Avis Car Rental Reviews 4,809

TrustScore 1.5 out of 5

1.3

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Looking at 598 reviews, most reviewers were let down by their experience overall. Many customers express dissatisfaction with the service, citing issues like unexpected car assignments and long wait times. People frequently report problems with pricing, including hidden fees, unauthorized charges, and discrepancies between quoted and final amounts, often related to insurance, tolls, and fuel. Reviewers also highlight negative interactions with staff, describing them as rude, unhelpful, and unprofessional, particularly when attempting to resolve issues. Some people were dissatisfied with the payment process, experiencing issues with deposits being withheld and additional charges appearing on their credit cards after returning the vehicle. The customer service is also a frequent point of contention, with many finding it difficult to get assistance or resolve billing disputes, often feeling ignored or dismissed.

What people talk about most

Service

People report negative experiences with service, often citing issues like incorrect charges, hidden fees, and... See more

Price

Customers consistently note negative experiences with price, frequently reporting unexpected and hidden... See more

Staff

Reviewers mention negative feedback about staff, with many customers reporting rude, unhelpful, and... See more

Payment

Reviewers highlight negative aspects of payment, with many expressing frustration over unexpected and... See more

Customer service

Consumers find customer service to be extremely frustrating and dismissive, with many reporting horrible... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Scam alert!! The website guaranteed that if you pay upfront then you will get the car you selected. Total lie. After paying upfront and wasting your time going to the pickup location, they will say "o... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Imagine renting a car a week in advance, arriving in said rental city to be told they don’t have any cars… that’s what the reservation is for!!! Avoid like the plague, on top of poor service and no ca... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Impossible to reach anyone in the USA. I cannot login to my account. I have spoken to a dozen Avis reps who cannot help me. They can give me only an email address which I still have not received a rep... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Extra charges added unknowns to me when all extras were declined at the desk.$220 of my deposit was withheld. After numerous phone calls and emails to at least 15 different people took me 4 weeks to g... See more


Company details

  1. Car Rental Agency
  2. Car Accessories Store

Information provided by various external sources

Reserve a rental car from Avis. Latest rent a car deals when you rent at airport or neighborhood rental locations. Save on daily, weekend or long term car rentals.


Contact info

1.3

Bad

TrustScore 1.5 out of 5

5K reviews

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The worst company ever

The worst company ever. I had my rental car prepaid 2 weeks in advance. Large SUV. My flight was delayed by 2 hours and when I arrived to the rental window they said my car reservation was canceled because I didn't pick it up on time. Meanwhile, I never got the refund so I had to call customer service to explain that it wasn't my fault that I was 2 hours late. Now she was trying to sell me a small economy car. When I prepaid and reserved a LARGE SUV!!! She had to start the whole new reservation and put a new charge on my card since she couldn't find my original reservation. As soon as she charged me second time she found the first charge and had to start the refund process. It took her 2 hours. The lady was absolutely worthless. She was answering the phone to other customers. And arguing with them about cars while I was standing at her desk like an idiot and waiting for her to finish assisting me.
Anyways, My plane arrived at 1:30. I ended up getting the car by 4:00 pm. With multiple charges!! it should never take that long!!! And when I return my car a week later they try to charge me for the scratch that I didn't even do. The car was all beat up when I got it. I have videos and photos of that car when I was picking it up. Now I have to deal with the consequences of extra charges and deal with customer service again!!
Worst company ever!!

April 2, 2026
Unprompted review
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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Booking reference …732808880

Booking reference …732808880
Rubbish and dodgy comp stay away from this sxxxxt company because they ripping people off. I booked car hierd in Turkey I have my passport, credit card and copy of my driving licence on my phone they refused to give me the car I told them I lost my wallet and my driving licence included, disgusting company very rude staff stay away from this rubbish company

April 20, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Avis advertised a $49/day rental for 3…

Avis advertised a $49/day rental for 3 days, but I ended up being charged $366.70 — more than double what I expected. The e‑bill is packed with hidden fees that were never clearly disclosed upfront.
This feels like a classic bait‑and‑switch: reasonable daily rate, then surprise charges after the fact. Transparency is severely lacking, and customers should not have to guess what they’re being charged for.
Extremely frustrating experience. I will not rent from Avis again and strongly advise others to check their final bill carefully — or choose a different company altogether.

