I found a million bad reviews on this place a few months ago and they all seem to have disappeared (?!) We rented from the E. London location because it was close to our hotel. Everywhere else was booked, and we only needed a car for 3 days to go to the north of Scotland to see the sights. We were only there for a week, so we had a packed itinerary. We can't really afford international trips, you see, but we really wanted to show our kids their country of heritage and so saved up for two years.
When you walk in the door, the first thing you see is a sign that says "No Yelling" -- already a bad omen. I've never seen a sign like that in a rental car place before, so they must get a lot of yelling. Wonder where those reviews went?
My husband, who is an extremely calm person, picked up the car to drive it the mile back to our hotel. Within a half mile, the car just gave out. My husband had to swerve to the side of the road to avoid an accident, and then it was just stuck. Dead. Finished. He also found out that unless he stood next to the car, it would be ticketed, which made it hard for him to walk back to either Avis or the hotel. Nor were we able to use our phones internationally.
Eventually he risked walking back to the hotel to tell us what was going on, and called Avis. Avis said it must have been something he did ("The car was in perfectly good shape when you drove off, checked by our mechanic"), said they would launch an investigation to determine fault (Gee, who's going to win that battle?), and that we could not get a replacement car until the investigation was complete. The car had been driven a half-mile.
We waited two hours for the mechanic to show up and tell us he could not determine whose fault it was. Now, I was very angry. I walked the mile into Avis and demanded to see the manager. She was hiding in the back. The guy told me to calm down or I couldn't see her. So I lowered my voice, because "No Yelling," and asked to see the manager. He told me I couldn't see her until I calmed down. I swear at this point I could not have spoken any lower without whispering, and yet he still refused to let me see the manager. By the way, the worst word I said the whole time was "hell."
Eventually, she emerged from the back. By the way, the review that says there are 25 people in line and no seats and no cars is no lie. She said we could not leave until the results of the investigation. I told her she was going to make us miss Culloden, which was what we had planned for the day. I asked for another car. She refused. I was able to call the central office toll-free on my cell phone. They said it's their policy to investigate but that Avis should give us a replacement in the meantime so that we could get on our way. I relayed this back to the manager. No go. My daughter and I walked to Enterprise down the street and told them our story. They were aghast at our situation, but unfortunately had no cars for hire. We walked to the youth hostel down from Enterprise to try to find another rental car available in the city. All booked. We walked to the coffee shop down from the youth hospital to try to reserve a car online. All booked. We walked back to Avis.
I told the manager I could see why they got so many bad reviews. At this point, she went psycho and violated her own sign. She said she would refuse to rent us a car if I threatened to write a bad review. She said unless I calmed down (honestly, I was not yelling at this point) she would not rent us a car. I left the building to stave off her psychosis. My husband had to stand and listen while she told him how awful his wife was and how the car was broken because of him and how unless he basically agreed and smiled at the entire situation that she would not rent him a car. I swear he almost exploded, and it takes a nuclear disaster to make him raise an eyebrow. It was all so irrational that his rational scientific brain simply could not grasp her argument. The entire staff was like this, as if we had no right to be upset for being blamed for a car that broke a half-mile off the lot.
At this point I just sat outside while my husband basically begged for a car. The manager had already decided not to rent to me, because I was upset, and that was forbidden by the sign. They stole an entire day of our vacation. We never made it to Culloden. We drove in the dark and didn't even get to see the beautiful scenery. They never apologized for this, nor did they care.
I hope that if they ever save for two years to come to the U.S. -- and I hope these people never come to the U.S. -- that they come to Washington D.C. and miss the White House. Or New York and miss Broadway. Or Los Angeles and miss Hollywood.
That said, every other person we met in Edinburgh, and Scotland, was delightful. I waited for a year to write this review, because I wanted to make sure I was calm when I wrote it. This place is horrible. Do your best to rent from anywhere else. read more
