Rented a car from BWI to DCA a couple weeks back. Since the car was rented in haste due to an urgency, had someone go to orbitz.com and book a rate for 20.99 on an economy car.

The pickup was 1115P and was to be dropped off at DCA the next day before 1115P...also, I am a preferred member, so got my little upgrade.

Next night, dropped off the car at 1115P and discovered the return lanes were not manned at that hour...directed to the counter where a lazy, half asleep agent said the computers were down and to leave the paperwork for her. Yeah right. I made her sign the rental card that I had returned the car and made her specify the date and time of the moment. She called the guy in the booth at the return lanes who verified the car was there in good condition.

Fast forward...I see the charge on my credit card, and discover it's $68, not the $28 they were suppose to charge, and the rate had gone up by $2. A login to Avis to look at the rental contract shows the car booked back at 6AM, and an extra-day charge (plus taxes/fees). Made inquiries to Avis without any response back.

Needless to say, I have disputed the charge with the CC company, and will expect Avis to properly refund the over-charge.

Result of the story - always check your credit card billings/invoices against the summary of expected charges on your contract to make sure there are no "shenanigans" going on.

I can't understand why this is is being dragged out. If all the details are as you say they are, then it really shouldn't matter what time your stated return time vs. your actual return time was, as log as both times are within 24 hrs of pickup. There have been a few times where I have booked partial days with Avis and ended up being a few hours late, but still within 24 hrs... I initially would call Avis and have them push back the agreed return time, but the phone agents always told me not to worry about it, so eventually I just stopped calling and brought back the car when I could, taking care to be within the 24 hr timeframe. Evn though I was past my return time, I was always charged a flat 1-day rate.

Have you called and asked to be transferred to Customer Service? They are pretty good about seeing things your way, especially if you are a frequent renter. This issue just seems so cut-and-dry I can't believe they are fighting it.

Why would you expect Avis to refund you anything at this point since you've disputed the charge?

If it were me I would have called Avis and given them at least one chance to fix this error before disputing the charge ... the fact that you've disputed the charge will likely result in this taking much longer to resolve than if you had given Avis the opportunity to fix it first. I believe a merchant should be given an opportunity to correct an error before disputing a credit card charge ... in my experience the merchant will take care of it 9 times out of 10 much faster than a dispute can be resolved ...

I always do both simultaneously. But you should always call the merchant first and whether or not they agree to the refund, then dispute the charge to protect your rights.

QL

The thing is, as soon as you do a chargeback you've cost the merchant extra money, regardless of the outcome. I think it's nice to give the company the opportunity to fix their error without having to involve the credit card company, and unless the charge is more than a few months old you don't forfeit your right to a chargeback if the merchant doesn't fix it. It's certainly the way I'd like to be treated if I had made the error ...

Besides, unless you think the merchant is going to give you the run-around, letting the merchant fix it is usually a faster way to get the entire issue resolved (yes, any credit card company will credit you the money immediately, but the issue is still not ultimately resolved for weeks in a best case scenario).

I just do what's easiest for me. After all, they made the mistake.

QL

I kind of understand what you mean, but it seems to me the easiest thing is to make one phone call to fix it, not two ...

If you let the merchant try to fix it first, in the worst case you still make the same two phone calls you would have made anyway if it isn't fixed by the merchant (one to the merchant, one to the credit card company) ... best case you only have to make the one phone call to the merchant and don't have to call the credit card company and expalin it to them (and provide whatever documentation they're going to want, which varies by credit card company, and admittedly is sometimes not required).

Actually, I contacted Avis in writing (every time I tried to call them to speak to someone in customer service, they were closed or no one was available for this type of problem...3 strikes you're out)....in the customer service written inquiry I sent, I was very clear and detailed with what happened and included the agreement number to make it simple to look up the history. So far, no response...no email, no letter, no phone call. It was only this weekend, after 10 days had passed, that I said "the heck with it" and called the cc company to get them involved.

The fact is, I am pretty livid about this...the pure laziness of their counter staff and complete disinterest to make sure that returned cars were booked in properly upon return contributed to this problem. So if they have to pony up some costs to resolve the issue, then so be it. I am sure I cant be the only one who got dinged that night, as there were a few other cars returned at that hour.

Also, I only disputed an estimated amount which I took a fair guess was the overcharge, since I could only estimate the taxes/fees for BWI. I am expecting that once Avis receives the chargeback, they will snap to life and rebalance the contract with the proper amounts and resolve the issue fairly.

I am only angry at the corporate Avis for not responding to my inquiry...the real disappointment I have from this situation clearly rests with the behavior and attitude of the station staff at DCA who allowed this to happen. I would expect this incident to result in a training call to the station manager to make sure proper procedures are in place for late night returns and situations where the system is "down" when a car is returned.

I dispute my charges on the Web for my AmEx cards. Takes seconds.

QL