Originally Posted by
Skatering
Just as a data point, I did a chargeback with Avis South Africa due to a situation which was nothing short of a blatant scam (charging for damage marked on the pre-existing damage sheet, and claiming I had the car longer than I did).
I've had no issues renting with Avis/Budget since then. I've not been back to SA.
Funny. I actually bagged
both a Europcar
and a Hertz rental at JNB because both of them were absolutely incompetent, bordering on scamming me and booked Avis at the last minute. I found Avis to be a pleasure to deal with in comparison (my Avis First number was applied, and they gave me my pre-printed contract and keys without requiring a signature and I was off the lot in less than five minutes; when I returned, I did get billed a very fair price for damage that I had caused (one of the country's ubiquitous parking-lot guards guided me right into a concrete piling...and still had the gall to demand a tip!), but it was handled fairly and quickly.
That said, I certainly don't dispute your experience...as far as I'm concerned, most rental offices outside the US/Canada are incompetent and/or owned by greedy scam artists...