Avis Rent A Car

I’d like to give them a big fat ZERO. I arrive at 1:00am on the morning of Dec29th, 2015. I was the last customer they were waiting to check in. The rep at the counter was nice enough but, I was give n G-37?I asked about this and was told it as n upgrade etc. Well, as I asked past 15 or so cars in the G aisle all alone, in a cold garage @ 1 in the morning & exhausted from my trip by air, I came upon my Chevy Impala the last car on the row. Really? How very stupid of you to select this car at this hour to a woman alone? The car was clean but, the, sweet smellig nauseating fragrance in the car was overwhelming. I can only assume someone had smoked in the car and this was their attempt to mask it. It didn’t work! This was my upgrade? I drove around for days with the windows rolled down in order to get rid of the smell. I did try t call to speak to a manager 4 times in two days. Supposedly, they do not have one manager (who has no name) they have shift managers. No call back ever!!! I was in Norfolk on a family emergency and called to extend my contract, which never was noted .So, when I returned home to San Diego I received a letter that the card was never returned. Really? Once again, I called left message for a manager … No call back. DO NOT give these idiots your business.
Chose Hertz or Budget or walk!!!

Kia or Ford Fusion? I hate KIA!
I received a Ford Fusion with 10K miles.
I drove it about thirty miles and filled up before my return.
Good thing I had a receipt to prove I put gas in the car or these folks would have charged me.
One thing I like about Hertz, when you tell them you filled up the car they don’t question you as a liar.

Do not bother with making a reservation with or even using this company. We reserved a mid size SUV and when we tried to pick it up we were told there were none. They said it would be coming shortly, but it’s now an hour and 20 minutes past pick up time. I just called Budget, which turns out to be their sister company, and they swore they had a mid size SUV available for pick-​up right now. Guess what?!

Avis has been hit (downtown Seattle) and miss (Boston Logan) this is a shout out to Zada (spelling?) at Norfolk for her excellent customer service.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS BUSINESS! Very unethical business practice! Representative manipulated me into signing for a partial damage waiver. When she asked if I wanted damage waiver I clearly stated NO, since I have coverage through my credit card company. They probably get commission for every extra charge that they sell, so she added the damage waiver to my agreement without telling me. I didn’t catch it, until my credit card was charged. Avis customer service is not helpful at all and rude on top of that. Will never book a rental car with Avis again!

Worst car rental experience EVER. I traveled down to the Tidewater area for the weekend and my husband paid for my car rental ahead of my arrival. Due to various plane delays, I arrived 3 hours late and headed straight to the car rental counter after picking up my luggage. The Avis representative informed me that they didn’t have a car available for me because they had people walk up to the counter and rent cars before I arrived. She said not to worry because «we will honor your reservation.» I explained that I had already PAID for the reservation, and that the expectation was that there was to be a car waiting for me. She offered an «upgrade» to one of the three luxury cars left to rent, but that I would have to pay upwards of $ 75 per day for this. There were three people in line waiting for cars ahead of me (none of whom had paid for prior reservations) and they had already been waiting in excess of 45 minutes. The representative had no idea when a car would become available but reiterated at least 10 times that «we will honor your reservation.» I remain genuinely confused about what the purpose of paying for my reservation in advance is if there’s not a car actively being held for me. I ended up having to spend over 20 minutes on the phone talking to 3 different representatives because the Avis counter at the airport was unable to refund my money. The first phone representative stated that I could cancel the reservation, but would be charged a $ 100 cancellation fee. The second stated the same thing. The third representative finally agreed to allow me to cancel the reservation and receive a full refund, but it would take 5 – 7 business days before the refund was cancelled. I was satisfied and proceeded to rent a car immediately from the Alamo counter for $ 70 less (including a FREE upgrade to a larger car). Now, four days later, my husband just checked our credit card statement online and saw that Avis did charge me the $ 100 cancellation fee. Will never rent from Avis again & strongly discourage others from doing the same.
Have you seen this episode of Seinfeld??? To quote:
Agent: I know why we have reservations.
Jerry: I don’t think you do. If you did, I’d have a car. See, you know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to *hold* the reservation and that’s really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take them.

STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS ESTABLISHMENT!!!
Their sneaky business practices are unfathomable!
Employees are rewarded by giving upgrades only problem is, they don’t tell you that they’re charging you until it’s too late! I called to complain and they said I signed the contract therefore it’s my problem! SNEAKY SNEAKY SNEAKY!!! Never again!!!

