When a friend of mine decided to get married in Bolton we decided that we would not drive up from the South Coast we would fly up and rent a car. Easy, far less pain in dealing with the M6 on a bank holiday weekend.
Well we flew from Southampton and into Manchester where we had booked a car with Avis. The car was prebooked over the internet. The quote was for £64.99 for 3 days. Bargain we thought. When the quote came through we were told that it was an inclusive quote. The reason we booked with Avis in the first place was because they were linked with BA Exec club and that would entitle me to extra miles. It was booked in my name but my partner was the driver because, well because it would be better for our relationship if you get what I mean, us women drivers.... i'll leave it to your imagination.
We arrived at the airport and were asked if we wanted
to upgrade from the Corsa we had originally booked (although on the initial quote it was a Peugeot 206) to a Renault Laguna for an additional £15 for the whole weekend. We thought we would be OK and declined this. My partner was then asked to sign the agreement, I was asked to sign for the credit card slip as I was paying for the whole thing. I signed for the £64.99.
We had to then go up the the multistorey car park and find the car. We had a good look round and decided that there was no way we were taking it. There was a lot of tiny ilttle dents in the body work and I think my partner then decided it was too much like hard work ddricing a Corsa when he is used to a 2 litre car! Anyway off he went downstairs leaving me with the luggage.
He came back and we had a Laguna now for the additional £15. We checked this all out and decided that it was fine.
The first issue came when we tried to turn on the radio. You needed a key code which had not been provided. When we called them the following day we were told we had to drive it all the way back to the airport and then they would give it to us there as they couldn't give it to us over the phone. I tried to explain that we were only there for a short time and did not want to waste time driving all the way back to the airport. Anyway we decided to leave it and couldn't be bothered with all the hassle.
Wedding was lovely then had a night in Manchester which was great.
On the Monday we had to go back home so we went back to the airport and dropped the car off. To our horror when we gave back the keys and the bill was calculated. (something i thought had already been done!) it came to £140.00. The lady said she could call customer services and try and sort it out but then we had a flight to catch and did not want to miss that. The gentleman before us had exactly the same problem, his bill had doubled from the quote he had been given.
When we returned I telephoned their customer service line and had a conversation with a guy. he said he would look into it can call me back within 5 working days. I gave him a call 2 weeks later as I had not heard from him and he told me that we had signed for all the insurance. I explained that we had been told to initial in lots of places but at no time were we told that it was additional money. I find it completely outrageous that they can get away with this. As a gesture they have offered me a refund of £25.00. Not acceptable as far as I am concerned. Anyway I said I wanted to speak with the manager and he said if i wanted to deal with him then I would have to write in. This I did and then about a month later got a letter from the same guy which insulted me and my partner. I was livid. I wrote back but nothing and I am still waiting for the £25 to appear on my card!
To make matters worse we hardly used the car anyway as we were catching up with friends, I think we did about 80 miles the whole weekend! And then I had another letter from them saying that as i wasn;t the driver I couldn't have the points on my BA card - well I only paid for the thing!!!
Then the icing on the cake was when my best friends fiance said well didn't you know I work for another car hire company and I could have done you a really good deal - mates rates!!!!
They are a very unprofessional company and I will certainly never ever use them again!!!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Good clear info in the review... I had a HORRENDOUS experience with Avis ... a ngihtmare - all to do with the account..... inter-country problems and years later it is still not sorted....... oh dear, what a mess.....
jacpuss 18.08.2005 14:41
these car rental places are not always what they seem to be are they?they will always always try to get you to take what you dont want at too high a rental price,good review lol jacquie xxx
Nar 18.08.2005 11:32
I dont understand how you managed to get the Laguna when you said that you were OK and declined to accept it but ended up getting the car anyway? If I d have been paying Id have settled for the Corsa/whatever no matter what! Id also have asked for a breakdown initially for what I was paying for - Avis from the airport - the same kind of prices are the same in Glasgow Airport - always seem to charge a slightly higher surcharge afterwards to cover their airport rental costs - other car rental firms are not as expensive. I agree here with Paul, more detail on the costs leading up to £140 would certainly be helpful and if Avis havent given you a breakdown of the costs then its time to take this further. I feel a "4 what its worth" TV programme alert coming on!
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Aug 18th, 2005
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