Some areas of the travel industry have gotten a bad name in the media predominantly due to the contentious issue of hidden costs (only last Sunday did the BBC Breakfast programme run a segment on this). I appreciate that the prospect of hidden charges can create anxiety for our customers. To put your mind at ease I thought I’d write a post to answer some of the most common concerns and talk about some of the processes we have in place so you can be confident that you won’t receive any nasty surprises.
1. Car hire companies often quote prices without all the mandatory charges in order to seem competitive
When you make a booking with us on avis.co.uk, the price you book will include EVERYTHING you need to get in the car and go. This includes vehicle damage cover and vehicle theft cover which, when thinking about in terms of private car insurance, is kind of like fully comprehensive insurance with an excess. There are no additional ’surcharges’ or ‘taxes’ that need to added. One thing your quote might not include is some of our optional extras. You can pre-book satellite navigation and child seats on our website but unfortunately you cannot yet book additional driver or Premier Cover (the product that allows you to reduce the excess) and these can only be purchased at the rental counter when picking up your car. It is worth bearing in mind that these will need to be added to your final price if you intend to take them. We are of course working towards making all optional extras available to book in advance.
2. I will be pressurised into taking out all the ‘extras’ with a hard sell at the rental counter
Firstly, arm yourself with the knowledge that there is NOTHING that you NEED to take out when you pick up your car so don’t ever feel pressured. Secondly, our staff at the rental desk simply aren’t trained to do this. Instead they are trained to understand from you how you intend to use your rental car and offer the appropriate products for your rental needs. They will not hard sell or railroad you into taking any of our products.
3. I will check my bank statement and expect to find that I’ve paid a lot more than I was quoted
We have a couple of things in place that will not only protect you, they will act as a clear reassurance to yourself that this won’t happen. Firstly, when you get to the rental desk to pick up your car you will receive your rental agreement. Unless you have taken any of our additional extras or upgraded to a larger car the price on the rental agreement will match the price quoted when you booked. Any extras you do decide to take will be itemised out separately. As long as you return the car with a full tank of fuel and without damage the price on the rental agreement will represent the price on the final bill.
When you return the car you will usually be met by one of our Rapid Return agents. They will inspect the car for damage and they will check the fuel gauge. Providing everything is ok they will give you the final receipt. The price quoted on this bill is the absolute final price you will pay. Many customers fear that they will be stung for extra charges retrospectively. This receipt is a guarantee that this will not happen.
I hope this dispels some of the concerns you may have. Obviously if you have any other scenarios you would like us to answer then please feel free to ask!
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DO NOT USE AVIS AT LANZAROTE AIRPORT, COMPLETE JOKE.
Hi Eric,
Please mail the details of your experience to comments@avis.co.uk, marked for my attention, and I’ll see what I can do to put things right.
Regards
Dear Sir/Madam,
I’m sorry; but I beg to differ with this post. You may have ‘no nasty surprises’ over mandatory items, but you certainly don’t apply that to any ‘extras’.
Last month I rented an Avis car (group A) in Catania, Italy from avis.co.uk. Unfortunately the car was stolen a day later!! I had declined the extra insurance at the time of pickup as I felt it extortionate for a small car; something like 25 EUR/day (I don’t remember exactly…) so accept that I would be liable for the theft excess as indicated on the contract – 1700 EUR (over £1150 for a Group A car!). However I now know that a small asterisk on the contract indicates a note that this excess figure “Excl. Tax and Admin Charges”. Upon returning to the rental office, the scale of these extras became clearer…
35 EUR ‘ADMIN CHARGE’ – for what?!?; I had to report the theft, deal with the police and paperwork and also had to make my own way back to the office to return the car key!
3.24 EUR ‘REGISTRATION FEE’ – I’ve no idea what this was for.
271.26 EUR ‘AIRPORT SURCHARGE’ – why does the fact the car was rented from an airport have any bearing on the excess if its stolen; surely it costs the same to replace the car regardless of its rental location?
416.58 EUR – VAT at 20% is then charged on the lot!
So the final excess total is actually 2350.07 EUR (£1660.88) – nearly 40% more!
Now I accept I took the risk declining the extra insurance and lost, and will gladly pay 1700 EUR as stated on my contract. What I don’t find acceptable though is the extra 850 EUR in ‘hidden charges’. Surely these are fixed costs and unlikely to change; the admin fee will always be 35 EUR, the airport surcharge (grrr!) will always be 15% and VAT in Italy will always be 20%. So why not state the final figure up front on the contract, especially in foreign countries where taxes and charges are highly likely to be unknown??? I’m sure you’d even drum up more interest in your additional insurance products if the full figure is known at pickup time.
As for your new rental agreement where ‘Prices are clearly displayed’, I think an expected excess almost 40% over what is stated on the contract warrants more than an asterisk and a small note, don’t you?
Ouch! That certainly is a large amount to have to pay out and I do empathise, I wouldn’t like to be in that position either. It’s probably worth explaining that items subject to VAT and Airport Surcharges vary according to the fiscal regulations and airport authority agreements in each country. Here in the UK, excess charges aren’t subject to VAT and the Airport Surcharge is a set figure as opposed to a % on the total amount charged to the customer. In Italy however, excess and repair costs are subject to VAT, and the airport authorities impose a % on the total amount paid in relation to rental, so the amount increases proportionately with any additional costs.
Certainly we should ensure our customers are crystal clear about this in advance, so we’ll highlight this particular case to our colleagues in Italy to emphasise the point, and see what we can do to make sure it’s easy to understand the imacts going forward. Avis Italy charges an admin fee to cover it’s associated costs in dealing with the stolen vehicle, liaison with police, insurers etc after the event. Here in the UK, that fee is built into the excess payable. Excesss are always determined by the level of associated risk, which in Italy is quite high, as evidenced by your unfortunate experience.
