Can you initial here, here and here and sign your life away at the bottom here please? How I hate those unnecessarily complicated forms with boxes everywhere, generally filled with a fat ‘X’ which means that you’ve agreed to something but you are not quite sure what.
Proudly, and based on lots of customer feedback, last year we launched our new rental agreement (the old one had a few too many boxes!). If you are not sure what one is, the rental agreement is basically the contract you sign with us to agree the price and terms of car hire.
It was redesigned to make it easy for you to understand the cost of your car hire (i.e. how the price is broken down), so you can feel safe in the knowledge that you know exactly what you are signing for.
Some of the improvements include:
- Removing all of the baffling jargon
- Prices are clearly displayed and charges are broken down (including any extra cover)
- ‘Vehicle Condition’ and ‘Fuel Gauge’ information included
- You only have to sign your signature once
- It’s available in 8 languages
Also, before you sign, your rental agent will go through each charge that makes up the total price so that you are comfortable with what is included. As long as you don’t extend your rental and you are able to bring the car home to us without damage and with a full tank of fuel (unless you take Fuel Up Front) then this will be the final price you pay.
The new agreement form is now in use at 350 of our European locations and over half of our UK locations, including our airport offices at Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Birmingham and our key off-airport locations.
(5 votes, average: 2.8 out of 5)
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I just made my next booking with Avis. The original quote I was give was 517 pounds for my hire. I went in to modify my booking and the price came out cheaper at 467 pounds, which is fantastic. On the new confirmation I printed the price for rental says 467 pounds but at the bottom in the “Avis use only” the “Rate code: E4″ Still says 517. Why is this? Is my new cheaper quote correct?
Hi Gareth, great to hear from you again!
If you could email us at comments@avis.co.uk with your reservation number, I’ll get our reservation team to take a look at this for you.
Rob
I heard back from the reservation department and they say I didn’t book a select series car even though thats what I did. I have the confirmation that shows I booked a audi A9 Estate. I haven’t heard back from them since and I just want to make sure I get the car I booked for the price I was quoted. Per my confirmation.
Hi Gareth, is this the same reservation you were writing about in your last comment? Let me know and I will take a look into this for you.
Let me know.
Rob
Yes it is. I booked the select series on line and I have the confirmation for it. The reservation people originally said that I haven’t booked a select series car.
OK. We’ll take a look at this and someone will contact you directly.
Rob
Is there any chance of putting a PDF version of your rental agreement on the website? It would be handy to be able to read it in comfort at home before getting to the counter.
Also, on a recent trip to Italy (Oct 07) our rental form was in Italian, and the printing didn’t line up with the boxes on the form which made it virtually impossible to read.
I rented a car at Edimburgh airport on August 2007. Unfortunatly a motorbike crash on the back of the vehicle, and, although it was not my fault, as told by the police and a witness, I was charged with the damage: 712 pounds!!,
In the Edimburh Airport office your staff Jonathan Combe, told me that as soon as the third part insurance company refund the cost of the damages, Avis would pay me back the amount charged.
I´m still waiting any response from Avis, and although I have made a complain in the Customer Service in Spain, where I live, I am only told that the proccess is very slow. More than three months!!!!
Hi John
Great idea! I’ll take a look into this.
Rob
Hi Laura
Would you be able to email us your rental agreement number to comments@avis.co.uk and we will look into this for you so we can give you an update on the status of your claim.
Rob
Thank’s for your help Rob, Avis customer services contacted me to try and reach a solution. Unfortunately I was not able to get my original select series model that I have the confirmation for honured, which is verty disapointing. though due to lack of time I still went with Avis this time.
Is there any chance to look into the rental agreement form prior to travel? We have bought a voucher through a broker for March and are a bit worried reading reviews on bad experiences of getting the agreement in Spanish and signing things people refused and never meant to sign.
Hi Aivita, one of the great things about the new rental agreement is that we will print in your local language. You should get a copy in English (and in Spanish) so you know what you are signing for
Rob
I cannot find any details of the Rental Agreement at all – apart from you claiming how great it is. Show it to us.
In particular I need to know if a car hired in Spain can be used freely in France or if a supplement is payable. I can see the Terms and Conditions of your rivals and answer this question for them, and refuse to book until I know your position.
Hi Stevem, there is no charge for picking up a car in Spain and driving it to France as long as the vehicle is returned back to Spain. There is a charge if you intend to rent it one way from Spain to France but this will depend on the location, length, car category, etc. If this is the case then if you could email me at comments@avis.co.uk with details on locations, dates/times and car category then I can ask our reservation team to find out how much this charge will be.
