Avis Car Rental — Local services in San Francisco

TLDR: they didn’t give us the car we reserved, telling lies and breaking the law in the process.

We had reserved (nine months in advance) a Mustang convertible or similar to pick up here and drive down California before heading inland and dropping the car off in Las Vegas. When we got to the shop we were greeted with a 45 minute queue. By the time it was our turn to be served we knew full well what was coming as we’d already heard the arguments from the customer before. Our server though dutifully put on her best acting skills as she tapped away at the keyboard before only then revealing to us they didn't have the car we reserved (yes, we know you’ve already told the five customers in front of us you only have Tesla’s in). OK im a pragmatic person, though im not keen about a 1500 mile road trip in a tesla so what can we do, i’d heard them tell previous customers we could take the Tesla and swap it at a different location, so i ask how much Avis are going to compensate me for the significant extra time this was going to take out of my holiday; nothing the fact Avis are letting me swap the car is apparently the sweetener! Ok how much will you give me if i just keep the tesla? Nothing the Tesla is equivalent to the Mustang convertible, i'm pretty sure if i return the tesla with its roof down you won’t say its equivalent. In the end I took the Tesla and swapped it at the airport later in the day at the airport, after the branch manager agreed to a discount that in the end I never got.

Lies I was told or heard told on the branch: (1)We don’t have the car as someone is late returning it (told to a previous customer). Yet when I suggested that as I was in San Francisco for one more day so I could take the tesla now and swap it for the mustang later in the day once the ;ate person had returned it, they admitted none were due to be returned that day. (2)A tesla model 3 and a Mustang convertible were considered equivalent cars by Avis, funny when i checked on the website after for a week's rental Avis wanted $300 more for the convertible. (3)We could swap the Tesla at any branch of Avis for another car, told to both us and most of the previous customers. Yet when later in the trip I had to take Mustang I eventually got at the airport to an Avis branch in LA as the engine light had come on, they told me they were a local only branch and I had to go to an airport if I wanted it swapped. (4)(and by the branch manager) I would get a day's rental knocked off for the inconvenience but that it would only show when I returned the car. Surprise surprise Total BS and i somehow ended up getting charged more than i was quoted, unfortunately the branch at the hotel in vegas i returned it too had closed early so i couldn't argue my case.

Laws broken by the branch: (1)using pressure tactics. While trying to get some kind of discount for the massive inconvenience caused the server uttered “if you don’t take the Tesla now on the terms offered im giving it to the next gentleman in line and you wont get a car today” the literal definition of pressure tactics is to apply artificial time constraints to a contract negotiation. Funny how when my partner called her out on this she immediately got the branch manger, who then… (2) misrepresented a contract to get us to sign, in this case telling us would get a discount at the end that we didn’t.

Everything above is factually true, the next bit is just a guess of mine, but it was interesting that everyone who’s car wasn’t available and had to take a Tesla had a one way rental. Added to this they were making a big thing about being able to swap at other branches but only really mentioned San Fran airport to people as they were becoming irritated. I genuinely think the area manager just wanted rid of the Tesla’s (they do make terrible rental cars) and saw a day when most customers were not returning to that branch and thought here is a way to palm them off on...

In short: we were given misinformation when picking up our car, were not offered the option or space to do an inspection, and were given a very dirty car with windows obscured with grime so much that I am considering legal action as I could not see out of them. Please read on for full details.

First, when arriving at this location, I will say the few members there seemed to be friendly. The clerk that helped us was also relatively friendly, but he was severely misinformed on charges. He told me (and my travel partner was also there to witness this and can confirm) I would only be charged for the deposit upon picking up the car that day - the rest would be charged to my card upon drop off. So imagine my surprise when I see a pre-auth for the full amount on my card! Thankfully I had space open, but I had asked specifically because I was dealing with an issue of a previous hotel overcharging and needing processing time to update on the card and was considering splitting the car balance between two cards until the hotel issue was resolved. It makes sense why a pre-auth for the full amount would be added and knew how much I’d be paying months ago when I booked it, but I am angry that I was given the wrong information regarding such a large amount showing up immediately.

Next, when we were actually given the keys, we were not given the option to do an inspection. It was handed to us and parked in an exit way with the attendant walking away after so we basically HAD to get in the car and move it should someone else come up behind us. The attendant did help make sure we got out safely because of a blind corner so that was very much appreciated. We didn’t have time to verify any prior damages which worries me as I should not be charged with cleaning fees for prior mess that wasn’t fixed. This mess was extensive and, as you can see from the pictures, an actual safety risk at times.

