Avis attempted rip-off

[AlterEgo]

During the month that we were in DR we rented a car from Avis on Lincoln & Sarasota. When we went to return it yesterday they checked the car over [it was brand new, temporary tags, we were the first to rent it] and couldn't find a scratch on it. Then the guy at the counter says he has to charge us to clean the interior floor. We asked why. Because there was some sand on the floor. "Some" meaning a little bit, not a layer. Not to mention that we never even removed the plastic that was covering the floor rug. The car didn't have any mats front or back. My husband got angry with the guy, and I asked how much they were going to charge. Imagine our surprise when he said "1500 pesos". Over $40 to vacuum! My husband asked for the keys back and we left with the car, drove one block to Sarasota and Churchill to the Esso Car Wash, paid 250 pesos for a full car wash and vacuum [they even vacuumed the trunk!] and brought the car back. The guy didn't say a word, just took our credit card.

We were lucky that we had the time to do that - pity the poor tourists dropping off a car to catch a flight, or someone who didn't know the area.

I'll be writing to Avis this week about that, and because we paid for a "full size" car and got a small Kia Rio - even through we reserved about 3 months ago. It was the biggest car on the lot so we didn't have much choice at the time, and the location wouldn't adjust the price. I guess they can afford to make their own rules during Christmas week when they have a lot of customers

AE

 

[jalencastro]

whoa! you paid for a full size car and the only vehicle they had on the lot was a Kia Rio? the nerve....i wouldnt have paid whatever they quoted you initially for this. Please do write Avis and let us konw what they write back! This is ridiculous...BT, I do the same before returning a vehicle wherever, just go to a car wash, anywhere form 100-200 pesos for a good clean inside and out and return with no problems....sorry to read about your unfortunate incident. I think I have rented from Avis once in my many trips to DR and it was from the airport SDQ....I am now a loyal Budget or Europcar renter...sigh

 

[IslandDreaming]

I have had same problem multiple times with Avis

Last time returned to SDQ at 4 am and had to wake counter person up who was sleeping in van, checked car over..no problems, signed off on the slip and next month I got a $245 charge for what I have yet to find out''It is disputed with CC Company but Avis is developing a reputation for this

 

[amparocorp]

about twenty years ago i had a girlfriend who was an executive, corporate office, at dollar rent a car. she could get me a free car anywhere in the world, anywhere except the DR. she explained that things are very different there and completely out of their (corporate) hands....

 

[Hillbilly]

Something very similar happened to a friend of mine in December out of the Airport office of Avis.

I would suggest that you tell you credit card people about this and dispute the payment.

They are really bastards and deserve to be punished.

HB

 

[El Tigre]

This has got to be a pain in the a$$!!! I'm glad I never rent from them and glad I have a "guy" who rents a few cars in Santiago as a side business.

 

[Frank the Tank]

I used to rent from Avis at STI all the time and never had a problem with them at all. I can only relate my experiences but yes dispute the charges and write the corporate offices. Let us know how this gets resolved.

 

[AlterEgo]

I have had same problem multiple times with Avis

Last time returned to SDQ at 4 am and had to wake counter person up who was sleeping in van, checked car over..no problems, signed off on the slip and next month I got a $245 charge for what I have yet to find out''It is disputed with CC Company but Avis is developing a reputation for this

When we checked in I gave them my American Express card to cover the insurance and 'deposit hold'. We didn't use any credit cards or ATM cards during our stay because of the rampant cloning in DR. Our intention was to pay in cash when we returned the car, but after all the rigmarole with the vacuuming we put it on the Amex card because I was afraid they might try to hit us with additional charges after we left since they had the card # & photocopy already. Time will tell if they try to pull some other surprises out of a hat. Sent a letter to corporate headquarters today - to both customer service and to the VP of International/Caribbean operations. Will report any results.

AE

 

[suarezn]

My experience is that car rental companies in The DR for whatever reason do not report to headquarters. I know these are franchises, but you'd think they would still be integrated with the rest of the company, but it doesn't appear to be so. I've only rented a couple of times down there as I usually just get a used car from my brother who is a car dealer, but both times it's like why even bother making a reservation before hand because as soon as you get there things are different, they never have the car you reserved, there are tons of extra charges not disclosed originally, etc.

