My rental at Avis began well enough. The online system was fairly easy to use to make a reservation, and I was able to get a nice weekend rate.
However, when I went into pick up the car I asked about keeping the car another day. It would still be the weekend rate, but the extra day would cost me $43 (whereas the whole two days before that was only $53.) That didn't seem right so I asked the man (manager at Denton North Avis/Budget location) why the new fee was so high in comparison. He said, "That's what they're telling me." Then, he gives me a phone number to call and ask 'them' myself. I take the number and call. While I'm calling he returns to his office. The person on the other end of my call can't find my reservation. Turns out, he gave me the number for Budget and, as the man told me on the phone, they don't have access to any of the Avis information. I go back up to the counter and wait for the man to come out of his office. He asks if it worked and I told him what happened. He looks around the counter, but doesn't know which Avis number I should call. He asks if I have my reservation and tells me to get the number off that. As I'm dialing the number he tells me to read it aloud so he can write it down for later. I make the call and he goes back to his office.
The Avis reservation center staffer who answered the phone was not helpful. She couldn't tell me what the rate for that single day was either. "We don't have the prices on here.. that's what I'm trying to get you to understand," she said. "That's what I'm trying to get you to understand." I ask her if their is anyone I can call to get the information and she says she doesn't know. I ask her for the normal weekend rate, whatever it. She says, "We don't have that information. I can't make that reservation and the reservation center."
When I hang up the phone I tell the man what she said. He says I should try seeing if the information is online. I get on my phone and pull up the email. When I hit "Modify Reservation" on the email the Avis mobile site opens and reads "Rate not Valid" but won't allow me onto the site to change the reservation. I also can't access the non-mobile Avis site from my phone's browser. I ask the man (who is in his office again while I'm trying to figure this out) if I can use one of his free computers to access the 'normal' Avis site to see if I can modify my own reservation. He says he can't allow me to do that, but I can sign into the Wifi. Of course, Wifi of no my phone will still pick up the mobile site for obvious reasons. I decide to go out to my bags and get my lap top. When I return (and wait for the man to come back from his office) I ask for the Wifi code so I can check on the reservation extension. He doesn't know the password and for the next ten minutes we go through every phone number on his desk because he "knows it's one of the Avis numbers." Finally, we hit the right one and I am on the Avis site. I still can't find an explanation online so I tell the man to forget it and bring the car back when I originally intended to.
This was a very frustrating hour. I wanted to do something I thought would be simple, or at least get an explanation as to why it would almost double the fee for one extra day. It seemed like information the manager of the location should know. But things didn't just fall apart with him. Should he have helped me by calling those lines himself? That's certainly how I would treat my customers, but I didn't mind calling the first person. I was still pretty okay with asking the second person. But when I was stopped at every turn-- when no one person/platform/site performed to what I think are pretty reasonable expectations I just gave up. A customer shouldn't have to go to five different sources to get one question answered, but when they do at least one of those places should probably be able to provide that answer. read more
