I made a reservation with AVIS, and apparently that word means something very different to them than it does to the rest of us. When I arrived, ready to pick up the car I had reserved, I was told they didn't actually have one available. I couldn't help but feel like I had walked straight into that Seinfeld episode where Jerry says, "You know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to hold the reservation... and that's really the most important part." I was told there were no cars available at any AVIS locations--except maybe the airport. "Maybe." Not exactly reassuring. I was told they had attempted to call me ahead of time to let me know (despite the emails I continued to receive confirming my reservation), I actually checked my incoming call log just to be sure, not a single call from them. No missed call, no voicemail, nothing. So I don't know what happened there. If reservations don't guarantee a car, what's the point? This wasn't just inconvenient, it completely disrupted my plans. I'll give them 1 star (because I have no other option) and to be fair, the staff members I spoke with were at least polite when delivering the bad news. And honestly, this seems like a failure on the company's end, not the individual employees who had to deal with the situation. Would NOT recommend. Enterprise would NEVER, I'm sticking with them for here on out. read more

Reserved a Ford Expedition a week ahead for a corporate rental at Avis (Bowie, MD). Day of pickup they called and said only a Suburban was available--and it would be 3 hours late. When I arrived, the SUV was disgustingly dirty, only 3/4 tank, smelled damp, and had issues (dirty windows/glare at night, no washer fluid, dead USB/power plugs, CarPlay kept crashing and I had to restart the vehicle to use maps). No real effort to fix anything--just excuses and "partial reimbursement" for a car wash because they "don't have a car wash." Returned it at 1/2 tank and they charged me $51 to bring it to 3/4. Zero customer service. I spent $751 and shouldn't have had to wash the vehicle or fight over basic stuff. Taking my company account elsewhere. Would not recommend. read more

Easiest and smoothest check in and pick-up experience with a car rental service. The owner even checked in on us the last day of rental due to bad winter storm and had already extended rental to give us extra time to get home. read more

This place is the biggest scam. Oh how I wish I could cuss in this post, just know they are every name in the book. We had originally planned to return the car at 12pm but had called to see if we could return it a little later with no additional charge. They said yes as we had a seven hour grace period. We go to drop off the car at 4pm and they are closed. we call "headquarters" and they were not only rude and couldn't speak english, they said we either had to take it to the airport or we had to keep it for another day for $160 extra dollars. do not ever rent from these scam losers. read more

Where do I begin?? Oh ok.. The lady who checked me in, (I can't remember her name), she was personable. She answered all my questions and got me squared away quickly. My rental was a 7 day rental. My REAL ISSUE was with the vehicle given to me. The outside of the car was FILTHY. When I picked up the car, it was raining so you couldn't see the dirt right then. However, when I saw the car in the morning dry, it was so FILTHY as if it wasn't even washed. Clean cars are still clean after it rains. The back window, rear view mirror & side mirrors were FILTHY. I could BARELY see out of them while driving at night. There was green sticky gunk or gum stuck on the passenger side back seat near the rear door (I forgot to get a pic of it.) But you wouldn't see it unless you opened the door. The next day, the car smelled like mildew and old a$$, due to there being old food left under the seat of the car. We kept trying to figure out where the smell was coming from, we just couldn't figure it out. It got worse as the trip progressed. The brakes or rotors began to feel wonky while driving, so I called to have someone make a note in the system. They told me I could go swap the car, but the next Budget location closest to where I was, was another 40 miles away past my destination. And it rained for 2 days back to back, I wasn't going to be comfortable driving in the rain. So my birthday trip was very disappointing. I've NEVER experienced anything of this sort when renting a car with the other companies or going to the airport. This just wasn't a good experience. I don't know that I would want to recommend Budget, if these are the things that take place. I should've been warned by some of the reviews I read, but I tried to give benefit of doubt. (PLEASE take reviews seriously, we write them to help others make well informed decisions.) All n All, I don't know if I will use AVIS/Budget, let alone the Bowie location again. The quality/selection of the cars isn't that grand. The thing was, nothing was done when I brought the car back after reporting the issues. I was told I'd get my receipt in email and could fill out a survey to let it be known what I experienced. Not really good customer service to be honest. Either way, I wouldn't choose Bowie to rent from, nor would I let any of my family or friends rent from there either. I've already told them to beware and rent at their own risk. So I'm telling y'all the same thing.. BEWARE!!! RENT A YOUR OWN RISK! read more

