Sharp practice on Late Return Fee
 

So here's a great example of sharp practice at Avis UK.

Avis UK (like most companies) charge by the 24-hour period.

So a 3-day rental starting at 7pm on Friday is quoted exactly the same price whether you choose a return time on the Monday of mid-day or 7pm.

Simple, right ? You drop the car off whenever you like on Monday as long as it's within the 3-day period...

Ah hah, not so fast ! If you book via the Avis website, the return time defaults to 12:00 (mid-day). Then when you roll up at 6:59pm on the Monday evening (like I did yesterday) you're suddenly slapped with a £12 Late Return Fee :eek: even though you returned the vehicle within the time you paid for ????

Guess what happens if you book to return at 7pm but actually drop off at lunchtime ? Yep, you guessed it: absolutely nothing !

Customer Services refuse to refund it, claiming that because the vehicle came back later that than the booked return time, the fee is due.

Sharp practice is I think quite a polite way of describling this charge :mad:

which is why I always have booked full 24 hour periods regardless of when I intend to return. This has helped secure weekend rates as well, even when returned earlier and they try to charge a higher price since there is no Friday / Saturday whatever day stay.

One caveat: When booking weekly rentals with Avis, there have been occasions where some Avis locations charge more for a full, seven-day (168-hour) rental than for a six-day, 23-hour (167-hour) rental. If you don't need that extra hour, it's best to price the rental both ways.

Not new, although normally you should be able to get it refunded without too much trouble. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/avis-...ee-policy.html

In some sense I can actually see the logic behind this. Avis are trying to manage inventory. If you said you were going to return the car at midday, then they potentially have planned to have it back in the pool for rental again by (say) 4pm. If you don't return it until 8pm, then they could be out of cars for the next renter. Of course, one renter doing that likely isn't going to be a problem, but with multiple it could be.

Booking all rentals as full 24 hour multiples doesn't help with their inventory, but at least they can plan based on that...

I always book in 24 hour blocks regardless of how long I plan to use the car for. Avis' inventory is not my problem.

(Though historically more often than not, I've used up every hour of my rentals).