Avis Rent A Car

I rent an SUV on April 30^th, and the experience was really good until I returned the vehicle. There was a small spaghetti sauce stain in the trunk where some leftover spaghetti was and the associate demanded that I get the car detailed, or I’d be charged a $ 75 fee. I took the vehicle back to my residence and cleaned the spot with multi purpose cleaner and a brush in less than ten minutes, and returned the vehicle. I was given a customer service survey where I expressed my displeasure and vowed to never rent from them again. Two weeks later I found myself in need of another SUV and decided to give this location a second chance even though they were more expensive in comparison to other companies. When I arrived the representative proceeded to chastise me for giving them a bad review, and rented me the crapiest SUV on the lot complete with interior stains and body damage. Needless to say they will not getting anymore of my business

Did not have our reserved car type and refused to give us a different car. He was laughing as he told us no. Very rude and unprofessional. We canceled the reservation and won’t ever be coming back.

Raul was so helpful with our rental. We had a sports car for another few days but then my husband’s back acted up (perhaps the the 8 hour bumper to bumper drive from Vegas to LA didn’t help it!) and we thought a small SUV with a ‘chair’ like setting would be better for our drive from LA up to San Francisco, where we were going to return the car. We were able to switch out our car with no problems, quickly and efficiently! We would for sure rent from Avis again when we are traveling the states because of the great service we received. Highly recommend this office and Raul. THANK YOU!

DON’T GIVE THIS SLEEZBAG OF AN OWNER YOUR MONEY!
I reserved a rental car on-​line for ¹²⁄₃₁ at 1:00 pm. In picking up the car, I inadvertently arrived at 1:07 pm (7 minutes late) because I had initially headed to the wrong location. Upon arrival, the service agent who also indicated that he was the owner, was extremely rude. I walked in and said «hello, how are you» and his immediate response was «are you picking up a car?» in an annoyed tone. As the transaction was underway, the agent/​owner was rushing through the entire process. When It was time for payment, I have a certain credit card I like to use due to rental benefits and the agent/​owner ran the card then literally tossed it at me and stated in a condescending voice, «your card is declined, I need another card.» I knew there wasn’t any possible way my card was declined. I have an 800 credit score and 0 balance on the card with $ 10,000 credit limit. When I stated the information must be incorrect, the owner/​agent replied in an overly rude tone, «well the system says declined so you can call your credit card company but that’s going to take FOREVER so I need a different card.» I reluctantly provided another card without rental benefits. I then proceeded to call the credit service agent on the 1^st card.
By the time I could dial the number, the agent was already outside getting the car. The agent/​owner was rushing the entire transaction and the entire transaction lasted maybe 8 minutes. I walked outside and the agent/​owner said, «you need to check the gas, it has a full tank.» He then asked me to sign the inspection and did not give me even a second to inspect the car. I stated to the owner/​agent that I knew that he was in a rush, but that he was being overly rude. He did not care. His response was, «well you shouldn’t have been late, I close at 1:00 pm.» The owner/​agent then went back inside and did not say, «good bye, have a nice day»…, notta. By that time, I had reached the credit department for the 1^st credit card provider and the credit department indicated my card was not declined but instead saw an approved pending charge from Avis. I then went back into Avis and told the agent/​owner that my 1^st card showed a pending charge. I stated that had he not rushed me, the transaction could have been complete properly, but that now I showed 2 pending charges for Avis. The agent/​owner was unapologetic and again stated, «well you were late.»
REALLY, a customer deserves this kind of treatment from a business for being a whopping 7 minutes late!!! I then asked for the manager’s information and he stated he was the franchise owner.
Bottom line — the owner of this Avis is a total POS. He’s unprofessional, rude and unapologetic. I will NEVER rent from this location. He doesn’t have respect for people whatsoever.

Worst customer service. I travel and rent cars each week, and work at venues that are dirty. Never been told I’d be charged a cleaning fee for some mud splatters on the side of a car. So now I have to go find a car wash and do it myself so they don’t charge me a zillion dollars to «spray it off.» Not to mention they are super slow at the desk. I’ve rented here a couple times and keep giving them a chance. No more.

I was in a bind and needed to rent a car last minute. Even though the Santa Monica Avis location is considerably more expensive than the Avis by LAX, I was desperate and needed a car within the next 30 minutes, so I bit the bullet and paid the extra $ 40.
Within minutes of walking in, I could tell the guys behind the desk were kind of scummy. Essentially had a used car salesman feel to them. The lady in front of me was 30 mins late and they were giving her a hard time, trying to charge her for an extra day of use. They claimed there was a «29 minute grace period» — that alone nearly made me bust out laughing. The guy behind the desk kept saying, «I’m probably going to get in trouble for this, but…» Really buddy? I doubt it…
When I tried to bring my car back, they tried to give me a hard time about not having my receipt for my gas fill-​up and wanted to charge me $ 14 because I didn’t present my receipt. No one notified me that I needed to bring it in, and it seems like a slightly ridiculous rule. The guy eventually let me go without paying the fee, throwing out the, «I’m probably going to get in trouble for this…”-line.
Man, what customer service. I’d avoid this place at all costs.