I usually rent from National here in The US, because you can pick your own car if you're Emerald Club member, but for some reason when I've tried to make a reservation in The DR they NEVER have cars available, which is of course untrue (You can try any of their locations and they never have any availability)....of course forget about trying to get a free car down there with the points you've accumulated.

I ended up renting from Hertz which I'm also a gold club member and of course when I got down there they didn't have anything ready (the whole point of being a gold club member). I asked the guy and he told me they just have the hertz name, but they don't really follow any of the corporate rules.

 

[Mason3000]

I have had nothing but negative experiences with the "Major" rental car agencies. I always use a mom & pop place right by the airport and they are the best people of any type I have EVER done business with in the Dominican Republic.

I encourage people to "charge back" on Avis and all rental car agencies who try to rip people off. It's easy! Just pick up the phone and tell them "These people down in the DR are trying to scam me". Believe me the CC company will not say a word. They'll have heard it all before and will just wipe it off your bill no questions asked.

 

[ExtremeR]

I have a friend who only rents from moms and pops rent-a-car as Mason said that are next to the airport. He tells me he doesn't have any problem whatsoever with those business and they even give him perks as he is a loyal customer.

 

[BPL888]

Avis at SDQ

I rented last week from Avis at the airport. When I arrived even though I had a reservation I was told they had no cars left. I was not too suprised by this considering the influx of unexpected traffic headed to Haiti The agent walked me outside to the Budget office and arranged for them to rent me a brand new car at the same price(the additional liability insurance was $10 more for 8 days). When I returned the car I was given a bill that was $100 more than the agreed price. After a long conversation with the Budget counter agent I was told that she would explain it to her boss and get back to me. I did not sign anything and fully expected a fight involving Avis,Budget, and the credit card company. Today I recieved the cc charges and it was for the original agreed apon price. A pleasant suprise. I will probably stick with them for now.

 

[rubio_higuey]

My experience is that car rental companies in The DR for whatever reason do not report to headquarters. I know these are franchises, but you'd think they would still be integrated with the rest of the company, but it doesn't appear to be so.

I can talk about SIXT (Bonanza) and my experience was from several years ago before I had my own car. When I was making round-the-country trips I used to rent from them for a week, etc. Because my reservation was always prepaid, full insurance, etc. they used to accept a cash deposit (e.g. 300 dollars). Until a day. They required a CREDIT card, not even a debit VISA/MC card (at least it could not SAY debit ... so I had to put a "sticker" over the word debit) ... I had an hour-long chat with a director of franchise and was told that the HQ in Germany was very strict and they just sent new operating manual (which he showed me, like three 3-inch thick folders) and that they were monitoring things very closely to maintain the brand reputation.

 

[mattf]

Has anyone used Thrifty, Hertz...etc at SDQ? I would prefer to rent from major rental agency but after reading this thread maybe I should look at a mom and pop. Anyone have any recommendations? I will be there for the end of March.

 

[AlterEgo]

My experience is that car rental companies in The DR for whatever reason do not report to headquarters. I know these are franchises, but you'd think they would still be integrated with the rest of the company, but it doesn't appear to be so.

I suspect you are correct about most of the companies. I say that because in Entertainment Books [very common in the USA, regional thick book published every year chock full of coupons for everything from gourmet & fast food to air to car rentals to bowling and dry cleaning etc] there are only two companies offering coupon discounts in the Caribbean - National and Avis. That leads me to believe that they are the only ones who actually are integrated. I've always saved with National using Entertainment, but this year I switched to Avis because they have a coupon code for a whopping 30% off on international rentals. Since we rented for a month that was a very substantial savings.

AE

 

[cobraboy]

I used to rent airplanes.

We asked that the airplanes be returned with the interior clean: no dirt, smudges and trash, everything in place as it was found when we gave you the keys after a joint inspection. We even provided access to trash bins, clean rags and hand-held vacuums.

