Avis Ísland Reviews 28

Basically the same as what you are reading in other reviews. Received the vehicle and was told it was without flaws, and to send pictures or a video if we noticed anything prior to driving off. The vehicle was covered in scratches and had two dents. We send images to the provided email address, and also informed them that if they wanted the video to let me know, since I did not have enough data on my phone to send it, but that I could do so later at the hotel.

We did not hear back, and so we enjoyed our time in iceland. Upon return the car was turned upside down looking for damage, and they were trying to charge us for the previously mentioned dents, saying I did not show picture proof when picking up. When I pointed at my email, they asked to see the video. Then they claimed they could not see it was taken in their parking lot and it could have been elswehere. When I then showed them the details of the video, clearly showing the pick-up date and 5 min after we received our keys, they said we were good to go.

Later they emailed us asking for screenshots... Which ofcourse we provided. It became very clear that this was not the first time they were trying to milk someone for previously existing damage. I would recommend to rent from a different provider. And if you have already booked, take a video showing every single tiny thing you can think of!

Grossed out by their practices.

We made a so called pre Check-in and wanted to have one beautiful Holiday in iceland. Now, we are waiting for more than one hour to get our reserved car. They are stealing our holiday time and quality.

I rented a car for one day and returned it in perfect condition. The next day, Avis Iceland emailed me about a chip in the windshield and demanded full replacement cost – despite me having paid for extra insurance and seeing no damage.

Their “evidence”? A photo of a completely unrelated bumper scratch. When asked for real proof, they couldn't provide any showing the car’s license plate or when the damage occurred.

The whole process felt sloppy at best, dishonest at worst.

Warning to other travelers: Avis Iceland appears to look for excuses to bill you after drop-off – even when you've done everything right.

I should have trusted the bad reviews. Next time, I’d honestly rather jog across Iceland than rent from these people again.

Be very careful with Avis Iceland. If you return the car just 29 minutes late, they charge you for a full extra day, no warning, no flexibility, just policy.

They charged a full extra day ($400) for being a few minutes past the 24-hour mark. No one at the counter explained this strict rule, and it’s hidden in the fine print. Honestly, it feels like they just wait for tourists to make a small mistake so they can charge more.

I tried to speak to customer service, explained everything calmly, showed them photos and they still refused to refund me. It was cold and unfair.

Take pictures of everything before and after, the car, the time on your phone. These people are shady and out to take your money.

Complete scam. Stay away. Rented a car for a 4 day trip in Iceland. At pick-up the car was stated as without problems or dents. After fetching the car it was clear that the car was anything but problem free. The car was utterly beat up. I took pictures of 10 dents and scratches and mailed it all to Avis. Upon returning the car four days later they found the 11th scratch that somehow went unnoticed to me. It was on the cover of the gas cover?! Consequently they billed me 40.000 ISK. I tried objecting but no one answers anything. Do not use this company.

COMPLETE SCAM!!!
Rented the car everything went smoothly had an amazing trip.
When bringing it back there had been sand on the front pumper which I didn’t notice before otherwise I would have washed it before bringing it back. The Avis employees in Iceland tho decided to make a huge thing about it said there was “Sand damage” and charged me 2.200€. I checked there was no damage at all if I had washed the Sand off before bringing it back they would have NEVER noticed any kind of damage. Also they really abuse the fact that most people have to catch a flight directly after returning the car so they take their time take forever for everything and then shock you with these kind of news when you’re already late and about to miss your flight because of them so that you can’t even discuss with them just have to pay if you don’t want to miss your flight.
Also all of their insurances are scams basically. The car was parked on a parking lot when strong winds appeared and put the sand on the pumper. The employee said that non of their insurances would ever cover “sand damage”
I just thank god that I had a full cover insurance from booking.com highly recommend they paid me back the whole amount within 3 days! Avis is a complete scam that makes their money abusing their costumer and charging fake damages or completely overcharging small damages!

Do Not Rent a Car Here!

My boyfriend and I arrived in Iceland last Sunday and had booked a car with Avis, choosing the Super Cover Plus insurance—without windshield coverage. This package supposedly included zero ISK deductible for damage, theft, and roadside assistance. Sounds great, right?

