First of all, I rented a car from AVIS and not until when I returned the car that I realized that it was on a "re-call" list and should have never been rented out without a proper service first. Then, AVIS LAX office couldn't locate the car just 5 mins after being returned.

Here is the story:
5 mins after I returned the car, I realized that I left a bag in the car and then went back to the agent who checked me in. The car was gone and he couldn't find it anywhere in the LAX parking lot (not in the cleaning or maintenance area).

No one at that office knew what happened to that car. They thought some other agents (from other locations) must have driven it to their location. Apparently, no one recorded that activity. The car just vanished 5 minutes after being returned.
I waited for two hours and they still couldn't find it but the manager assured me that he will put a "hold" on that car so when the car turns up in the system, it will not be rented again. It was at this time, that I realized that I have been driving a car that needs service. It was on a "recall list" and the LAX manager was surprised that car was rented to me.

After I came home, I called them everyday and being told repeatedly "don't know where the car is" then 5 days later, I was told "oh, that car was rented by the Budget office next door to us". I then sent a lengthy email to the customer_service department asking for explanation. And after sending my email twice, 10 days later, I got the reply in below. I even sent the same email to the AVIS VP and a customer relationship manager in the corporate office but no reply.

How can such a poorly managed company, AVIS car rental, can survive in the US market?

Here are my questions and the reply from AVIS:
> I would like to get an explanation from your company that:
> 1) How can a car disappear from Avis car 5 minutes after being returned
(there were at least 10 cars in front of my car, my car was not even the first
in line) and no one knew who took it?
>
> 2) How can a car that needs service
being rented to me in San Louis Obispo
and then again in LAX without being properly serviced?
>
> 3) How can a car that was on a "Hold" list can be rented?
> 4) Why the manager not returning my calls to apologize or let me know the status of my search?

Reply from Avis:

Avis is not responsible for
any loss or damage to personal property left or carried in a rental
vehicle, therefore lack of planning, organization, or responsibility on your part

In regards to the manager's actions and the vehicle being rented out, I unfortunately do not have access to that information; hence I can not provide an answer on this.

As far as the vehicle being rented
while on 'HOLD' again I do not have access to this information and would be something that only the manager of the Los Angeles Intl Airport location.

We rented a car from Avis from 3/29/2008 to 4/14/08. The agreeable rental total was $531.00.

Unfortunately, when we received the credit statement, we were billed for $696.55. We were very frustrated and immediately went through the a seris of events of contacting the local place, the fleet/district manager and the Corporate Office.

The AVIS TEAM took side of one another and quickly turned our case now. They said that the extra charges were for clearning but when we returned the car, we were told that everything ws OK.

The recent rental experience with Avis was very terrible and unacceptable. When we brought the car, we returned it to the branch manager's husband. Upon inspecting the car, he informed us that everything was fine and we were free to go. We asked him twice to give me some form of paper indicating the car was OK. Twice, he said it was OK and we could leave. We both left after the second verbal OK. This means this is the termination of our contract between us and Avis. At that point, we are no longer held responsible or liable with the car.

If there were issues, we should have been informed back then. A claim should have been filed at the moment when we returned the car. We brought the car back four hours before it was due and we even cleaned it beforehand. If the condition was not acceptable, we could have done something to work it out. The extra cleaning fee charged on the credit card is excessive. A car cleaning usually costs from $15.00 - $50.00 at the max. The price charged appears to be synonymous to a detailing fee.

Teresa (the manager) and her husband do not run the rental car agency in a professional manner. They are very dishonest, unethical and irresponsible in this matter. Teresa was out of the country when we returned the car so she had no idea of the car�s condition. When a car is discharged, this should be the end of the rental. Adding extra fees after the car is signed off leads to bogus charges which I have no way of verifying. The car is no longer in my possession. There is no way for me to dispute the claim. False claims can be fabricated.

I have received 4 letters from the collections department in the past months regarding a rental car agreement from February. I attempted to pay with an American Express in April which did not go through. We received more letters and I have attempted to pay with a Mastercard as instructed my Ms. Lewis, a Collections Department representative on June 28, and July 9, we received a fourth letter informing me I cannot rent cars from Avis because of non-payment and are turning our account over to attorneys for legal action. I have spoken with Ms. Lewis, 3 times in the past months, the third time being today. I asked if the payment had gone through and she said yes.

We have outstanding credit (and do not wish to ruin our credit rating because of a rental car). I have never had such a difficult time paying a bill.

To extend rental car at AVIS, required the driver's personal credit card info. or other personal info. (the one who picked up the car); this put an assistant job in difficult... would anyone be willing to leave their credit card or other personal information to their assistant? I tried to use company credit instead to extend my VP's car rental but not be accepted by AVIS.

Recommand not to rent a car from AVIS

I rented a car from Avis in Franklin Tn for a weekend trip. I had a coupon for a free weekend day, so my whole rental was to be less that $60. I was involved in a wreck on Sunday night. I called the Avis number on the form they had given me and they had the car towed. Apparently Avis has no tracking system (right!!!) because they supposed knew nothing of the car being wrecked until my insurance company called them on Tuesday. They then charged my credit card for over $160.00 because the car was not turned in on time. When I called the billing department, they said they could not do anything and gave me a name and number to call. When I called him, he was not even the manager of the right location and could do nothing either!!!