April 13, 2026
Unprompted review
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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I strongly do not recommend this rental…

I strongly do not recommend this rental company. Two weeks after returning the car, I kept receiving tickets from their third-party vendor in New York — even though I live in New Jersey, work in New Jersey, and have never even been to the locations where those tickets were issued. What's even more ridiculous is the variety of reasons listed on the tickets. If you've had a similar experience, make sure to carefully check your bills. There's also no customer service department to file a complaint. At first I thought it was a scam — turns out they are the biggest scam of all.

April 10, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Station closed, but claiming no-show

Had a car booked for Roseau (Dominica). When arriving for pick-up nobody there. Sent Whatsapp and Avis rep. replied: no reservation, out of town, and can not help.

Contacted Avis, they confirmed receipt of reservation, but listed me as no-show! They are totally ignoring my sending of the screenshot of the Whatsapp message by their own representative.

Managed to get car at a higher rate at another company and are requesting refund of the balance plus compensation for breach of contract.

February 26, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I'm m beyond disappointed with the…

I'm beyond disappointed with the service, or lack thereof, from Avis. I reserved a vehicle back in February specifically to avoid the Spring Break rush. When I called to see if I could pick it up early, I was told there were simply no cars available.
​As a customer service professional myself, I was appalled by the handling of this situation. The phone agent was condescending, repeating the same two unhelpful options—cancel or drive to a distant location—as if I didn't understand him. I had to ask for a manager five times before being connected to "George," who offered no empathy and no solution. There was no attempt to transfer a vehicle or offer compensation for this massive inconvenience. If you value your time and travel plans, do not rely on a reservation here.

April 3, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Worst car rental expierence

More that 2 hours wait for our car. We were told it would have a full tank of gas, there was 1/4 tank of gas. We called customer service with a photo documenting the gas and odometer reading proving that. We were charged for gas on the final bill when we had returned it with 14 gallons of gas in it. we were charged a late fee because the staff checked the car into the system over 6 hours after we returned it before our 5:40 am flight. Absolutely the worst car rental experience we have ever had.

April 8, 2026
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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

stranded and out $900

I rented a vehicle for 3/8-3/10. My reservation was cancelled by Avis late afternoon on 3/7 because a vehicle was not available for me. After speaking to customer service I was given a new vehicle at a new location for same pick up and drop off. Upon arriving for my reservation I was told Avis didn't have that vehicle either. After hours on the phone with customer service Avis told me to seek a competitors vehicle and they would reimburse me the cost of the new rental. I was given an online portal to submit the receipt from the competitor, which I followed through on. I have spent a month calling Avis trying to follow up on this. I was told many times that I should see that reimbursement within 3-5 days and an email confirmation. I am now being told that Avis will not reimburse me and that all they can do is offer a 3 day rental coupon. This charge was over $900. I was stranded in a state I don't reside in with no option other than to rent from a competitors with the guarantee from Avis that I would receive reimbursement. This entire experience has been an utter nightmare, with me owing over $900 on my credit card for a car I was told would be covered. I will never trust Avis again due to this horrible and expensive experience. I highly recommend everyone seek out a different company for rental cars to avoid being stranded, spending over 20 hours on the phone with customer service and ultimately never seeing their money again.

March 8, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

No convertibles in San Francisco

No convertibles in San Francisco!
We booked months ago for a once in a lifetime Mustang convertible to drive down from San Francisco on the glorious PH1.
At no point did Avis advise they had no convertible s to supply us. We turned up at Fisherman s Wharf to be told there were none.
They couldn’t care less!!

April 9, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Beware - Stay Away

If I could give zero stars I would. I booked a car with Avis on a Saturday at the Loews Hotel location in Arlington, TX, for a Wednesday pickup. I needed to get to Texarkana for an urgent personal issue on an already bad situation. I checked in with the hotel branch office of Avis Monday on my arrival first thing. They said there "should be no issue" with my reservation and they could call me Tuesday night to confirm.

I had seen multiple reviews of customers mentioning cancelations or now cars available. However, I took the chance and went with it since it was at the hotel and Loews is a solid brand. I even paid in advance when booking on Saturday.

Fast forward to Wednesday morning (and no call Tuesday night), I received a call at 9:00 AM regarding my 10:00 AM pickup to inform me there were no cars available and that they could try to get me one the following day. That was not going to work for my situation. Not only was this message delivered, but she also told me she could not give me a refund and that I would have to call an 800 number to request a cancelation and process a refund. THEY CANCELED MY RIDE AND COULD NOT GIVE ME A REFUND??? Thankfully, Enterprise was able to step in and get me a vehicle but at a higher price point.

