Please save yourself the stress of renting from this fraudulent operation. I'll be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau and the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. If you do rent from here, be prepared for bogus charges, and to dispute them with your credit card company.
I rented a car for a week and used it a handful of times. There were never any other passengers or animals in the car, just some luggage in the backseat.
When I returned the car I was told "there was a dog in the car, and you will be charged". I said that there had not been a dog in the car. He said "Yes, there was a dog in the car". I told him that if there were any hairs in the car, they must have been there when I picked it up. He refused to acknowledge this possibility, instead insisting that I was lying and had a dog in the backseat. We went back and forth a few more times before I realized that it was completely futile. He said I could go home and clean the car myself, if I preferred that to a $250 charge. Feeling I had no choice, I did this, which seriously disrupted my work day and created a lot of stress.
I called Avis and after a 45-minute wait, they told me that during pick-up I should have carefully inspected the interior of the car before leaving the lot with it. I told the customer service representative that I assume the state of the car when I receive it reflects their standard of cleanliness, and it's not my job to inspect or question it unless I have a problem with it, which I didn't. If they expect customers to examine the interior of the car, this should be stated clearly when they have you inspect the exterior for damage. Even if I had inspected the interior, a few stray hairs in the back would not have registered for me as a problem, and I certainly wouldn't have thought that I would be held responsible for it upon return.
In every other rental car experience I have had in my life, a small amount of dirt, dust and hair has been considered the result of normal usage and I have never been charged for what I assume is their routine cleaning in between rentals. Ever.
The experience at this location was astonishing to me - both the arrogant behavior of the manager, and the absurd gaslighting from customer service. I can't fathom why Avis would continue with this behavior when there have been such widespread complaints about it.
In the end, after I cleaned the car, he said I wouldn't be charged, but I'm not so sure this is the end of it. They seem willing to fabricate excuses for charging their customers, and the manager seems to delight in making people upset.
Given how drastically this deviates from the norm of car rentals, I believe this all amounts to fraud. Since the corporation evidently doesn't care, all I can do is warn others! read more