Avis Rental a car ripoff slimeball, sub par servies Toronto Ontario
My unfortunate RIPOFF experience is one with Avis. I am disgusted by the bad fatih tactics used by their staff. Their contract text is small and not easy to read in a 15 second window, seeing as how they wanted me out of their kiosk ASAP following handing over my Visa #. They shoved a pen in my hands and told me to "sign here, initial here." Not once was I offered to thouroughly read the terms and conditions berfore signing. Can you imagine how much more I would have been pressured to sign quickly if there was a line up behind me????
Speaking of terms and conditions, therein lies my bitter taste for Avis. I asked the representative what my one day total would be, and he said $80 (CDN). I figured that to be accurate, $51 fee + $29 insurance (pst+gst were presumed after the $80). Why would he need to lie? That put me at ease and I passed reading the contract. What the person neglected to mention was the 14.61% airport fee, which I was just shocked to see on my bill.
Then comes my angst about the insurance, which BTW isn't as optional as they make it sound. I signed for ONE DAY of insurance. I brought back the car fully aware that I would be charged extra hourly fees; what I didn't know is that they tacked on insurance charges for the 3 extra hours I had it. That was dirty and underhanded. I was very unimpressed.
I will never again use Avis for their slimeball, sub par servies. I'll hitch hike before giving them another red cent. Please pass this report on to familiy and friends, especialy those who like to travel.
Graeme
wpg, Manitoba
Canada
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Dan
Toronto,Ontario,
Canada
Future Reference
#2Consumer Suggestion
Tue, September 28, 2004
Alrighty...I regularly rent cars, not from Avis, but from several other companies.
First, the insurance. You were charged insurance for another day, because you had the car for a portion of that extra day. Insurance is charged flat rate, per day or portion thereof, and there is absolutely no grounds for your complaint-you were aware it was late, and accepted the consequences.
As for the 'rate quote'.....yes, it is the agent's responsibility to accurately quote you the rate, but at the same time, I don't care how much of a rush a CSR is pretending to be in, I tell them that I'm going to take my sweet @$$ time before I sign anything. If you double check your rate estimate, you will probably see that airport surcharge listed somewhere-the CSRs regularly rotate from location to location, and the rate they quoted you was correct as far as their fees are concerned. The airport charge is just that....a charge from the airport.