I just got of the phone with them and finally was told a refund was in process but would take a few days (and was a 15-minute phone call). I will NEVER work with Avis again. This experience was very disappointing across the board. The worst thing is that they would have kept my money for them not upholding their agreement (contractual) had I not called to request a refund. Stay away and beware. Use Enterprise. A bit more expensive, but at least they delivered. Never again, Avis. Never.

April 1, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Scam involving electronic contracts (DFW Airport)

I booked an all-inclusive package over Check24 in Germany and was then ripped off with the electronic contract. They offered all sorts of add-ons, which you had to accept to complete the process.

That's what I call "service-oriented" American capitalism. My first lesson in US business.

March 21, 2026
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Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Avis and they deposit that they don't won't to give back to their customers

So I went to Houston, Texas and rented a truck it wasn't clean that good had cat hair in it . But my problem that I have is they make you put a deposit down but when it time to get it back I had a problem I had to call them over & over again they charged me for gas but I returned the truck with a full tank. They took like 3 weeks to give me my refund but it wasn't even the full amount they still own me $ & I'm very disappointed with them for playing with me. Now I could have just disputed the whole transaction and not paying nothing but I didn't do that they just need to give me the rest of my money I'm not going back to them and I think everybody should do the same thing bad business .

March 16, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Bad Service

I would have given them a minus rating if that were an option. We received a $250 cleaning fee. We went to the beach one day, and they claimed we had excessive sand in the car. The cleaning fee was more than the rental. Writing a review to raise awareness for others. Then they take you to creditors. Will never use Avis again!! We have used Avis many times. No more!!!

January 22, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Very shady company that flat out lie to their customers

Our account number got removed from the reservation on not one, but TWO different occasions. Called three different times, and each time after going back and forth I was told the points would be added to the account. Finally called a fourth time and they told me that what the other three people isnt true and they will not add the points to the account. When I mentioned the fact that this issue was their doing when at the counter both times we confirmed our account was on the reservation and then the people in customer service lied, the "manager" said ya well I'll escalate what they said to upper management, but we still wont add your points to the account.

On top of that we also noticed both times, items like rental insurance added on without our permission and had to fight to get that removed as well.

Extremely poor customer service, and flat out liars.

April 8, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Poor experience and unfair additional charge

We recently rented a car from Avis at Dublin Airport, we went with them as they were the cheapest option but I won't be making that mistake again. We had a very disappointing experience.

The main issue was that the booking we made online didn’t seem to reflect what we were actually offered at the desk. We had selected extras such as an additional driver and extra insurance when booking, but were told on arrival that these were not included in the quoted price and would cost significantly more. This made the original quote feel misleading.

We were also surprised to learn that declining the expensive insurance option required a €2,000 hold on a credit card, which had not been made clear in advance. This effectively forced us to either put a credit card out of action for the duration of the trip, or pay much more than expected.

The collection process itself was slow, involving queueing and then a shuttle to an off-site location, meaning it took quite a while from arrival at the desk to actually receiving the car.

The most frustrating issue, however, was the return. We were advised by staff over the phone that there is a 29-minute grace period and were told a specific return time based on when our booking was completed. We returned the car within that timeframe.

Despite this, we were later charged for an additional day. The invoice appears to use an earlier “collection time” that does not match the confirmation we received or when the car was actually made available. This resulted in us being deemed just outside the grace period by a matter of a single minute.

The car itself was perfectly fine, but the overall experience felt disorganised and, ultimately, unfairly charged. We will definitely avoid Avis in future.

March 25, 2026
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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

General Avis Review

The central reservation system is great. Agents come on the phone very quickly and are very knowlegable and efficient. Th staff st the local sddress of Avis which I frequently use at 310 Est 64th street are very efficient and anxious to please (Dylan, Noel,Louis, and Empress).
.

April 1, 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Prepaid for a rental

Prepaid for a rental. They gave me a vehicle then charged me for an upgrade after drop off. Had to call for a receipt and it took 3 days to receive it. Didn't even report correct mileage upon drop off. Car had prior damage and trash under seats. Never received my refund after I called customer service and got a claim number. Will never rent from them again.

March 1, 2026
Unprompted review

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