Zero stars! My disappointing Avis experience: After originally declining all additional insurance and other optional services during my online reservation with AutoEurope, the lady at the Avis check-in counter at the Milan Central train station location had apparently added every optional add-on possible to my reservation and when she showed me the contract to sign, she only showed me the Italian contract and failed to show me the translated version. When I questioned her about why the amount was so high, she told me it was due to the deposit that would go on my credit card for the vehicle. Having rented several cars from several different companies, this made sense to me and I signed the digital forms so that I could be on my way. Upon arriving to the dislocated garage to pick up my vehicle, I was told I would be getting an SUV as the car I had reserved was not available. Because of the total distance and small Italian roads I would be driving, I asked if I could change to something smaller and more economical. The gentleman in the garage were super friendly and helpful and after a phone call, they got me into a Fiat 500 (their smallest car) which had not yet been cleaned from the last rental. After 1 day of driving, I realized that this tiny car wasn't suitable for all the highway driving I would be doing, so I was able to stop at the Marco Polo Airport near Venice and the helpful staff there got me into a larger more suitable Fiat for the remainder of my trip. At the end of my 8 day trip, I returned my vehicle without any additional damage, and with a full tank of gas. The friendly man at the return lot said the car looked perfect and asked me to sign a receipt that was 3 times more than my original AutoEurope reservation! Obviously confused, I politely declined to sign and he kindly directed me to the Avis desk inside the Bari Airport. Once inside the lady at the desk showed me the English translated version of my rental agreement and I found out that all the "Requested Optional Extras" that I originally declined online and never offered again had all been added when I picked up the vehicle. These extras included a "Group upsell", "damage waiver", "windscreen protection", "theft protection", "Fuel up front", and "Additional products". Once again, I never requested these, nor was I even given the option to accept or decline these options. The lady at the desk inside the Bari Airport refused to help me with my complaint because it was "A different office that sold me the contract" and told me to call/email corporate if I had a problem. I have since contacted Avis and have only been given a case number and told to wait up to 30 days for a response. I've rented with Hertz, National, Alamo, and EuropCar. I even hold VIP status with two of them and have never been scammed into extras like this before. Avis should be ashamed of the service I received on this trip and I regret not sticking with EuropCar for my entire stay in Europe who at least had the decency to try to sell me extra insurance to my face instead of slapping them on behind my back. Avoid this Avis at all costs! read more

I booked a van through Rental Cars, looking for the cheapest option which was Avis. Pick up in Milan. Total cost for the rental is 352.76€. A few days after I returned the car, I noticed Avis deducted 1321.63 euros from my visa card without any notification or message. This brings the total cost of this 4 days rent on 1674, 39 euros. This is completely unexpected and I was completely astonished since this is so extreme and feels fraudulent, misleading and unacceptable. What happened? I picked up the car on Friday morning June 28, at 8:30am. The lady at the desk was very friendly and asked me if I wanted an insurance. I told her I took a Full Protection insurance through Rental Car. She replied that that kind of insurance is of no value and is not helping at all. She could offer me a full protection ( 'a real one') for only 40 euros a day. She would send a mail to the other insurance of Rental Cars to cancel it so I would have that money back. She convinced me and I was really happy with her support in having a real insurance and canceling my other one which - according to her - was fake. She asked me to sign on a screen a few times so all was ok for the insurance. Before leaving she told me she would send all by mail and I saw the mail already coming in while driving the car to pick up my friends. I didn't check since I was with friends in the mountains the whole weekend. I brought back the car on Tuesday morning at 9am. So I used the car from Friday June 28th 9 am up to Tuesday July 2 at 9am which is exactly 4 days. A couple of days I saw a deduction of Avis for 1321,63 euros. I was completely shocked and assumed it was a mistake. I tried to call Avis a couple of times, didn't work, always waiting music. I went to the office where I picked up the car ( central station Milano). I asked her what exactly had happened. The lady of Avis was very annoyed, saying that I had signed and that it is my problem. When I stated that I was told the insurance was only 40 euros, she told me I must have heard that wrong and that is only a net amount. Which is 100% not true. She didn't care and for her it is what it is and gave me an overview of costs in Italian. Contacted customer Service - zero help or understanding. The only conclusion must be that Avis is a scam company that has policies to trick the customers. How can anyone explain that an initial rent of 352,76€ ends in a total cost of 1674, 39 euros? Yes, I have signed but in good faith that Avis was honest and wanted to help me. For the money for the 'fake' insurance of Rental Cars that your employee claimed had sent a mail to cancel (since 'if you cancel before the start of the rental you have your money back') I didn't see any mail or refund. I rent almost every month a car and never had a situation like this before. I am very disappointed in this misleading and fraudulent way of working. read more

The worst I ever saw. If you could give zero stars I would. We waited 1 1/2 hours to get the car at the Milan airport. Then when we tried to return the car to the train station - after driving in circles for 45 mins we were told there is not a place to return the car at the train station and just to park it and come inside. Then to add insult to injury - despite the fact that we prepaid for the car when we turned it they tried to add 250 euros in charges for a scrape on a tire (which we didn't do) and a VAT which we didn't owe. This is totally outrageous. Do NOT rent a car from Avis in Italy. They don't know what they are doing. read more