My horror story involves Avis in MXP. I had made the reservation in TLV office and picked up the car when I arrived.

My reservation said if I did not take the full CDW I would be liable to a maximum of Euro 300 for damage. I took the CDW.

I also returned the car without mishap.

A few weeks later, my credit card was billed Euro 1000 for damage. It took several telephone calls to Italy before Avis agreed to see what this "damage" was. They insisted that there was a minute hole in the windshield -- so small, they said, that I may not have seen it.

They contended that I had refused the CDW. They also said that the maximum I was liable for was Euro 1000,no matter what was said on my reservation.

I called Avis in TLV and they looked into it. About 30 days later, they asked me to come into their office. They said that they checked past records of the car and the driver before me had been charged for the hole in the windshield. For all that, they said that Avis MXP refused to refund the Euro 1000. Instead, Avis TLV gave me a check for the money.

(They also told me that they have never had as many complaints about any Avis office as they have had about MXP.)