But folks still brought them back trashed.

So we told folks ay delivery there would be a $100 clean-up charge if the plane was returned in any condition other than as it was delivered.

It took two fines...from good customers who hooted, hollered and whined...for the word to spread that we were SERIOUS about the airplanes being returned clean.

A funny thing happened: we got new customers because the word spread we had the cleanest airplanes for rent anywhere.

To the OP: sorry for your experience, and no doubt there are some sharks in biz in the DR, but perhaps YOUR definition of "clean" was not the same as theirs. I know I go out oif my way to return a rental car with a full tank because I know that if THEY fill it up they charge US$3 a gallon more than a station.

 

[ggparts]

I have rented twice from Avis, once from POP airport and once from PUJ.
Both times I got exactly what I reserved (Avis website) No problems. Typical Dominican expierience though, not brand new, wipers iffy, the unit at PUJ had one non functioning headlight and the othe car they had (same model) both lights did not work, because they don't have an actual counter at that location I was offered the option to go to the office in town but decided to carry on as I had someone waiting on me in Higuey. When I returned the car (in town near Friusa) the agent reminded me that their fuels costs were inflated and suggested I drive one block and fill up myself to save. That car was far from new and she barely checked for scratches as it would have been impossible to tell new from old (I had photo from time of pickup in case). I also paid cash and the lack of change available was actually rounded down in my favour. So Avis is all good in my books.

 

[AlterEgo]

I used to rent airplanes.

We asked that the airplanes be returned with the interior clean: no dirt, smudges and trash, everything in place as it was found when we gave you the keys after a joint inspection. We even provided access to trash bins, clean rags and hand-held vacuums.

But folks still brought them back trashed.

So we told folks ay delivery there would be a $100 clean-up charge if the plane was returned in any condition other than as it was delivered.

It took two fines...from good customers who hooted, hollered and whined...for the word to spread that we were SERIOUS about the airplanes being returned clean.

A funny thing happened: we got new customers because the word spread we had the cleanest airplanes for rent anywhere.

To the OP: sorry for your experience, and no doubt there are some sharks in biz in the DR, but perhaps YOUR definition of "clean" was not the same as theirs. I know I go out oif my way to return a rental car with a full tank because I know that if THEY fill it up they charge US$3 a gallon more than a station.

Hi CB, your case is very different - you stipulated that up front; if they had told us the car had to be delivered spotless it would have been. It was the first thing my husband asked - why we weren't told that to begin with/where did it say on the contract anything about it. We've rented cars in SD for 30+ years and have never had a problem like that before, we're not kids and we're pretty clean. Short of going to a car wash, how would a tourist vacuum a car interior? Not even floor mats that could be shaken out, even though it was a brand new car. I still think the guy was trying to make a few bucks on the side, but who knows.... if he had asked for $350 instead of $1500 we would have just paid it, but there was a principle involved. He got greedy and got nothing.

AE

 

[Mason3000]

I was renting a car for 45 days once at Europcar. They brought me out a brand new, white Chevy Aveo. I looked at my wife and we both laughed. I told the kid "Take this back and get me something that has a few scratches on it.". He did.

 

[AlterEgo]

I was renting a car for 45 days once at Europcar. They brought me out a brand new, white Chevy Aveo. I looked at my wife and we both laughed. I told the kid "Take this back and get me something that has a few scratches on it.". He did.

Mason, we thought the same thing when they rolled out a new car that had temporary tags and still had plastic on the seats and rugs. I told my husband that if there was even one scratch we'd have to pay, but there wasn't another car to be had [we arrived Christmas week]. Thankfully it went back a month later without a scratch on it, a tribute to my husband's driving skills.

Of course, when we got back to JFK we all reminded him that he was back in the US and he had to behave on the road again :cheeky:

We're back here 3 days and I'm still leery of people in the other lanes, expecting them to aimlessly wander over to my side - guess I'm shell-shocked! The DR drivers are getting worse than ever, or I'm getting old :ermm:

AE