Avis Rent A Car

I could not be more frustrated and upset with Avis. I booked my rental car months in advance, and when I arrived at the airport, our cards got declined, one after another, until they told us there was nothing they could do and we had basically lost our rental car.
I’m 3000 miles from home, it’s late and I’m scared. The man at the counter was of zero help. On the phone, customer support told me that what they did was run a credit check.
Why they let you book a rental car you can’t actually pay for is beyond me. If they had TOLD me they were doing a credit check, I would have provided my information and used my card instead of my wife’s. But they didn’t tell me that. They kept me in the dark and now I’m stuck at the airport, praying that a different company has a rental car.
Don’t ever use Avis or Budget. They’re the same company, and in my experience they’re useless and unhelpful.
If I could rate in negative stars, I would. No one else has a rental car.