Avis Car Rental – Beware of New Rule
Word of warning everyone. Avis rental has a dubious practice you should be aware of. Please forward this post to everyone you know.
I rented an Avis vehicle for 33 days but my business plans changed and I had to return it after just 10 days.
Because I prepaid (which you would think was a good thing for Avis) I got zero refund for the 23 days I didn’t use the car! So I ended up paying over $1,100 for ten days rental of a Kia Forte. Apparently there is a pop-up when you prepay that warns you of this, but I didn’t see it, so partly my fault, But there is so much small print it’s hard to catch everything.
So, Avis can re-rent the car I paid for, for 23 days and make a ton of extra money.
Basically, they lure you in with a slightly lower price but screw you if you have to make changes. I could understand Avis increasing the per day rate I got for booking for more than a month, I could even see a modest administration fee but to charge me in full for 23 unused days is daylight robbery in my opinion and certainly not good customer service.
Needless to say, I won’t be booking with Avis again. I’m not sure if other rental agencies are doing this too so beware – check the small print! The customer service rep said that they did this because Priceline did it first. Poor excuse!
Oh well live and learn. Delta Airlines charged me $511 to change my flights too. Travelling is becoming very expensive if you don’t conform!