Happy to report Avis said they'll reimburse fully.
It was almost 3 weeks since my last email asking for manager review, and no news. Thanks to Twitch, yesterday morning I emailed Avis higher up. Yesterday afternoon someone called.
He said he's the Avis regional manager that covers the LA Montebello location where I returned the car. I said I did return the car with the 2 old unsafe tires and Avis shouldn't have rented out a car with unsafe tires like that. He apologized for the ordeal and said my CC will be fully reimbursed within 5 business days.
Originally Posted by
drphun
I now specifically check tire tread too in my walkaround before leaving when I pick up. (i don't measure tread depth, just visually check that there is some.) I had a car one time where the tires were pretty bald and when it rained they spun like they were on ice. I had not had a rental car with enough mileage for that to be a problem previously.
I usually do a walkaround too. That day it took 3 hrs wait (inside had 60+ people waiting), outside had 50+ people plus wrap around the building almost 100 people waiting. There were about 20 counters inside, but usually only 3 Avis reps serving.
By the time I got a car, the Avis lady was impatient. I was walking around the car and ready to take pics of some scratches, she said they don't worry about anything smaller than gold ball size (other rentals did also say golf ball size too). She then walked away. I took some pics. It was dark, cold (14c) and raining. So we got on the way.
Lesson learned. Check everything and don't take a car with near
bald tires.
Your mistake was the desire to get back on the road ASAP with two brand new tires rather than call Avis the moment you reached Cottonwood. There was probably a phone or cell reception in Cottonwood. You also need to figure out if there is a nail in the flat tire because that is on you if that's the cause of the flat. There are various ways to handle this situation, but buying two new tires for Avis or Hertz would never enter my mind.
For my own cars, they always get new tires. But a rental car is not my car.
If it turns out I hit a nail, they're getting a used tire from the used tire shop or I'm having the used tire shop plug the hole. I'm not telling the rental agency they got a different tire or that I plugged a hole. I'm supposed to tell them but that ain't happening. Used tires are not a good idea, but they're good enough to get back to LA. I'm not paying full freight brand new for a tire I'm only going to use for the 1st 300 miles of it's 30000 mile life that benefits Avis instead of me.
It was Sat. afternoon at a remote location when we found the flat in the parking lot. There are 2 auto shops in the nearest little town Cape Verde but they were all closed in the weekend. We were luck to find Discount Tire in Cottonwood that was open till 5pm. After changing to the spare/emergency tire, we got to Discount tire almost 4pm. The guy at the counter came with me to see the flat, and the other tire in the front. He said it's not worth trying to repair that flat because that tire is unsafe anyway.
We went inside to start the paperwork. By then a line was forming with more people coming in. We were glad they could do our tire install before closing, as they're not open next day Sun.
If I decided not to get 2 new tires at that time, I can lose my spot in line, and tried to look around for some auto shop or junk yard. I may not find any other shop still open that Sat. afternoon. If if they are open, they may not have the right size tires. If they have the tires, they may not be able to take my car in to work that afternoon. The small spare/emergency tire is not for driving much more. On the way, we saw closed sign on many stores in Cottonwood (it's a small town). If I then tried to go back to the line at Discount Tires, they won't be able to serve you, before closing time of 5pm.
I would've be charged the next 2 nights of hotel, even though I couldn't go there to stay (most hotels these days require cancellation 2 days before, not the night of). I would've also need to find a place to stay, paying yet extra, so Monday morning I can get some cheaper tires installed.
We were at the start of a week rental, with a couple thousand more miles to go (going to Petrified Forest NP, Grand Canyon, Death Valley), before going back to LA. If we found used tires to be installed elsewhere on Monday, for a savings of $150, we would've paid twice more for the 2 hotel nights we didn't stay at Flagstaff and Grand Canyon, plus 2 more nights at Cottonwood, etc.
Just wanted to point out there are other considerations than trying to be penny wise.