Avis

1 star – the worst car rental experience I have had in 50 years Avis Rent a Car at Tullamarine Airport provided one of the worst customer service experiences I have ever had. It took more than half an hour just to get a car. None of our cards were accepted, and instead of checking whether their card reader was the problem, the staff member blamed… Read more

our cards. We had booked a hybrid vehicle, but were told we could not have one because apparently all returns were too late. We were sent back to the office, then directed to another location. During this process, an Avis staff member tipped a full cup of coffee over my partner and did not offer any compensation or meaningful assistance. We were then told to walk to a car space around 500 metres away, only to find the space empty. When I asked another representative for help, I was rudely told I would need to go all the way back to the office. After being redirected again, we eventually found a car, but it had not even been cleaned. Another representative finally helped and directed us to a different car, but we were then told we had not booked a hybrid, so no compensation would be offered. The whole experience was disorganised, frustrating, and completely unacceptable. I will never hire a car from Avis again, and I would strongly advise anyone travelling through Tullamarine Airport to avoid this branch.

I rented a car from Avis/Budget in Queenstown, New Zealand, and it turned into one of the most frustrating customer experiences I have ever had. I returned the vehicle in good condition and have timestamped photos taken immediately before drop off clearly showing there was no damage to the vehicle. Despite providing this evidence, they refused to… Read more

properly consider it and continued insisting I was responsible for damage that I did not cause.

The whole process felt incredibly unfair and one sided. Instead of genuinely investigating the matter or treating a customer reasonably, they appeared more focused on charging excess fees than reviewing clear evidence objectively.

Being accused of causing damage despite having timestamped proof to the contrary has been extremely frustrating and stressful.

Apparently they do not bother listening to customers once they decide to pursue a claim. After reading reviews online, I was shocked to see how many people have had similar experiences. Their ratings across multiple review platforms are terrible, which now honestly makes sense to me.

It genuinely feels like there is very little protection for customers’ rights and interests in situations like this, even when clear evidence is provided.

I would strongly caution others to thoroughly photograph and video every angle of their rental vehicle before and after hire because if a dispute arises, you may find yourself fighting to prove your innocence even when you have evidence.

Very disappointing experience overall.

Just dropped a car off at the “premium” cost drop off location at sydney airport. It’s essentially an area in the carpark, unsheltereded with no lights. This is unacceptable, dropped car off at 530pm in raging rain. I couldn’t see anything in the car and got absolutely drenched. Poor Poor Poor…don’t believe that you can gather your things together at this location, gather everything and pack nicely in the boot

Last October we hired from Avis in Ballarat for one to get back to the Airport in Tullamarine…the charges were pretty steep however we proceeded with hire.. paid the hire fee and was then told oh you need to pay $100 bond deposit…again proceeded… Read more

even though not happy…2 weeks i queried when will we get our deposit back…the reply was within the week…then i received saying they had charged the fuel used the drive to Melbourne a sum of $35.97 ok….then they charged me the same amount again…they reversed this when i complained…still no $66 refund from my bond…i have emailed and called at 10 times since then only to told last to send a copy of my credit car statement showing i didnt receive the refund to which i have replied .. you send me your statement showing me you have repaid it….never ever will i ever consider a car rental from Avis ….Worst Customer Service ever

Do not use. One star is overrated. They charge for extra insurances even when you decline them. Avoid them as they charge like a wounded bull. Do not use them to hire a car. Show details

I've been regularly hiring cars from the airport at Launceston for the past 5 months. The staff at the counter are usually very friendly and helpful. Vehicles are always in good condition. No issues when returning them. Highly recommend them.

Maamoun Atallah saved me from a bad situation rented at Sydney Airport had for 2 days tyrer pressure light was on always Maamoun changed car to save me any future disruption Show details

Highly recommeded – Hired a car for a week in Tasmania. Pickup and drop off Launceston Airport was seamless. Got the requested vehicle, service was prompt and efficient. Made modifications to booking by phone and service was excellent. A query on charges was answered politely and immediately. Show details

I booked an Avis Car for pickup at Nice Centrale Station France. Customer Service terrible. Had to take all luggage up 5 floors to collect the car and get it down in narrow exits. Would not bring it to us for collection. Said too busy. Said printer was not working and would email rental agreement. Never emailed. Range 3 times in Business… Read more

hours to Nice office over 2-3 days in Bayeux - No answer at 10am week days. Hotel contacted Avis once for us and they answered. Said email was coming. never received. Was provided a Ford SUV Kuga Car steering dangerous on tollway. Checked Tyres 23 PSI to 26 PSI on tyres . Way under recommended 32-35 Had to put air in the tyres to fix the issue. Drop off at Avis near Paris fine but explained history with the hire.