If you mail me via the comments@avis.co.uk address, with your rental agreement details, we can check that the charges are in line and have been applied properly and adjust accordingly if they haven’t been. I can also give you a proper breakdown and calculation of them.
‘Ouch’ was not the word I used…
I understand that these extra charges and taxes vary from country to country, however as they should be fairly static it surely makes sense to quote a final figure on the contract so that there are no nasty suprises like the one I experienced. Especially when the renter is likely to be unaware of what the individual country charges may be (I certainly didn’t expect an ‘airport surcharge’ to apply to a theft excess) and when the scale of them is as high as in my example.
I have emailed you my rental details – thanks for taking the time to respond and for the offer to look into my case.
Neil
What are the fees to remove the risk of paying damage and theft excesses in Italy – total, including taxes etc!
I’ve read a lot about avoiding the possiblilty of being hit by huge excesses. I’ve an Avis car booked through a broker in Portugal & wonder what the charge is going to be to avoid the possibility? I’ve seen there is a specialist excess insurance provider. It sounds too good to be true, is it?
Dave,
Stoney silence from Avis!
Have now hired a car in Italy via the avis.co.uk website. No body from Avis in the office at the time of collection (desk in corner of tourist office). Someone appeared after about an hour. Did not introduce himself etc – first words were “driving licence please”! Contract barely legible, rate suspiciously more than quote.
We’ll see what happens when car returned. Will anybody be there?!
Hi Dave
Firstly, and I hope you don’t mind, but I have revised your reference to a specific competitor in your comment. While we’re happy for you to post your opinion about our own products and service we don’t really want people promoting our competitor products on our own blog!
In Portugal, you can reduce the excess for damage down to €59.00. This cover can be purchased at the counter when you collect the car for €11.50 (€9.50 + tax) per day for small cars, €12.10 (€10.00 + tax) per day for medium cars and €15.13 (€12.50 + tax) per day for large cars. I wouldn’t be able to comment on the excess insurance provider you mentioned although I would advise reading all of the terms and conditions of the product first and then you can make an informed decision on the product that is right for you.
Howard,
Sorry we haven’t got back to you as quickly as we hoped. Just shows that we will have to “try harder” next time
We offer a “Super package” in Italy which reduces both excesses to zero and can be purchased for €23.00 (€19.17 + tax) per day for small and medium cars and €24.50 (€20.42 + tax) per day for large and luxury cars.
We also offer separate products to cover both damage and theft excesses. To remove the damage excess, it costs €15.80 (€13.17 + tax) per day for small and medium cars and €17.00 (€14.17 + tax) per day for large and luxury cars. To remove the theft excess, it costs €11.80 (€9.83 + tax) per day for small and medium cars and €13.60 (€11.33 + tax) per day for large and luxury cars.
Please note that if there is any damage to the avis car, an administration fee of €35.00 + tax will be charged, even if the excess has been reduced to zero.
With regards to your current rental, we’re always open to feedback to improve our services and products. Drop me an e-mail with more details to comments@avis.co.uk and I’ll feed this back to the country in question.
On the 1st of September 2007, my wife and I hired a VW Polo (Diesel) for our two week holiday in France. We picked up the vehicle on our arrival at Toulouse Airport with no major problems considering our very limited knowledge of the language. Loading our two bags into the boot, we set of up the Motorway heading for Limoge. At about 2100 hrs we left the motorway heading for our final destination when the Oil warning light came on. No problem we’ll stop at the next available Garage. 60 Killometers later we arrived at our rented villa not having passed an open fuel station and feeling a bit anxious. Next morning I topped up the engine oil at a local garage and checked the other important factors and guess what ! Radiator coolant tank, empty. Windscreen washer tank, empty. Warning Triangle, Replacent bulb kit, First Aid kit all absent. After this unwelome expence, the holiday was great until driving back down the motorway to Toulouse. We were in no particular hurry, driving at 120 K/Hr on cruise control until approaching the peage at Montauban when I breaked to cancel the cruise and slow down for the barrier. To my horror the car speed increased. I took both feet off the controls thinking I had caught the accellerator, but the speed increased further. Again I tried the breaks and again the speed increased. The cruise spring release had no effect. In desperation I headed for an empty barrier with the intention of crashing through which seemed to be my best option. I considered switching off the ignitian but was worried about loosing power, however this was going to be my best option when through the barrier. I switched off the ignition and to my relief the breaks worked sufficiently to stop me before reaching the barrier. This all happenned in seconds. I paid the toll by card, started the engine which seemed to be OK and drove to the rest area. After composing myself I resumed my journey to Toulouse Airport with the cruise control switched completely “off”. I have since spent considerable time thinking about this incident and my action and hope that Avis respond.
Hi Alan, I am sorry to read about your experience. I must stress that the safety of our customers is absolutely paramount to us and all of our cars go through rigourous safety checks before they go on rent.
Would you be able to email me at comments@avis.co.uk with your rental agreement number so I can investigate this further?
Peter
We have been charged twice for the same rental which was highlighted to both AVIS in the airport car pick up and also to office inside the airport and we were assured that the matter would be sorted. We also received 2 invoices by post for the same reservation; this was pointed out to both avis offices. We booked the car by phone but it looks as though the agent at the car collection office in the airport parking also made a separate booking. We are being charged 516.88 pounds sterling for a car rented on 1st august and returned on 10th august instead of 281.98.on a receipt we hold for car reg GBAF07XFC Birmingham airport. Payment done on 10/8/07 281.98. on the 5/8/07 we were charged twice 145.00 & 145.00 and on 15/8/07, charged 136.98 then we were credited 145.00, but on 19/8/07 charged again 235.00, totaling 516.98.So this condradicts the overcharge note on your webside. We would be grateful if you would now deal with this matter urgently and return to us the amount of 235.00 which we have been overcharged. We have also sent in an email to your customer complaints earlier this evening. It looks as though paying by credit card is not a good idea as Avis can continue to withdraw money as they seem fit.
