I’ve been looking forward to the launch of this blog for quite a while, so I’m really pleased that it’s up and running now. We didn’t have to look far to find a good title for it – ‘We try harder’ has been the Avis motto for more than 40 years. But doing the blog has started me thinking more about the importance of our history as a company, and I’ve been doing lots of research into the subject!
In 1963 Avis launched an ad campaign that was very bold and gutsy. Its message was: ‘We know we’re only the number two rental company. We can’t be complacent – we have to try harder. So come on, why not give us a go?’ After many years in the red that campaign brought Avis back into the black. ‘We try harder’ is considered to be one of the 10 best advertising slogans ever (according not just to us, but the Advertising Slogan Hall of Fame).
This blog is a bit bold and gutsy too, but most importantly it is true to our ‘We try harder’ values. Xavier, Stephen and Eibhlin have all spoken about how committed we are to listening to our customers and how this is driving the changes we are making to our products and service.
This blog is a great platform for discussing these changes and keeping you involved in what’s going on. We’ll also be able to share advice, plans and tips on a more personal level, without all the advertising-speak. So keep coming to the blog, and I encourage you to have your say on what we’re doing so we can make that ‘We try harder’ difference!
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I sincerely hope that this blog will highlight the lack of any replies to queries e-mailed to customer services via and resolve whatever the problem is
It’s a little worrying to read something that implies a customer hasn’t had a response to a query, as we pride ourselves on our standards of service . You can contact Avis by via the ” Help & Contact Us ” section on http://www.avis.co.uk , simply select the subject you need help with from the dropdown menu – you may even be able to find the answer to your question from our list of FAQs.
On rare occasions something may go wrong and your email might not reach us, you should receive an automatic response to tell you it has been received and directed to the appropriate department . If you have received such a response and don’t hear anything else within a few days, contact the customer care department directly on customer.service@avis.co.uk – again you should receive an automatic reply telling you we’ve got your query. We’ll then answer your question and find out why you didn’t hear back from us.
No cars available at Stanstead on Wednesday the 18th April?
I must stop using these pokey little regional airports.
Thought I would mention that with my daughter we looked to book a hired car for 2 weeks in August from and to Toulouse. I have been for some time a ‘preferred’ Avis customer and regularly hire cars (at least once a month), lately in the UK but usually from Toulouse Airport. However, my daughter persuaded me to look at other websites as well as Avis for this hire. Although I expected the other sites to be slightly cheaper I was really shocked at the difference in price especially when taking the excess waiver and the fee for second driver – all of which I usually take and add considerably to the price. For instance the 2 week hire car charge Avis (with a special deal) quoted was £50 higher on top of which Avis charge 25 Euros for an additional driver, whereas on the website we booked last night, that was free. The excess waiver charge was £37.50 for the two weeks which works out considerably less than the additional daily charge I regularly pay in Toulouse. All in all I believe that by using another competitor I have saved on this booking approximately £150 and I think in future I will look elsewhere before I book my hired cars. Come on Avis, pull your socks up, otherwise you will be losing lots of customers! There seems to be no encouragement for loyalty at all! I look forward to hearing from you.
Like airlines, sometimes our prices can seem expensive if we have a limited supply of cars (see ‘Tips for getting the best price‘) but I have instructed one of my colleagues to check the prices as we don’t want to be uncompetitive. Your suggestion about loyalty has been mirrored by a few other recent comments on the blog. It is something we will certainly be looking into in the near future. Believe me we don’t want to lose you!
Following a recent visit to Italy travelling to and from Pisa Airport , I thought that I would offer some comments.
At Pisa the car hire buses are run by the airport and are converted from coaches. The luggage areangements are not sayisfactory and care needs to be taken by people with limited mobility and with children. The new car hire is not far from the terminal but beware of the high kerb. When it is busy you will find yourself having to sit on the floor ( bare concrete )Avis’s staff are pleasant and effecient but be careful on leaving the airport -signage is minimal.
