Avis Rent-A-Car

Avis

We Try Harder

August 2005

We had occasion to rent a car from Avis in late July 2005. We made the reservation over the web using a collegues' preferred customer ID. (The preferred customer ID netted us something like 45% lower pricing for the rental in question; there's no doubt that the preferred customer status is worth it if you rent frequently).

When making the reservation, we explicitly de-selected all of the insurances and 'Loss-Damage Waiver' things, because our own car insurance covered us (check your carrier). Buying the additional insurance was unneccesary.

Upon arrival in Calgary, we were informed that the full-sized car we had asked for was unavailable, and they offered us a compact car at a reduced rate. This was acceptable to us. The offered car (a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu LS) performed acceptably during our time with it. In a way it was the ideal rental -- it was completely forgettable, and did not get in the way of anything we wanted to do while we had it.

However, when we returned the car, we discovered that the Loss-Damage Waiver had been charged to us. The explanation given was that it was the default in the Preferred Customer profile we had used over the web, and therefore it over-rides the explicit preferences stated on the web reservation. And because it was the end of the rental, they would not reverse the charge.

Moral of the story: check your insurance, and check your rental options when you pick the car up. Do not assume that everything is going to be correct.