EvilDoctorK

I had the same recently - took far too many calls to Avis UK to sort it out ( It was a straight booking on Avis.co.uk, not BA Holidays) - they are nice and helpful on the phone but have zero follow up - but they did in the end get it sorted .. I get the impression this is a frequent issue with Avis ZA ( which is a licensee they were at pains to tell me, which I was happy to tell them wasn't my problem but theirs! ) .. Probably would have been faster to query via Amex, but may have been more awkward since the spurious extra charge didn't come through separately , but rather as part of the valid charge which I was of course happy to pay [ Extra in my case was about £90 in 'damage' charges ]

dodgeflyer

Don't dispute that, but would appear to me as if there's some backroom mechanic at play to recuperate some of that 'saving'/

Deltus

Perhaps also people travelling on packages are infrequent travellers who don't know what's going on, and are more likely to be moved by all the "we'll have to hold over €1000 on your card", "you'll be liable for everything", "what if your car is vandalised" scaremongering. The guy at the MLA desk last week was rather disappointed by my cavalier risk appetite as I cheerfully accepted liability for every hypothetical misfortune he could think of, safely protected by my £39 annual insurance4carhire policy...

If you've turned up on a lastminute.com Ryanair package, you have probably never heard of car hire excess insurance, so the Avis upselling might well work.

EvilDoctorK

The most persistent attempt at up selling by Avis ( or any rental company) I had was at Kingston airport in Jamaica where the agent wouldn't accept that my Amex card had cover on it ( despite it being a BA holidays booking which I think had basic CDW cover on it anyway included) .. I just kept saying No and eventually he said he'd have to call Amex to confirm which I made him do ( He ended up calling someone in Amex in Brighton in the middle of the night! ) .. Amex were great and told him to get lost and I got the car without any extra charges ( and despite the truly appalling roads and standard of driving in Jamaica managed to avoid making any more damage to the rather old car! )

Normally a polite 'No - it's all covered on the card suffices' at most places in Europe whether Avis or otherwise in my experience ... it's really only that guy in Jamaica I've ever had who's pushed much beyond the 'We will have to hold $xxxx on your card' line to which I always reply 'of course be my guest'

Tiger_lily

BOH

I didn't, I paid with an IHG Visa Credit Card. The Fuel Option charge is also not a specific separate transaction either, it is incorporated into the one overall bill. Is it still worth alerting the CC company - or as I suspect will they direct me to sort it out with Avis or BA?

simons1

Had some minor issues with Avis Orlando on a BA booking.

SatNav - tried to upsell me a SatNav at $11 (?) per day as I would need it. LIE #1 , as car had a built in SatNav. Nice top up income on a 3 week rental.

Petrol - big sign behind the desk saying local prices were $2.18 a gallon. LIE #2 , gas prices were between $1.94 and $1.98 locally.

Fortunately I have been around ling enough to spot such things a mile off but a first time renter might not have known.

Deltus

The other petrol scam they often try is charging for the entire tank, rather than just the amount you've used. Even if they are truly offering you the petrol for $0.10 less per litre than a petrol station, they'll charge you as if the tank was completely empty (e.g. 60 litres at that price) rather than the 20 litres you might actually need...

BOH

See my earlier post....that is exactly what they have charged me for. A full tank even though it was completely topped up at a petrol station just 2km from the rental car return. As I mentioned, the girl at the desk specifically said when I queried why the "Fuel Option" box was ticked on the contract, she replied, "it is only so we have pre-authorisation on your card in case you don't return it full sir". Utter lie!

BOH

You are another that has jolted my memory back to last week at STR - see my earlier posts. The Avis agent asked me if I wanted to take the Satnav option at something like €11 per day. I declined (I just use my I-Phone) and when I got to the car....guess what? It had a built-in Satnav!

BlackBerryAddict

I must've been lucky so far (and have probably now jinxed that), but I've not had problems with Avis (yet ) despite hiring cars from them in many parts of the world, both on BA Holidays as well as independent bookings. I do always keep the petrol receipt of filling it close to the return location. But I have had a number of of nice upgrades over the years.

firstlight

the biggest scam for car hire in Orlando is the $4 a gallon gas stations near the airport where it is $2 A gallon just five miles away !

MADPhil

I think the "Fuel Option" is to pay for a full tank when you pick the car up and it is up to you to return it as near to empty as your nerves will stand. The default is that you either return it full or pay for them to fill it, often charged in eighths of a tank. So, if "Fuel Option" was checked, then you were agreeing to buy the full tank at the outset.

'andad

As the Op, it may be a more useful warning to add what happened at Avis Funchal should you go there.
1. Mrs could not find the plastic card used to operate the barriers at the Avis car park. Charged €30.50 for this piece of plastic with little value to anyone else, and anyway am sure it is in the car somewhere. €5 more appropriate I would have thought.
2. Charged € 180 for a very small scratch on a door. Ok I damaged it, but when I surveyed the multiple damage on taking the car out, the same agent said "we ignore anything under 2.5 cm". Apparently not.
3. Most annoying was the complicated invoice, so many pluses and minuses. I was assured that if the lost card and damage was extracted, that I was charged nothing over what the BA/Avis voucher included. Later found that I have been charged €101 for Location Charge and €24 for Road Tax. Checking my booking back home, these are both included in the voucher. Downright dishonest.
I raised this with Avis UK 4 days ago, and having not had a reply yet, have put a proportionate block on the Amex transaction.
Of course I should have checked the (complex) invoice more thoroughly at the time, but it was raining, flights were being cancelled due to weather, and I have not had problems with Avis in literally hundreds of bookings (except one in Namibia).

BOH

Yes am aware of this. So I specifically queried with her why the box was ticked - see my earlier posts for her reply.