Avis Portugal Reviews 

Just returned a car to Faro airport on Sunday afternoon. There were no staff to receive it back just a note to drop the keys in the key box. This I did. I also took a video of the car showing no damage. Today, Tuesday I get an emailfor the final invoice, which usually arrives within an hour of returning the car. They are charging 700 Euros for damage incurred, and have sent photos. I sent them my video with no damage. They have dismiised that and referred to their photos.. use them many times in a year, and only had one issue, amazingly again having
to use the key box. So far they are not interested, so am having to seek advise, but personally would not touch this company with a barge pole.....!!!

Rented a van from Avis Castilho Station in Lisbon and all who worked there were very rude and did not want to spend the time to even show us the van. They did not go over the van with us and on the 2nd day of use we had to put air in all 4 tires. Which might seem like an easy job, but it wasn't. We should not have worried about that. I would never use Avis again.

Big scammers - extremely dodgy operation. Within 15 minutes of leaving we received an incident report for pre existing damage with an already produced quote for damages. In 15 minutes? They are running a scam to charge you for existing damage to their cars. The so called owner (David) appears to own other franchises in Portugal (refer to Faro reviews), this is clearly a set up to fleece customers out of money for non existent damage after they have dropped off the vehicle. They don’t respond to emails nor provide any supporting information (I’m still waiting for my rental agreement). Dispute the charges and refer this business to the Portuguese and EU consumer authorities, I have with mine and already received a response. It’s blatant fraud and the Avis Budget Group should be ashamed to have such individuals attached to their brand. They say to contact them to discuss further however they don’t respond and they don’t have social media accounts. Take the legal and regulatory route - it’s easier than getting them to contact you.

Dispite continuous complaints, such organisations can continu to operate. used a third party for my rental, the way I cam in contact with Avis. Full service rental with full full policy. Refueled at BP Lisbon as proposed by them, still they invoiced full tank again. An additional amout of 70 euros was invoiced without any details. 140 € gone. Don’t go to Avis.pt and certainly not at the one at Lisbon airport.

Picked up the car in Lisbon city centre. I only noticed 30 mins into my journey that it was nearly out of fuel. The lady on at the rental place also told me a returnable deposit of €300 was required. And the reason for this one star review is because i never got it back. They used the usual damage to repair scam to excuse themselves. I do wonder if a single one of main car rental providers in Europe isnt into scamming their customers

I got into a car accident in April and had to leave my deposit of about $2,400 with them. In late-August, I am getting an invoice for $1000 something. A month later, I am still waiting to hear from them when can I get back the other $1000. They don’t respond to my emails, the Avis Portugal phone number - to which I have called now several times - tells me that they can’t do anything and that the claims department doesn’t have a publicly available phone number. So I keep waiting for my money…. I have had OK experience with Avis elsewhere so looks Portugal would be a place to avoid.

This is the worst rental ever. And prefer is so no service at all. No nice personell, mo service, nothing

Hold on deposit still not released 30+ days later.
Car had a chip on the windscreen.
Tyre with a slow leak, had to be pumped up every day. Screen error of Key remote battery flat…
Amounts being debited with no invoice received or explanation.
Email addresses returned with failure notices.
Everything takes 48-72 hours to be addressed.
Conflicting feedback by customer care contacts…
Avoid at all costs!

Unfortunately we rented through them for two periods and hoping this doesn’t happen again when we return our current rental back on 3 October!

I had rented a car through auto Europe and they reserved a car with Avis in Oriente lisbon. I PAID $1449.00 for 14 days including insurance. When I went to pick up the car the man that works there started mention insurance I told him I had insurance through my visa plus the car was insured when I rented but he kept saying that it wouldn't cover me for major things and I didn't have road assistance blah..blah so he sold me an all inclusive insurance that I understood it would cost 400€ plus I had to leave a deposit of 350€ for the car but it would be return to me once they received the car back.
So let me tell you I received my visa statement with the amount of $ 1124.87 get this all for insurance nothing to do with a deposit. I paid around $1300 of insurance for a 14 days rental. Wt... never got scammed this bad in all my life .I took my son for what suppose to be a nice mom and son vacation to came back to this crap. In Portugal people pay 400€ a year for car insurance and immigrants get rip charging $1300 for 14 days 😑
Ps I had to pay the rental in full 4 months before.
NEVER AGAIN
Beware
uber at this rate is much cheaper and I would have saved at least $1500

I am writing to formally complain about the extremely poor customer service and support I recently experienced while renting an electric vehicle from Avis. I have been a loyal customer of Avis, Enterprise, and Europcar for years, but the experience I endured during this rental was by far the most disappointing and frustrating.

On Sunday, I rented an electric car from Avis and was instructed to download the Mobii app to charge the vehicle. I spent the entire morning trying to get the app to work, but despite my best efforts, I could not get the car to recharge. I attempted to contact the front desk for assistance, but I was unable to get through for over two hours. When I finally reached the breakdown support line, I was shocked to learn that no one would be able to assist me for at least five hours. It took this long before I finally received help.

Eventually, after over an hour, a taxi and a recovery driver were sent to assist me. They transported me back to the airport, which was nearly an hour away from where I was stranded. Upon arrival, I asked the front desk for a petrol car due to the frustration and inconvenience I had experienced. To my dismay, I was told I would have to pay extra on a daily basis. When I asked to speak with a supervisor, the desk staff, with a tone of arrogance, informed me that the supervisor had already gone home. Although I was eventually provided with a petrol car, the entire situation left a very negative impression.

As a frequent customer and service provider, I have never encountered such a lack of support and professionalism from Avis. The absence of adequate support for electric vehicles, especially for tourists, is deeply disappointing. Moreover, I still have not received my deposit back, adding to my frustration.