Do Not use this Avis rental point. Plenty of other options in Nice.

I rented a Toyota Prado at the Alice Springs Airport Australia. The quote I received for the rental on the confirmation was AUD$2071.75. I was ultimately charged ~AUD$1,300 more than the quote when I returned the car. Problems: (1) the kilometers were not recorded so I was charged an unknown figure for extra kilometers; (2) I was charged extra for… Read more

"Roadside Assistance" when it was included in the "Complete Cover" I purchased; (3) I was charged extra for the Premium Location Surcharge and Admin Fee with no explanation. I have tried following up with Avis to no avail. I would NEVER rent from them again.

I recently had a frustrating experience with AVIS rental company that I feel compelled to share. I rented a car for the weekend, which cost me $329.53, in addition to a $200 bond and $96 for insurance. This totaled $625.53, all charged to my credit card upfront. When I returned the vehicle on Monday, I was shocked to see that AVIS debited the… Read more

full $329.53 from my card again. Naturally, I called their customer service twice to address my concerns. Each time, I was met with vague responses, being told to check with my bank instead of receiving any real assistance.

To make matters worse, I inquired about my bond, only to be told that it had been used to cover my insurance costs. I repeatedly explained that I had already paid everything upfront, but the representatives were unhelpful and insisted I contact my bank to figure out where my money had gone.

This experience was not only frustrating but also incredibly disappointing. The lack of proper customer service and the confusing handling of my payments have made me wary of using AVIS again. I would strongly recommend looking elsewhere for a rental car, as AVIS clearly lacks the support and transparency needed for a smooth rental experience.

Rented a car for two days in Perth Australia, should have been $400 roughly, was charged 100 times this $44,000 to credit card. Now to rent a car you give basically all your contact details from name, dob, address, email, phone and drivers licence as well as a credit card, even an emergency contact. After not being able to get through during… Read more

office hours the first day after finding the charge which was a week later, a person in a different department said AVIS would call back the next day. They didn't. After eventually getting through their poor 1800 number service, their remedy, refund the money and issue a $50 voucher. They also maintained they wanted to keep my credit card on file for future rentals!!

So they had $44K in their account for a week, they acknowledge that this was a big problem across all AMEX cards during that time and that there were lots of people involved. I had to contact them to alert them to the issue even though they knew about the AMEX overcharge issue and their remedy is i can have a voucher the next time i hand them over my credit card details and rent from them again.

They didnt even understand why keeping my credit card details was an issue.

I am giving one star as it does not accept 0 stars. Avis have been a nightmare to deal with from when we picked up the car and when it was returned. Booked and paid in full a car for our recent trip to LA. After at least 45 minutes picking up the car from someone who was not helpful at all ( we were the only customer)we finally went to collect the… Read more

car. The customer service was terrible. The assigned car had considerable scratches and dents, we went and found someone to show them and all they said to do was take photos, which we did. They took a security deposit even though the car was paid in full. Upon return we filled up the tank so it was full about a block away from rental return. We returned the car, the guy checked it was full and that was it. No car return documents given. Thought nothing more of it until we got back to Australia and found they had charged our credit card an additional $487 that we did not authorize. $95 of which was for a full tank of fuel, the rest of the charges were for items we did not agree to. Tried emailing and spoke to someone called Hector who after the 2nd email ghosted us and closed the case. Now 4 weeks later we still have no resolution in getting our unauthorized money refunded. Waiting again for another person to get back to us. This time Avis Australia customer support. We don’t hold out much home in getting our money back this way so will be taking it to consumer affairs. DO NOT USE AVIS UNLESS YOU WANT TO GET RIPPED OFF. We have been hiring cars overseas for over 30 years and I must say this is the worst experience ever, it was the first time we have used Avis overseas and will be the last.