On return fuel up away from the airport and not at lunchtime as the fuel stations close and the automatic machines are not easy to use. The petrol station at the airport appears only accessible through a car park or via some long and complicated route going in and out the airport !
It appears that when the car returns are busy the two buses cannot cope and we found it quicker and less painful just to walk back to the terminal, probably illegal though no one said !
If you do go it’s a lovely area of Europe and every one we met was very friendly.
Great feedback Mark and great advice. We will pass all of your feedback to the team in Italy.
Rob
AGP ( Málaga airport )
This was the second time this year I picked up a car at AGP and I have to say service is always nice and friendly. I was even upgraded once from a Medium compact to a Ford Mondeo.
The rep took a while to process my rental and also did not ask which currency I preferred to be charged in ( see my other blog )
I always wonder though about the Preferred desk. It is never manned/womanned. Ok it was never busy just one party before me but I wonder what the etiquette is. Does one just proceed to the Preferred desk and wait to be served by a rep who is serving on the “normal” desk and consequently non Preferred punters have to wait until the Preferred customer is on its way?.
Anyway drop off was painless too although one has to be very careful in the very tight and dark garage ( a typical Spanish thing ). It is too bad that one has to go to the Avis desk to check out. I guess no space for the hand held gadget check out.
All in all a fairly good experience and I have to say that after my switch from [a competitor] to Avis 3 years ago I have always had pretty good to outstanding service.
Keep it up Avis
Hello Michael,
Thanks for your feedback on our service in Malaga. My spanish colleagues have informed me that the preferred desk is manned by the members of staff on duty at the time as soon as a customer arrives at the desk.
We also normally offer rapid return service at this airport, although we didn’t between the 13th September and 24th October because of building work.
Thanks, Xavier
Hope you are all well.
I was one of the judges last year who awarded your blog the National Customer Service Innovation award. I was wondering how it was going almost 12 months on as it really is the sort of thing that other companies should be looking at.
Has anyone else followed your lead?
I wouldn’t mind finding out more about how it works. Is there any chance i can drop in for an hour to have a chat?
Thanks
Richard Brown
Hi Richard, great to hear from you. I remember doing that presentation – very nerve-racking… although well worth it when we won the award!
We’re really pleased about how things are going and I would love to chat more. You can contact me at comments@avis.co.uk.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Rob
I think your latest suggestive ads…who does she think she is.. are disgusting. Joan
Hello Joan,
I really don’t know which ads you are referring to? Our latest ad feature the pisa tower and can be seen on many websites.
None of our ad has ever been suggestive in any way. As a matter of fact, and as far as I know, the ASA has never received any complaints on any of our ads.
You might be confusing us with someone else?
Let me know if I can be of further help.
Xavier – Head of Marketing
It is the ads that say Who does she think she is and implies she has been having a rendevous with rather disgusting innuendos
Hi Joan, I am not aware of any ads we are running which uses this message. Would tell me where you saw this advert so we can review it?
Rob
Is there anyone there to answer more difficult questions? I had a specific problem about a rental in Sweden that appears to have arisen from an error on your website. I made numerous telephone calls and sent three emails to both Avis UK and Avis Europe in July and received no reply. I subsequently wrote to your head office on 3 August and sent a copy of the letter again on 3 September, but still have had no reply. Surely you must have some system for referring problems upwards if the first level cannot resolve the problem.
Thank goodness for your excellent staff at the rental location who were able to find me a big enough vehicle…..but through my phone calls and at my expense.
Hi Chris,
I’m sorry to hear of your experience and the difficulties you are having in resolving this issue.
Can you forward all the details, including rental agreement number, to comments@avis.co.uk and I will endeavour to resolve this for you.
Stephen
Hello Stephen
Thank you for resolving the problem so quickly. Excellent service!
Chris
Great idea. Only suggestion would be to make the blog a bit more faster to load (even though we are on a superfast connection). Good Luck.
Thanks Mark! And thank you for the feedback. I’d be interested in hearing from any other customers who have had a problems with the load time of the blog.
Rob
I have been trying extremely hard to get a response from your customer service people with no luck after one month.