We definitely found our new car rental place in SANTA MONICA. We were planning on driving to Napa in our car and we took it to the shop and it ended up needing to stay longer: (. As a result, we did a last minute booking online and found a nice car we wanted to rent and booked it.
When we arrived to the rental location Aragon greeted us and help us with our questions and rental. He immediately found us car that would accommodate our needs and we were happy with. The drop off process was the fastest we’ve ever had and we loved how we got an email after with the billing information.
Best car rental experience ever!
Your employees rock and although we were upset our car had to stay in the shop we’re happy we got to become familiar with your company. Thanks for an amazing experience.

I had a
deal for $ 49.99 a day. They didn’t honor the deal and argued with me. They finally accepted it for one week. So, when my car took another two days to be completed, I had to keep the rental for another two days. Instead of accepting the $ 49.99 a day deal I bought on Priceline, they charged me $ 80.00 A DAY! What a Rip OFF! And they were nasty about it when I questioned why they didn’t accept my
deal. Make sure if you use these people to rent a car, and you have a deal from a travel website, make sure you take your paper work and your confirmation page so they can’t argue with you too! What a rip off! And I had the car washed and gased for them! Won’t do that again.

I find Raul to be a rude franchisee owner! I would not recommend this location to anyone looking for a rental car.

I was in a bind yesterday, with my car not starting and needing to get to work on a Saturday. I called around trying to find some immediate «intermediate class» availability, when I called this particular Avis. I asked for this availability, and the guy on the phone put me on hold, coming back and saying «Yes, we can fit you in.»
I immediately reserved a car and Ubered over to the location, where inside there were two people waiting and nobody helping them. At this point an employee came in and told me that I’d have to wait at least 30 minutes for a car.
«But I have a reservation,» I said.
«So do they.»
«But I called 30 minutes ago and was told you had intermediate cars available,» I replied.
«No, that’s not what I said. I said that we could fit you in. I never said we had any intermediate cars available», he replied (to my recollection).
Needless to say I walked out, hailed another Über and later in the day rented from Hertz.
Please avoid this deceptive branch.

I just arrived in the city to holiday and when I went to Avis to pick up my car rented I discoverd that they pratice overbooking and rented my car to an other customer. I had paid for it advance and have towait 1 hour and 30 minutes. I used to trust in Avis all around the world however here in USA they failled and dont practice the rule to give a similar car or a superior one. Its a one star service because there isnt less!!!

Not my first time renting from Avis, no complaints before this experience. It is, however, the first time I’ve rented a car from the Santa Monica location.
This is my experience:
I arrived to pick up my rental car just before 9:00am… finally leaving with a car past 11:00am.
After spending 45 minutes over the use of a debit card vs a credit card, we finally sign the paperwork and get to inspect the vehicle.
The gentleman now helping us was the manager of the location. He kept reminding us of the fact as he stated ‘I’m the manager, I know every detail of every car in the lot… This car has no major scratches and is ready to go’.
Well, when he checked the gas gauge, the tank was not full as it was suppose to be. He then told us we had to wait even longer for him to drive the car, already in our name, to a local gas station for a fill-​up because he was not allowed to let the vehicle leave the lot with an empty tank. Rather than signing out one of the many other cars on the lot, he felt the need to leave us standing there to wait even longer as he drove away with our rental.
Just after 11:00am, 30 min later, he returns with our car. We finally are allowed to leave more than 2 hours after we arrived to an empty Avis location to pickup our rental car…
While on our drive, we found old receipts in the center council, a nasty oily smudge on the rear view, and three empty water bottles under our seats, left there, I presume, by the previous renter. Far from acceptable considering the manager was the one who finalized our rental.
When it came time to return the rental, we were able to return the car a day early. When we arrived to the Santa Monica Avis location just before 11:00am, more than 24hrs before the end of our rental considering the time we finally left the lot… the same manager told us that we had to vacuum out the rental or face an extra charge of $ 50.00! The car was not dirty by any means especially considering the state in which it was given to us… But we obliged rather than incurring an extra fee.
Please note, I am handicapped at the moment with a broken ankle and wrist… Needless to say, considering the circumstances, I was not a happy customer!
After searching locally for a car vacuum place open on Sunday, we finally returned with a vacuumed car, cleaner than when we drove it off the lot!
Rather than telling us we didn’t need to wait to return the vehicle, the same manager made us wait over an hour and a half servicing other customers who had arrived way after we initially did.
By the time he checked us out, it was after 1:00pm. The manager then proceeded to tell us that we would not be credited for returning the rental a day early, sighting the current time of 1:15pm and the fact that he had 9:00am as the time we picked the rental… How convenient!
If I could give negative star rating, I would. This is the last time I will rent a car from this location, or Avis for that matter… Just not worth my money or time!
Just plain disappointed with the overall experience!

