the last 4 digits of their CC, which is also the exact same 4 digits on MY debit card.
I called and received no satisfaction. I wrote an email and was told that I must send my banking information to them in order to clear this matter up.
Today i received a follow up email, shown below. Poorly written, horrible grammar and information that they would look into it and have the STOLEN money back in my account within 7 days.
Totally unacceptable, Very unprofessional and horrible customer service on the phone.

Dear Robert ********,

Thank you for reaching at Avis customer service regarding on a charge of
$267.99 usd, we apologize for the inconvenience to this matter, we
understand by being charge without being aware could be uncomfortable, we are more then glad to assist you.

We have process your copy of your statement to our specialty department
foe a further review to this matter, please allow up to 7 business days
for this matter to be resolved.

Again, we apologize for any misunderstanding. Thank you for giving us an
opportunity to clarify the matter for you.

Avis sincerely appreciates the business you have given us and we look
forward to serving you again soon.

Kind Regards,

David Scott
Representative | Email Customer Service
Avis Rent A Car System, LLC

Avis sucks. On 12-20-19 I rented a car from Avis online, but when I got there they didn't have the car I "selected". The only car they had was one I didn't want, but apparently constituted an "upgrade" so the agent said "at least you get a free upgrade". Then I found out 2 days later that they charged me for it. Their prices are obscene. And I can't get the charge removed without filing a "dispute". OMG

I started working for them a while ago under the impression that it was a great company. I was told the pay would be. 50 more than they actually paid me per hour which can really ad up. The manager is never there. She messes up the schedule all the time, if short staff the manager never helps out. Horrible manager! Turnover is also horrible, especially when you have about 10-12 employees quit in one year and this is a normal occurrence. Wow to bad corporate doesn't care either because they have no way to report these things to them. So sad, don't know if this is just where I worked or every location but wouldn't recommend to anyone!
Cak — not my initials this is the location

I had the unfortante expereince of renting a car from these people in Catania, Italy. The car broke down in front ot the airport. It brokedown before and the number they provided no one answered. I pushed it to a parking lot at the airport and then told the rental car people where it was which was just 100 yards away. Instead when I got back home to USA I got a telegram threatening me and then my credit card got charged up without a invioce. Budget rent a car is a bizarre organization. Their so called investigator played the old good cop bad cop scenario and wasted my time. I followed the complaint process. They tried to make the issue me being angry instead of them ripping me of. Their government lawyer is totally incmpetant and actually threatened me for being upset for being ripped of by them. Also there government lawyer doesn't understand facts or have basic writing skills. Stay away from this group of people and hope that they don't hurt anybody else. I feel sorry for them and maybe some prison time would help them out. Budget as ruined the vacations of so many hard working Americans. Their lawyer threatened me and I am not scared. Neither should you so speak up asap. I read all the complaints and think we all need to get together since this is a very sick company. I plan to do more and am hoping they read this and harrass me even more.

I've fully paid for a car rental using car rental website and receive car hire voucher by email.
As per agreement the car should be pickup at 8:00 am on Sep 27, 2019 at Catania Airport - Fontanarossa.  with drop off at 8:00 am on Set 29, 2019 at Rome- Aiport - Fiumicino.

We pickup this car at 8:15 am as per attached invoice. During pickup we noticed there are damages on the both bumpers and on alignment below bumpers, scratches on doors, dent on the driver side fender, some corrosion around "Ford" logo, driver side mirror and other dents on doors which were documented by me and my wife during car review process. We also ask to mark all damages on the standard paper work provided by the rental company. Later 200 km away from Catania when the car was in Ferry from Sicily to Italy I've also noticed there are scratches on the roof which previously not visible, I've noticed them and documented when was on higher level of Ferry.

Upon return of the vehicle at Rome Airport at 8:00 am.

 I and my wife AVIS client representative who ask about dent on the driver side bumper and picture was shown to him the car had this damage during pickup. We agreed there is nothing else to discuss and he ask me to sign on his tablet.No communication regarding charges, damages or other issues were sent  by email to me or any other form of communication as well. 

