I really didn't want to write this review. I like the people who work behind the counter. The cars have always been solid and reliable (though not always clean). The people who work there have always been good-humored and friendly to me, but when one of them told me, "Please complain to customer service, we're overworked and understaffed and our equipment doesn't work,," I felt like I had to write this. Where to begin? The printer that doesn't work. The receipts that don't show up until two or three weeks later because the computers were down. The lines of people waiting when there's no one staffing the booth and there's a "Back in 15" sign taped in the window. But what's worse are the phantom charges--three of which I've had to dispute during my last three rentals, all of which have required numerous mind-numbing calls with customer service where each conversation is the first conversation and I have to tell the whole story again. Late charges for cars that were delivered on time but were checked in late because the place was understaffed and the computers weren't working. All the time wasted waiting on hold. Hundreds of dollars worth of extra charges that weren't on the pre-paid estimate. Most recently, a charge for a full tank of gas when the car was rented out when it was empty and it said so on the receipt. As I write this, I am still waiting to be reimbursed for that charge despite having sent photos and despite having been reassured that reimbursement was forthcoming. Again, I'm sorry to be writing this. The rental facility is so conveniently located. But I'm tired of checking every receipt and finding expensive errors, tired of having to take photos of receipts and agreements so I'll have evidence when I inevitably have to dispute a charge, tired of feeling like a sucker whenever I rent here. I keep wondering if someone is running a scam out of this place, but I can't imagine who would benefit and I'm tired of wondering about that too.I have to rent a car in the next couple of weeks, and I will be taking my business elsewhere. Update: This was finally resolved and the refund was given. But it took too long and was far too aggravating. Which is why I'm updating this review from the lobby of Hertz. read more

Actually have the cars booked on reservations available at the time of pick up. If I could 0 stars I would. Before the pandemic this Avis frequently did not have the cars/accessories available on bookings. They once sent us to the location on W76 without confirming a car seat was available and we ultimately had to drive to East 40's to pick one up, on a Friday afternoon. Today they didn't have anything but pick up trucks even though I booked a medium sized. Never again. read more

THEY WILL NOT HONOR YOUR RESERVATION. We booked online and the confirmation email said to pick up the car at 3pm. This location closes at 3pm. After an hour on the phone with customer service they tell me I should have gotten there 15 mins early (nowhere is this listed in the confirmation email) and tell me there are no cars available at any locations in NYC same day or next day and there's nothing they will do. Pathetic. Totally unreliable. Get a Turo instead. read more

They gave me a car with a trunk full of garbage. Inside of the car was not clean either. Very unfriendly people.

I've been here 5 minutes waiting in line and I know this place isn't going to be my go to place. There are two people in the booth, a man and a woman. They both see me. The man just ignore me, the woman continues to chat with who I eventually find out I think works there. They are making copies of a sheet with grids. The girl behind the counter ignores me and is speaking with a guy. I think he is a customer until someone calls and I answer the phone, and the 'customer' jumps out the way. Apparently she just ignored me for someone she is chatting. Then with my license she couldn't find my reservation and requires me to give her the reservation number. I have never had that happen before. And not to mention she had a guy go bring me a car before she could find my reservation? How did they know which class of car I reserved if they didn't have my reservation??! The entire interaction was bizarre. read more

It's almost funny how terrible the customer service is. You're actually doing the company a disservice by renting here because they obviously want to close this location and fire these miserable employees. I called to get my receipt emailed to me. Which caused a lot of distress to the woman who answered the phone who berated me for providing the confirmation number then said "hold" before not putting me on hold but holding the phone right to her mouth as she yelled at another customer on-site. Great location. Terrible - TERRIBLE - customer service. read more

This place deserve zero stars. Check your car and contract. The manager scams and lies. I was renting a car for car for couple day and when i went there everything went down hill very fast. When i got to the garage was very dark you needed to use your phone light to check the car and they have security guard to check not even a Avis employee. The female manager was yelling at my son saying you will not drive the car. Who are you yelling at and why. I get in the car with other cars behind me that need get out so now im being rushed and not knowing the car. I started the car and all i to had to do go straight and up. I press the gas get out of that place car goes left. What the hell. I get out I'm confused what happened and why.Security guard and another Avis worker says she gave you the car with the steering wheel upside down. Why all i said. Car hit a parked car. Smh. She comes at me sign the papers you not insured what yes i am and i reply why you do that. She said you should know it was upside down. She dont ask are you ok nothin.She took the car and contract. I called the cops and even they said this is crazy and she wrong. You need to report her and this incident to Avis.Hours later she starts calling me from unknown number to come get the car. Are you kidden me and i said to her why did you give me the car like that. She responds i never did that. Yeah keep to your story. Insane. Everyone should stay away from this location. And you cant get no help you on phone. I been renting with Avis and never had any experience like this. The steering wheel did not look upside down and cars where so close together at this location. Thankfully nobody was hurt. I have no idea how they have someone like her running this location. read more