Booked a rental car from Thursday to Friday. I flew to her from Brisbane to help discharge her from hospital and set her up with extra living support. The car was used to get her to and from hospital, groceries and a doctor appointment. I did one 40min round trip to get house keys. Drove a total of 200km maybe in the time I was there. Paid the… Read more

$315 rental fee AND was charged $200 holding fee at the counter on pick up. I was told $200 would be returned on drop off. Oh but I was given a “free” upgrade… Corolla to a Forester.

When I dropped the car back I apologised for being unable to fill it before hand and will pay the $5 per litre charge as car was not driven around much so thought it would be $100 or so in total once they charge me for fuel and some extra for handling or whatever.

Friday I have found another $456.20 has been taken.

I’m really hoping I can get my money back.

I am concerned about a booking I made for a rental car in Hobart. I specifically asked for maximum insurance and zero excess. When I read through the contract it said I had declined zero excess! I rang to get it fixed. The person on the line fell silent. I kept asking are you there? Could you please answer my question? They said: give me a chance.… Read more

This is after minutes of silence. Finally, he said he modified the booking and sent me another email. When I asked had there been a mistake he fell silent again. When pressed he said it was a glitch in the website, which is rubbish. The lying made me angry. He kept saying relax, but this is no small matter. When you specifically ask for zero excess and they make an error which means you could potentially be up for $5000 in case of an accident, this is no small matter. Not answering a customer's questions over the phone is appalling. I suspect he didn't understand, or didn't know the answer but would not admit to ignorance or a mistake by Avis.

DO NOT USE AVIS - They won't give me a copy of my signed agreement. My rental, through Booking.com, was $340, once I returned the car, full of fuel and on time, they withdrew $1,136 from my account without my knowledge. I told them I had a minor incident where paint was scraped ONTO the car, not off. After 4 weeks of asking they eventually sent an… Read more

invoice $868 of repairs for something I should have wiped off myself and refunded me the $268. They ruined my holiday. No way was this damage that expensive. Dodgy.

DO NOT BOOK AVIS – Very Disappointing Experience I had a very disappointing experience with Avis and would strongly advise others to avoid booking with them. My mom was supposed to pick us up from Gold Coast Airport, but due to an emergency she couldn’t make it. Since we had several pieces of luggage and taking the train wasn’t practical, we… Read more

decided to rent a car from Avis at Gold Coast Airport and return it the same day at Brisbane Airport.

Our booking was for approximately 2:30 PM pick-up and 6:00 PM return, less than 4 hours of use. The total quoted price was $242, including the $45 zero-excess “no risk” fee, which we were happy to pay for peace of mind.

We returned the car on time at 6 PM. Minutes later, we received the receipt showing the expected total of $242, which seemed correct.

However, after a week I noticed that the security deposit had not been returned to my card. Instead, the pending charge had become a final posted charge. Confused, I contacted customer service.

Another frustrating part of the experience is that there is no way to contact the local rental location directly. All calls are routed to an overseas call center, where staff often do not have full access to the booking details.

Initially, I was told to wait 14 days for the security deposit to return. I explained that my bank already showed the charge as finalized, not pending, which usually means it is no longer just a temporary hold.

Only after pushing for clarification did the agent finally tell me that Avis had charged a $150 cleaning fee.

This was extremely shocking and frustrating. We used the car for less than four hours, simply driving from Gold Coast to Brisbane Airport. There was no notification, no email, and no explanation informing us that a cleaning fee had been applied.

What I find most unacceptable is the complete lack of communication. If I had not called to investigate, I would never have known why the deposit was not returned.

Charging additional fees without informing the customer or providing an explanation is very concerning and creates a lack of transparency in the billing process.

Based on this experience, I cannot recommend Avis.

recently attempted to reserve an 8.5‑metre flatbed truck from Avis — a vehicle they clearly list on their own website. I called on Monday morning and spent 15–30 minutes on the phone while the sales rep contacted the Hamilton (Curtin Avenue) branch to confirm availability. I was told everything was fine and the booking was effectively sorted. … Read more

Fast‑forward to two days before pickup, after I had already arranged time off work, organised additional people to help with loading and unloading, and planned the entire job around the 8.5‑metre tray… Avis suddenly calls to tell me they only have a 6.5‑metre truck available.

