harryhv

Again had to spend 20 minutes in the office after drop-off,this time at BDL, to get Avis to remove the thieving $20 refuelling feee after I brought back the car with a full tank.

After writing a complaint in the survey I got a reply saying yes, Avis now adds this thieving charge automatically for all rentals under 75 miles, and it is up to the customer to come in to the office and prove that he has refueled the car in order get the charge taken off.

If you're planning to rent an Avis car for less than 75 miles (110k) and bring it back full, it's now necessary to budget either:
a) an extra $20 on top of the quoted price or
b) allow half an hour after drop off to go into the office and get Avis to reverse the theft

jalves

That's a horrible customer service attitude. What ever happened to the company who's slogan was "we try harder"?

bruceba

Just get the receipt when (if) you fuel up. Pretty easy.

jalves

Not quite that easy. Apparently you now have to go to the desk to get the fee removed.

Often1

Don't waste time. Send in the contract showing the rate and a receipt for the gas. Give it 5 business days and dispute the amount of the gas charge.

It costs a small fortune for Avis to process these things and thus, they will usually not respond and the credit will be yours.

rasheed

It is not accurate that you have to go inside if they use the mobile check-in and printer. The initial receipt automatically puts the EZ-Fuel charge ($13.99?) on the receipt. They then have to go back and re-open the rental on the mobile device and indicate gas was done by customer and it will reprint without the charge.

I do always tell the person I have the gas receipt when I know it is a short rental. Sometimes they want to see it, other times they just know they have to do a double receipt print and discard the first one.

Only if the person was not trained or if the person is told to make it a hassle do you have to go inside to get it done.

At one station, MCI, the franchisee did not honor this policy but it was in their T&C. Took awhile, but they did do the refund adjustment (which was higher than $13.99 due to taxes of course) a few weeks later.

Rasheed

bkafrick

Now (?)

This has been this way for many years now. When they started this around 2012, they were putting stickers inside every car stating this, and there were signs at each of the rental counter. But since its been going this way for 3+ years strong, I dont see the signs up nearly as much as I used to.

The simple way to handle this is to save your gas receipt and show it to the attendant. Pretty easy. They take the fuel charge off.

Source: I rent AVIS cars 35 weeks a year. Happens every week.

docbert

As others have said, it's nothing new at Avis/Budget, and it's generally very well advertised. (FWIW, it IS new at Hertz, who have just started doing exactly the same thing)

I probably average a <75 mile rental every other week, and I've never had any problems getting the charge removed. Normally I actively make a point of saying that I've driven less than 75 miles and did refill it, and they fix it before giving me the receipt. On occasion, they don't, and I simply point it out and they fix it.

Maybe twice I've been told that they can't fix it from their handheld device and that I need to go to the office to fix it.

CMK10

If so that must be pretty new. Last month at PIT I just had to show the receipt to the return agent and he removed it directly from his little handheld return computer.

nacho

It's easy for you in the US. Try to do a charge back here in Sweden - Avis always use the "you agree to the rental terms and conditions" although there is nothing stated regarding anything like that, the CC company is on their side.

I have tried once and it didn't work out - Avis won.

They have told you to go into the counter and have it removed and you chose not to do it then it's your fault. If you don't agree with the procedure, don't buy their product.

Avis - "we try harder".....to rob you every way we can from DCC to automatic refilling.

Tanic

Avis scammed me again today with ez fuel fees. I indicated that the car was returned full, and handed the gas receipt to the franchise owner at the counter. The rental receipt total was higher than anticipated with the $14.95 fuel fee added. Agent told me that the fee is automatic and even though I told them that the car is full and showed a gas receipt, the customer has to specifically request that the charge be removed. Not the first time they have pulled this.

BS flag to Avis on this one.

harryhv

Well to be fair to Avis, here in Australia they seem to have stopped doing it. At least for my rentals - but I did threaten them with the ACCC if they did it again

docbert

This is absolutely not true. The system WILL automatically add the charge, even if the person doing the return marks the gas as full. They then need to select another option to remove the additional charge, but they are supposed to do this without you specifically asking for it if a receipt is shown.

If they forget, which they frequently do, then they can correct it (including on the hand-held devices), but they need to wait around 1 minute then re-open the rental and correct it. Many people will say it can't be done because they either don't know how, or simply don't want to stand around for a minute waiting - which is why they send you to the counter.

Personally I do specifically make a point of mentioning that it's less than 75 miles, and I've never had a problem when I do. That's not to say that (under their rules) you need to do this, just that it makes it much easier if you do...

ucfjoe

its never taken even a minute for the change. Maybe 30 seconds including printer time or less than the initial check in time. I think most employees have realized that it's faster to ask me if I filled up before initial print as I'll certainly sit and wait for them to make change. Also, if they send you inside they LOVE it when you take the keys with you.

Tanic

This bogus add-on charge from Avis, which is now up to $17.61 per rental, is getting so frequent that I will do credit card chargebacks from now on.

It's not my fault that they can't train their employees to remove the charge after being notified that the tank if full and shown a receipt.