With regards to the new rental agreement, fair point!
I’ve provided links to the 3 pages of the rental agreement:
Page 1 – includes information about the driver, the rental location and the vehicle. It also shows the amount of fuel in the car at pick-up.
http://wetryharder.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/newra_page1.gif
Page 2 – includes an itemised breakdown of how the price is calculated including any optional extras. The rental agent will run through this with you so you know exactly what it is you are paying for.
http://wetryharder.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/newra_page2.gif
Page 3 – shows the condition of the vehicle (you will be given the opportunity to check this for yourself) and your payment details. It is also where you sign to agree the terms of the rental.
http://wetryharder.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/newra_page3.gif
I hope this makes sense but let me know if you have any other questions.
Rob
Hello,
We are planning a trip to the UK and France this summer. I am an Avis Wizard member. I have two questions.
1. Can I rent an Avis car at Heathrow, tour the UK, then take the Channel Tunnel and visit France as long as I return the car to Heathrow?
2. I have a bank account in the UK in GBP, but no GBP credit or debit cards. Can I reserve & confirm using a USD credit card, but pay my bill by GBP cheque?
Hi Roberts, the answers to your questions…
1. Yes you can take the car over to France and return it back to Heathrow. To do this you will need to take out our Continental Cover and advise the Heathrow office that you require this, giving at least 2 days notice (so that they can prepare the paperwork). The telephone number for our Heathrow office is 0870 1578700. The price of Continental Cover starts from £88.12 if you plan to be driving in France between 1-7 days. If you are planning to drive in France for longer than this then let me know and I will advise on how much this will cost.
2. In answer to your second question, we do accept cheques as payment when you return the car (although you will need to present a credit card when you pick up the car) as long as it is with a cheque guarantee card. We will accept only up to the value of that guarantee card.
Does this give you the information you need? Let me know if you have any other questions.
Rob
Hi,
I just want some confirmation please, I am renting a car at Dusseldorf Airport, Germany since it is the best location for me to fly to, but will be spending time driving in Holland, Belgium and France as well as Germany am I covered by my rental agreement – it’s not clear from your websites?
Thanks
Hi Paul, if you are planning to return the car to Germany then it is fine to drive into Holland, Belgium and Holland, as long as the car is returned to a location in Germany (a one-way fee of €25.86 may apply if returning the vehicle to a German location other than Dusseldorf airport).
If you are planning to pick-up the car from Dusseldorf and return it in another country in Western Europe then a cross border one way fee will apply. This can be quite expensive and will vary depending on the country you are planning to return the car to. If you need more information on this then I would suggest calling our reservation centre on 08445 81 81 81 for further advice.
Rob
Received a letter from Customer Services stating AVIS was charging me 29.38 pounds Administrative Fee for a Traffic Offence. I am not aware of incurring any trafiic offenses in the UK, nor do I recall reading this administative fee clause in your wonderful new rental agreement form. The AVIS letter does not describe what/when/how of the alleged traffic offence nor who to contact, doesn’t contain any usefull information except that I will be seeing a charge on my next credit card statement. Seems to me that for 29.38, a little information could be provided, perhaps a xerox of the offense, Or would that be too much to ask? Any help from AVIS on this would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Cecil,
I have posted a copy of the traffic offence to you for your records. I appreciate your feedback and I will discuss with the team about how we can improve the level of information provided with correspondance of this nature.
Let me know if you need me to follow up on any questions regarding this issue.
Hope this helps,
Stephen
Hi, could you give me some idea how much credit is needed on a credit card when you take out a rental with Avis in France.
Many thanks Helen
Hi Helen, it depends if you decide to pre-pay for your rental when you book or if you opt to pay for the entire rental on return the hire car.
If you opt for the first option then we will only hold for cost of any ‘extras’ you opt to take when collecting your vehicle (e.g. excess waivers, GPS, etc) plus the cost of a tank of fuel. Of course if you have pre-paid and don’t opt for any extras then we will only hold for a tank of fuel.
On the otherhand if you choose tp “pay on return” then we will hold for the full cost of the rental you were quoted for when you booked plus the cost of any extras at the rental counter and a tank of fuel.
I’d usually recommend pre-paying as you normally get a better rate and less is held against your card when you book but it depends how much flexibility you want as know cancellation charges apply to “pay on return” bookings.
