Complaint Review: Avis Car Rental - Santa Ana California

On or about Sept 21, 2015, an "econo size" car was rented from Avis at their John Wayne Airport location in Santa Ana, CA.  The rental period was for ONE WEEK.  The car was returned as promised, several hours before it was due to be returned, at the Avis office which the car was rented from, John Wayne Airport, in Santa Ana, CA

About 10 days after the car was returned, I received a letter from Avis Corporate threatening to report the car as stolen if I didn't voluntarily return the vehicle within 24 hours!!  This was 10 days AFTER I had already returned the car.  Avis was kind enough to provide a phone number to their "Loss Prevention" department. I immediately called that number and told them I was in receipt of a letter pertaining to a car that was already returned. I provided the information of where it was returned, the date, time and other specifics. The loss prevention agent lady with whom I spoke "tracked" the vehicle however they track it in their own system and came back on the phone to tell me "this is very strange and embarassing, and I have to apologize to you for our mistake. Our records indicate the car is presently located at our John Wayne Airport office and is in inventory. I will immediately send the local branch office an email to straighten out this matter and you no longer have to worry about it". 

I was stupid enough to take her word for it and didn't bother to collect any additional information after she told me "you don't have to worry about anything on this matter, I will make sure it's taken care of since we have the car".  I DEPENDED ON THE FACT THAT I WAS TOLD THE CALL WAS BEING RECORDED, AND STILL HOPE THAT THERE IS A PAPER AND VOICE TRAIL OF THE FACT THAT I WAS TOLD THEY HAD THE CAR AS EARLY AS SEPT 29TH, 2015.

But was that the end of it?  ABSOLUTELY NOT.  On or about October 2nd, I get a call from a UC San Diego detective.  The Detective inquired about a car I recently rented from Avis, which I confirmed. The Detective then went on to tell me that the car was involved in "an incdent on campus", without divulging additional details to me. I immediately told the detective "I recently was on the phone with Avis loss prevention dealing with this exact same issue".  I described the letter I received followed by the call placed into loss prevention and the events that followed regarding their tracking of the vehicle and the email that was allegedly sent to the local branch from corporate loss prevention to tell the local office "leave this guy alone, he returned your car and it's in the lot!".  The Detective thanked me for my time and hung up and I didn't hear anything again on the matter.

Now on November 16th, 2015, I'm being told that the car was involved in a minor hit and run sometime between October 2nd and October 22nd. The latter date being the date that Avis apparently "found their own car"!!!!

On November 16, 2015, I got a call back from the same Detective to give me a "heads up" that

Avis actually lost the car until October 22nd and found it in the city of La Jolla, Ca (San Diego). I immediately came to the conclusion that Avis blew it on this one, someone probably either stole the car from their John Wayne facility, rented it from the John Wayne office or for whatever reason, drove off with this particular car WITHOUT reporting it (they don't check you as you drive off the lot like they do at most airport rental agencies where there's a security guy that checks your paperwork before allowing you off the lot. At John Wayne Airport, if there are keys in the car, you can get in and drive away and no one will be the wiser) and was involved in something that was going to cost Avis money and now Avis was frantically looking for a scapegoat. And that scapegoat was going to be the "last person on record as having rented the car" regardless of the fact that Loss Prevention confirmed 10 days after the car was returned that the car was in fact located on the Avis lot in Santa Ana, CA, and regardless of that evidence, the alleged hit & run the Detective told me about occurred well after the car was returned and confirmed on their lot in Santa Ana, CA. 

How on earth was Avis going to make the mental leap of trying to blame an alleged hit & run whose only witness was a photo of the license plate of THEIR CAR with no indication of who was driving, nor any indication of who the other party involved in this hit & run was, and why they were tyring to pass blame onto a customer that had returned the car somwhere between 10 days and 1 month before the hit & run took place?  I don't know the exact date and nature of the hit & run as the Detective did not disclose this information to me other than to say no other people were injured nor involved. How could there be a hit and run with no people involved? This was getting more bizarre. I tried to contact Avis immediatly to clear the matter up and threaten to sue them for harassment, false accusation, libel and per the definition of Slander, SLANDER! But the phone number Avis gave the Detective, who then gave to me, WAS A NON WORKING NUMBER FOR AVIS:  973-496-3799

Sensing I was a little distraught, the Detective tried to calm me by saying "From what I understand, Avis hasn't made up their mind on whether they're going to hold you OR YOUR FATHER accountable for the hit and run and any damages they are ultimatley going to have to pay".  At this point, I was appaled, although I wasn't going to take out my frustrations on the Detective, he seemed to actualy be helping me and believed my story. I coudln't lie about a phantom email and if I did, I would have to be a moron to claim that Loss Prevention sent an email to the local office saying the car is on your lot so stop bothering this customer if there was no email. I would be incriminating myself.  Anyway, I was angry about the fact that the Detective mentioned my father!  What my father had to do with anything was beyond my comprehension. I just wanted to get to the bottom of the matter.