This is actually for the Avis on 97th street. But they have no Yelp page (big surprise). STAY AWAY. Terrible service. I rented and paid for a car online from this 97th street location and when I got there they told me my debit card couldn't be used for the rental - despite the fact that the website had charged me in full for the full rental on the very card - told me it was a location specific decision and refused to offer me any help and told me to call corporate. So I was left stranded, on a schedule, out of a full rental fee from a rental who says they couldnt take accept my payment method despite them taking my money. I ended up renting a car from Enterprise on 83rd and am still waiting to some sort of refund confirmation from Avis which was promised. :-( what a sham. STAY AWAY read more

I had a good experience renting from this location, and Kim took care of the few hiccups that occurred quickly and professionally. Due to the underground location of the parking, the cars they rent will often not have a full tank of gas. When I checked mine out, the contract mistakenly said the tank was full, so when I returned it to a different location I was charged an exorbitant amount to refill the tank. Calling the national line was a nightmare, the customer service representative was a argumentative and didn't believe that Avis would rent a car will less than a full tank. Fortunately, Kim remembered renting my car and the amount of gas in it, and within two days the gas charge was reversed on my credit card. Working with her was great, I only wish that Avis' national customer service was as helpful as she was. I wouldn't hesitate to rent from here again, but I'd double check that the contract I was handed at the booth reflected the real level of gas in the car. read more

Confirming what another poster has already said today. One person at the counter. Been here 25 minutes already and one person has been helped. I'm 7th in line and there's at least 10 behind me. You have to do better, Avis. read more

I rented from here on Sunday and it was good service though a line so I had to wait. One woman was managing it all with finesse, and two guys were moving the cars around. It was slow -- but it takes a moment to process the paperwork, and I liked that the attendant was careful. All staff were polite. It's a bit tight in the parking garage but they know what they're doing, and walked you around the vehicle to agree that any scratches in the car were noted. It was good value and convenient, and worth the wait. read more

Stay away from this Avis location. Avis cars are usually pretty decent, but the attitude and customer service of the manager working at this location gave me the worst experience ever with renting a car. I reserved a full-size car for 12pm. I called at 11am to ask if it was fine to get there at 2pm instead and a lady on the phone said it wouldn't be a problem. From the beginning the guy behind the desk was not friendly, not even said "hi". I gave my license and credit card and after typing on a keyboard for 5 min he gets out of the booth going to the cars and makes a sign with his hands. He tells me that there are no more cars like the one I reserved and the 3 cars in front of us are what he can give me. They would cost $60, $80 or $100 more per day (!) respectively. My entire reservation for the week was below $300, so this would more than double. We discussed for a good 15-20 min: I was stating that this was crazy, if they don't have the car that I reserved, give me another car for the same price, but he insisted that I got there late (even though I called to ask if it was ok to get there later) and these cars were "premium" cars and the only ones he has. He said he needs to think about the business. I asked if he could check with other Avis in the area and he said he would give me their number but I would need to check by myself. After all this I said, fine, give me the numbers. He went back at the desk, checking the numbers, looking online, starting a call, checking again on the computer... all without saying a word to me. Finally I asked what was going on and he said he found a car and he was giving it to me. What? what car? where did it come from? no explanations, but it was a medium-size car and I have two kids so I prefer a bigger car. He looked at me and say "you don't want it? I'll give it to somebody else". Does it cost less? Absolutely not. He even tried to tell me that this was a full-size car (a Toyota Corolla). In the end, I took the Corolla, it was a fine car, and we fit. But the attitude of this guy ruined my day and definitely changed my previous idea of Avis. I would think twice before renting from any Avis from now, but definitely, I will never rent again from this place. read more

The worst car rental service I have ever experienced. We pre-paid to reserve a 7 seater vehicle to collect at 12pm. When we got there at 11:55am, there was a queue of around 5 people. After waiting for an hour plus, we were told that there were no available vehicles for us. We then waited for another half hour for a solution, however according to the person in charge, there were no 7-seater vehicles available in all the Avis locations in Manhattan. Will never rent a car with Avis ever after this experience. read more