My firm and our partners have spent a signficant amount of money on Avis and I was recently hit by a charge of $1700 on my credit card for a hire in Germany with no expanation as to why.
I emailed my local office (Singapore) where I first registered and no response. I forwarded the email to custserv@avis.com a few weeks later and still no response after nearly a week. I have since contacted my credit card company to claim back the unauthorised withdrawal.
I am contacting you because I am from the UK and have spent a great deal with Avis UK as well and it seems like you may be able to help.
Mark
Hi Mark, I am very sorry about the lack of response you’ve received so far. We’ve escalated this to the senior team in Singapore so hopefully this will help bring a quick resolution to your query. Please let me know if you experience any further delay.
Rob
I have been trying to get a response from your Customer Services department regarding a complaint with a car hired from Munich Airport in January 2009..
The call centre staff were unwilling to deal with my complaint on the telephone and I was told to contact them by email.
The emails I sent apparently were not received although I received an automated response from Avis. This wasted 3 weeks.
Eventually, when I was able to email a member of Avis staff my complaint has been ignored. I have been waiting over 2 months for my complaint to be even be acknowledged, there is no sign of it being resolved.
What do I have do to get someone from Avis to reply to me?
Hi Lizzie, I am very sorry for the difficulties you’ve experienced in getting a resolution to your complaint. Would you be able to email me at comments@avis.co.uk with your rental agreement number and I’ll escalate this with the Customer Support team.
Rob
We try harder…to what exactly?
I booked a car for 6 people back in January for ten days between April and May; however when we picked it up at Glasgow the tax disc was up at the end of April. The same was true for all the other cars of that size. However no seemed bothered than there was no car for us, nor did they even try to get us a tax disc or a replacement. Lucky we were staying in Glasgow for the night and were assured a vehicle was coming back that night which was suitable. We asked if it could be brought to our hotel, which was flat out refused, we’d have to come back to the airport.
So they next day we call Avis at Glasgow airport who confirm our car is ready so we go back to the airport to find the car that came back last night also had a tax disc which runs out at the end of April. The lady at the counter explained Avis have hundreds of cars, ‘How can we be expected to tax them all?’. Before blaming us because we rented the car when the tax disc was up!
Eventually we left with two cars and an assurance the manager would call the next day.
But she didn’t, so we called the day after. She wasn’t in as she’d had a tragedy. So we asked about compensation anyway, after all we had to pay for two lots of fuel and two lots of ferry crossing now. The response? The second car was compensation and we shouldn’t expect anything else!
Once back home I called customer care, they listen, took details and promised to call me back that afternoon. Guess what no call.
So how do Avis try harder? To disappoint?
Hi Mark, I’m very sorry and disappointed to read this. Would you be able to email me your rental agreement number to comments@avis.co.uk and I will get someone in the Customer Support team to investigate as a matter of urgency.
Rob
Rob,
Your representatives at customer services Avis agreed to refund the difference between a group O and group B car and for the additional fuel/ ferry crossings after the fiasco at Glasgow.
I was told to send copies of the receipts for the fuel and ferry crossings and this would be refunded as a cheque.
A couple of weeks after sending the receipts I phoned on Friday to chase the cheque to be told this would no longer be refunded as I had been compensated by having the difference in cars refunded. The representative confirmed they had the receipts but would do nothing with them. Since the total was for over £100 I’m annoyed that Avis are now back tracking on what they had promised.
Why can’t anyone just hold their hands up and admit this wasn’t your finest hour? What does it take a court summons?
Not sure that the staff at your office are trying harder. Have been overcharged by 100 euros and despite forwarding copy of rental agreement nobody seems interested in sorting it out. In addition car looked like it had been in a demolition derby, stank of smoke, had no valid certificate of insurance (which by law must be displayed in France) and the car had clearly not been services (displaying service light throughout. All for £450 (plus the extra 100 euros). Bargain!!!
Hi Simon, I am very sorry to read that we failed to meet your expectations of us. Would you be able to email me your rental agreement number to comments@avis.co.uk and we’ll take a look at this for you.
