Avis Car Rental — Local services in Erlanger

I don’t travel often, but I have never been treated so poorly. I was traveling from Evansville, IN to Cincinnati, OH to fly to Norfolk, VA with my mom and 2 young children (ages 9 weeks old and 3 years old). I paid with my debit card at the Evansville location, and there were no problems. But, the issues began upon my landing back in Cincinnati. My flight was delayed, and we landed later than expected. By the time I got to the counter the Avis personnel had left with no instruction on what to do next. So I was stranded with two small children, my mom and forced to buy a hotel room. Then when I went to the counter this morning I was turned away because I had no credit card with me. I was told to call the corporate hotline and I was told by 2 separate representatives that I was able to pay with a debit card with a flight itinerary (which I had). I returned to the counter where I was told that i couldn’t use my debit card because I was traveling one way. Now, if this had been made clear before my arrival I would have brought a credit card with me. But, this was not expressed clearly at all, even by the corporate hotline. This same hotline explained to me the policy around debit cards at this particular location and never indicated this either. On top of this, if I would have been told in a respectful way I would have been more understanding as well. I was treated so poorly by the people at the counter. The first man sent me away with such a dismissive attitude that I was initially shocked. I called the hotline in tears and I was told conflicting information from what the person at the counter told me. This drove me to return to the counter, where in line I called the hotline again to confirm with another person that the information I had received from the other person was correct. This individual confirmed that if I had a flight itinerary I should be able to use a debit card with no problems. So I get to the counter (2 hours after the initial encounter) and I am met with hostility and an unwillingness to help. They tried to send me away again, but I wanted to understand why they were refusing me when I met their terms for using a debit card. This is when I am told that it’s because I am traveling one way. At this point I ask how I was supposed to know that when I made the reservation (over 2 weeks in advance), especially if I was able to get there (one way) using the same debit card. Then I ask the lady at the counter why they were so unwilling to help me get back home when I had no trouble getting to Cincinnati. To which she says, “how am I supposed to know how you got here?”. I reply with, you could look up my previous reservation. At this point, she asks me how she’s supposed to do that. I remind her that she has all of my information including my travel itinerary. She finds my previous reservation and remarks “oh I guess you did get here through Avis”. She then calls her manager and says, “I’ve got this lady crying at my counter saying she can’t get home unless we use her debit card”. I don’t know what he says in response, but she proceeds to grab my debit card off the counter and finish the transaction without saying another word to me. I sign the rental agreement which seems to be what I was told I was paying, plus a $200 holding fee and I leave with the information to get my vehicle. Upon arriving home I look at my bank account and realize that my car rental ($412) was more than double the price I had signed up for ($191) and I only had access to the vehicle for 9 hours before it had to be returned even though I signed up for a full 24 hours. This was a horrible experience that I would not wish upon anyone, especially someone with two...

Arrived at CVG, went to pick up my rental that had been reserved a week in advance. The people at the counter tell me that corporate had been allowing double bookings of the same vehicles all day. The people at the counter were friendly and and informed me I may have to change cars due to it being booked by 2 people, just hand the paperwork to the lady in the office to get your car. OK no worries, thank you for the heads up.

I get up to the car lot, no one is in the booth for me to hand in my paperwork. I can't see anyone walking the garage floor either. I waited for a few minutes then decided I'll just check out the car I was supposed to recieve. I took my pictures and video of the car to notate previous damage, loaded up my bags then drove to back to the booth. Still no one there. I drive to the exit and the guy at the gate scans my car to check me out, discovers it's rented to 2 people at the same time. He radios to TRISH trying to find out what he needs me to do in this situation. TRISH was instantly yelling and condescending and rude to the man who was simply trying to figure out what to do. He informs I need to return to the booth. Now, finally TRISH is actually at the booth. I hand her my paperwork and the other person's paperwork. TRISH starts raising her voice at me and is exceptionally rude to me. I didn't over book the car, your company did. She yelled at me that the people downstairs should never have allowed me to even go to the car that didn't belong to me, (even though I had paperwork saying it did.) TRISH then tells me to go downstairs and get a different car if we even have one. I left my bags in the car and took the key with me, because I thought I'd be put back in the same car since my name was on it.

I go downstairs again, people at the counter are great and help me get a another car, but same thing, this car also looks double booked. I return upstairs, TRISH isn't even looking at the window and has to be told by a coworker that someone is waiting on her. Again TRISH is yelling, rude, accused me of stealing, then finally let's me take the new car.

Everyone except TRISH was pleasant to deal with and had great customer service, especially knowing there were...

I understand things are difficult during the pandemic but it was not an enjoyable experience. I flew out on Sunday morning and had a 7am flight, however Avis does not even open until 8am and does not have a drop off area. When I checked in, I was told that none of the other companies did either but when I drove by Saturday evening both Hertz and National/Enterprise had drop off areas as of 8PM. When I explained the situation upon picking up my car, I was told I just needed to change my plans accordingly or stay at the Doubletree and they could come pick up the car but I had to keep following up to make sure they knew to do it. The stress and worry about whether or not it gets picked up on time and making sure it got there was not worth it when I could have easily gotten the car from another company and had an easy drop off. What was interesting was on my shuttle to the airport at 6am, there were several Avis cars sitting on the side of the road outside the gate as it appeared there were many others with the same issue. If that was an option I would have used. I have no idea how you can run a car agency but not be able to be open when so many early flights. When I asked if I could just return to another facility and get a ride to the airport as an option to avoid any issues, I was told I would have to pay more for drop off at another spot. Relative to the car, I ended up getting one from the Budget section b/c Avis was sold out of SUVs even though there were others sitting there but must have been 1 level higher. The car I was given had scratches and drove terrible. I spun out at 1 intersection due to the tires being so unbalanced (55psi in the front and 25 in the back) when the recommendations were high 30's. I personally had to pay to go fill the tires properly so I could drive during the time I had it so I could feel safe driving it. I choose Avis when I can as y'all are supposed to be a good quality rental car experience, I've had better experiences...