A very unsatisfied customer.
A Mansouri
Hi A Mansouri,
Would you be able to email your rental agreement number to comments@avis.co.uk and we will look into this for you.
Peter
Not sure which blog to put this in. I use Avis for all my rentals and the service is wonderfull. I have an online Avis Account and was looking at joining Avis preferred. What is the cost of this?, I find it hard to believe there is no charge for this service. Also it asks for a payment card. Is that the card you use to pay for your rental? What is the card used for when signing up for this service?
Thanks for the feedback Gareth! That’s really great to hear.
Yes Avis Preferred is completely free. That may sound bizarre but actually it helps us just as much as it helps our customers because it reduces our paperwork and allows us to serve our customers more quickly. That way with Avis Preferred everyone is happy!
The payment card is basically what you use to pay for the rental. It is not used for anything else. You can always change what you have entered as the payment card at a later date using the “Your Account” facility on the avis.co.uk website.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Rob
well i’ve been reading through the stories here and this one steals the show, I rented a car out when I was on holiday in england and as I only had cash on me and no credit card my friend offered to use his credit card and I would give him the cash, so we did that and then about two weeks before the rental was due back I phoned up to extend the length of the rental for another 4 weeks. Again no problems with the staff or the service.
I returned the car back to Manchester airport handed my keys over and left the country thinking that was the end of it. Two months later my friend tells me that he has been charged for the car over the past two months. So I sent an email off to customer services outlining whats happened and giving a detailed description of when I dropped the car off, what I was wearing and where the car was.
It has been three weeks since I sent the email and the customer service agent has repsoned twice, once to ask for more details on when and where I dropped the car off, which is fine, and another time to describe in detail what the people behind the service desk looked like and which terminal I dropped it off at !! As if there are multiple terminals for outbound international flights, and even if there was then it would be a very short list to confirm my story given the fact that I gave them a very specific time and date that they can check the duty roster against, never mind the security footage which would also show me entering the office !
I don’t think they even know where the car is after telling them where I left it, the people you hire are amasing !
Needless to say I am very unhappy about the situation and this will probably end in court and me having to fly from Australia back to England to get this whole mess sorted out as Avis are ignoring any emails sent to them regarding this incident.
The impression I get from the customer service agent is that I am made to feel like a criminal who steals cars and leaves the country so that noone can touch me.
unbelievable
Hi Duncan, I can assure you that we are not ignoring your emails! We have had a bit of a back log to get through (see my blog post Update On Customer Queries) but this is no excuse.
I’ve chased this up for you and hopefully you have heard back from us by now. If you haven’t then let me know and I’ll find out what is going on.
Peter
Further to the AVIS Prefered comments can I suggest arranging to have your invoices sent by e-mail. having done this the invoice arrives within 48 hours, this greatly assists in claiming expenses.
One question though is why when you reserve a car using AVIS Customer Number the AVIS representative still seems to want all your details including your nearest AVIS Office, I thought that this was all stored in your profile?
Hi Peter, great to hear from you again and thanks for the advice on e-invoices.
Presumably your Customer Number has been set up for Avis Preferred membership? By entering your Avis Preferred number at point of booking, all of your information should be pre-populated e.g. your payment details, address, etc. Also, all of your paperwork should be prepared in advance so picking up your car should be quick and straightforward. Would you be able to email me your Customer Number to comments@avis.co.uk and I’ll check whether this has been set up correctly for Avis Preferred membership.
Rob
I’ve had problem getting my preferred number linked to a third party booking. Our corporate travel agents place booking direct with Avis, using a voucher number. Avis then invoice my company direct (so travel agent only book, and do not pay.) On the latest booking, the travel agent were told my Avis Pref number could not be included. Why has this changed? Previously they could include my preferred number and I could pick up a car as normal, but the company account would be invoiced. How to I get the preferred number included when the travel agents book?
Hi Vicki
Would you be able to send an email to comments@avis.co.uk with your reservation number, Preferred number and details of the travel agent that you book through, and we will look at this for you.
Thanks
Rob
Yeah! my friend was quoted £64 on the net…and was delighted BUT,,when she picked up she was ‘conned’ into paying over £100!!! This was for extra insurance, she didn’t want or didnt really understand that she didnt need!! No hidden extras? Watch this company guys…there after your money not your business..
Hi Andy, thank you for your feedback. Firstly, just to clarify, when you book a car on avis.co.uk it should include everything you need to get in the car and go with no additional costs required (unless you are booking a special kind of rate e.g. a corporate rate with “company own insurance”). The main thing to look out for is to make sure your quote includes Vehicle Damage Cover and Vehicle Theft Cover. If you think of this in terms of private car insurance then this would be the equivalent of “Fully Comprehensive” but with an excess. In the UK this excess is £600 but can be reduced by paying for one of our “excess waiver” products when you pick up the car. In the UK we call this product Premier Cover.
It is disappointing that this was not completely clear to your friend and we will look into how we can make this clearer on our website. I am also disappointed to read that your friend felt “conned” into taking the ‘excess waiver’ product. All of our rental agents are trained to perform what we call a “contract review” whereby the agent will go through each charge on the rental agreement so the customer is completely clear about what they are paying for. If we have let your friend down in this respect then please ask your friend to email us at comments@avis.co.uk with the rental agreement and we will investigate as these kind of practices absolutely should not happen.
Rob
I’m looking at hiring a car from Germany to go travelling for 10 days. I’ll probably be covering around 1500 miles. My question is related to when the car is returned to the car rental location and it is inspected for damage, can you define damage? I do not intend to trash any car, but inevitably there could be some stone chips. Is this classed as damage? I ask due to the fact that any repairs done to cars nowadays is expensive.
