chris_grr

Of course when we get a dirty car at checkout, its "fine".

milksheikh

Just found a $125 charge from Budget from a month ago on our credit card bill. Excessive sand, customer service found on the record. But no photos were attached, so he's put in for a refund. I'm sure we had some sand in the car, because it was LA County -- we went to the beach one day.

I'm most annoyed that they didn't send a bill -- not in the mail, not by email. Just put the charge through and hoped we wouldn't notice, I guess.

The cust service guy was nice, though, and has put in a refund, since there wasn't any evidence attached that he could review or send to me.

storewanderer

$450 is the "smoking charge" amount now. Seems like 75% of the cars I am assigned smell like smoke... I will refuse these cars to avoid false accusations of $450 charges; industry needs to crack down on this.

Another strategy I have used for years now is to return cars clean and free of any trash. Do everything possible to make life as easy as possible for the folks at the car return. I've left food crumbs and sand in cars, yes, but I am talking leaving food containers, drink bottles, etc.- I clean that all up at the last gas stop.

I used to travel with coworkers who would leave rental cars looking like a trash can. The old "just leave the trash in the car we will clean it" statement made at many rental agencies made them quite comfortable doing that. It is the job of the rental employees to clean the vehicle but I think when it comes to these fees being assessed after return, things like giving them back a car free of any trash may help them move on from your vehicle faster and avoid such a charge.

Also you can get quite a bit of sand off the car interior by using wet paper towels (gas station... windshield wash bin), or at least, enough to avoid a charge...

taylorgt

I've also switched cars (at LAX) if the car we rented was "fine". Just not worth the hassle. I also video record if going to a new place.

jrl767

picked up a car at Seattle Center (KOMO Plaza) location ~2pm for one-way to SEA; agent brought it out of the garage and handed me the key fob, and I drove it home … we were on a redeye, so didn’t actually put our stuff in the trunk until ~8pm … noticed some sand as we were unloading at the SEA rental car facility and explicitly told the return checker that I had not inspected the car at pickup

got both a letter and email about a $150(?) cleaning fee; promptly called Customer Service to re-explain the situation and never saw a charge on either an e-receipt or subsequent credit card statement

taylorgt

Ugh, so annoying

Nole95

Returned a car to PHX on July 3. No issues when returning it. Today I get a letter in the mail telling me they are going to charge me $125 for excessive interior dirt. No pictures or anything to prove that it was dirty. So far no charge on my credit card. I made sure to clean out any trash before returning it, and it did not look dirty to me. Pretty sure they usually wash and vacumm out th cars anyway before the next renter. I have rented from Avis all over the country for years and never had this issue.

Contacted Avis customer service about this and received a reply overnight. They provided the inspection report. They listed the severity of the dirt as "Light". To their credit, they did supply photos of the dirt, which consisted of a couple floormats with some dirt/sand on them. After all, we were out in the desert. That being said, there is no way what they showed me constitutes an extra cleaning charge of $125. It is normal sand that would be vacummed up during what I assume is the routine cleaning process I would hope Avis puts every returned vehicle through. I have replied back as much, and will be curious as to the response.

My gut tells me this probably happens a lot at PHX. They know people are coming in from desert environments, and are taking advantage of/scamming customers because of it. I have rented cars from Avis all over the west and travelled into national parks where I have had just as much sand on the floor as this return. A common occurence when doing a lot of hiking. Never once had an issue after a return.

Quail

Haha no way, especially for non-airport locations. Which makes it possible to have to deal with a charge for cleaning something that was there when you picked it up if you are unlucky both at pickup and return.
I say this while I have an Avis car with the previous renter's large slow cooker in the trunk.

emergencyrequest

I just got this "excessive garbage" letter in the mail from San Antonio airport office. Thankfully saw it as I get a lot of junk mail. I rented a Toyota 4runner
because I had to drive through dusty terrain that required a 4-wheel drive. Got some dust inside and nothing that was not cleanable. Is this the "excessive
garbage" fee they claim requires "cost of repair". I've rented with Hertz for 20 years and never had a letter like this.

Also spent $2950 on the rental and had full coverage so I am suspicious about their "coverage"

Anyone had this issue with SUV?

pobblestone

WARNING:
Avis alo tried to charge me back to back rental charges for "excessive dirt"
- $450 for the first one.

• They stated that the original odometer was 100 and return a week later was 23,200 (not possible - I would have been driving 3,300 miles/day / 24 hours non-stop, averaging 137MPH!
• They included a 2 year old invoice for a damaged air conditioning system (which worked fine and made no sense at all)
• They included pictures of a very small amount of sand on the back seat floor

Luckily I had taken photos of the car at the start and finish of the rental and they wrote back, apologised for the inconvenience, and sent me a "stop billing letter," stating that I would not be billed

$125 for the second one. I decided to take another week holiday, so booked a second car out

• "excessive dirt" - no photos
• I have written back to them, sending copies of the original correspondence and the stop billing letter
• When they reply, I will send back photos - also of a very small amount of dirt "normal" from driving a car for a week.

This appears to be a method for charging excessive amounts to increase the revenue from rental cars.

I agree with the advice above - simply take it through a quick car wash on the way back, take photos before and after in case you receive a letter claim, ask the person signing the car in to agree that there are no damages and SPECIFICALLY that it is clean.

shocking tactics that should be illegal!