Sadly disappointed. My husband made a reservation weeks ago. Arrived today for scheduled pick-up time, waited fir 45 minutes and was told no cars available. I thought this was why we made a reservation? What's the point??? Terrible customer service. You left kids very sad that were looking forward to a day of apple picking. Just horrible. read more

I was really disappointed with Avis. The car itself didn't have a full tank of gas when the staff said it would. I informed staff about this, and she wrote that it wasn't full for me. However, she didn't pass that along to be entered in their system - so it ended up being a charge that I had to get refunded later on. Then, I didn't use the toll pass for any tolls (we drove from NYC to the Baltimore Airport) - yet I got charged as if I did after dropping the car off at the Baltimore Airport. Seeing as we paid cash for the tolls we didn't have receipts and couldn't get that money refunded at all - so I paid twice the amount of tolls in the end - which really added up. What's more, the customer service was poor and the emails basically informed me that there was nothing that could be done. This was definitely a bummer. I can say the car was very nice, but that's unfortunately the only positive thing that came out of this rental experience. read more

This is a complaint about the lady at 808 Columbus Ave. She is a racist. I am a Chinese living in the US for 6 years, and in the past 6 years, no one ever asked me to show my Chinese passport and Chinese drivers license to rent a car in the US because I have a valid US driver's license and all I ever needed is my US license. I rent a car at Enterprise later today and all they needed was my US license. So here's the story: I made the reservation online and got the confirmation. When I went there, the lady asked me for my driver's license and I gave my US driver's license to her. And then, she just randomly asked me for my Chinese passport, which no one ever asked me for when renting a car in the US because my US driver's license is a valid ID to rent a car in the US. Luckily I had my passport with me and I gave it to her. Then in a few seconds, she asked me for more IDs, which I thought was unusual and it looked like she's trying to find something that I didn't have. She asked me for my Chinese driver's license which I didn't have with me. She was definitely being racist and didn't want me to rent a car. She said if I don't have my Chinese driver's license, the price will be $250 for one day, which is $100 more then the price on my reservation - I got the confirmation for $150 for one day. This is the worst experience I've ever had renting a car in the US for the past 6 years, and it definitely ruined my day and ruined Avis's brand. I just wanted to let everyone know what kind of employees Avis is hiring and definitely stay away from this location/ Avis. read more

Decent car selection. And on the other hand: This is your branch, if you love to hear unreasonable quotes from someone watching TV on their phone, or if you like to hear the phrase 'why don't you book it online yourself then'. This is perfect for you, if you like paper smudges (what is that even...) on your car windows and funky smell. And you are definitely gonna love coming here, if you like to return your rental car 6 hours before closing time, and realize, well, it's closed, and then paying $30 just so you can return it at the next closest branch. Loved it! Go AVIS! read more

Worst AVIS EVER. These people don't seem to have a clue about how to manage rental cars. I have waited 30 min already to get my car that was booked o line. Incompetent. Go to 76th street instead! read more

DO NOT rent a car from this location. They will gouge you with completely outrageous car cleaning fees AFTER they've taken the car back and said everything was fine. What a terrible way to run a business and treat customers. read more

@avis #avisuws waiting in line 45 min so far and at this rate 30 min to go. Helping 1 person every 10/15 minutes is not good #CustomerService #CustomerServiceFail #fail read more

In addition to waiting a half hour to get my car (I was told they had 50 reservations that day but only 5 cars on the lot and were bringing them in from the airport), I was given a car that was a danger to drive due to faulty tires. I ended up in the middle of the Garden State Freeway at night needing my leaking tire with a bad tire valve changed to the spare. After waiting 20 minutes for the 24-hour emergency roadside service to take me off hold, and another 20 minutes to validate my reservation and location, I was told that they didn't have any contract providers that were near enough to send. Luckily a good samaritan stopped and helped my daughter and I change the tire. When I brought it back to the rental agency and told my story, all I got was, "Well this weekend was a hot mess. You can fill out a claim report and the manager will call you." S/he never did by the way! read more