Good question Tim. In general the policy is not to charge for fair wear and tear that is the result of normal use of the vehicle. More specifically this includes:
- Superficial abrasions which can be polished out without special equipment
- Scratches less than 25mm which do not penetrate the paint surface
- Dents less than 25mm with no paint cracking or flaking
- Stone chips less than 5mm without denting
- Chip marks to glass which do not penetrate the first layer
- Wheel or wheel trim scuffs without cracking or gouging
Rob
Hi – Avis have double billed me for a car hire in LA. I have tried to email them using the websites contact us option, but it is not working and keeps coming up with error reports when I try to send it. Can someone please supply me a email address I can use? Thanks
Hi Jessamy,
Welcome back!! We’re sorry to hear about your issue. You can contact our UK customer services department at customer.services@avis.co.uk or call them on 0870 608 6363 and they will investigate this for you. If possible, please could you also send me the details of the webpage that is giving you error reports to comments@avis.co.uk. I will speak to our website team to resolve this problem.
Stephen
Thanks Stephen for coming back to me so quickly. The link is here and I am using a MAC computer, so that may impact.
http://www.avis.co.uk/emailavis.aspx
Thanks again, Jessamy
An extra that was added to my rental agrreement was a full prepaid tank of petrol. The rental agent did not ask me anything and did not tell me anything about it. This happened on 8feb at MUC.
The good thing is that your CS made everything right. Thank you Sarah( in the US )
I have a few points to raise on this.
Firstly, I was very concerned that I recieved an estate vehicle that did not match my original booking for a saloon. esp when I hired a premium model and was told it would be an Saab 93 saloon ar a Mercedes C180 ’saloon’. As I was driving away in the vehicle I noticed the fuel tank was not completely full (I was told to return the vehicle with a ‘full’ tank)
The car was booked and pre-paid online, however, upon picking the vehicle up I looked at the invoice before signing I noticed I had been charged extra insurance at £19 per day which I did not request. I had to ask for this £60 to be taken off as I already told them I was going to use the standard £600 excess on the vehicle so why charge me to reduce it when I didn’t want it reduced. It’s almost like they were trying to push the extra charges on me in a very underhanded way as it was not explained until I mentioned the extra charges. They had to re-print a new invoice.
When I returned the vehicle it was not clear what I had to do, the vehicle needed to be checked by an avis rep before I went into the terminal. I stood around for 10 mins in the return carpark and asked one of the guys sitting in a car who looked like he was wearing an Avis uniform. He said yes, I need to inform him and he needs to sign off the hire and give me a reciept etc, which he did. This was pure chance … how was I supposed to know this?? there is no information on the hire form or in the returns carpark and no office etc.
I hire around 5-6 times a year but this was my first ‘Avis’ hire and overall a very disappointing experience.
Bobby
Incidentally, from above the hire term was 15th – 18th Feb 2008 ..
Bobby
Hi Bobby
I am sorry to hear about your bad experience. Your comment has been passed on to the UK customer service department and somebody will be getting back to you.
Rob
On 16th May 2007 I choose to rent a car with AVIS for a period of 27 days at a cost of £625.18. As I was planning to cover a substantial distance over the rental period I made a specific decision to rent with AVIS as your website clearly stated that the rental price included ‘Unlimited kilometres’ (though this important detail was NOT mentioned in the Booking Confirmation email).
Upon arrival at the airport on the morning of 11th July 2007 I was presented with a rental contract which I signed in good faith, trusting it to be a fair representation of the agreement I had originally entered into with AVIS on 16th May. Your female representative at the pickup point (Charles de Gaulle Airport: Terminal 1) pointed out that my vehicle of choice was not available and that AVIS was offering a different vehicle. She made no reference to a clause stating a 4500 kilometre distance limit, which had been inserted into the contract.
When I collected the vehicle I initially failed to notice a small sticker on the dashboard stating ‘Ne doit pas depasser 17,800 km’, which I later managed to translate as meaning the car needed to be serviced upon reaching 17,800 km on the odometer. This was a cause of anxiety throughout the 27 days of rental. Your representative had made no mention of the fact that the vehicle was due to be serviced within 2800 kilometres.
By the morning of 25th July 2007 the vehicle odometer was reading 17,800 km, so at 10.25 am I telephoned AVIS for advice. After some considerable difficulty I was eventually connected to an English-speaking AVIS representative at Charles de Gaulle airport—identifying herself as ‘Bouchra’—who advised me that AVIS would exchange the vehicle and requested that I collect it’s replacement at Beziers airport on 30th July 2007.
I arrived at Beziers airport at 11.15 am on 30th July. The AVIS desk was closed, there was no AVIS representative at the airport, there was no replacement vehicle. Thanks to the kindness of Air France staff at the airport I was able to telephone an AVIS representative at Beziers railway station—she identified herself as ‘Louisa’—who made no effort to communicate effectively with me, despite repeated requests that she might assist by speaking French SLOWLY. It gradually became clear that she was claiming ignorance of the arrangement made with your AVIS representative on 25th July.
I had telephoned you to notify you that the rental vehicle had reached the 17,800 km odometer reading. I had driven 37km (74km round-trip) to Beziers airport and at the same time wasted over two hours of my vacation. I had made every effort to facilitate AVIS in exchanging the vehicle. Now I had no option but to continue with my original vehicle until the end of the rental.
I wish to know why there was no AVIS representative or exchange vehicle present at Beziers airport on 30th July 2007.
I wish to know why I was not advised, at the time of pickup, that the rental vehicle was approaching a service interval.
I wish to know why I was presented with a contract to sign which was substantially different from the original agreement I entered into with AVIS on 16th May 2007.
The original price which AVIS quoted for the vehicle rental was £625.18. Allowing a further €32.49/£23.04 (Airport Surcharge) plus €25.00/£17.73 (Additional Driver) brings a total of £665.95.