I reminded them — again — that I specifically needed an 8.5‑metre truck. Only then did they casually mention that they haven’t had any 8.5‑metre trucks for a while. So why was I told otherwise? Why is it still advertised? And why did it take them days to notify me of something so fundamental?

The whole experience was disorganised, misleading, and frankly unacceptable. Their customer service can be summed up in one word: cr#p. When people are planning logistics, taking time off, and coordinating others, accuracy matters. Avis completely dropped the ball.

Avoid Avis — huge incorrect charges and extremely incompetent customer support. I hired a vehicle from Avis for 1 day with 150km included. Picked it up at 10am, returned at 4pm (earlier than booked) after driving only ~80km. Since returning the car, I’ve experienced an this comprehensive sequence of errors: - Got a text saying the vehicle hadn’t… Read more

been returned and was overdue - Had to contact Avis to tell them the car is in front of them and their staff member recieved the keys from me - Then received an invoice for A$6,340.98 claiming I drove 17,000km over the limit (seriously) - Had to contact Avis again to say this distance could not be covered by an Airbus A380 in that short time duration. - Then received yet an adjusted incorrect invoice for $245.71 - Had to contact Avis a third time — 3 times in one day because they kept making more mistakes - After days waiting for a response, they claimed I was being charged for fuel and demanded proof I refuelled - I had to re-send photos of the dashboard (which I’d already provided) showing a full fuel gauge again - I then travelled back to the branch to speak to a manager, only to find the opening hours on their website were wrong and the branch was closed

In the end I got a refund — but only because my evidence was strong and indisputable. No customer should have to fight this hard to not be wrongly charged.

If I hadn’t taken photos on the rental day, I’d be over $6,000 in debt and getting harassed for fictional charges. I know this story sounds pretty much impossible - so I'll attach a few photos. I will never ever be back as it was so much hassle for such a small booking.

Be Warned... very deceptive pricing Prices on booking suddenly change and go up by... wait for it... and additional $150++ when trying to check out. This is because of all their hidden fees, services fees etc. So 3 days at $315 ended up being $480. Then, they want you to pay $100 for 3 days of basic cover! $580 for 3 days! Why not, just add the… Read more

prices w I th the fees so you do not waste our time. I am an Avis Preferred customer but no more. I went only and found the exact same car for $330 that includes fees and basic insurance

I was charged for a full tank of fuel despite returning the vehicle with approximately half a tank remaining, and an additional administration fee was also applied to boot. I was provided the option of a cheaper fuel rate upon pick up which I toke up & thought I would charged only the fuel amount required to fill up the tank upon return. This is… Read more

not the case & currently disputing charge.

Will not be using or recommending AVIS car rentals due to this experience & their underhanded methods of increasing their revenue.

Update 12.01.26. After a number of phone call & email, Avis has refunded the charges.

Gave details of flight arriving at Melbourne airport with car booking, confirmed on phone as it was a late flight. Flight was delayed to after 1am and Avis staff did not wait. No message or evidence of attempt to contact us. Currently sitting in the Melbourne airport terminal with 3 children waiting for the office to open at 5am.

Paid for a truck which I needed for two days. Picked it up but within 300m a fault flashed up - Diesel Particulate Filter required a 'clean procedure' I did this in my driveway while loading it. Fault cleared without any apparent problem. Set off to my destination but more faults started appearing: An Electronic Stability Control fault after… Read more

about 25 km, then some kind of tilt alarm. Stopped checked that the very light load had not shifted, then continued toward my destination of Lithgow. Another 15 or so km later the check engine light illuminated.

I was very close so I continued on to my destination, unloaded it and drove straight back to the Bathurst depot.

Was not offered any explanation or a replacement truck. Or a partial refund. Immediately upon reaching home the trash started.

"Fill in this incident report" like it was my fault. All communication by SMS message. Telephone calls were not answered or returned.

Truck was almost due a service according to a windsceen sticker, in less than 5000 km.

Upshot? Paid for 48 hour hire but vehicle had multiple hernias and was returned within 6 hours.

Not happy Jan.