Didn’t wind up renting a car through them but the lady who helped me was extremely nice and helpful.

Unethical fuel charge policy: if you drive under a certain mileage, and don’t proactively show a fuel receipt at turn-​in, they will charge you for fuel after-​the-​fact. Watch your credit card! The representatives at check-​out/​in do not regularly inform customers of this potential charge. However, if you do get charged, their central billing department can reverse it with some information on your fuel receipt.
Dirty Cars: I have repeatedly received dirty cars here. This last one had a half-​eaten kids lunch under the seat and reeked of strong air-​freshener and smoke mixed together.
Damage: Cars I have rented here have had damage that requires documentation before drive-​away. This is inconvenient, but make sure you do it. I have not had a problem with this other than the inconvenience.
Summary: There are plenty of other companies at this locale. If the prices are not prohibitively different, I would recommend an alternative.

Recently I had my first Avis experience in a long time (I am a Hertz Gold member but was traveling on business and Avis was the selected company for this trip). I was severely delayed arriving into Norfolk Airport (ORF) (delayed estimated arrival was 12:56am) and was worried that they would be closed by the time I arrived and therefore I would be car-​less in the wee-​hours of the morning. Their business hours state they close at 1am. I tried calling their desk all day to inform them that I would be arriving late but they never picked up (½ star deduction).
However when I landed at 1:20am, I ran to the Avis counter hoping I might catch them turning the lights off. But NO! They were calmly sitting there, watching TV and arranging car keys. *** They are authorized to stay open until the last scheduled flight lands*** so don’t worry about being stranded in a questionably criminal area at 2am.
There were no economy or full size vehicles left so I was complimentarily upgraded to an SUV (awesome!). On top of that, the employees were SUPER friendly and helpful. I read the other Avis reviews before this trip and anticipated a less than stellar experience but honestly I was very pleasantly surprised. The other ½ star was deducted because the vehicle was not cleaned to my standards — the seats were white leather and you could tell someone spilled coffee all over the back seat and did not wipe up). In addition, it was not properly vacuumed and there were a ton of bugs glued to the windshield. Although at 1:45am, I was a happy camper and will use Avis in the future!
Note: Avis owns Budget so if no one is at the Budget counter, you can go to Avis to pick up your car.

I rented a compact class car from Avis at ORF airport. When I checked in, I received a van. I did not notice that they snuck in an upgrade I did not ask for or want until after I checked out. The Avis representative also did not inform me I was receiving an upgrade. The agreement was in fine print and the upgrade was easy to miss. I contacted Avis customer service about what happened after I discovered it and they said there was nothing they could do since I signed the agreement. Horrible business practices and customer service. Check your agreements carefully for unwanted upgrades/​fees. Avoid if you can help it.

Awful customer service and management! Avoid if you can!
I returned my car to Norfolk international at 4am. There was no attendant at that early hour so I dropped my keys in the box, which says that your vehicle will be checked in and you’ll receive a receipt by email. I called Avis Norfolk at 7pm and asked if they would please send me my receipt. The person I spoke with had an annoyed attitude with me with this simple request. She said «whats your vehicle # or reservation number» I replied that I didn’t have it, but I’d be happy to provide you with any other information to look up my profile. In an increasingly rude and impatient voice, She said «what time did you pick your car up?» I said, it was between 9−10pm on the 28^th. In a very short and rude tone, she said «which is it sir, 9 or 10?. I told her I didn’t recall the exact time, but why not try 9pm and see if it pulls up. She said in an even more rude tone «it doesn’t work like that» At this point I was pretty upset with this attitude I was receiving for such a simple request for my receipt, which was supposed to have been automatically sent to me anyway. I replied that I can’t recall the exact time, just search between 9 and 10 till you find it. With this, she hung up on me!
Undeterred, I tried to call back, no answer…
I called the Avis main CUSTOMER SERVICE number on their website. A man answered and I explained that I needed my receipt, and that I had just had a bad experience with one of the agents at the Norfolk Avis office. He said that I would have to call customer service during regular business hours if I want to file a complaint… I give up. AVIS, get your act together!!!
To be fair, the arrival/​pick-​up service and vehicle I received where actually very good. Drop off and after care, not so much. My final impression of AVIS left me wanting to NEVER use AVIS again!