Two days later I've noticed charges on my credit card of $1, 683.31 dated Sep 29, 2019 by AVIS RENT-A-CAR.

I've contacted AVIS Europe, received case number for dispute purposes, a couple hours later contacted AVIS North America to avoid any communication challenges. As as result of my further investigation what are these charges from I was able to get invoice from the AVIS Website; evidence number 4.
After waiting 20 business days I've received  credit of $50.02 for one day overcharge and advice to wait for another 20 days for other overcharges. As per October 30th, 2019 phone call to the Avis North America all other charges has been uphold by Avis Europe, they just "forget" to send me email. 

As we were flying to Dubrovnik with British Airways we felt it was a safe way to rent a car through their web site with Avis Budget for our arrival believing in the name of Avis.I paid for the booking to British Airways initially but at the airport my Partner gave his credit card to the salesman to put the holding deposit on. We had the car for 6 days, returned it before the deadline time and with its full tank of petrol. We clearly told the salesman that we have our own full insurance for rental cars and did not need anything extra at all. He clearly understand and accepted this. His English was good.
We returned the car on October 2nd and we then took a flight to Athens for the remainder of our holiday which was until October 12th.
Back in the UK my Partner saw on his bank credit card statement that Avis Budget had taken 210 pounds 43p from his account. We could not understand why. On further investigation of the paperwork we had we read a document that was actually handed to us after the car check over by a different salesman. It was subtly folded together with the car check A4 paper.
Our complaint is;
1/It states an estimated charge for Premium promo 2 insurance,
2/ Additional Products,
3/Premium Location Fee .
We clearly stated that we did not need or want any of these things, nor would we have willingly given them an open cheque as so to speak !
My signature has been put on this document electronically (Not by me or to my knowledge) . Surely they had no right to make these unlawful charges and even more important they had no right to take it from my Partners Card Mr Cliff Sinfield as he did not sign this Document either. If it was 'legit' then surely the payment would come off MY credit card that paid for the car hire through BA in the first place as I was the Customer ? The rental agreement number was [protected] and hire was from 26/09/19 to 2/10/19 .
My Partner should be reimbursed with this unlawful charge of 210 pounds 43p.

We are even more shocked and saddened to find that this sort of fraudulent activity has been happening for a long time not only at at this airport with Avis but at other Avis counters at airports across the world as well. People just off of flights who most likely have been travelling for hours are tired and very vulnerable and are being taken advantage of, why hasn t British Airways investagated and even ceased using Avis ? Why is this still being allowed to happen ?

Booking ref: IT441105840. I am the tour operator who has organised the trip for the client and I have been on the phone with the client and the agent.
Pick up date: 17/9/2019
Time of Pick up 1030/1045

The client waited 3 hours at the car hire depot and there were no cars for her. She booked a specific group Audi 3 or similar Automatic however she was provided after 3 hours with a Fiat 500. She was not happy with the car however she had no alternative as she had to reach Lake Garda for a meeting. Because it was lunchtime, Avis staff closed the door and did not explain anything regarding the car or the Sat Nav which they have not been able to locate. The client has had no possibility but to accept the car. I then call Car Trawler agents for the car hire company and there are procedures apparently. They are a) that the client needs to be at the desk and needs to call them to verify the situation (which I had done already with the desk myself) b) If I needed to place a complaint, I had to wait 30 days c) The client should be at the desk for there to be any changes. Avis did not have the car which was a specific group booked by the client Audi 3 or similar, no automatic, and they said that of the client did not want it they could cancel even though they were in the middle of nowhere and had accessed the car hire company by taxi. They then got the Fiat 500 from the airport which was not in the state that the client would have accepted but she had to as they closed the door on her. Furthermore when I as the agent called Car trawler they kept on insisting about the procedures. Really! I cannot believe the complete lack of customer service, it is absolutely disgusting.

I as the tour operator either require a full refund and if not I require that the client is provided with a car which is within her car group in the next 4 days. Furthermore I expect an apology to the client and some compensation.

If you need further details call me on [protected]

Rosa Spatola