Avis charging for no-shows?
 

I rent pretty much once a month at least, sometimes twice a month. I always get my rentals from Fort Lauderdale airport, and quite often the major rental companies are out of cars. If they aren't, they only have a convertible corvette, which really isn't practical.

I usually will reserve a car at 2 places to cover my bases in case one ran out. I have Avis preferred, National Emerald, and Hertz gold.. I've never had a problem with being charged for the one I don't pick up... (sometimes I am able to cancel it before the pick up time, but more often by the time I pick up a car, it is past the pick up time and won't allow you to cancel).

2 weeks ago I was actually flying to Denver and reserved a full-size car for the weekend at Hertz and Avis.. I ended up picking up the car at Hertz because it was less expensive. I recently saw a charge on my credit card for Avis, though.. so I logged into my preferred account and noticed I was charged for a Standard SUV (Ford Edge) along with the $13.99 fuel charge. I called up Avis and they said as a preferred member, if you don't cancel or show up they charge the full rental. He said they put the keys in the car and have it ready for you (In Fort Lauderdale they don't do this, you just walk into the preferred counter). He ended up refunding the cost (hasn't shown up on the cc yet, but I will see). I wouldn't have taken the SUV had I arrived and saw the car anyway... why they would put keys in an SUV for someone that didn't reserve an SUV doesn't make much sense to me, but that's another story....

I was unaware companies are charging for not showing up... given that when you reserve the car (even as a preferred member) it says "Your Credit Card is not required to confirm this online reservation."

Also, why would they add the $13.99 charge (normally if a driver drives less than 75 miles I understand) for a car they KNEW never moved?

I think the answer to your last question is answered by the first lines of your post, and I am very happy if the practice of double-reservations is soon coming to an end. It is in my opinion quite spoled behaviour and it makes fleet management impossible.

S.

can i charge the rental car companies a fee when i have a reservation and they don't have any cars? :td:

Their chances of making sure you'd have a car would improve if people couldn't make double reservations. That in itself isn't possible. Second best is to aim at diminishing the amount of double-reservations. Charging for noshows is a means to achieving that.
I think the no car scenario, rare but infuriating as it is, is a fleet management issue that can be very much improved upon if there is a fee for no-shows.

What you say doesn't really make sense, because having a reservation doesn't even guarantee you having a car. Making two, or five reservations doesn't HOLD two or five cars anyway..they still give them away. You make one reservation, when you arrive, they have no cars and say "Sorry." Or, if you reserve a full size, you arrive and they say "Sorry, all I have is a compact." Making a reservation at two companies doesn't DEPLETE their availability of cars. So until the car companies actually do guarantee you have that car when you reserve it, they shouldn't be charging.

And having no cars is by far "rare"... I have had it happen on a number of occassions at FLL.

Not to mention, you implied that the ANSWER to my question about the fuel charge was already answered by reserving a car at 2 places. How does that answer the question of a company ADDING a charge of $13.99 for a fuel charge for a car that didn't move?

To add to what I have already said, a "fee" for no shows shouldn't be the ENTIRE rental. I reserved a full size car, a Ford Edge STANDARD SUV did not sit there for 2 days because I reserved an Impala or Camry.

If they are going to charge for the entire rental period, they should also be ready to show proof that that specific car sat there for the entire period and was not rented out to someone else.

1. Fine with me. A promise of entitlement to some kind of compensation if there is no car for you, and at the same time a fee to the renter for a no-show.

2. That statistic doesnt make a clear picture. How common is it compared to the double-reservation practice yout hink?

3. I did not mean to mix the fuel aspect into any of this, sorry if that was your understanding. My only point was to indicate that I think the double-reservation practice is making fleet management very difficult and that it can sometimes lead to people with reservations having no cars. Which makes the same people do double reservations. And so forth. Solve it by applying fees for noshows (and converesly perhaps compensations for the no-car scenarios as it is hinted above).

S

To answer your 2nd point, I've rented 7 times since June (6 at FLL) and 3 times at FLL there were no cars at the company I reserved from (50%..twice from Hertz, once at Avis), the first time it happened I had to go over to another company and pay their full rates because I hadn't reserved a car. The 2nd time it happened, I pulled out my iphone and made a reservation in the airport, and then walked up to the counter.

I also just searched Avis' website for a no show fee policy... there actually is one under their FAQ (but not disclosed when you reserve the car). The policy says that for only reservations that require a CC (ones for specialty cars or avis.com promos) there is a no show fee of $10+taxes and surcharges up to 1 full days rental charge. They charged me the full 2 days plus a $13.99 fuel charge which was $74 total. My reservation was a normal reservation and did not require a CC, therefore shouldn't be eligible for the no show fee, and even if it was, it shouldn't be 74 dollars.

Club Memberships
 

You mention you have the Major agencies "Preferred" memberships...Does that mean they have your credit card info ..on board?
If so..with the increasing amount of no shows(Multiplied by the tens of thousands of cars rented per day).....I believe the companies will start the penalty process for loss of use for those vehicles that they thought were spoken for...
That seems to be the case in your example.

I rent a car every week from somewhere in America. Been doing this for 3 years now (about 140 rentals in 3 years). Always with AVIS. Never once, ever, had a "we dont have any cars". Maybe I'm just lucky, or someone else on this board is very unlucky (3 out of 7 at FLL is a bad average).

I'm all for the charges for no-shows. It happens at hotels, and no one bats an eye-lash, but you start mentioning it about rental cars, and people go ape-sh$$.

Spoiled behavior is right. Ultimately, I believe, it leads to higher prices as well. I have never done it, and as mentioned above, never had an issue.

I said 3 out of 6 at FLL they had no cars. Only once at Avis, 2 at Hertz.

Missing the point, however. The no show fee is not the full rental. I was charged the full rental of a largely upgraded car and then charged a 13.99 fuel service charge as well. You think that is right? You're crazy. No one should be charged 13.99 for a fuel service charge for a vehicle that never moved. And if your No show fee is 10 dollars+tax up to one day rental, it shouldn't be a fuel charge plus the entire 2 day rental with a multiple class upgrade.

Only had it happen to me once, at Avis in SAN. They called another car rental company and got me the same rate, then drove me to the other lot. Good service, I thought! ^

Have to agree on the "spoiled" issue. Multiple ressies lead to other customers being denied a reservation and lost revenue for the company.

I don't become a Avis preferred because I don't want them to have my CC info. Also I'm not sure whether you can get upgrade as a preferred member (last time we rented from DFW we booked a full size and got a SUV because we showed up with 3 kids!)

charged for cancellation
 

I never book more than one car and rent in 2 different cities each week always with AVIS - due to a weather flight delay I ended up calling later to cancel a reservation. ( 4 hours after reserved time) 2 weeks later my account was charged over 250.00 for a reservation I never had. Called Avis and they have to file an investigation which takes 12 days, even though there is no record of me leaving the parking lot with a vehicle.
I will now be looking into alternative rental companies.

First, seriously? One situation that hasnt even been investigated is causing you (who admitedly rents 100 cars a year from avis) to find a different company. Try to let the system run its course and see how things shape up. Mistakes do happen. Let the company try to correct the mistake.

Second, your credit card bill would have had the RA# in the "comments" section. Ask AVIS for a copy of that specific RA, and you'll see what its for.

Third, welcome to FlyerTalk.