I would like this case to be escalated for investigation, and I request a refund for the time, energy, and enjoyment lost during my 4-day holiday, 8 hours of which were spent dealing with these rental issues. I have also contacted Mobii regarding the app's failure and my experience, but I must express my shock at the lack of support from Avis.

I trust that Avis will take this matter seriously and work to ensure that no other customers have to endure a similar experience.

They didn't have the car we asked for. Gave us a smaller one. Kids had to hold the trunk shelf so the luggage could fit in the car.

Sadly I was tired and it was the night. Didn't notice door damage.

Had to pay for it since it was impossible to proof it was not me.

It was a scam.

Don't use Avis.

I rented a car from AVIS at Porto Airport which had been arranged through the travel company I used. I was offered an upgrade at the airport from a group D vehicle to a group M. I was advised that this was an additional 50 euros in total and that it would be an additional $20 euros to add my partner. I have actually had over £700 deducted from my credit card. Also I returned the car full of fuel and they are charging me for filling the car up.

They have very sharp selling practices and I wouldn't recommend them again. If they do offer an upgrade, I would check exactly what you are going to be charged before you sign,

I am disgusted by the poor customer service

Do Not Use.
I never write reviews but Avis Lisbon have been a total scam. Lots of hidden charges, not agreed to.
Insurance charged that wasn’t explained and they’re quick to get you to sign.
Left car full of fuel, received by representative who checked everything then later charged an 80 euro fuel charge.
Still weeks after taking a charge from my card that I will block.

Hello . We rented a car in lisbon from Avis Lisbon rua castilho for 2 days 3-4 june 2024 and paid in advance. At pick up we have paid additional amount of 86eur to upgrade to full insurance coverage and were asked to deposit 200 eur that will be returned at drop off. The amount was blocked on my credit card because they didn’t accept cash. Noting that this amount was afterwards charged and debited from my car without any invoice!!! Since then am trying to call the number in the rental contract with no success . I wrote several emails to return the 200eur and didnt receive any reply!!!! This is not acceptable at all from a known company like Avis!!!!! Please am asking any agent from Avis to reply and help me

Avis in Lisbon and Cascais fully took advantage of me, lying to my face, adding charges I told them not to. Basically refused to show me the form in my native language by speaking fine English and then suddenly understanding nothing when I requested it scrolling fast past important information and only showing me what they wanted to. I’m fine paying the agreed upon rate but it was more than doubled when I returned it. I would never rent from this location and Avis has lost my business for life. A truly shady operation. Just be a business and provide fair services for a fair transparent rate. Why try to screw over your customer? Pathetic.

I had worse experience. I booked car for faro Portugal for five days . The woman warned me on the side “make sure you take pictures of the car before you leave the lot” . I thought I would do it later because I was running late.
I said I wanted none of their insurance and that American Express insured the car if I charge the full rental in the car so they put 200 dollars deposit on it .
I returned and the guy who checked me in said there was a scratch on the wheel which I saw but he said did anything happen ? I said no . He said that would be a charge for that and gave me an estimate of 280 dollars and said do you want to pay it now ? I said no I didn’t do it.
I contacted the individual who had been referred and reserved the car for me , David Silva , who said he would look into it . Next thing I know I get another invoice that shows more damage which would have been quite obvious and sent me a bill for close to 500 dollars saying it would be out of commission etc David Silva then said “well you said you had American Express” so you’ll have to contact them to get your money back . I’m assuming they kept my deposit and charged my card?

I went to file a claim online and needed information that was not in the rental agreement like VIN number, year of the car, and something else. Who doesn’t have the vin on the rental agreement

Avis is a complete rip off in Portugal no matter where you go in Portugal. Like I said there were warnings on ex pats living in Portugal about it but they thought this guy David Silva was alright. At any rate the people at the rental car pick up place are not .

I’ve heard this same thing from about the other companies in Portugal too.

Oh and I contacted David Silva and told him I needed this information to file the claim and he had not gotten it to me yet . It’s been several days . Frankly I wonder if they didn’t take pictures of another car with damage ,

Do not rent cars in Portugal!!!!!

I was charged for damage when returning the car that did not happen while I rented the car. An Avis employee never checked the car over with me before leaving the Avis Lisbon Airport location and when I noticed the damage a short time later, they said it was too late and wasn't preexisting on the car. The whole Avis Lisbon Airport process seems to be running in a way to overcharge customers from signing the contract before even knowing what car will be rented to not checking the car with the customer. I would avoid Avis if you are renting a car in the Lisbon Airport.

I was charged double up for the same car - once by Rentalcars.com and once by AVIS. Both have "internal rules preventing them from returning their wrongly charged payment".
Worst customer service ever...

STAY AWAY. They are trying to charge me for supposed damage that was found AFTER we dropped the car off. I've used many car rental services before in many countries....I have never experienced this type of a scam. Will never use Avis/Budget again.

DO NOT USE AVIS LISBON !!
Absolute scammers !! Be very careful - we were scammed and it seems many others have suffered the same fate.
Picked up a van in Lisbon airport the Avis guy poointed to where it was but didnt come over for an inspection - the van was parked in a dark corner and wedged between cars we trusted it was ok as I am Avis Preferred and had booked the car through a BA package.
When we stopped about 45 mins later we saw extensive damage on both sides. Luckily I didnt sign the digital contract which of course showed the car was perfect! We took pictures then.
On returning to the airport they said the photos were taken too late and within 15 minutes they had e mailed me with a detailed estimate of damage repair totallling 2900 euros !!
I contacted Avis UK Head Office and they are going to refund thsi charge.
I asked them to investigate as clearly their is some crooked schemes going on here.