Rob
My experience suggests that despite ‘trying harder’, your customer service team are not necessarily being successful. I emailed on 5th August and again on 12th August but have heard nothing in response. Here the emails…..
Dear Customer Service,
One week has passed and I have not yet had a response to my email (below). Could you please confirm whether you are looking into this for me?
Many thanks,
Mark Cotton
______________________________________________
Hi there,
I have been travelling in Europe and collecting a rental car from Düsseldorf each week since May. Whilst not the cheapest, I chose to use Avis because of your participation in the AirMiles scheme.
On 29 June 2009, I pre-booked and pre-paid multiple weeks’ worth of car hire so as to take advantage of your ‘Double AirMiles’ offer. Unfortunately, there seems to have been an error and I have only been awarded single AirMiles for these bookings:
[Reservation number 1]
[Reservation number 2]
[Reservation number 3]
Could you please verify this and arrange for my AirMiles account to be credited with the missing miles (30+40+30 = 100) asap? As a gesture of good faith, I would appreciate it if you would double the AirMiles on my current rental (booked outside of the offer period):
[Reservation number]
Many thanks,
Mark Cotton
Hi Mark, I am very sorry that you have not heard back from us yet on this. I will follow up with the team to find out what is going on.
Rob
Do Avis really care? I am not so sure….
I had a bad experience with my first and probably last rental with Avis. No other company ever gave me such an headache… the conclusion? Read the small print if you don’t want to end up paying double to what was initially agreed because staff at Sicily won’t tell you about anything.
Below is a copy of the letter I sent to Customer Services. They replied but the final answer was basically a “read the small print” and no refunds offered so far. For Avis the refund of €112.90 is nothing but for me makes a big difference because it adds to the total I had paid. I feel really disappointed with this company and feel also I was taken advantage.
A shame really if that is how you prefer to be seen as a company.
Claudia
13/10/2009
Att: Avis Customer Service Manager
Dear Sir/Madam,
I rented a car in Sicily from the 17/09 to the 26/09. The rental was done and paid in full with [A travel agent] and I took a voucher with me to take the car at the airport. On check in we were advised to take a full insurance at a cost of €9 euros a day and we agreed to it as a good precaution.
On the last day my boyfriend dropped the car, signed the return on a machine via a little booth at the airport and we thought everything was ok. He was given a receipt with the total of €210.10 and thought that this was just the Avis receipt for the total charges, which sometimes can differ from the agency payment.
A week later, we received a full statement showing some charges breakdown and only then we realized that we had been charged again a £193.48 on top of the cost of the rental. Needless to say we were in shock!! We agreed to the €9 a day so we’re not in any way disputing the payment of €81, but we were never told this would also have a 20% fee on top, which in other rentals was never the case and I believe it’s a important information to pass to the customer.
After analysing the receipt I believe I am being charged for an extra day but once again this is extremely unfair. The rental agreement had pick up and return at 15:00. We arrived early and went to the desk, thinking that we couldn’t get the car earlier but the lady processed our information without a moment hesitation so it never crossed my mind I would be charged anything extra because she didn’t say anything. Your employee failed to give me some basic but very important information that would prevent me feeling like I have been taken advantage. She should have informed me about the options I could have and let me make a decision based on that:
a) I could take the car earlier but would have to pay extra because of that and how much would that be,
b) tell me to wait till 15:00 to pick up car at no extra cost or
c) return the car at the same time I was taking the car.
There were 3 options for this case as now, after reading your website and the receipt makes me think that is the cause of this charge.
I am writing this letter in the hope that we can sort things amicably without having to involve Trading Standards or the European Consumer Centre. All I’m asking is a bit of understanding. Your company failed with the basics of communicating with your customers and looking after them in a transparent way. Not telling someone that his or her bill is almost double of the rent is unacceptable.
I hope Avis can credit back the extra charges and take just the payment we knew and agreed upon, €9 euros a day for 9 days. Everything else is unacceptable and if necessary we will take our complaints further but I do hope Avis has the good sense to see that mistakes were made on it’s part and act in a honorable and fair way.
