Our entire interaction with Avis/Budget was dismal. We picked up the car at the central location in Stockholm, and were helped by three very young gentlemen who all appeared to be new. They had no idea how to get to the highway out of town, and apparently none of them drove. GPS saved the day to exit the city. Next, we noticed an alert on the dash, which we finally traced to a fuel gauge reading empty! We stopped at a gas station, and learned that the car could run on gas, OR compressed natural gas, and was out of compressed natural gas, which set the alarm, but we could proceed on gasoline. This would have been a good thing for our three agents to have mentioned. When we attempted to return the car 5 days later to the location specified in the contract, we learned that it closed early, as it was a national holiday. We were directed to an alternate site that we were assured was open, but it was closed as well. We were obliged to return the car to the office at the airport 40km away, and take a taxi to our next stop. I used the Avis website to lodge a complaint, and asked to be reimbursed the $60 for the unplanned taxi ride. A week after our return, an additional charge appeared on our credit card for $166, with no explanation, but I suspect it is for delivering the car to someplace other than the original. It has now been 18 days since our return, and Avis has not responded with specifics. We received an acknowledgement of having placed the complaint, but with no specifics. My advice: avoid these amateurs. I have had much better service from Sixt overseas, and regret that I did not take this business to them. read more