See all

DON'T RENT FROM THE BOWIE LOCATION. Had a reservation for 11am. Arrived to check in and was told there are no cars available, with no other options. Also owner said he knew there were no cars available at 7am but did have the courtesy or professionalism to give me a phone call to let me know. read more

My experience with Avis was absolutely the most horrifying experience of my life. I rented them as a car share. I was being charged $347 a week okay that's a lot but I was trying to make some money. They would go into my account every Wednesday and get the 347 the next day they would hold $347. And then that following Tuesday they would remove it and then go back in the next day and take $347. I did not know how they operated how they explain it is not what happens. Now they had the nerve to cancel me because they couldn't get their payment out why because I was trying to come up with the overdraft in order for them to pull money out. They said they give you 3 days they didn't give me three hours. They took me off the company that I was driving for. In other words they took me off the app showing that I did not have a vehicle. They have absolutely ruined everything I'm not able to pay my bills it is absolutely sad if you are a driver. And you want to rent a car make sure any rental place you rent from. Please make them explain everything and not only that read it for yourself. Get that break down before you leave with that car. I am absolutely devastated I'm hurt I'm mad I feel used exploited name it. The reason why I say that is because I really thought that I was going to be able to make money I made money but they kept on taking money it is unacceptable for any company that's worth billions of dollars to take advantage of the small person they are a bunch of bullies and I am not happy with my service as you all can read shame on Avis! read more

After having a crappy day at the ENTERPRISE Location in bowie, and Crofton My day could not get even worse. I can not only says that I had a great experience I had a great agent David. . I booked the rental at 11:30 was able to pick up the care clean and no unpleasant smell. The Manager was very polite and very welcoming. I appreciated hi fast and kind service. David went out of his way to ensure that the car was clean by checking it one more time. He explained everything to me and I was on my way. The rate was even lower and the car was the perfect size. I even was able to extend my rental to an extra day for the price I was getting. with Enterprise. THank you David and Avis see you next trip read more

I would give a zero out of 5. If you want to purchase from them DON'T. The workers lack communication and respect. Customers can't speak to Avis directly; Everything is dome through a middle man. The car had issues that were not listed on the website ex. rust, torn upholstery, and service issues. The buying process is overly complex and if you choose to outside finance its even worse. Have an issue?, they will tell you to just bring the car back. They make their money either way and care little about the satisfaction of the customer. read more

Front desk person was excellent. She even gave me a class upgrade. I would use them again if needed.

Another trip, another rental car. This week's lucky winner was Avis and it worked out pretty good. I followed the usual routine of making the reservation online and then calling to make sure I knew exactly where they were. This location is located in the Sears Auto Center and to the right as you walk in the door. "The Good" - The attendant was very nice and easy to speak with about the whole rental process, when I started to sign in the correct places without them being circled, he loosened up a bit. - They had a decent selection of cars and in addition there are locations close by that can send over the correct type you reserved or there is the ever popular UPGRADE!, Aim low... but keep in mind you actually may wind up with the subcompact. "The Meh" - This seems to be the place where dot matrix printers go to retire... - Shorter hours than an airport location but more convenient for some. "The Bad" - No real signage on the exterior to locate the desk. The one picture actual has their sign in front of their desk. - There is no after hour drop off, so keep that in mind. An extra day can and will effect the bill. read more

See all

We got to the rental place on time but had to wait a hour to finally get the car. The employee had an issue w the printer not connecting and therefore they couldn't print the papers we needed to physically sign the car out. The employee clearly didn't know how to operate the equipment and no one was there to help them. They seriously asked us if we could wait without mentioning how long, then responded with "well last time it happened it took a hour". Pay the extra $20-50 and go somewhere more reputable. We got a late start to our long days drive bc of this rental place. I would not go back, nor would I recommend. read more