The £953.06 which I ended up paying for the rental is really rather more (almost £300 more) than I wished to spend; and I endured the added expense and inconvenience of a fruitless journey on 30th July when AVIS failed to meet me at Beziers Airport with an exchange vehicle, as had been agreed five days previously.
Having been a regular customer of AVIS for the past five years, I now feel that my loyalty has been misplaced.
Hi Jonathan, I appreciate you taking the time to post your feedback and it is really disappointing to read this. Would you be able to email your rental agreement number to comments@avis.co.uk and we’ll take a look at this for you.
Rob
Rob
I’ll confess my surprise that Avis have had the courage to quote my comment in full. I’ve emailed my Rental Agreement Number to you for further investigation.
Hi,
Just thought I should comment with an update to my previous post’s here.I have since recieved a generous Avis voucher which I took advantage of for my latest premium hire 21-24 March. I have to say this was a much improved experience. The charges were explained clearly the service was great.
A point needs to be made relating to the vehicle type, it was simply exceptional, a mercedes c class C180 ‘08 plate with only a few hundred miles on it. Very smart !!
To sum up, I am a frequent hirer and having previously always hired from [your competitors], I will hopefully now be converted to an Avis regular.(weekend rates are very competitive, it’s just a shame the weekly rates tend to be among the highest around)
Anyway, praise all round !!
Bobby
I will be renting a car from the US Avis website for pick up at Gatwick for the week. With my platinum Visa coverage for the CDW and Theft will that also take care of the “excess”?
Hi Abe, the Avis excess does not apply as you are not taking Avis Vehicle Damage (or CDW/Theft) cover. Instead you will personally be liable for the full damage costs of any damage/loss to the vehicle (not just the excess) and this will be charged to your Visa card but you should be able to reclaim this via the Visa coverage if you comply with their terms and conditions. You should check with Visa whether their CDW/Theft cover has an excess applicable that they will not refund as well as checking all their other terms and conditions.
No nasty surprises hey?
So why is my wife going to have to pay more that originaly quoted.
Pre booked online through Avis almost 2 months in advance. Quote was £176.01 for 7 days hire.
Picked up car at Isle of Man airport on 17th May 08. Told the cost for the car on it’s return would be over £200.
No exras at all were taken out. It was just a straight forward hire. She was told it was VAT. I don’t think so, as VAT is already included.
So, answer that one Avis.
Hi Stephen,
I’m sorry to hear about your experience. Can you send me the details of your rental to comments@avis.co.uk and I will take a look at it for you.
Stephen
Further to my comment #34 above—thanks for pursuing the matter Stephen. I appreciate the fact that you took my case seriously, investigated the situation and concluded that I had been overcharged and inconvenienced. As you promised, my Visa has been credited with £417.83. On the strength of this outcome I have booked again with Avis this summer. Thank you.
Surprise Charge!
Returned car to Las Palmas Airport on Saturday, May 24, after filling fuel tank as requested, a procedure we’ve done many times. Avis representative checked the car and signed off on it saying “nothing to pay”. On Friday, May 30, received a letter informing me of a refuelling charge (already processed to my credit card). Unable to contact Customer Service by phone (left message) or e-mail. Explanation/advice, please.
Hi Philip,
Please can you send me your rental agreement details to comments@avis.co.uk and I will take a look into this for you.
Stephen
Rental agreement number EXXXXXXXX,still cannot access website
Hello Stephen, As a p.s to our agreement information after being on hold for 40 mins.of a 1 hour lunch break customer services answered their phone,having aveiled them of the problem,they have agreed to refund the refueling charge but “we must not return the car empty again”,as the whole issue was that we had not returned the car empty but with the needle indicating full as on the previous 8 occasions when we had returned our Avis car and also the fact that when the car was returned it was checked by the Avis rep. who said everything was okay and there was no cahrges as on all previous occasions.The concern was the unexpected charge and now the patronising attitude of customer service when they eventually answer the phone we shall be forwarding our concerns to Royal bank of Scotland ,Royalties Department, with whom the booking was made.Philip
I would add my support for the provision of e-mailing of Vat Receipts for completed rentals. I have now waited over 12 days for the VAT invoice to be delivered..still waiting. Another expenses run that I wasn’t able to claim the hire!
Hi Derek, I have raised this with our IT team and have asked for some feedback on this process and whether we’ve been having any issues. Has your invoice come through yet?
Rob
BEWARE – AVIS Hire Car – Pisa Airport – punctured tyre.
Today we have received an invoice from AVIS relating to a rental between 24th May and 1st June. All went well collecting the car however on our way back to Pisa from Siena on 31st May we had a puncture so rather than call the emergency number we changed the tyre for the spare (space saver) and headed for AVIS at Florence aiport where they exchanged the car with no problem and confirmed that the replacement vehicle was as per our original t&c’s.
Today’s invoice is for €478.70 for One Way Fee/Misc
Time & Distance 160.22
Accident Repairs 300.85
Refuelling 52.42
Airport Surcharge 69.16
Registration Fee 12.96
Foreign VAT 119.12
Our original quote included “All Mandatory Charges , Vehicle Damage Cover (CDW), Vehicle Theft Cover (TP), Tax, Location Surcharge, Registration Fee, Unlimited kilometres”.
There is no backup to the alleged Accident Repairs and we have photographs to prove that apart from the puncture, the original car was in perfect condition on return as was the replacement vehicle.
No mention was made of any charges at the time the vehicle was replaced at Florence airport.
I am extremely unhappy about this and dispute the charges. How can AVIS levy these charges without evidence to back them up and contrary to my original agreement?
As someone who works within the vehicle leasing industry, I am very surprised that AVIS resorts to such sharp practice. The money has already been charged to my VISA and I have been advised that it can take up to 30 days to resolve.