I would not go to these guys if they were the last chance to get off the planet!
The employee, Raul H********* (Agency Operator) is his title looked to be crazed as he was dealing with people, very impersonal and all business, I was dreading me getting this guy.
Jump ahead in time 65 minutes, two customers had been helped by Raul and his associate, who by the way was a very different person. He worked hard to get people what they wanted. The big difference was that this guy knew how to work with people and got on with it. I am next in line at this point and Raul is standing between me and my rental car. I asked for the car for a specific amount of days, was told the car was available and given a price which I accepted. 20 minutes later I am outside and about to walk around the car with the car cleaning guy when I notice the car is dirty and has less than ¾ tank fuel. I asked if the car was going to be washed? I was answered, this is it, this is all I can do for you unless you want to wait an additional hour or so until he can find time to slip this car in. He then told me, if you let it slide, (the wash) he would mark the gas as being lower than it was and for me to return it at the lower level. Wow, there you go, the guy at the bottom of the ladder getting creative as he attempts to do the work of 3 guys on his own. The sales guy could learn from this kid.
I returned the car 5 mins before due time with more gas than I had left with and a car that was cleaned inside and out before returning.
I took up a grievance with AVIS. They have so kindly (sarcastically) offered a $ 25.00 voucher for my next rental, I refused it as it is an insult and asked for something of use as the car cost just short of $ 400.00 for the few days I had it and the fact that I will never rent from them again.
Please, its not just the location! There should have been an apology at minimum from the Raul guy. If he worked for me he would get a severe warning and if he was a repeat offender, no matter how many cars he rents (not that many at 1 every two hours) if you ask me, he would be asked to leave.
Good luck and always remember to check with your credit card company whether or not they cover CDW and Liability when renting vehicles, it will save lots of money for you as opposed to being well creamed from rental companies insurance rates.

Just so disappointed with the service. Rented a car for three days. Drive it for the first day and then just before setting off for a road trip today we get into the car and the emergency light comes up saying brake light fluid low, service immediately of course we called Avis who told us to call break down recovery. Spent 25 mins on the phone with them to only tell us that Santa Monica has no cars to swap so can we take it LAX. It is now reaching rush hour and if anyone knows LA then that’s a ridiculous request considering it was NOTHING to do with us but poor maintenance from Avis.
I then call the Santa Monica branch and they tell me they do actually have cars but its a an SUV and I ask why they didn’t say that at the start and they had no answer. They make us drive the car in its warning state all the way back to the center which is completely out of our way and complete inconvience us only to be told they want to charge us for the gas in the car! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? We had to then argue for a while with the front service guy who said that we will check with his manager (who wasn’t there) and get back to us and hopefully they will be nice enough to wave it.
I am disgusted at the lack of service here. Not only was our day completely ruined as now we are in our new car at 4.45 on the 405 and of course, not moving. What’s more is that they expected us to drive the car back to exchange it when the fault was nothing to do with us and not deliver it to us AND wanted to charge us on full for the privilege of using such a rubbish service. I dread to think what would have happened if we went for a drive up the coast. We would have been stranded.
Very upset this happened. Won’t be using this service again.

I rented cars from this AVIS location twice and both were awesome experiences. The wait times were short to reasonable, and the cars were clean, newer models (not some crappy old metals you sometimes get from an airport rental), and in great conditions.
But the most impressive thing was how accommodating they are to customers. The first time we reserved a compact car, but got a new Toyota Camry; the 2^nd time we reserved a small SUV but decided to pay for a larger SUV with more cargo space for camping, we were given a Dodge van with no additional charge. A lady in front of us returned her car 45 minutes late due to traffic were not charged any late fee either. I think employees here are very willing to make things easy for customers.
When we got the van the gentleman giving us the key also demonstrated functions on the panel and showed us which buttons do what in the car, it only took him 1 minute but it showed that they took customer service seriously.
I understand one of the Unilocalers was not happy about talking on the phone with one of the persons with a thick accent; I had to pause and think a little as well, but maybe conversations over the phone were less clear than it would be in person. From what I understood there were only one person in the office taking rentals and returns and one person in the lot taking care of the cars, so it might just be one of those hectic days?
All in all I really like this rental location and would definitely recommend it to others, and rent cars here myself the next time.

Mike is a great guy, very polite and helpful, but he can’t make up for how terrible Avis is with their customer service.

Never have I ever… had someone been more rude to me when I was trying to give him money.
My phone call lasted about 60 seconds, during the course of which I had to ask the man with a very thick accent to repeat himself 3 times. He then raised his voice and basically lost his temper because I had difficulty understanding him.
There’s plenty of other car rental places around here, no sense in subjecting yourself to bad customer service.

Great Avis location. Mike is a very polite and helpful guy! I love to rent here!

thank you avis for not screwing up this time and for doing what you are supposed too! maybe a smile next time…