This location isn't bad, and they're actually improving. I know that the previous review referenced indifferent counter help. I'm not sure that I understand what level of help you need at the counter. Does anyone really rent a car from a location that is nowhere near an airport without reserving in advance? If the comment is more on the general attitude of the representatives, I might be able to see that. I rent from here all the time, because Avis is my corporate affinity vendor and this is the nearest Avis location to my apartment. I have experienced most of the full spectrum of counter moods, but I can tell you this. The first three or four times that I went here, there were customers in front of me being total jerk offs about absolute nonsense. No, you reserved an economy car and you go a Hyundai? You have to be kidding me. I thought that they gave Porsches to people who reserved economy cars! So my point is, sometimes the counter help will be friendly because you beat the douchebags there. Other times, they won't be so friendly, because you happened to be in line behind the douchebags. That's just life. What I like about this location is that they're pretty quick. Avis is reasonably priced, and they seem to be working on a kaizen type of improvement process, as my experiences tend to be trending upwards. What I don't like about the location is that they could be a little better about confirming that the car has a full tank, and they could be a little better about vacuuming the interior of the car. I rent cars for sales presentations. If the last person to rent the car was a tourist with a golden retriever, I would prefer not to have to tear through New Jersey looking for a store that is open at 8:00 AM that sells lint brushes. read more

Absolutely the worst avis location I've ever been to. Picking up car - It's Saturday morning. There's only one person working and a line of at least twenty reservations. It takes nearly 2 hours to get through the line and get my vehicle. I had pre-reserved on the app days before using my Preferred status wizard number. All they had to do was hand me the keys. At most locations I don't even have to talk to a person, just walk to the parking spot number that the app assigned. Yet my time at the window took at least 20 minutes. Return day - I pull up, hand over the keys. I rent cars from avis once a week under my corporate policy, which states that we may return the vehicle with fuel at whatever level. It's covered under the corporate policy. Try to explain at the counter and the woman is immediately combative saying she can't see the corporate policy. I ask if she would look it up. I know she can, because I've had this issue all over the country. She continues saying that she won't/can't look it up. I explain the circumstances over and over again in different ways. But she got so rude. Raising her voice at me. Yelling that I keep cutting her off. But I was being very careful to be respectful because I don't know how to do her job. I just know the things that other Avis counter folks have been able to help me with. Then she reaches around me and asks the next customer for his contract. So now she has completely blown me off, and not given me back the receipt that has the mistake on it. Absolutely awful customer service from start to finish at this location. read more

The worst service EVER!!!!! I should have learned from the experience I had last time, but unfortunately I wanted to give this location a second change. BIG MISTAKE!!!!! I get to 808 Columbus on time and have to wait for 30 minutes behind 2 people. I finally get to the window and am told they don't have any more cars, couldn't they have told me that when I arrived? They knew the number of cars they had. The guy told me if I could wait 2 cars were on their way and would be there in 30 minutes. While I'm thinking about what I should do 5 other people come with 5 reservations abd they are also told there are no cars. The guy was rude when a few of the people asked if he could transfer their reservation, or assist them. They eventually leave without any resolutions. I then ask the guy if he could call the 54th Street location, he tries, no answer. He then tells me he's closing, that's it, no car, what happened to the car he told me to wait for???? He then tells me nothing is coming after I wait an additional 30 minutes. I ask if he could call one more location and he refuses in a nasty manner. I WISH I COULD GIVE THIS LOCATION 0 STARS, UNFORTUNATELY THAT'S NOT AN OPTION. I was supposed to visit a family member in the hospital. STAY AWAY FROM THIS AVIS. THEY'LL NEVER CHANGE!!!!!!! HORRIBLE PEOPLE WHO DON'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS. read more

Worst customer service I've seen in a long time. Shame on me for renting from them for so long, but I kept going back for more. The reps are not helpful, are not empowered to be helpful and do not care to be helpful. As soon as you hear, "let me call my manager", have a seat because it's going to be awhile. The manager is typically not onsite or doing something else completely. And he or she is usually as unhelpful as the rep. Sometimes there is no manager. Don't even try to ask whether the car has an auxiliary input for your ipod. Oh, and they're closed at 2pm or so on Saturday. What? read more

After reading the reviews regarding customer service and not getting the type of car that you had requested I was nervous about using this location, but I got a prepay-online-deal that could not be beat, so I gave them a try. I called the day before to confirm our reservation and vehicle type. The agent confirmed our 8:00 a.m. pickup, but did add that the line gets long on weekends between 8-10, so I might want to come earlier. I heeded his advice and arrived at 7:40. One person was ahead of me, but by the time I left at 8:00 a line of five people had formed. With only one agent and approximately 15 minutes per transaction I could see how the line could get frustrating. Hassan was the agent who assisted us and he was friendly and efficient. I did not get the name of his assistant, but she was also very friendly and prompt when we looked at the car for prior damage and making sure our paperwork was in order before we left. The only reason I did not give them a 5 star was because the car only had 2/3 tank of gas and our paperwork reflected a full tank. When we returned the car and told Hassan he made the documentation and gave us the number to call for a refund (he could not do it because we paid online through a 3rd party). We will gladly use this rental service again. read more