I have used AVIS many times in the past and worked for one of their partners. I will not be recommending you to friends or clients based on my experience but I will be happy to tell them all about it and to advise them not to use you in future.
Wendy
Hi Wendy,
I completely understand your concerns. We have implemented a stringent damage policy across Europe which we aims to be as fair as possible as we do appreciate that this is can be a source of anxiety of our customers.
I have spoken to our customer services department who have received the complaint you submitted to us yesterday and are investigating it. They have been in contact with Avis in Italy and are waiting for the damage documents to be sent through. Unfortunately, this can take up to 30 days as insurance companies are often involved, which slows the process down. However, most are resolved much quicker than that. I appreciate your frustration but our customer support team will contact you as soon as the paperwork has been received.
Thank you for your reply.
Whilst you are waiting on the damage documents, can you shed some light on the reason for the other charges which I forgot to say had a “T” to the right of the amounts with no key to explain what that means. I do accept an element of refuelling because we went straight to the airport rather than via a fuel station to fill up however the car was on 3/4 when we collected it which is marked on the documentation and was returned 1/2 full so I only expect to be charged for 1/4 of a tank.
Can you explain your policy? We were not advised of any additional charges when we were given the replacement vehicle.
Thank you
Wendy
Hi Wendy,
The “T” on the invoice indicates which items are taxable. In this case, as the rental took place in Italy, VAT of 20% applies to these items.
I will speak to customer services and get them to check your fuel charge as well.
Stephen
No news from AVIS yet. Let’s hope it’s as the saying goes and means good news!
Hi Wendy,
I have contacted Italian customer services personally this morning to try to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.
I will contact you as soon as I have a reply.
Stephen
Hi.
I noticed this post was created August 2007 and mentioned that Premier Cover was being added as an online option whilst booking. Unfortunately this has no happened as yet.
Being an Avis Preferred customer, I don’t see the point of having to queue up to get this cover added!
When will Avis add this option online?
Kind regards
Aman
Thanks for the feedback Aman. I completely agree with you on this one and we get a lot of feedback on it. It is on the list of developments and is considered a priority. However, it is a fairly substantial development so I would not be able to commit. In the meantime, we have been introduced the option to add Additional Driver when booking online.
Let me know if you have any further feedback!
Rob
Just a few words about my experiences on picking up a car at Birmingham airport on the weekend 19th June – 22 June.
Being an Avis preferred customer, I proceeded directly to the booth at the avis car pick up point, which is a few minutes walk from the terminal – this in itself is very welcome – no coaches or long walks involved (or elevators/escalators which is tricky with baggage).
The documentation was ready and I must have spent maximum 1 minute in the office before I was heading towards the car and on my way. The gentleman on duty was very friendly and efficient. Couldn’t have been better.
On returning the car, someone “magically” appeared as soon as I had parked the car. (Really I don’t know where he came from, one second he wasn’t there, then next he was – for thos of you who remember, Mr Ben and his tailor came to mind!!). He checked the vehicle, printed my receipt and again I was on my way in a matter of minutes.
I can’t comment on the staff at the avis counter in the airport terminal but I can honestly say my experience was an example of good, efficient customer service.
Thanks Anne for your kind feedback.
Echoing Anne Stott’s email regarding service relating to the collection and return of vehicles, I cannot fault AVIS on this. We arrived at Pisa airport 15 minutes before they were due to close after our flight was delayed. The service was polite, friendly and efficient as were the AVIS representatives in Florence and people checking the vehicles back in. I cannot fault this element of our experience with AVIS, it was the unexpected charges notified on our return that I am commenting on.
Wendy
Hi Anne/Wendy thank for got yaking the time to write your feedback. I will be sure to forward your comments on to the rental offices in question.
Wendy, has someone from our Customer Support team been in touch with you yet? Let me know if there is anything more I can do to help?
Rob
Fast, professional and all so easy and such a great price too! -quick, simple & easy – hassle-free drop-off and pick-up (willing to allow collection earlier as staff available earlier than reservation time.)
This went way beyond what I would have ever asked or expected them to do. I would highly recommend Avis to anyone. They are professional, caring and willing to go the extra mile for their customers satisfaction.
The car was clean and well-maintained and we had no problems at all.
This is the eighth year we have used your company and one of the main reasons we keep coming back is your outstanding level of efficiency.
Hi Leon, I really appreciate you taking the time to write such positive feedback!
Long may this continue! Let me know if there are any rental offices in particular you would like me to pass your feedback on to.
Rob
I was unfortunate enough to be in a hurry when I picked up my prepaid hire car in Denmark and just signed where I was asked to on the rental agreement. Big mistake! When I arrived home I found the Avis bill was 45% more than my pre paid voucher. I contacted UK customer services and I will say I was impressed with the speed of the response, especially given it’s the holiday season. The additional charge was for the Super Damage Cover that I had apparantly requested. The problem is, I didn’t request it. At no time was this additional insurance mentioned / offered / refered to by the Avis counter staff. On further inspection of the agreement I see that I did sign for it. I’m a bit dissappointed though, I would have appreciated being asked if I wanted it. I also apparantly asked for the balance to be paid in GBP rather than Danish krone which again makes it more expensive. I feel a bit like I was tricked into buying insurance I didn’t want because I did not fully read the paperwork. My own fault but not really what I would call best practice from a company that prides itself on clear charges.
Hi Kate,
Thanks for your comment.
We would always advise our customers to check their paperwork before they leave the rental office. However, you should never be asked to sign something without having the Rental Contract reviewed and explained to you, and any additional cover should be offered, not simply added to the contract. If you mail me your Rental Contract number to comments@avis.co.uk , I’ll have a look at the case.
