Avis Rent A Car

Booked a car for my wife and paid it in advance. I’m typically the broker for travel things so I thought it would be simple for her to pick up and drive off since I’ve never had a problem here.
WRONG. Seems an eager counter rep wouldn’t let her leave without out paying for additional insurance. Told her that her Florida Allstate policy wouldn’t cover her in NY. She questioned it saying that her coverage is extended to rental cars. Then he gave her a song about how I had paid for it in advance with a different credit card and she would not have any damage coverage (my wife and I are covered under the same auto policy.)
Even when she produced another CC the agent said it wouldn’t work and that she would have to buy the coverage. Even though that CC had auto renters insurance.
I called Budget when she got home and got NO WHERE with the rep from some foreign land. When I demanded to speak to a supervisor I sat on hold for 10 minutes only to be told by a recording saying no one was available to speak with me and to go to
to write about my experience. Seriously??? Bet if you wreck one of their vehicles you’ll be burdened with them forever…

Great staff at the desk, but the car we received reeked of smoke and because it was very late at night by the time we returned to the desk it was closed. We were able to exchange the car at another location the next day, but it would have been nice if they had checked the car to ensure it complied with their smoke free policy before giving it to us.

This place doesnt even deserve one star. I had a reservation and even called to confirm they would wait if my flight wasnt on time because I was coming in so late. My flight was 45 minutes late. They saw me coming and still walked out. When I confronted the attendant while he was waiting for his ride home out in front of the airport he told me he called the manager and then he left. No one came back and my friends and I were forced to pay $ 300 for rooms at the airport hotel. I will NEVER rent from Avis again.

Their definition of a full size car certainly isn’t the same as mine; a Chevy Malibu, tiny in every sense. That aside, we got the car quickly and headed out to Seneca Lake for a few days. The low tire pressure indicator came on at about 15 minutes out. We topped the pressure off and didn’t think any more about it until the AM when the tire was nearly flat. No spare. Budget’s solution was to send a tow truck and swap cars. The replacement was much nicer; an Altima, still smallish but well designed. Now 6 weeks later we get a bill for over $ 80 for «road side service». Their attitude is that once you leave their lot, you own any car problems, even a pre-​existing flat! Since we declined the extra coverages we owe for the tow they selected as the solution (the tow driver thought it was crazy also, he can get tires fixed much faster). We’ll be arm wrestling with them through the credit card company next, what fun.

Budget works along side with Avis, so you will see reviews and check ins for both.
We made a reservation online for a 5pm pick up and our flight was delayed multiple times and we arrived after midnight. (blah) We asked if we could have some money refunded to us as we were not able to pick up as originally planned and did not use the car for 6 hours. The employee regretted that it was not possible as it doesn’t work that way unless it’s a full 24 hours. So she offered to give us a free upgrade instead. That was great as we got the Chevy Malibu Eco car instead of the Focus.
The car itself was glitchy as the radio (its all a touch screen dashboard) kept shutting off and was sensitive to the security alarm as it will go off if you turn off the car and attempt to exit the car while you’re still locked inside. Whatever (we have a Prius and LOVE IT).
When we arrived the afternoon of our return flight out of Rochester, it was so so easy dropping off and paying for the charges compared to 3 years ago! All you have to do is pull up in the car rental drop off garage (same area as where you picked it up), an employee will run out to the car with a special scanner and inputs the latest odometer reading and then generates the receipt from the device on the spot if you already have given them the credit card information when you first picked up the car. So that gave us the extra 30 minutes to check in with the airline. It was so so easy!!!

Scipting… STUPID. sometimes just reach inside and be a human!