I told the Detective that if Avis was honest, they would have a record of the email so I had nothing to worry about and was eager to get on with pursuing Avis regarding the matter and letting the Detective get on with more important things other than Corporate incompetency and dishonesty.  I actually sensed the Detective was familiar with these types of matters and this wasn't the first time he was dealing with something like this.

There is no indication of what type of hit and run the car was involved in, what day, what time, or where other than "on the UCSD campus" which is the largest UC in California.  If there were no "witnesses" other than someone that took a picture of the license plate, coupled with the fact that there were no individuals hurt or injuried because no one was in either car (allegedly from what the Detective said), then it's incomprehensible how Avis could attempt to make such a leap and accusation. What seeme to be happening was Avis had one of their cars either lost, stolen, rented out and undocumented or someone just took it right off their Santa Ana lot for a 1 month joy ride, had their fun, then according to the Detective, "Avis found the car on Oct. 22nd".  Whatever that was supposed to mean, I assumed whoever took the car off the Santa Ana Lot either abandoned the car somewhere or returned it to another Avis office in La Jolla since I checked online and there is a "Budget" office in La Jolla, and they're the same company. Either that or Avis is trying to create a believable scenario to pass blame so they don't have to pay the repair costs. What other conclusion can be drawn from this bizarre fairy tale?

If they are honest and have records of the email that was sent by loss prevention, it immediately proves their incompetence. If they wish to pass blame to someone that has nothing to do with it and cover up their own incompetence or some local manager is trying to save his/her job by deleting evidence, then we have a corporation engaged in fraud, false accusation, harassment, slander, and thus liable for potential damages on top of any amount of money they would have to pay to fix the car(s).  The amount of money they are liable to be sued for as a result of their fantastically illogical fairy tale is going to be exponentially more than what I imagine could be the most they would have to pay for a "hit and run" that didn't involve any passengers, drivers, injuries, etc... and the only record is a smartphone photo of their own car's license plate taken somewhere between 2 weeks and 1 month AFTER Loss Prevention confirmed the car was on the lot in Santa Ana,

Santa Ana, CA is about 80 Miles NORTH of La Jolla, CA, where the car supposedly "turned up" sometime between October 2nd and October 22nd, although probably closer to the 22nd because I believe I had spoken to the Detective the first time around the 2nd.  The insanity of this whole ordeal is a WARNING SIGN TO ALL THAT YOU HAVE A LOT OF CHOICES WHEN RENTING A CAR:  DO NOT RENT A CAR FROM AVIS OR BUDGET. READ ALL THE COMPLAINTS FILED ON RIPOFF REPORT AND BE SMART, BE INFORMED, AND AVOID THIS CROOKED COMPANY AT ALL COSTS. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. IF AFTER READING ALL THESE REPORTS, YOU STILL GO AHEAD AND RENT A CAR FROM AVIS WHEN I CAN LIST OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD AT LEAST 6 LEADING RENTAL AGENCIES WHOSE PRICES ARE ALWAYS BETTER, THEN WHATEVER THEY DO TO YOU THAT COMES BACK TO HAUNT YOU IS YOUR OWN FAULT.  SERIOUSLY, GO TO PRICELINE.COM AND FIND A RENTAL AGENCY WHOSE PRICES ARE LIKELY TO BE 50% OF AVIS' AND THEY DON'T TRY TO SCREW THEIR CUSTOMERS OVER AFTER THEY RETURN THE VEHICLE "JUST TO KEEP THEIR BUSINESS AFLOAT" AS ONE RIPOFF REPORT ACCURATELY SUGGESTS. 

It does seem the only way this company can remain profitable is to hit their customers with masssive charges that can't be justified, and then threten them with costly litigation that forces the customer to decide which would be cheaper, biting the bullet and paying for costs they're not responsible for, or paying for an attorney to deal with the matter.  AVOID AVIS OR BUDGET AT ANY AND ALL COSTS!!!!