Regards,
Stephen
hi, could you please tell me what the “pay on return” comment means on the rental i have made through the avis prefered uk site, and also could you please tell me why is there a discrepancy between the price for booking on this site and through your operator, and why do you not price match other companies offering the same product? thank you Mark
Mark,
The “pay later” price means that the payment for the rental will be taken at the end of the hire, as opposed to “pay now” which is paid on reservation.
I’m not what you mean by the discrepancy in price between us and through our operator. Can you provide me with more details on this and I will try to answer your question?
With regards to price matching, although many companies rent cars, each company has different costs and products and provides a different level of service which is reflected in the price you pay.
Hope this helps,
Stephen
I am travelling to Calgary in June for 2 weeks. I have got a quote for a car from Calgary Airport. There is no option for additional insurance and the excess amount are zero on the quote. Am I fully covered insurance wise if I order the car now? or will I be pressured into additional insurance at the check in desk|?
Hi Peter,
You are right. Currently, some of our rates in North America include full insurance and no damage excess. If it states zero excess on the confirmation page on the website, you are fully covered and there is no need to purchase any additional insurance at the rental desk.
Stephen
Hi Stephen
Thanks for fast response and details of insurance.
Will book it shortly
Thanks again
Peter
I would like to draw attention to the cavalier attitude to a legitimate complaint about a rental in Austria in October 2008. I have been communicating since 9 November without satisfactory replies or the stated performance standards being met. I have been charged for services I did not receive and also Avis is not complying with EU standards on cross border insurance legislation I have also sent this to your comments email address.
Terence
Terence,
I’m sorry you are not satisfied with the service that you have received.
If you send the details of your hire to comments@avis.co.uk (including your rental agreement number), I will personally review the case for you.
Regards,
Stephen
I want to hire a smallish car for a week in France in Summer. On your pages you have a “To reduce the excess you can buy at the airport”. Other companies give this price up front, so it makes comparing prices difficult when there’s no indication of how high these might turn out to be.
Even if for some reason you can’t state exactly what the charge would be, you could be helpful and give an indication of what it may be.
Hi Stephen,
We don’t feature all country prices on the website as each country has different additional cover prices. These also fluctuate due to exchange rates and what is covered. Our res agents can explain what is included and the price at time of rental.
However, for reference, additional cover in France is currently €9.20, €10.87 or €12.54 per day, depending if the car is small, medium or large.
Hope this helps,
Stephen
Your statement: “1. Car hire companies often quote prices without all the mandatory charges in order to seem competitive
When you make a booking with us on avis.co.uk, the price you book will include EVERYTHING you need to get in the car and go. This includes vehicle damage cover and vehicle theft cover which, when thinking about in terms of private car insurance, is kind of like fully comprehensive insurance with an excess. There are no additional ’surcharges’ or ‘taxes’ that need to added. One thing your quote might not include is some of our optional extras. ”
I have yet to make a booking where the VDC is covered or even mentioned in the booking quote. Why don’t you just include the VDC cost per day in the booking? Just had a quote and it says Collision Damage Waiver* (CDW) and says Please note that excesses may apply to above insurance. I know that excesses are definitely applied (booking for Spain).
Your statement therefore is misleading!!
Hi NG, Collision Damage Waiver is actually the same thing as Vehicle Damage Cover. We used to call it Collision Damage Waiver but revised the wording to Vehicle Damage Cover to make it clearer what it was were offering. Can you let me know where you saw Collision Damage Waiver mentioned as this term needs to be revised? Was it on avis.co.uk or a different website?
Rob
Hi Rob
Thank you for your response. I do know that it’s the same thing – the wording of CDW was in a booking confirmation email.
However, it would be good if you could address the actual point of my comment – it’s misleading that you are saying that everything is included where in fact it isn’t
Hi NG, apologies if I’ve misinterpreted your question.
And I apologise again because I might need a further bit of clarification! But I’ll have another go anyway in the hope I might hit the mark…
Right, I assumed in your original comment that your point was with regards to Vehicle Damage Cover and the fact that you had yet to see this charge included in any of your quotes despite our blog post saying this will be included. You also mentioned Collision Damage Waiver with regards to the quote you received. I thought you were implying that this was included in your quote and that you simply did not realise that Collision Damage Waiver and Vehicle Damage Cover were the same thing (hence my answer). Are you saying that
Collision Damage Waiver wasn’t included in your quote? If so, would you be able to email your reservation number to comments@avis.co.uk and we’ll take a look at this? This should always be included (unless the booking is made on a special rate which is loaded without it or on avis.com which is designed for residents of the US who are usually already covered for this with their credit card).
If your question is in regards to excesses, then you are correct, an excess will apply. You can pay an additional charge to reduce or eliminate this excess. However, this is not a mandatory charge and you can pick up your car and go without paying the extra for the ‘excess waiver’ product(as many as customers do). The blog post above attempts to explain this point (i.e. explain what is mandatory and what is an optional extra) although please let me know if the wording isn’t clear so I can re-word if necessary.
Finally, if you are in fact referring to the “Please note that excesses may apply to above insurance” message in your booking as being unclear (because it also implies that there is a possibility that an excess may not apply when you know for a fact it is) then can you please let me know exactly where you made this booking so I can look at whether we can make this wording clearer. The blog post above was written in reference to avis.co.uk which always states exactly what the excess is when you make a booking.
I’m really sorry for the long winded answer. I appreciate that most/all of what I’ve written may not answer your question but, as I still haven’t been able to clearly grasp what you’re asking, I’d thought I’d give multiple answers in the hope that one of them might hit the mark! If I am still off the point then please provide further clarification and I’ll do better to answer exactly what you are after!
Rob
I have just returned the Renault Megane after a weekend test drive. However, I read on a forum that others are now being stung for over £51 for bogus car cleaning/valeting when the car was collected in a presentable condition. I am now waiting with baited breathe for my invoice to hit the mat.