Does this help? Let me know if you need any further clarification.
Rob
Thanks for that Rob. We have pre-paid so now we know we have a little more “spare cash” for our holiday! Helen
Hi Rob. Help! Could you tell me if my visa debit card is an acceptable card to use when we pick up a pre paid hire car at Poitiers airport. My new credit card has apparently been lost in the post and I am now in a panic big time as we are due to travel at the weekend. Thanks Helen.
No problem! Your Visa Debit will be fine.
Have a great trip!
Rob
Thanks Rob.
What a relief, I can finally relax and start looking forward to our break.
Helen.
Would this change of form explain why the cost of our hire increased by CHF 75.65. I prebooked the hire (E248713522) on 15/7/08 and picked the car up on 18/1/09 at the end of our hire (after we returned the car full of fuel) the form reads:
Rental cost CHF 286.26,
19% discount (on time and milage only) CHF -54.39
Fees and surcharges
Vehicle license fee/road tax incl winterization fee CHF 101.68
Total Charges CHF 333.55
The voucher value being CHF 257.88.
I think that the new form has caused your staff a lot of confusion. The staff in Switzerland thought the extra was due to the winterization, while the web sites clearly state that when the hire is booked on line this is included, if the booking is for a month when snow tires, chains etc are required.
The lack of information about how the value of the voucher has been calculate made me think that it may be the exchange rate. It has already been confirmed that the voucher has be correctly converted but did not cover the cost.
I am now wonder if it is something to do with an additional driver. We booked this but it was never mentioned when we picked the car up. The staff only took the details of one driving licence and I was the only one to drive the car. There is no information on the new form that shows this either way.
Trying to understand why I paid an extra CHF 75.65 has been very frustrating due to the lack of any supporting information. I also have no idea about why we got a 19% discount.
Hi Peter,
Please could you send the details of your hire to comments@avis.co.uk (including your rental agreement number), I will review the rental and contact you back with the findings.
Regards,
Stephen
I am a bit of a novice car renter and am a bit confused.
If I opt to pre pay, on line now and tick return car full of fuel, what other charges can I expect to be held against my card. It is difficult to budget for holidays like this.
Thanks
who pays for a damaged bumper of a courtesy car (the credit card holder or the insurance company?)
Hi Bill,
It depends on the level of insurance taken at the beginning of the hire.
However, ultimately, it is the driver that is responsible for the vehicle and any damage when it is returned.
Regards,
Stephen
If I hire a car in Germany (Munich Airport) will it have an Austrian autobahn vignette which will cover a 15 day period?
Hi Syd,
No it won’t come included so you will need to organize this yourself. It is available from all petrol stations and costs €8 for 10 days.
I hope that helps
Chris
Hi Avis,
Just booked a Mini Clubman on pre-paid agreement from Malpensa Airport in October. The quote clearly states that for pre-pay bookings there is zero excess to pay for Collisions or for Theft. Can you confirm therefore that if we have an accident (my fault or otherwise) or if the car is stolen that I will not be presented with a bill from Avis, or will I need to buy more insurance from you at the commencement of the rental? Thanks, Jerry
Hi Jerry, it’s hard to comment without seeing your reservation and knowing exactly what is included. Would you be able to send in your reservation number to comments@avis.co.uk and we’ll double check this for you.
Rob
I am renting a small car Peugeot 207 from stansted in december. Can you please tell me how much premier cover is for this car.
I think it would be better to quote prices on line for each group of car rather than to say the price varies between groups.
I, like many want to know exactly what the hier will cost before we arrive. I have been caught out by excessive unknown local charges by other companies in the past.
I like your clarity and simplicity and doing this can improve it further.
Thank you
Hi Andrew,
Many thanks for the feedback and I’ll pass your comments on to the web team to see if this is something we can do. You can always call the reservation team on 08445 818181 who will be happy to discuss these matters.
The Premier cover in the UK depends upon the size of the car. For small cars it is £11.95 per day, medium £14.95 per day and large £15.95. All prices include VAT and are capped at 10 days. You also get a free additional driver and Super Personal Accident Insurance included in this daily price.
I hope that helps
Chris
I would like to rent a car from the UK in December, for a holiday trip to Austria. Is there any way to get roof bars and snow tires for the trip?
Regards,
Patrick
Hi Patrick,
I’m afraid that we don’t offer roof bars or snow tires in the UK.
Apologies
Chris