Yours truly,
Claudia Braglia Hernandes
Hi Claudia,
I am sorry to hear about your frustrations with Avis.
I have passed your comment on to our customer service team and they have let me know that they have just sent you a response in regards to this.
Also, due to the length of your original comment we have had to remove some sections. If you feel that we have cut out anything vital that other bloggers should see please feel free to post them again.
If you have any other questions please let me know.
Vicki
Hi Vicki,
I am very unsatisfied with the customer service outcome.
Email after email it was all the same and at the end the refund offered wasn’t what we were expecting at all.
I definitely think Avis DON’T care. To charge me a full extra day for 1:34hs + 20% VAT without me agreeing is not acceptable. The staff in Sicily should have told me the charge beforehand. I wasn’t late with the car but took it earlier and was naive to think it was all ok and my voucher paid in full had it all covered. All it would take was the staff to communicate properly with the customer.
Disappointing. Avis takes advantage of the lack of communication by the staff and then says it was all there written clearly. Worst rental service I ever had.
Hi Claudia,
I am sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the outcome and refund from our customer services and I will make sure that your comments are shared with them.
I will also pass on your feedback to the team in Italy. We take all comments about our service very seriously, good or bad, and if there is an opportunity to take affirmative action, we will do so.
Vicki
Hi Vicki,
After emails back and fourth with your customer service, at any moment, I had the feeling that my comments were being taken seriously. All I got was “it’s your fault, read the small print” even though it isn’t as clear as they tried to point it out and blame me for.
Plus a registration fee charge at the destination it’s a joke! What for?! To show me how important a customer I am?!
Disgraceful!
Hi Claudia,
Thanks for your comment.
I will email you directly to try and help resolve this.
Vicki
A friend of mine hired a Audi in taunton and was going to pay in cash. the woman at the counter said she needed a card to process the car hire, even if it was someone else’s. I agreed to do it and was told a total of 3 times, that no money would be taken from my account under any circumstances. When this friend was on holiday and failed to pay on time they took 2 seperate ammounts of £800 from my account, which put me overdrawn. I am now going to take this to the county court as it was not made clear to me that this would happen if, for any reason, he did not pay on time.
Hi Jon,
Sorry to hear about your frustrations.
I am happy to look into this for you and follow this up with customer services if you send me an email with the rental agreement number and rental details on. Please email these to comments@avis.co.uk.
Vicki
I am posting here because having contacted your customer service department both by phone and e-mail a few times this week I have had no response to my complaint. I received a letter from Avis (Switzerland) on Saturday (16/01/10) with regard to a traffic offence made with a rental vehicle owned by Avis along with the traffic fine documentation from the local authority in France.
It is stated in the letter from Avis that the offence was committed on 09/07/09 at 1614 when I was renting the vehicle. The traffic fine clearly states that the offence was committed on 29/07/09 at 1614 and not 09/07/09. The offence appears to be related to parking on a pedestrianised area in Evian Les Bains – we did not visit this area and as I rented a vehicle from Avis at Geneva Airport from Saturday July 4th 2009 for 1 week [Booking Ref.] returning the vehicle on Saturday July 11th 2009. I was clearly not renting the vehicle on 29th July 2009. The reference for the traffic offence is identical on the letter from Avis and the fine from the authority and it appears that an administrative error has occurred and I have been wrongfully contacted.
Having got nowhere with either e-mailing your customer services or phoning I would be grateful if you could look into this and once you have been able to confirm that I was not the renter of the vehicle at the time of the offence I require the following:
1. A full refund of the handling fee which has been charged to my VISA card
2. Confirmation that the local authority has been contacted and my name has been deleted from their files as the responsible party for this fine.
Hi Andy,
Thank you for sending over all the details of this fine and your rental. I am truly sorry for any frustrations this has caused.
I will look into this for you and will follow it up with our customer service team.
If you have any other questions or feedback please let me know.
Vicki