Hi Keith, we only charge for cleaning if the car is returned in a condition where it is simply not possible to clean using our standard process. But the car needs to be in a particularly dirty state for this occurr! It is not very often that a cleaning charge is incurred and I’d say that, if the car was returned in a presentable condition, then you won’t have much to worry about.
Are you able to advise what forum you read this so I might have the opportunity to address this issue and provide some clarification?
Many thanks,
Rob
http://hotukdeals.com/item/349152/showthread.php?t=349152&page=15
Hello
I have booked for Italy trieste 11th august -25th august cat a car. fiat panda. I booked through Benelux, checked rental agreement. Included is Vat 20% , unlimited mileage, third part cover, cdw/tp, and airport charge.. Stating the only thing to pay at the airport is the road tax charge. Can you please let me know how much the road tax charge is in Italy, as i dont want a huge nasty suprise. And if there is anything else they have not included that i have to pay
Thank you very much in advance
Lyndsay
Hi Lyndsay,
Road tax in Italy is €2.08 per day so you should pay about €29.01 for the 14 day rental. That is the only thing you will have to pay unless you decide to take any extras.
I hope that helps
Chris
Just returned from Italy after having to travel at very short notice due to a family bereavement. Decided to rent a car so we didn’t have to rely on already stressed family member collecting us from airports etc.
I am a Avis Preferred member and frequently rent with no problems.
However upon returning the car to Bergamo airport I filled the fuel tank with Diesel (up to the point that the fuel was at the top of the filler neck, total fuel put in was approx 15 litres) however the gauge didn’t show full. I explained this to the Avis rep who said it was OK and closed the rental. His terminal wasn’t working and he couldn’t actually do the transaction.
Next day the email invoice arrives with 65 euro extra charge! (original invoice was for 180 so 30% extra!).
CDW/TP added when I refused at the pickup (not shown on the rental agreement) and a 18.88 refueling charge! We only traveled 115Km in a Peugeot 207!
Its very easy to do this to someone who has now got onto a plane and is hundereds of miles away.
A totally unpleasant trip made even worse by this blatant revenue generation.
Not happy at all!
Hi Phil
I am sorry to read about your frustrations.
If you send the details of your hire to comments@avis.co.uk (including your rental agreement number) I will follow this up with our customer service team.
Vicki
Email already sent this morning.
I actually received a call assuring me that the overcharge would be refunded ASAP.
Can you please confirm this as it seems to have been refunded too easily!
Thanks
Hi Phil,
This should have been refunded as customer services were already looking into it.
If you have any other questions please let me know.
Vicki
Back in August we booked a car on the Avis UK website, for two weeks hire in Nicaragua. The booking confirmation stated that all mandatory charges were included. When we collected the car at Managua Airport we queried the additional charge of USD 12.99 per day for Additional Liability Insurance. We were told that this insurance was mandatory in Nicaragua, so we had no option but to sign the rental contract, or be stuck in the middle of Central America, with no means of transport.
Fortunately, due to a number of administrative errors by Avis, we have still not paid the bulk of the rental charge!
I have contacted your Customer Service Department by e-mail, asking for a satisfactory explanation as to why this mandatory insurance was not included in your original price. After ten weeks I have received no such explanation.
We even visited the local Avis Depot in Plymouth, hoping that they could help resolve the matter. All they could confirm was that the Avis system says we have paid in full (we have not!!), and that Customer Service were looking into it. That was five weeks ago, and my last e-mail remains unanswered.
“We try harder”…………I don’t think so!!!
Hi Ken,
Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.
If you email me the details of your rental and your rental agreement number to comments@avis.co.uk I will look into this for you.
Vicki
I am glad I found this blog site as I am getting the cold shoulder from Avis Customer Service!
My problem is that the company I work for hired a car via corporate rate, everything was fine until I received my credit card statement and found Avis have charged me £77.59, for what it was a corporate hire? This is an unauthorised use of my credit card. I have emailed twice to the so called customer service and have had to reply apart from an automated responce. ‘We try harder’ at what exactly?
Hi Paul,
I am sorry to hear about your frustrations.
I will take a look into this for you if you email me at comments@avis.co.uk with your rental agreement number, details of your booking and your corporate AWD or company name.
Vicki
Vicki
Have done as requested today 30/11.
Cheers
Following your very prompt reply to my comment dated 25 November 2009, I hoped that this matter would be quickly resolved.
However that was over ten weeks ago,and I haven’t heard a word from Vicki Wilson or from Customer Services.
Avis Nicaragua have recently sent me an e-mail requesting full payment, but I am reluctant to comply for two reasons, 1), I have not received a satisfactory explanation from Avis UK as to why the mandatory insurance was not included in their all-inclusive quote, and 2), how do I authorise payment in US dollars, in a secure manner?
This matter has now been dragging on for over 5 months, I would appreciate you giving this you immediate attention.
Hi Ken,
I have followed this up with customer services and they have said that someone is still looking into this for you and will contact you.
If you have any other questions about this please call our customer service team on 0844 544 6666.
Vicki
I am disputing an 88.13 valeting charge. Avis has been used by our company for many years without incident but were shocked to find on a recent trip that the car was considered in a “particularly dirty state” (Rob White comment April 09) when it was returned, a position which I disagree with. No statement for this charge has been received to date and I was told by telephone when I enquired that Avis are not obliged to provide one. Am I mistaken in thinking that to charge without providing a VAT receipt is illegal? I need this receipt to dispute the charge – maybe this is why one has not been issued!!
Hi Karen,
Thank you for your comment.
If you could email me at comments@avis.co.uk with your rental agreement number and details of your rental I will look into this for you and get a receipt sent over to you.
If you have any other questions please let me know.
Vicki
Thank you Vikki,
I look forward to resolving this quickly. I am due to book more cars within the next few weeks and would like to do so with full confidence,
Karen.