We were given a car that was absolutely disgusting, with front and rear windows dirty to the point of where they were an actual safety hazard. As you can see in the pictures, the vehicle was clearly barely cleaned if at all before being given to us, with previous customers’ crumbs and drink stains left in high touch surface areas. The rear window had some sort of coating that made it almost impossible to see out of it if there was light like the sun or daytime sky beaming down, and it only slightly improved with defog on. This was NOT fog, and was exclusive to the back window. Both driver side tires had no valve caps. I know these are easy to lose, but still something that needs to be replaced before renting the vehicle out for the safety of a passenger.

The front windshield, however, was in SUCH terrible condition that I’m furious it was even rented out to us this way. The inside had this very weird sort of oily (or something?) coating that I could not wipe away for the sake of me. I used a microfiber towel and more, and all it did was smear it around. You can see this in the pictures. There was also a very weird sort of bubble stain texture on the outside that did not come off with any wiper fluid or wiping with the towel. It covers the entire window and while it doesn’t photograph well, it does obscure vision. You can see little patches of it in the night time photo. The condition of this window (and my inability to improve it whatsoever) is not safe for driving. My vision was severely obscured because of it. I tried running to a gas station after dark and multiple times had to slow down or pull over because I was unable to see AT ALL because my vision was entirely obscured because of this… whatever it is that was on the window that I could not clean off. This WAS NOT SAFE TO BE DRIVEN DUE TO VISIBILITY OBSTRUCTION.

I’m extremely disappointed and angry with this, and will be sure my review is not the end of the line for me. This needs to be corrected so that others do not have such a rough and...

At the time of the collection of the vehicle at the Post street agency in San Francisco, the agent tried to offer us all possible chargeable options which we firmly refused each time.

Given our refusal he became unpleasant and asked us to pick up the vehicle outside. An employee pulled out the vehicle and handed the keys to us without any explanation regarding the commands.

We returned this vehicle after a week's rental at the Los Angeles Airport where the employees confirmed to us in writing that the vehicle was returned in good conditions and that no fees would be charged. I mentioned that we took care of the vehicle and that we were very careful not to spoil or dammage it. One week after our arrival in France, we received an invoice duly settled which mentioned that no additional costs would be charged.

A month after this rental, we had the unpleasant surprise of receiving a letter from Avis informing us that the vehicle was returned with a lot of sand on the front carpet and that $ 75 would be charged to our bank account. We haven’t been to the beach nor on the coast, and the carpets were not particularly dirty, just like any other vehicle after 1 week of use. We contest this unjustified billing charged without our consent. To our opinion, the agency did it since they we refused their payable options. Worse still, we had no response from Avis's customer relations service neither by phone nor in writing to our early challenge regarding this debit on our bank account. I would not recommend this agency which has dishonest practices.

FRENCH VERSION: Au moment de la collecte du véhicule à l’agence de Post street à San Francisco, l’agent a tenté de nous proposer toutes les options payantes possibles ce que nous avons fermement refusé à chaque fois.

Face à notre refus il nous répondu de façon désagréable et pas aimable de récupérer le véhicule à l’extérieur. Une employé nous a sorti un véhicule et nous a remis les clés sans aucune explication sur les commandes.

Nous avons restitué ce véhicule après une semaine de location à l’aéroport de Los Angeles où les employés nous ont confirmé par écrit que le véhicule était restitué dans son état et qu’aucun frais ne serait facturé. Je précise que nous avons pris soin du véhicule et que nous avons été vigilant de ne pas le salir ou le dégrader. Effectivement une semaine après notre arrivée en France, nous recevions une facture acquittée qui attestait qu’aucun frais supplémentaire serait facturé.

Un mois après cette location nous avons eu la mauvaise surprise de recevoir un courrier d’Avis qui nous indiquait que le véhicule a été restitué avec beaucoup de sable sur les tapis avant et que de ce fait 75$ seraient débités de notre compte bancaire. Nous n’avons pourtant pas été à la plage ou sur la côte et les tapis n’étaient pas spécialement sales, juste comme tout véhicule après 1 semaine d’utilisation. Nous contestons cette facturation injustifiée et effectuée sans notre consentement. Selon nous, il s’agit d’une pratique de l’agence qui n’a pas réussi à nous facturer ses options payantes. Pire nous n’avons eu aucune réponse du pseudo service client d’Avis par téléphone et par écrit à notre contestation de débit sur notre compte bancaire. Agence désagréable et...