Avis AND Budget are located here. Drive to back and it is to the left of Merchandise Pickup. There was just one employee when I arrived. He was running back and forth running the show solo! Even so, he was still kind, Swift and respectful read more

Avis - Avis and BUDGET are both locate here. Go to the back of sears by Merchandise Pickup - Car Rental Near Me - Bowie, Maryland

Excellent service! It was a smooth rental from pick-up to drop off. The location is convenient - behind Bowie Town Center. The vehicle was spotless. The staff and manager, David, were very professional and courteous, and provided top-notch service. All-around great car rental experience! read more

So, last night, we contacted this location in regards to an 1130 am pick up time for our rental. My mother showed up at 1132. Me, at 1135. Shes recently out of surgery. I walk up to see her arguing with the staff. Dressed casually, in a faux ripped up shirt. Apparently, they rented our reserved car to another client, moments before. Were arguing in front of the car that was offered. The rep says they arrived first. We argue, we reserved last night at 10 am. He still gives the other client or promised vehicle and pushes up our pick up time to 2pm. I just found out my fiance was rear ended an hour and 30 away. Thanks Avis. Youre bunch of d bags. read more

I rented from these guys twice, because I apparently didn't learn my lesson after my firs attempt. The first attempt was completely thwarted by them and Sears, as they had no one on site that had a key to the building when I showed up to get my car. When I tried calling back three hours later, no one answered, so I assume they gave up on going into work, so I had to go to another site for a car. The second time I rented from them, I waited in line for 30 minutes behind two people. I don't see how this happens as it takes me five minutes to pick up or drop off a rental from an airport. I had rented a small car to save gas driving to Sterling, VA. Instead I find out they don't have my car and I got a free "upgrade." It was to a huge Nissan Altima, completely defeating the point of renting the car. When I got into the car, it smelt like someone had been just been smoking in it. Not like someone had cleaned up from smoking, but that someone had just finished. And then as I started the car, the cover for the brake pedal came off, giving me no traction on the brakes. I put it into park and put it back on myself as the line had grown to a half dozen people when I walked out to the car. Finally when I returned the car, the guy sitting at the desk was just talking on the phone for five minutes before acknowledging me, and then seemed completely uninterested in being there. He asked me nothing about the car aside from if gas was filled up. I know there aren;t many other options nearby, but I think it's worth the drive after dealing with this location twice with disappointing results. read more

This location is the worse!!!!! And the agent JR is one of the most incompetent person I've met in my life! My mom pre-paid & rented a car online through Avis app. When we got to the location apparently their computer was down. The dumb agent JR told us that there was nothing he could do & we just had to wait until he computer came back up. When asked when it would be back up he told us he doesn't know we need to just sit and wait, excuse me?!?! My mom had to end up calling the corporate office & getting the reservation switched to another Avis. There were other customers behind us who were also livid they weren't called about the computer being down &a nothing they could do. JR made absolutely no effort to resolve the issue. I will never rent here again and WILL be writing a letter to corporate read more

I rented from this the staff Leakemaria . My experience was horrible. First the car was dirty inside and out was salt all over they didn't even bother vacuuming and washing the car after the previous renter, The windshield washer fluid was empty i let them know about it and had to wait 15 min to get it fill up . I ask the person at the counter when should i return the vehicle? He Answered anytime before 7 no extra charge. When i returned the vehicle around 6:35 the day i was suppose to they charged me an extra day of rental due to late return . Total RIP OFF! The person at the counter at that time was totally incompetent was calling his colleague and the manager to trying to figure out what to do and finally walk away from me .Totally disrespectful,rude and no sense of basic customer service at all . I ended up speaking to the manager and explained the situation but he wasn't helpful at all. Promise to call me back the next day at 10Am never did . I called to follow up still no answer. To make a long story short .. Please do yourself a favor and stay away from this place. MEDIOCRE customer service and LIARS do not keep their promises. read more

I always receive great service from all of the employees, but especially from the tall gentleman there!! They always call me to keep me updated with my rental. This is the only location I go to and have never had a problem. read more