How does Avis treat you

[docjames]

I thought similar to the hotel threads a short post for each hire would be useful, especially with “received” vs booked.

When: June-July 2024 (9d23h)
Total Cost: EUR634 (incl one way fee EUR50)
Pickup: AVIS Place de la Madeline, Paris
Return: AVIS Toulouse Railway station
Reserved: Citroen C5 Aircross or similar
Actual car: Citroen C4 Spacetourer (manual 7 seats), 49,000km and a lot of “French speed stripes” (aka scrapes and dings).

Was offered an auto if this car didn’t suit, but i looked at it and saw the number of dings and decided that was preferable given I’d have to navigate the Arc de Triomphe roundabout, and for travel with others meeting us in the south of France, the 7 seater proved super handy (we could all fit into it!).

I’d never buy this car in Aus but it was perfect for its environment. It was also due a service at pickup, no doubt being offloaded to AVIS Toulouse to make it the our problem…..

Pickup and drop off in both locations were easy and no issues during rental or return.

 

[docjames]

When: April 2024
Total Cost: AUD 255 (LDW only, 2d23h, unlimited kms)
Pickup: MCY
Return: MCY
Reserved: Kia Sportage or similar
Actual car: Isuzu MU-X (7 seater), approx 3000km

Didn’t really need car this size but worked out ok. Didn’t need or use the 7 seats at any stage.
Easy pickup and return without any issues.

 

[docjames]

When: November 2023
Total Cost: AUD243 (incl one way fee $50); CDW only;
Pickup: OOL
Return: BNE Dom
Reserved: Subaru Forester (or similar)
Actual car: Isuzu MU-X 23000km

Somewhat annoying as didn’t fit in hotel carpark (did just fit into thier overflow one). Also didnt need the fuel bill. Pretty rough and ready car and way overkill for two people. Had NSW Reg - i think one way rental so offloading a car they didn’t want to deal with.

In no way was this an equivalent to a Subaru Forester (however trawling through fine print, Avis has them in the same class…).

 

[Dmac59]

When: July 2024
Total Cost: AUD 465 (6 days - unlimited kms)
Pickup: CNS
Return: CNS
Reserved: Kia Sportage or similar
Actual car: Mitsubishi Outlander (7 seater)

Didn’t need a car of this size, but declined Avis offer for a ‘smaller vehicle’ as only myself and Mrs Dmac travelling.
NSW registered vehicle in FNQ.

 

[Subharpoon]

When: August 2024
Total Cost: Former Employer Negotiated Rate
Pickup: MCY
Return: MCY
Reserved: Kia Sportage or similar
Actual car: BMW X3

A good Suprise upgrade!

 

[Atleastonce]

When: August 30 to September 1
Total Cost: $1.92. (that is not a typo)
Pickup: SYD
Return: Kawana Sunshine Coast
Reserved: Kia Sportage
Actual car: Renault Koleos

I needed a one way rental from Syd to Sunshine Coast to transport some fragile and valuable items and we didn’t want to trust a courier. After looking at my regular hire companies and about a $2,500 cost for 2 days rental (of those who had availability) I tried Avis and saw they had a car available for $1.74 plus GST. ($1.92). Thinking it was an error I tried it again, same result. I tried making a booking for a different pick up location and it was over $1K. I made the booking and confirmed at pick up it was a one way move and they would rather rent it than pay the transport costs, which I thought was the case. I have heard of these but never came across one. I even tried this with my company corporate code and it came out more but not much, just over $2.00. Can’t remember the actual amount.

 

[docjames]

When: Sept 2024 (school holidays….), 2 days, Avis Preferred, App booking, Unlimited kms
Total Cost: $163
Pickup: BNE
Return: BNE
Reserved: Kia Sportage
Actual car: Allocated an MG (identical to the one in the Hertz thread, right down to the bright blue colour)
Actual actual car: Mitsubishi Outlander (~6500km)

System had crashed so app and preferred not allowing direct to car. ENquired if there were other options as I hadn’t been able to choose in app - a Mitsubishi Outlander 7 seater was immediately proffered. The 7 seats came in handy too (got used). THe long limbed mini-docs were also happy as the MG hadnt got good rear seat leg room reviews (although they did like the bright blue colour and bland white wasn’t what they wanted….)…..

 

[RooFlyer]

Not an actual rental, but qualifies 'How does Avis treat you?'.

When: August 2024
Total Cost: N/A
Pickup: JNB
Return: JNB + 4 days
Reserved: Mid sized SUV
Actual car: N/A
Status: Avis Preferred
Discount code: Yes, a good one

Reservation made for a car ex Jo'burg airport, full insurance etc; I know what things can be like over there, both from the road and human factors. There was an excess, but not stated. I had to find out, to see if my travel insurance covered it.

Three calls to the standard number here had the response:

* During Oz business hrs: Don't know excess, I'll have to call JNB ... they aren't answering, I'll try later and call you back
* During JNB business hours: Don't know excess, I'll call JNB ... no answer, sorry
* During JNB business hours: Don't know, no we don't call JNB, you'll have to e-mail them.

So I e-mailed them - "My reservation is <Reference>, what's the excess in case of (say) total write off?"

It took me three goes to get a straight answer out of them. Its a standard car rental of a standard car class. It should be a standard excess figure!

If they were that opaque for a simple enquiry, there was no way I was going to rent from them.
______________

For this thread, statement whether a discount code was used would be handy

 

[CaptJCool]

twwo good experiences in 2024

Italy - we took the car back empty of fuel cause the last petrol station was out of order - but the Euro price was Okay
Germany - well, while i had ducked out for natures call the lad billed in Australian $ - sighs copped 3% more from the bank on top of the average exchange rate... but it was a 3 week rental - car ran well, I filled it up before I took it back and (later realised, it woulda been cheaper to have left it near empty) but no further bills to pay

however, I did ping a speeding tic in Switz and that was here when I arrived home... so Avis did FORWARD my details to the Canton - its only 60 Euros and due date is mid-October finding it extremely inconvenient to pay online by CC as the 3D Secure which involves a passcode from the bank keeps spinning wheels and the screen doesn't show up to enter the passcode which does show up from the bank - tried different web-browsers and mobile devices and still no can do - probably need go to the main bank and pay via IBAN (which is $10 more but would get it paid out)

 

[Happy Dude]

Just as bad @RooFlyer is when they helpfully tell you that you need to ask the station at pickup as the <info you need> can vary and the car type is not guaranteed.

I also love how they thank me for contacting them, hope I'm well/having a good day, are sorry for any inconvenience experienced and hope I enjoy the car, on every single communique no matter the reason for it.

 

[docjames]

When: Sept 2024 (school holidays….), 4 days, Avis Preferred, App booking, Unlimited kms
Total Cost: $289
Pickup: BNE
Return: BNE
Reserved: Kia Sportage
Actual car: Allocated a Honda CRV. New app giving me pick of Ford Everest and Subaru Forester (amongst other choices) but then not processing when I selected them. Didn’t see either of those options there….. Enquired what else was available. Advised the upgrade to the Mitsubishi Outlander was well received on the precious rental. A bit of scratching around and he found one. The extra seats once again proved useful.
Actual actual car: Mitsubishi Outlander (1100km)