When picking up the car, the employee explained that our chosen coverage did not include windshield damage and asked if we wanted to add it. We decided not to.

We had a fantastic trip and returned the car the following Saturday. Due to a recent storm, the office was technically closed, but employees were present to inspect returned vehicles. During the inspection, they found a tiny dent in the windshield—likely from a small rock—and a loose plastic cover under the car. We hadn’t even noticed these issues. The employee checked our contract and confirmed that the plastic cover was covered under our insurance, but the windshield was not—something we already knew. Then came the real shock: we were charged the equivalent of €750 for the windshield! We immediately pointed out how ridiculous this was—repairing a small chip costs at most €100, and you could replace the entire windshield for that price. The employee assured us that their mechanic would check the damage, and if the repair was simple, we’d get a refund.

The next day, after arriving home, I noticed another charge of €400 on our account. Later, we received an email stating that because we returned the car outside office hours, a inspection had found a loose plastic plate under the vehicle. Despite the employee explicitly telling us this was covered, they now claimed we had a €70,000 deductible (ISK 10,000,000) and had to pay extra fees.

Thinking this must be a mistake, I called Avis the next business day. They promised to investigate, including whether the windshield repair cost could be reduced. The next day, they called back—only to confirm that all charges were correct and that we owed nearly €1,100 extra!

I was in complete shock. This is nothing but a scam. Avoid this company at all costs!

AVOID AT ALL COSTS
what an absolute scam this firm is running collected car which had various small areas of damage which I checked and photographed as best as I could being as your in Iceland and the car was totally covered covered in snow and ice on returning the car and arriving home I received an email stating there was a small crash in the windscreen which was right at the bottom of the window out of the drivers sight and covered in snow and ice all weekend to bill of £630 I have photos of the car totally clean for there inspection ITS A SHANE THEY COULD OF GAVE ME YHE CAR IN SAME CONDITION SO I COILE INSPECT PROPERLY MY SELF. TOTAL SCAM

I have booked car with AVIS online and I picked with top insurance(damage waiver) plus road assistance!! I paid £400 + £68. Then at the KEF Airport I was told that this is not full insurance and to be completely covered I need to pay £193 on the top of what I paid - SKANDAL! But, as I didn't wanted to have any unexpected high costs due to and damage, I paid extra. In total then this costed me £661 for 6 days!! NOW listen to this. I was dropping car before 5am and they were closed. I was told to leave the car key in the box as I have full insurance that should be it....... however on 29th December 2024 I have received email that windscreen is scratched and if I won't file incident damage report within 7 days(they didn't specify if these are working days or not?) then I will be charged for the damage!!!!!!! WITH FULL INSURANCE!! £O EXCESS APPARENTLY! I then have sent them 3 emails asking questions how should I fill the "damage" report and if this is 7 working days? NO REPLY ON ANY OF MY EMAILS!! To avoid any troubles I have done the damage report even if there was no incident causing scratches(we believe this was caused by wiper blades). I emailed them this report 3 times asking for receipts of my emails...... NO REPLY!! SCANDAL! I emailed AVIS UK CUSTOMER SERVICE BUT NO REPLY. AVIS CAR RENTAL! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

MYSELF AND MY COMPANY WERE USING AVIS SEVERAL TIMES PER YEAR BUT NEVER AGAIN!

I had what such a grate experiencewith AVIS in Iceland.

Got a really good service at the desk where they told me all about what to be awere off on the icelandic road and I got a really good car.

I had a wonderful stay here in Iceland thanks to AVIS!

I going to Island in November and I know what the area we are going to is like. I WANT a 4 wheel drive car, just like we got last time. I book one with Avis but then the booking confirmation had a different car which is not specified as 4WD. I had to phone avis up and after a 40 minute wait they said they cannot confirm I would get a 4WD car. I emailed them directly with my thoughts and they have not replied.

First I want to mention that I am a very experienced traveler and I use rental cars frequently, typical at least once every month.

My experience renting a car from AVIS in Keflavik Airport was by far the worst I have ever had.

When receiving the car there was a long waiting time, only two assistants to service a lot of customers.

