Sneaky 'drop fee' in ANC
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: at 35,000 feet
Programs: WN A-List; Hyatt Glob: CC/HH Gold, Hertz 5*
Posts: 1,473
Sneaky 'drop fee' in ANC
After avoiding Avis for 20 years because of several bad experiences I recently rented for a week in ANC. Normally such a rental would go to Hertz but their rate was more than $200 higher. Airport fees are about $100 so I rented from the Avis downtown location to drop off at the airport. That works fine with Hertz in the US and Europe. My Avis reservation confirmation only mentions no additional fees for this scenario and when I picked the car up there was not a peep about this. But when I dropped the car off, bingo, a $29.90 'drop fee' had to be collected. Turns out it is printed at the bottom of the contract so not much to contest. At that time the downtown location was closed and I had still avoided most of the regular airport fees but still, I really hate these kinds of surprises. The lady at the booth was nice and apologetic, she told me she got a lot of push back for this fee. They should really disclose this better. I guess I'll have to continue my boycott for another 20 years....
#2
Moderator: Avis and Rental Cars
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 8,025
Was this not quoted in your original quote? If not, and you have proof, complain to Avis.com. If they give you nothing, then go to your credit card, as it's a change of contract. I understand it's on your contract and you signed the contract, but you were already at the location without much choice when they changed the terms of your CONFIRMED reservation.
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,185
Was this not quoted in your original quote? If not, and you have proof, complain to Avis.com. If they give you nothing, then go to your credit card, as it's a change of contract. I understand it's on your contract and you signed the contract, but you were already at the location without much choice when they changed the terms of your CONFIRMED reservation.
Here's a sample price quote on a one-way reservation from the downtown office to ANC:
Weekly rate
1 week(s) @ $594.00 $594.00
Subtotal $594.00
Taxes and Fees Help $106.92
Drop Charge $0.00
Total due at rental counter : $700.92
1 week(s) @ $594.00 $594.00
Subtotal $594.00
Taxes and Fees Help $106.92
Drop Charge $0.00
Total due at rental counter : $700.92
FOR ACCURATE RATE QUOTE, ENTER LOCATION CODE OF THE DROP
OFF LOCATION IN THE APPROPRIATE FIELD FOR THE BEST AVAILABLE
RATE. IF A DROP OFF CHARGE APPLIES TO THE RESERVATION,
IT WILL BE RETURNED WITH THE CONFIRMATION. CARS ARE SUBJECT
TO ONE WAY AVAILABILITY AND FEES.
OFF LOCATION IN THE APPROPRIATE FIELD FOR THE BEST AVAILABLE
RATE. IF A DROP OFF CHARGE APPLIES TO THE RESERVATION,
IT WILL BE RETURNED WITH THE CONFIRMATION. CARS ARE SUBJECT
TO ONE WAY AVAILABILITY AND FEES.
Avis Alaska is an independent franchise and tries to get away with policies and procedures that are contrary to Avis corporate standards, and you may encounter some resistance from Avis HQ in dealing with them because of their status as a franchise, but press forward. If you get nowhere with Avis, I would file a dispute with your credit card company.
#4
Moderator: Avis and Rental Cars
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 8,025
Avis Alaska is an independent franchise and tries to get away with policies and procedures that are contrary to Avis corporate standards, and you may encounter some resistance from Avis HQ in dealing with them because of their status as a franchise, but press forward. If you get nowhere with Avis, I would file a dispute with your credit card company.
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: at 35,000 feet
Programs: WN A-List; Hyatt Glob: CC/HH Gold, Hertz 5*
Posts: 1,473
Great advice everyone, this is good to know, thank you! I mailed Avis to have the fee reversed and I'll give them a few days to respond. The fee was not mentioned on the original reservation but not in the way posted above.
I also don't like it that they do not automatically deduct the AWD codes. When I got the car I did not remember what the code in the reservation was for so I did not get the discount. I'm going to try and get that back as well.
Will report back later.
I also don't like it that they do not automatically deduct the AWD codes. When I got the car I did not remember what the code in the reservation was for so I did not get the discount. I'm going to try and get that back as well.
Will report back later.
Last edited by robbert; Jul 12, 2012 at 6:43 pm
#6
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Huntsville, AL
Programs: DL DM 1.929MM, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, IHG Platinum, Avis CHM, Marriott Titanium (lifetime gold)
Posts: 7,850
Great advice everyone, this is good to know, thank you! I mailed Avis to have the fee reversed and I'll give them a few days to respond. The fee was not mentioned on the original reservation but not in the way posted above.
I also don't like it that they do not automatically deduct the AWD codes. When I got the car I did not remember what the code in the reservation was for so I did not get the discount. I'm going to try and get that back as well.
Will report back later.
I also don't like it that they do not automatically deduct the AWD codes. When I got the car I did not remember what the code in the reservation was for so I did not get the discount. I'm going to try and get that back as well.
Will report back later.
Renting from them, it's more like you rented from some completely different company than Avis. They don't honor most of the Avis coupons, they don't participate in Avis First, they don't do anything much for President's Club members, they don't ..(I think you are getting the idea here.)
They are really good at collecting for every ding on your car, though.
