Avis Car Rental — Local services in Tampa

If I could give 0 stars I would. Renter beware! This was the worst experience I've ever had with a rental company. I will never rent with avis again. I arrived to the location at 8:45am to return my rental at 9:00am per my reservation for nobody to be there and for nobody to ever show up. Despite the hours of operation on the door of 8am-12pm, the hours of operation online of 9am-12pm, and the hours of operation per customer service of 9am-12pm no one came and opened the location. My husband and I along with multiple other customers were all waiting outside to return our rental vehicles. When I called customer service the phone call was disconnected while holding, the phone was disconnected while speaking to a manager not only for me but for the other 2 couples calling in with the same concerns. The customer service representatives didn't have an answer as to why the location was not open, nor did they have a solution as to what should be done. No one offered to contact the branch manager of the location, no one offered a solution to the issue and it took 3 different phone calls, being placed on hold 6 different times, being transferred from CSR to CSR and speaking to multiple people before anyone had a solution. 36 minutes on the phone resulted in me having to drive completely out of my way to an entirely different location to return the vehicle. My return time was for 9am and the vehicle was not returned until 10:45. What should have taken 5 mins took me 2 hours. I will never rent from avis again. I was giving avis another chance after this same thing happened at this same location years ago in hopes they fixed their issues, but never again will I rent with avis. It's unacceptable. It's a poor way to run a business. Had I requested a return time 2 hours after my original return time I would have been charged a substantial amount, however, avis gets away with wasting peoples time along with the time and gas of the person who followed me to give me a ride. It's unacceptable. One man lived walking distance to the location and was told to now drop his vehicle to the airport with no way home. This location should be shut down if this is the...

WOW.. if I could give ZERO stars I definitely would. Absolutely worst customer service I have ever seen. I booked my rental car April 5-11 last minute on the Avis website. I was only in need of a small car, and the only thing remotely small was a sports car. I booked that as this was the only fitting car for my stay. I did the prepay, so the cost was already taken care of. When I show up to pick up my keys, there was no one at the desk to approach me. We waited in the lobby for 15 minutes until someone finally showed up.

First of all, the man at the desk was not wearing a mask and did not even approach me to ask if I had a reservation or anything. I walked up and told him my confirmation number. He then laughed and stated, “you paid for a sports car, but we don’t have one of those”. This man-which I don’t even know his name because he never shared that information, thought it was funny I already paid for a sports car and couldn’t even provide me for what I paid for. He kept saying, “I don’t even know when that car will be available”. He then also stated, “you paid for this sports car with a debit card, and we don’t allow customers to rent sports cars with debit cards, it has to be a credit card”. I simply asked if he could refund me and adjust the difference for a compact car he offered me. He then stated, “it’s not much of a difference in price”. Regardless I did get a car, but the one I was provided with smelled of smoke. I walked back in and stated I would like to have another car and that I don’t smoke. He refused to give me another car and stated, “just don’t smoke in it and you’ll be fine”. Completely disregarded the fact it already smelled like that, and I do not smoke cigarettes.

Upon returning the rental car, I asked about the 250 dollar security deposit and how soon I could see that back. He then stated, “that depends on your bank and how soon they are willing to give it back”. He acted like he didn’t want to help me out at all, and just wanted to argue the whole time. Stating, “I’m not sure you understand”.

Horrible service!!!!! AVOID...

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!

I cannot believe Avis allows this man to operate under their name. I rented a car from Hotwire (like I have for years) and I go to pick up the car and he tells me he has no more compact cars and he can sell me a SUV for $50 more. I told him that I wanted to speak to a manager because I felt like he was trying to upsell me, given that usually when a rental company doesn’t have cars that size, they just offer what they have. He tells me “I’m not a part of Avis corporate. I own this location”. He then tells me it was my fault for “trusting the internet” and I should’ve called first. After I was forced to pay the up charge because I had to leave immediately, I come to a car that’s clearly not been cleaned although he swears it had been.

When I go to return the car at 8:00am SHARP on Monday in a hurry to get back for work, he was 15 minutes late opening the location, with a crowd waiting for him. When I asked if I could just leave the keys, gas receipt and contract without waiting in line, he said, “Yes, just leave your email on the paper for your receipt. As long as you filled it up, you’re fine. No smoking in the car or anything, right?...Then you’re good to go.” WHY WOULD YOU INSINUATE I WAS SMOKING?? I don’t smoke and even if I did, why would you even assume I’d do that in a rental of all places?

Of all the cars I’ve rented over the years, this is hands down the worst experience I’ve ever had. I sincerely hope Avis reconsiders sending customers to this man and allowing him to operate...