Save yourself from the humiliation and rent from the Avis Dadeland location, where the people know how to treat customers. I will keep renting from Avis - just not this location!!!
First, the pickup process was the worst. The owner of this franchise location kept telling me "Relax, man" every time I asked him a question - I only asked a couple questions but that is no way to respond to a customer. Then, he made a snide remark "...looks like you always rent from airport locations, right?". I told him not true. Then, he said he added my spouse to the system but it didn't show anywhere on the rental printout. He again said, "Hey Relax" and then turning his computer screen towards me said - "here check yourself". He had added a four word phrase in the comment field and even then got my wife's name completely wrong. When I pointed it out, he said in a super irritated tone "C'mon man! Here type it yourself". I said that I like for things to be done right, and went ahead and correctly typed my wife's name in his system.
Then I noticed the printout said full gas but the car had just under 7/8. He seemed so irritated that I pointed this out (mumbling that he would have believed me if I returned it 7/8 - what?) and scribbled 7/8 on top of the paper. Wow! What an experience..but wait...
I thought the car return would be simple but it was equally bad. He checks the car and found everything ok so printed us a receipt. It had an additional driver charge of $26, which he conveniently never mentioned at all at pickup even though I asked him when picking up to confirm that estimated total charge. Secondly, I have rented so many times from Avis and know that there is no charge for spouses, and I communicated that to him. He says "I knew that you rent from Airports, it's not the same" - which is not true. He tells me "It's Avis policy, Enterprise is the one that lets spouses drive for free". When I kept insisting (because I have rented several times from Avis neighborhood locations), he says "Ok Sir, give me the paper". Before he was done what he seemed to be doing, I went to Avis.com on my iPhone, and on their FAQ page, I found in plain english that spouses are exempt from the additional driver charge if they drive with the permission of the primary renter. I read him the exact wording from my phone and showed him that it came from Avis.com. He then claimed complete ignorance and said no one ever told him. Ah hah! An Avis location franchisee does not know this basic policy. Hmmm? Or is this guy just trying to fleece unsophisticated customers?
You decide. As for me, I love Avis and will keep renting from them. Just never from this location!!
Finally, I left a voicemail for the district manager explaining that "I had the worst rental experience of my life" - still waiting to hear back. What state of affairs AVIS?!!!!! WHY LET FRANCHISEES LIKE THIS RUIN YOUR GOOD BRAND? read more