Avis Alaska is an independent franchise and tries to get away with policies and procedures that are contrary to Avis corporate standards, and you may encounter some resistance from Avis HQ in dealing with them because of their status as a franchise, but press forward. If you get nowhere with Avis, I would file a dispute with your credit card company.
David
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: at 35,000 feet
Programs: WN A-List; Hyatt Glob: CC/HH Gold, Hertz 5*
Posts: 1,473
Got mail back from Avis that their computer system is "not-mechanized" meaning that they can not see rental contracts from ANC. They refer me to a phone number in ANC. I submitted my request through the ANC Avis website, will see what that brings.
And no, they did not even look at the car when I dropped it off. There were a few very minor scratches that I photographed before driving off just in case. The lady just asked a couple of times if there had been any problems with the car (no).
And no, they did not even look at the car when I dropped it off. There were a few very minor scratches that I photographed before driving off just in case. The lady just asked a couple of times if there had been any problems with the car (no).
#8
Moderator: Avis and Rental Cars
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 8,025
I hate that Avis claims that ANC (and ILM, another franchise that I regularly have issues with) when they claim "sorry, they are a franchise and we can't do anything about it." Some of these franchises are not following corporate standards and Avis looks the other way.
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,185
Avis ANC won't do anything for you--or if they do, I'll be shocked.
I hate that Avis claims that ANC (and ILM, another franchise that I regularly have issues with) when they claim "sorry, they are a franchise and we can't do anything about it." Some of these franchises are not following corporate standards and Avis looks the other way.
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: at 35,000 feet
Programs: WN A-List; Hyatt Glob: CC/HH Gold, Hertz 5*
Posts: 1,473
Got a call from Avis ANC that they will apply the coupon and return the drop-fee, basically going back to the rate I agreed to in the original reservation. Will give them a few days to get this back on the credit card (nothing yet). We'll see....
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,185
#13
Moderator: Avis and Rental Cars
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 8,025
Same here! Too bad it takes one complaining to get the originally agreed-upon contract. How many people aren't as proactive as those here and are getting hit with charges? In cases like above, I'm still a fan of contacting the BBB if they "fix" the issue so that others can be alerted to your issues.
#14
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: UA 1K, DL Med, Marriott Plat
Posts: 54
Just to paint the other half of the picture- not all Avis franchisees are bad. I usually rent from Avis corporate offices in airports, but sometimes rent from a small town franchisee. They own two or three offices. They regularly upgrade me at no fee, and are generally pleasant and reasonable.
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,185
Just to paint the other half of the picture- not all Avis franchisees are bad. I usually rent from Avis corporate offices in airports, but sometimes rent from a small town franchisee. They own two or three offices. They regularly upgrade me at no fee, and are generally pleasant and reasonable.
With these stores, though, you're pretty much renting from Avis corporate, except that a contract employee is filling out your rental agreement. Any issues you have with the rental after that point can be handled by Avis corporate--you can stop at a full corporate store (like a nearby airport) to exchange the car if you have problems, or you can call Avis's central phone number to process modifications to your rental (extensions, change drop location, etc.). These Avis Agencies use the Avis corporate computer system ("Wizard"), and to anyone at Avis pulling the rental up in their system (whether another Avis location or a post-rental customer service representative), it looks just like a regular Avis rental. To the customer, too, it's a pretty transparent process, since Avis provides the computer system, sets the rental policies, and requires the Agency to adhere to Avis corporate standards
Avis in ANC is a very rare type of Avis franchise (since they've been a franchise since 1956)--a fully-independently-owned-and-operated licensee. Instead of Avis corporate paying them a small percentage of the revenue, they buy their own cars, set their own rates, and get to keep all of the revenue they earn (except for a small portion--a few percent--they pay to Avis as part of their franchise fee). Of course, they're responsible for the car payments for the thousand or so cars they keep around--not an insignificant sum. Since they maintain full risk and responsibility for any things that might happen to their vehicles, they are free to set their own policies (within reason). In short, they're basically an independent rental company that happens to carry the big red Avis logo (and pays a small premium to do so).
They also provide their own computer system that isn't integrated well with Avis corporate's (as mentioned above). In fact, Avis once offered the Alaska franchise the option to move to Avis corporate's computer system in order to provide better service to Avis customers, but Avis Alaska declined. Why? Because that would have given Avis corporate the ability to fully see into the franchise's operations and financials. (Avis Alaska has a tumultuous relationship with corporate over the years--check out this story, which made big headlines in the industry trade publications.)
I have no beef with Avis Alaska and wish it much success. However, that success cannot come at the expense of not honoring the basic standards of Avis corporate, especially not honoring reservations and rates as promised and refusing to honor the benefits that elite members are entitled to as part of their loyalty. I also fault Avis Budget Group for not holding Avis Alaska to its standards and not requiring the infrastructure to allow Avis corporate to deal effectively with complaints about their Alaska franchise, especially when other companies (even discount brands that supposedly provide poorer service) do provide that infrastructure.
On a related note, here's an interesting article about the problems that Agencies have had with Avis corporate.
Last edited by jackal; Jul 18, 2012 at 3:47 pm