When signing the documents, the service agent looked at the file and said the following “I can see that you already have SCDW so everything is fine”- She did not mention the missing coverage of the front screen at all and did not offer the “Wind and Gravel Damage Waiver”
The car we got was a dirty car with a lot of damages (half of them not registered) so I had to email a lot of pictures to Avis afterwards
The car was dirty, in particular on the rear side and there was water on the rubber mats in both driver and passenger car. The car had driven 96021 km which most likely is the reason for the worn-out conditions.
I am not expecting this from a premium rental company like AVIS, this is what you expect from “Rent a Wreck”.

Considering the long waiting time to get to the counter and the long distance back from the parking lot, I did decide to use the car, which was one of my mistakes.

Returning the car was a disaster. I was very transparent to the service agent at drew his attention to a small crack in the windshield cause by a stone from a passing car on road 1 towards Akureyri. It is a minor damage which a car window repair company will normally fix with glue in a few minutes.
The service agent however insisted on having me pay for a complete new windscreen, a total of 97.292 ISK. He became very threatening and forced me to sign document that I would never have signed under normal condition. Being in this remote car return center, with a lot of luggage and a plane to catch, I had not other options than to sign, otherwise I would not have been able to leave (a lot of service agents had suddenly showed up) and I needed the shuttle to get to the airport. It was a very unpleasent experience.
I have afterwards tried to e-mail Avis customer service but get no reply.
This was my last rental from Avis, I can not recommend anyone to use them.

Never in my 18 years as a director, head of and consultant within service - and hospitality in the Nordics have I experienced a more unprofessional and unempathetic service team than Avis Iceland - it took a total of 4 employees more than 60 minutes to solve what should be a simple standard process, all while they at no time considered the inconvenience it inflicted on their customer. In this chaotic situation the team members and manager openly aired their suspicion that we had cheated even though there was no motive for this as we had full insurance with zero deductible, what an unpleasant experience.
All this could have been avoided with simple training in internal procedures and in handling customer interactions as well as ensuring an ever-present customer focus as a core value, sad and time consuming for everyone involved!

Great car, nice staff. No issue!

Reserved vehicle in Cappadocia, turkey through Expedia for $428.28. They were checking vehicles out on the trunk of vehicle in the garage with laptop. It took 1 1/2 hours to check out. We added insurance for $155. They could not print anything, so they said they would email it, we never received email. When we returned the vehicle they charged us an extra $98. They continued to not wanting print a receipt. And when they finally printed the receipt it was in Turkish. Garbage company.

Such a traumatic experience we had with Avis … The car was handed over in mint condition and they have claimed huge damage charges for which we have not done .. if someone is looking for peaceful holidays then pls stay away from Avis even if they give for free because eventually they will charge you bombs and make your holiday a nightmare … I will never even take there service again or recommend them to anyone

They are cheaters, they take money from the card for scratche which was not done by me, even after sharing the drop photos.
Also they cancel the less value bookings and create demand to increase the price.
Cheaterssssss

We lost 3 hours because of a lack of support when our rented car broke down in Reykjavik at the end of May 2022.
We were asked to call a taxi to help us...
After getting late to a business arrangement and repeated calls we were asked to get with the broken car to the AVIS offices.
We finally got support after another call.
It is almost a month and I do not have the promised refund (I asked for) nor the invoice!

Problems can happen, the key is how you approach them.
Unfortunately, this experience has been very poor so far.

The short version - do not use this company, they refuse to provide an invoice for alleged damage so I can't process my insurance claim.

The long version - the day after I left back the car I was informed there was minor damage to it and charged a massively inflated fee for the damage claimed. I had already left the country so could not verify this. However I had insurance so wasn't worried, all I needed from them was a detailed invoice for my insurance company so I could process a claim.
Even after more than 20 emails with their customer service people I have not received a proper invoice.
They say that the repair work has not yet been done, so they can't provide me an invoice, but this makes no sense, why have I been charged a very expensive fee for repairs if no repair work has been carried out?

Without a detailed invoice I cannot claim from my insurance. I need the invoice in the next couple of weeks or I will be outside of the window of time my insurance company allows for claims.
This failure in customer service is effectively costing me 64,819 ISK.

It said 1200$ for 14 days and then I pay and the bill turned into 1800$ and I cancelled it right away not even 2 seconds past, but no I have to pay 50$ for a cancel fee when they already scammed me with the price of the car…. Stay away from this crocked company.