Avis rental car was outstanding. We prepaid online several months in advance and got a sweet SUV for our trip. We got a fantastic price to boot. Our full size (oversized really) Ford Expedition was way cheaper than a minivan. Mega easy check-​in and fast, easy check out with friendly no-​hassle service, highly recommended. Keep up the great work Avis!

Terrible service and management. I made my reservations over a month ago and confirmed them last week, yet when I arrived Avis did not have a vehicle. The staff was unapologetic and had no idea when a car would be available, only shrugging and saying «Maybe in 30 min…» As I write this, I have been waiting an hour and the line is only growing.

Flew into ORF and needed a rental car to get around for a week. Avis is the first rental car counter when you arrive to the rental car section of the airport. Was not sure who I was going to rent from. Went up to Avis counter to rent a car. At first I did not like the price but the nice young lady at the counter lowered it to a reasonable price. I’m active duty but got a better discount with something else she calculated out for me. Picking up and returning I had no issues, went very smooth! I would definitely rent from Avis again in the future!

I have been a regular traveler thru ORF for about 5 years and am an AVIS First member. I am a LOYAL Avis customer, but not here. Not anymore.
The desk crews when you pick up your car are usually pretty great. It’s when you drop off your car that you find out you should have picked any other company. Pretty disappointing when your company spends thousands with Avis every year.
Beware of the crews who check you in when you drop off your car at this location. Even if you have a fuel receipt, they will still try to sneak a fuel charge by you. I’ve grown pretty certain it’s an intentional effort on this location’s part to rip you off. If they do, file a complaint here:
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Also beware the crew member who sees you’re obviously late for your flight, and walks away as you’re removing items from your rental to do ‘something else’ at 5 AM when you’re the only customer dropping off your car at the time.
The drop off crews SUCK at this location. Wish I could leave zero stars just for them.
AVIS — please fix this. I want to be loyal, but your ORF location needs a serious overhaul.

The positive — They move the line quickly
The negative — They don’t have enough cars -” take a mini van or wait at least 20 minutes for another car”

I think the key to having a great experience at Avis is going to depend on you status. I If you are an Avis Preferred or Avis First customer you skip the desk inside the airport and proceed to the kiosk area in the garage.
Getting my car happened literally at lightening speed; They simply gave me my keys and told me where to pick up. I barely had to make a complete stop at the counter!
Does not get any easier than that. I love that Avis emails a receipt to you as well.
Now, it would have been nice to know the Altima I was renting did not use a key, but after a while I figured it out. The key was just for the trunk and the doors, you simply had to push a button to start the engine.
Returning is easy as well. Someone was waiting to check the car in as well as a friendly driver with a van who drove me to the terminal.

Just a quick day trip and today’s lucky winner was Avis! Thank you Concur for picking my car rental place for me :).
«The Good»
— Fast and easy to find counter. Its the first one off the escalator so there is no unnecessary walking ;).
— The staff was very polite and fast.
— Another Hyundai, there seems to be an overpopulation of these things, but they are not bad cars and pretty comfortable.
«The Meh»
— Nothing really meh, and nothing outstanding that would gain exceptionally good comments.
«The Bad»
— This is going to be cut and pasted for all the rental cars places at the Norfolk Airport: — The airport location is horrible for returns. The return lot is on the opposite side of the airport from the garage where you park. There is no shuttle and its a nice walk in the rain. I do not mind a good walk, but I like to choose to walk, not be forced to walk. All of the rental car locations are in the same situation and they should work with the airport to find a better solution as this one is not working.

I picked up a Ford Explorer from here on August 27, and didn’t know what to expect. I thought since I’m an Avis First member, I would get top notch service and a decent, clean and safe vehicle.
I got excellent service. The clerk at the Avis Preferred booth was very friendly and gave me service with a smile.
The vehicle, however…
The Ford Explorer they gave me was dirty on the outside. On the inside it had the odor of a four-​legged canine.
Unfortunately they did not have any other trucks available and I needed a truck for the weekend, so I took it and opted to exchange it at the Richmond Airport Avis location.
The Norfolk Airport location ought to be ashamed of themselves for sending out a dirty and smelly vehicle. Not what I would expect from Avis.