I won't even give them 1 star. On location 808 Columbus Ave, we had a reservation, we spent an hour in line because they are slow and inefficient and at the end they tell us that they can't give us the car. We have always rented cars with our debit visa card and today they did not accept it. Very bad service. read more

The customer service at this branch is beyond bad. I have never been treated so rudely and callously as I was when I went in to rent a car from these guys. I had a reservation and a debit/credit card, which they refused to take. They offered no solutions or alternatives or even a simple apology, just flat-out refused my business and did so in a shockingly rude way. I will never, ever try and rent a car from these horrible people again. read more

I rented from Avis at 808 Columbus Avenue in March and April of 2018. Both times, the employees I dealt with were polite, friendly and professional. It took no time at all to pick up the cars are return them. The vehicles were well-maintained, clean and had full tanks of gas. This is why I was surprised by the many negative Yelp reviews. Like everyone else, I work hard for my money and expect to be treated like a good customer with many other options. And that was how Avis handled me. I don't dismiss other people's accounts pf their Avis experiences; but mine was far better. read more

This is actually a review for the 808 columbus ave location which doesn't seem to have a yelp page(97th st). With all these bad reviews I was super worried about making a day rental, but it was super easy and painless. Reservation made online 2 days before through the avis website. Showed up, gave drivers id and credit card, signed some papers, and got keys. Did my thing. Returned car later that night, turned in keys. Got some money back since I left it with a bit more gas then I picked it up with. Got my receipt ($113 total for 14 hour trip). Both employees I dealt with in the am and pm were super nice. Def will use them again for short term rentals. read more

I'm mad as a hornet about Avis, not this location specifically. However, if the following policy is at this one Avis, then, yes, I am mad with this one local rental center. Heed the below advice because if it's their corporate policy, you should take your business elsewhere (and you'll want to be sure that it isn't an industry wide policy!) We were forced to rent a car although we only needed one for a couple of hours. It was over $200 which was to be expected (NYC!). We used $14 of gas which we replaced just before returning the car. An Avis employee with a handheld computer met us at the entrance, checked the gas gauge, gave us a receipt and when I asked if we needed to go inside, assured us we didn't. We didn't look at the receipt, which was our mistake, until later that evening. We saw that there was a $14 charge for gas. Now, we had to go back there because my g/f left her shawl in the car and forgot it. Even before we discovered the gas charge, she was trying to contact them to find out if the shawl was located. Someone at that Avis office, over the phone, assured her someone would call in a bit to let her know. No one ever called and her subsequent calls were routed to a calling center. So she went back the next day to see if her shawl was recovered and to dispute the gas charge. She was told that the charge is "automatic" and unless we went into the office to have them take the charge off the bill, well, that's our problem. They did reverse the charge, but WTF? We're initially told by their employee, that we didn't have to go into the office while not being told we were going to be charged for gas that we replaced. But let's suppose this isn't a scam to "double-dip" by Avis. Let's say, he handed us the bill and said, "You have to go into the office (wait in the interminable long line) to have the charge removed that I automatically imposed, even though I can see the gas-gauge indicated you just filled up the tank." That's outrageous! People in a hurry may not want to wait 30 minutes to remove a charge that is clearly uncalled for! And of course, they don't tell you that they made this charge in the first place. I would opine that they do this and a certain number of people who don't check are simply taken advantage of. I can only imagine how difficult it would be, after the fact, several days later, to get the charge reversed, should one discover it at that time. What really burns me up is they rented out that car within minutes of our returning it three hours after we rented it. So they "double-dipped" on a car by renting it to two parties, still hosing us for the gas charge. I won't begrudge them renting it out twice but I do begrudge them for telling us the shawl was never found because, we were informed, Avis doesn't check the car out to see if anything was left behind, before renting it to another party. Lesson here for those: Check your receipt and or ask before renting if it's the policy to mindlessly charge for gas regardless of whether the car has been filled and it's the responsibility of the customer to catch unwarranted "garbage fees." It appears that corporate America has absolutely no shame when it comes to abusing its customers! read more