AVIS won't pay for towing!
I rented from Avis at Las Vegas airport. I am an Avis Preferred customer.
Driving a Jeep Cherokee and leaving the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Car stalled and then started again. I drove for another mile or so and engine stopped completely. I pulled to side of the 2 lane road. Car restarted! I drove for another 1/4 mile and engine stopped completely. I pulled to side of road and a warning light showed "Transmission". Car would not start at all!
It was 3:15pm local time when the car broke down!
There was no cell service. I hitchhiked to a Country Store and left my wife and son in the car (very hot day). On a landline I spoke with Avis. They tried to find a car in various towns and finally found a car in Las Vegas. That is over 250 miles and 4 hours away.
I called a tow truck in Kanab, UT (66 miles away and where we were staying). The Avis rep said, as a dispatcher, she could not authorize the towing cost but expected it to be approved. She agreed to send a replacement car to our hotel in Kanab, UT. AVIS then delivered a new car to me in Kanab, UT, at 11:15pm that night.
AVIS now says they will not pay the $329 towing fee. Further, they say they rented the same car later and it was driven to California without incident. They seem to imply that I made the whole thing up!
The tow truck driver thought the transmission might have gotten too hot and, when it cooled, worked OK. If I had gotten the car to start, I would not have trusted the car to continue my vacation!
Does anyone have suggestions on how I might get AVIS to reimburse me?