drphun

Interesting. I don't like the emailed receipt either as too much room for shenanigans. If there is a problem, they need to call it out when the car is returned or let it go. I feel like the emailed receipt is an attempt to get around that. I rented from Budget last week. I returned the car, beep, they said (not asked) they would email the receipt. It never came. I did find that I could go on their website and enter my name and contract number to pull up the receipt. No problems on the receipt but I did see that they credited me $1.20 which looks like it was for gas, since it says I returned it with 15.4 gallons and it had 15.0 gallons when I took it out. I am glad that they took into account that it was not quite full when I picked it up, but I wonder how they know? They must be connecting directly to the vehicle computer when they take it into the back to service it, which would mean they had not really checked it in yet when they checked it in?

7Continents

I watched my return a couple of weeks ago. On new cars they do have an electronic gizmo that connects to the car, grabs the info and adds to the return gadget. (This was on a 2023 Malibu from Hertz).

sullim4

Having rented extensively with all three major US car companies... my generalizations:

Enterprise/National is the best of the three. The cars are usually well taken care of, especially anything in the emerald/executive aisles. The staff is generally good, and I have had zero problems with rental closeouts, false claims of damage, bogus odometers, or an inaccurate fuel gauge with them. All things being equal, I choose EAN if I can, but they eliminated our company's leisure rate so that's meant I've had to choose one of the other two lately.

Hertz... their staff is just mean, off airport or on. I can't phrase it any better than that - I've just had a hard time finding anyone working for them that has any interest in helping their customers. Their cars can be good - and I've scored a number of upgrades with them that I have been happy with over the years. Despite all of the horror stories about bogus reports to the police of car theft, I haven't had any issues with returns. It's almost always at pickup that I have a problem with needing to go to the desk or getting a crabby agent to deal with.

Avis is a bit of a conundrum. I find their off airport locations to be really good - both in the quality of the cars as well as the staff. I've never had a problem at rental or return at off-airport locations from Hawaii to Europe. Their major airport operations, however - are IMO worse than Hertz. Tons of high mileage cars with basic work needed like tires or brakes. They are also understaffed, their systems often break (especially the handheld scanners) - and in the span of a year I've now had three issues with returns not showing up, mileage being wrong - that kind of thing.

acader

I am on the phone with Avis as I write this post. I returned a car at PBI on 2/28/24. One day rental. Odometer Out: 45896. Odometer In: 45913. Miles Driven: 17. Fuel Reading: Out 8/8, In 8/8. Yet, I have been charged $15.99 plus taxes as a "Fuel Service Fee". The Avis CSR is grilling me on how I paid for the gas, name of the gas station, time of re-fuelling etc. I paid for the gas (about $2 and change) with cash, so did not bother to get a receipt. This is ridiculous. Avis has a lot of shenanigans and sometimes I feel somebody should initiate a class action lawsuit against them.

Apart from this instance, I had another instance when I was physically in PA on the turnpike (fortunately with EZ Pass) and Avis dinged me $60+ for going through tolls in NYC.

And in 2022, I returned the car in LAX, but the car showed up as being returned in SFO. Fortunately for these 2 instances I had photo proof. But it is a PIA and time consuming to prove that I am not at fault.

mailliW

I got a 8.99 refuelling charge following a drop off at SFO. I have raised a query for which they have requested credit card statement and fuel receipts which is nonsense as 8.99 is on my post rental invoice. I do have a picture which shows full tank of fuel with a mileage reading with mileage reading matching that on final invoice.

guv1976

Do you have a receipt for purchasing fuel near the airport before you returned the car? That's what they are looking for. A fuel gauge can read Full even if it's down a gallon or so

mailliW

Unfortunately I don't have fuel receipt from the merchant. I was offered option for a receipt at the pump which I clicked yes but a message was displayed go see attendant. I was in a rush so didn't bother. Other than an entry on my amex for Hangry Planet San Bruno that's all I have

Podcat

You are talking like a real victim.

Not sure what “got nowhere” means, but any rental agency that tries that crap with me is going to have a bad day. ”So sue me” is not a phrase I’ve yet used — been saving it for something like this. I would explain that they’d lose in court when I present their signed form with pictures (you did take those, right?) and that I’d counter-sue (and win, and collect) for all my costs in fighting their baseless claim. I’d also ask the judge to award punitive damages for their bad faith, which could come to many times the original amount.

”Just use your insurance” is another naive, victim-y refrain often heard from the inexperienced. In my state, any damage over $750 must be reported to the DMV and is automatically charged to you as an at-fault accident unless you can prove otherwise. Your carrier will then hike your rates to the moon or drop you.