on my last vacation, my rental van broke down about 20 miles from the airport. Not only did Avis take 3 hours to pick us up (with a new van), but on our departure, stuck us with a $40 service charge to fill the tank on the broken-down van.

Anyone else had this problem?

I hope that you fought them on this and they reversed the charges. There is no way that you should have to pay the gas. It might say so in the contract but even the most basic customer service would dictate that you should get the gas for free and even a discount on that rental or coupons for a future rental. It might not be Avis's fault but even I, who is vocal at times, would hope that Avis would treat you better than this.

Please let us know how it turned out.

You have been abused! I would be so mad, I'd invent 20 new cusswords just to use on the person at Avis that inflicted this on me.

Are they saying that this is, somehow, your fault? Because that's what their actions are saying. OOOOh, I'm mad just thinking about it.

If the van broke down, common sense would dictate you couldn't have filled the tank even if you wanted to. I would fight it. If your breakdown wasn't handled by someone who knows how to properly enter the car exchange, you get nailed for refueling.

Where did you rent the van at? I'll make sure I don't use AVIS there.

Many years ago I had a 1-day rental (~12 hours) in SF. Picked up in downtown SF and while driving around San Jose, some light on the dashboard came on. Could not tell what the icon meant and no owner's manual. Called Avis and they told me to exchange it at a location a few miles away. Went there, they gave me a new car, but the key would not work with it. Finally, a 3rd car was given to me and we were back on our way.

Later that evening I was running late to SFO and did not find a gas station on the way to the airport. When I was returning the car, the rep asked if I filled the car and I said no. He then presented me with a receipt with an outrageous gas charge (it calculated the miles driven on the 1st and 3rd car and based the gas charge on both). I complained and he told me that I would have to talk to someone inside. Went inside, explained how this was my 3rd car in 1 day and that it cost me time to do all the swaps, and the inside agent reversed the gas charge immediately before I finished my story.

As others indicated, a gas charge on a broken vehicle is ridiculous, but you do have to say something to them as they will not necessarily waive it automatically.

BillJ

Yup -- in my experience they will try almost anything in terms of crazy fees and surcharges, but back down almost immediately if you call them on it. Enough people just grab the receipt and run that their tactics pay off for them, but it's unpleasant.