Avis Car Rental — Local services in Dania Beach

If I could give 0 stars I would. My rental broke down within 10 minutes of leaving the rental lot). I arrived to the location at 11:20am, got the car assigned to me at 11:45am, left the rental lot by 11:50am and the car was completely disabled by noon. As it stood I was barely able to get off of the highway where I was stranded until a tow truck finally came at 4:30pm...four and a half hours later!

We called the roadside and were quickly connected however the agent was more concerned with finding a replacement vehicle than a tow. We asked the agent multiple times to arrange the tow truck first because we know this often takes a while. We had absolutely ZERO confirmation of a tow until 2:50pm. Almost 3 hours after we were stranded.

While talking to the roadside service the call dropped several times and the agent, to her credit, called back quickly (most times) however on multiple occasions the audio just went dead. The call was connected yet we could not hear the agent and were unsure if she could hear us. This happened multiple times and we didn't hang up in case the agent came back but they never did. The longest we stayed on this neglected line was an hour before the call ended on us and the agent didn’t call again.

My family and I were penalized unnecessarily for Avis' negligence, causing us stress that was completely avoidable and causing us to miss 100% of our plans for the first day and completely ruining the first day of our family vacation. I understand car issues happen however it's obvious this vehicle was neglected and was not properly inspected before being rented again ( it has less than 30k miles). It broke down so soon after pickup and we were stranded without any recourse. I was specifically told I could not get a replacement vehicle until the tow company took possession of the vehicle yet they took almost THREE HOURS to get us a tow. I asked if we could leave the vehicle and we were told we were responsible for the car. Even though Avis rented us a FAULTY vehicle that died already immediately after pickup. If that’s not enough, the tow truck was finally confirmed to arrive at 3:30. I understand timing is flexible however it didn’t come until 4:30pm. When we called to confirm the time we were told it would be 10-20 minutes away. I called after 25 minutes and was told it was 10 minutes away. We called after 15 minutes and were told it was 10 minutes away. We were mislead and placated with false expectations and empty promises when all Avis had to do was send someone else to retrieve or watch over the car until it was towed or simply get us a replacement and worry about the tow after instead of making us pay the price for Avis’ negligence. If that’s not enough, we were told the tow truck driver would be able to take me back to the airport however the driver said he would only take to the gas station across the street. Seriously? I had to arrange my own ride to get to the airport a second time.

At the end I got barely any apology from the manager. He promised to compensate me for the issue and proceeded to refund the first day of the rental. This was so outrageous and was nowhere near any form of acceptable compensation. Compensation would account arranging a second trip the airport on my dime, for the missed plans, the reservations we had to cancel and the COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE stress of sitting on the side of the road for 4 and half hours. This was such an empty apology for an inexplicable issue and undue experience that Avis could have chosen to rectify in a way that didn’t penalize a paying customer.

This leaves such a sour taste in my mouth and makes me feel sick. I have no desire to rent with Avis again even if it’s my only option. Again I understand issues can happen, but the sheer lack of customer service and a respectable resolution makes it’s all but IMPOSSIBLE to...

On January 8th,2025 , I had the worst customer experience of my life.

After waiting 3–4 hours for a 9 PM flight on January 7th, which was eventually canceled by Flair Airlines (which I will write a separate review for), I had to find a hotel for my 82-year-old father, my mother, and myself. My father has multiple health issues, including incontinence, Parkinson’s, and thyroid problems. All his clothes were dirty, and he had no access to his more medication, because we were supposed to fly home that night.

We later received an email from the airline informing us that the flight had been rescheduled four days later, on January 11th. With all this uncertainty, I thought the best course of action was to rent a car so that I could go to a nearby laundromat, buy diapers and food for my father, and ensure we had what we needed for the next few days.

The Rental Car Nightmare

I woke up early on January 8th, 2025, and left the hotel at 8:30 AM to pick up the rental car I had already paid for.

The staff and management were the most incompetent and disrespectful people I have ever encountered.

I waited over an hour for their machine to accept my Visa card after they refused to manually enter the information for the deposit—despite the fact that I had already prepaid the rental with the same credit card. (I found this extremely suspicious because, instead of trying again, they seemed to assume the card wouldn’t work and expected me to use another credit card. If I had done so, my rental car insurance would not have been valid.)

They eventually gave me a car, but when I went to the parking lot to find it, another customer was already getting into it because they had assigned it to him as well.

When I returned to the office, the female staff member refused to give me another vehicle. Instead, she wasted time on her phone, scrolled through the computer, and made calls on the radio.

When I finally lost my patience and asked if she was going to give me a car or not, she told me she was canceling my reservation. I told her she could not do that without my permission and that I needed to speak to a manager. She refused to call anyone.

Frustrated, I grabbed the wired mouse from the counter (which I acknowledge was wrong). She then started screaming and making a huge scene, falsely claiming that I had “touched” her. She exaggerated the situation, making others believe that I had physically done something to her.

When I asked another staff member to call a manager, she pretended to use the radio but never actually made the call.

The manager eventually arrived with two security guards and informed me that I was being removed from the building.

I peacefully left with my mother to take a shuttle and get a cab. However, the shuttle was stopped, and 2–6 police officers surrounded me. I was handcuffed and accused of throwing an object at her. But when they checked the security cameras and realized the entire accusation was false, they “apologized” and admitted it was a misunderstanding.

By the time I arrived back at the hotel, it was almost 2 PM. My 82-year-old father had been alone for hours, waiting for food, a clean diaper, and a shower.

This is the absolute worst company ever, and I recommend that no one ever deals with them. What an...

TLDR: Would give zero stars if I could. This was my worst car rental experience ever! They charged me for add-ons without my permission. These guys are crooks! Beware! I DO NOT recommend.

LONG STORY:

First of all, I was told by the desk agent that “Avis doesn’t make enough money when you book through Expedia; we lose money so you’re gonna have to pay a bit extra to make up for that” when first picking up the car.

I prepaid $138 for the book then I was charged $270 additionally by Avis Rental Car company for insurance that I did not request and gasoline I already placed in the car. I explicitly stated to the rep when acquiring the car rental that I didn’t want their insurance as I had my own personal car insurance through my car insurance with Progressive Insurance and I also told them that my credit card covered car rentals.

Avis also charged me for gasoline which I replaced in the car. I actually filled the tank up before returning the car to the company at the Airport. As a result of this, Avis refunded me $69 after getting one of their friendly agents over the phone after multiple unsuccessful tries, but the money was somehow returned to them again.

When I got back home to New Jersey from Florida, I called Avis’ customer service multiple times and they either failed to return my calls or called me back super late. They also haven’t called me back as yet after requesting to have a callback by a manager the last time we spoke, as I was at work.

When I did get a chance to speak to one of their managers, he was super rude and frustrating and refused to hear me out that I didn’t request their insurance and also refused to refund my money. He basically told me that I requested insurance and they only charged me because I wanted it. He basically told me that I lied and they wouldn’t refund the money they charged for insurance or gasoline. I called back and finally got through to a very nice rep and they refunded my $69 for the gas and also agreed to refund my money for the insurance that I didn’t want but he was unable to do so as the previous RUDE customer service manager I spoke with placed a block on my account, disabling the ability to refund me at all.

I will NEVER use Avis again as I had a TERRIBLE experience as a first time customer. And to think I was even thinking of joining their loyalty program as well…they’ve lost a high value potentially long-term customer based on a VERY BAD first time experience.

I also DO NOT recommend booking with...