Avis

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.

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

Rented the 4.2 van(truck) for 4 days for a Gold Coast trip. Arrived there & realised that the km on the clock are more than on google map significantly. Right when I started the engine to come back to Melbourne I took a picture of the km on board… Read more

and a screen shot of the map. 85 km more on the clock, 2 ways 170 more km. I told the guy at the Dandenong office about it, his name is Niroshan or something like that, but he was arrogant and didn't care about this issue telling me twice to go to Isuzu and complain about it & that they don't change the settings. I told him that I don't mean that, but I just don't want to be charged for those km. I asked for the manager's name, but his arrogance continued telling me that I can find him tomorrow. I just needed his name. In the and I got it. If this guy would have been nice, I would most likely leave it like this, but for his arrogance I give Avis 1 star and I ask for a refund. I can prove that the truck counts more km all the way!

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

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.

Will never use Avis again. Quoted a set price told if in accident 2000 excess all good. But thats not the case, they give you base rates and fail to tell you about all the additional charges like GST optional service fee, 3.5 percent admin fee plus 1.17 percent card fee, thats a lot of extra charges. Wont be using again, have to find a company that is more transparent with quote.

I book a car as needed urgently get a price get to Mackay airport and they ask are you local I said yes well it’s an extra $1000 well screw you Avis I gave you a good review when you never ripped me off last year don’t use them so I didn’t get a car never again will I ever go to Mackay Avis Show details

KEEP AWAY FROM AVIS Despite I topped up the fuel, when nozzel shut down, it is full, everybody agree to that, but not Avis. They said it was not full enough. So they drive the car to petrol station which is 1.1km away due to one way traffic, but they showed the receipt with 6km extra, of course, more fuel charge on me. None of the other car… Read more

rentals had done that to me, if was not because emergency case, I would not do any business with Avis Contract said fuel charge was $3.98/l, they shown photo said that charge was $5. KEEP AWAY AT ALL COST

I recently rented from Avis and had our bag stolen by an Avis employee when returning the car, confirmed by a police investigation that reviewed Avis’s surveillance footage. Not only was our property stolen by Avis staff but instead of taking responsibility, they have treated it like a lost-and-found issue, bounced me between departments, and… Read more

gave only generic responses. Weeks later, there’s still no returned property, no accountability, no resolution, and no senior manager willing to take ownership - even though the police confirmed their staff member stole it!

If you’re looking to hire a car remember that this is how they treat their customers, even when caught red handed stealing from them!

Do not hire a car from Budget/Avis group. A small amount of front fender damage occurred whilst we had the car. Budget debited $1650 without telling us. After further enquiries they advised it was a standard cost they debited for that damage and would reimburse the difference once repairs were complete, approximately 4-6 weeks. After several… Read more

emails attempting to ascertain a quote to seek insurance etc they then changed the time frames to 6-8 weeks. Well it's been 9 weeks now and still no quote produced or refund. This case will be escalated to "Consumer Protection (fair trading Act, Contract and Commercial Law act) and NZ Commerce Commission. This company thinks that they have the monopoly and do what they wish. Disgusting post customer service. Never will I hire a care from this company again.

Will never use Avis again . Was slugged with an additional $1300 in fees with no contact . They just kept debuting my card Willy nilly . These guys are thieves . Show details

Absolutely terrible! They have a hidden kilometre charge. After already paying nearly $400 for a 48 hour rental, they hit me with a further $300 charge. I specifically asked about extra charges during the rental process and kept being told “the rental fee is $380”. The car also had an issue which I immediately informed them of, tyre pressure… Read more

sensor, was told to ignore it. Turns out it actually WAS an issue and it’s lucky I didn’t ignore it and end up with a flat.