Avis Reviews 2,606

Broken key drop box left me stranded in the rain on a Sunday night with no way to contact anyone. Eventually had to keep the car and return the next day in my own time. No apology. I was then charged a late return fee (because of their issue with the return box) in addition to fake damage charges of several hundred pounds (fortunately I had photos). I sent 20 emails before getting a single reply and only had these issues resolved and refunded because I had the branch manager’s number. Their compensation offer was a €14 voucher on my next rental. Why would I rent again from you???

After all of this - two months later I receive a parking fine (which has doubled to £200 due to the time it took them to process). The fine was for parking the car where instructed on return. Again, acknowledged as their fault (presumably they hadn’t registered the car for parking permit, the third major incompetence here).

Every charge was eventually refunded, but only after weeks of chasing and hours of my life wasted. I was carrying nearly 10x my rental cost in fraudulent charges at one point. Never, ever again will I waste hours of my time on this company.​​​​​​​

I’ve got President’s Club membership but cannot book online as credit card details need to be updated to reflect my current card. However, it’s impossible to complete the task online - error message states “facade validation error” - whatever that means. Rang the customer services number and advised call wait would be 5 - 8 minutes……well 55 minutes later I’m still waiting to be connected and about to hang up and make my booking with Hertz. Avis = thanks for nothing..🤯

I've tried contacting them so many times, nobody ever picks up the phone, I'm left in the queue until their phone lines close.

I also submitted a ticket on their online portal, which has yet to receive a response.

Nice one Avis, I'll just completely avoid Avis/Budget for the rest of my life now.

Absolutely ridiculous. They struggled to take payment initially, which we thought was resolved (when they took payment in the correct amount as shown on our rental agreement!!) and two months later they charged a the card for an additional booking fee - which was booked through a third party initially AND they told us that the payment had all gone through when we picked up the car. Completely illegal, they did this without contacting us - just had random money leave my account. NEVER BOOK WITH AVIS THEY ARE A SCAM.

Trying to change a booking but is impossible as the app is uesless and I've now been waiting on hold for ....26 minutes.

Avis is my preferred rental company and I am part of their loyalty programme and paid for a years extra discount. Recently (April 2026) Avis were offering a 20% April Discount. Surprisingly, without logging in for loyalty benefits I was offered exactly the same car for £20 less than was quoted as a member. So much for loyalty and the extra £100 I spent!!

Left high and dry with no car. I booked via rental cars for a 5 day rental, I arrived at the desk presented my licence only to be told my residential address had failed a credit score. The booking had been paid in full and I had a card for a holding deposit so why a credit check mattered I have no idea. Agent was not bothered that I was now stuck at the aiport with no car and even though rental cars contacted them directly while I waited they would not release the pre booked car. Will never use again, unprofessional, unhelpful, uncaring

Rented from avis budget, on returning from drop off at my hotel, realised I had left my sunglasses on the car dash, the staff member from basel airport was super helpful, she checked the car for me and left my glasses by where I could get them as ilmy flight the next day was outside of their open times, thanks so much for this member of staff being so helpful!

Avoid using Avis – extremely poor customer support in an emergency.

We rented a car in France for a journey, but partway through the trip the designated driver had a serious fall and had to return home urgently for emergency surgery. Naturally, we contacted Avis to explain the situation and asked for help—specifically to add another driver so we could safely continue and return the car.

Shockingly, they refused. We were told this was “not an emergency” and “not their problem.” There was no flexibility, no empathy, and no attempt to help.

As a result, we were left completely stranded. We had to pay for a second rental car out of our own pocket just to get home, and Avis still refused to assist in retrieving their vehicle. Instead, they told us we would need to arrange and pay for towing ourselves.

This experience was stressful, expensive, and entirely avoidable if Avis had shown even basic customer care. In a genuine emergency, they offered zero support.

I would strongly advise others to think twice before using Avis—you may be left on your own when you need help the most.

Do not pick up your Avis rental car in London from 88 Eversholt Street.
My experience is that it takes at least an hour to get your car. The staff there has no notion of customer service, and they are there to raise every possible issue that could stop you from getting your booking, instead of helping you find solutions.
You do not fit in their box; then, you are out of luck.

I have contacted Avis 4 times over the past 2 weeks to resolve a billing issue: rental charge was charged to an incorrect credit card when I expressly told the counter agent I wanted it charged to a different card and swiped that card. I have been attempting to back out the charge from the incorrect card and charge the correct card . Each time I have called, I was advised that it would take 3-5 or5-7 business days before I see the correction. The first call was made on 4/24 yet here I am 9 days later not seeing the correction. The last agent I talked to today advised that “email was sent” some other department which did process the correction but now I have to wait another 5-7 business days for it to process? Are you freaking kidding me. This is worst customer I’ve dealt with and will not be renting from AVIS ever again for both my personal and business travel. Not impressed with their customer service at all

Utter scam artists! Full of personable chat at Seattle airport. Asked if would like to prepay the fuel to return the car without the need to refill at San Francisco. Was advised would only be charged for fuel required to refill but that’s the lie. You are charged for a full tank regardless and try to claim this is £80! Avoid at all costs as the hidden ‘charges’ are a scam.

Avis charged me €260 euros + extras for a wheel scratch that I didn't do, and didn't send any proof of the scratches. It is the type of company that just doesn't care about the customer, and is looking to make profits everywhere. Stay away!

Complete scam. Went with guaranteed price of £900. They asked for my card for a deposit which I have to them and they charged me £350 for products that I never asked for and was never told about including refuelling. I returned the car with a full tank of gas. When I emailed and asked them to explain the charges, they refused to take them off.

Very bad experience being over charged on our booking.
On collection they were rushing to close the office and when getting in the car we realised there was no baby car seat . Fortunately I was able to run and catch up with the staff as they had left and closed the office. The guy that served me said there was no car seat on the contract even though they called me 2 days prior to confirm how old our child was. He said “there is no car seat in the contract but enjoy it and have it for free” (we had pre paid extra for the car seat). This service was disappointing, along with the fact that our car was damaged (clearly involved in a collision with the back boot door smashed in).

We then had to change the car mid holiday as it started to smell of petrol inside. We didn’t feel secure driving in that car with a young child. I then had to leave my wife and child alone for half a day whilst I drove to exchange the car, wasting my time.

We then returned the vehicle upon leaving Spain and was told we wouldn’t have paid for the car seat up front as that’s Avis’s usual policy. Our booking confirmation clearly shows that we did. We have since been charged again.

It was imposible to get a response from anyone on customer service. We felt very disappointed, they refunded us the amount they overcharged but never got a response or polite email. We will definitely not use Avis car hire again.

Low life scammers! What else can I say, if I can convince one person not to use this company I would be happy

Awful company, didnt refund me. Hired a car in Egypt in February and they owe me around £100, I spoke to them and they kept telling me they will refund but still haven't seen this. Don't bother with this disgraceful company, Sixt had better customer service.

Made a reservation in December last year and paid the full amount of £534 at the time of booking. The total price clearly included:

Car rental: £373
Vehicle cover plus insurance: £161
Total paid: £534 for 7 days

when arrived in Iceland today to collect the car, I was informed at the counter that the £534 I paid only covers the car rental and that the Vehicle cover plus insurance was not included. I was further told that I would need to pay again for the Vehicle cover plus insurance when returning the vehicle.

It was too late to cancel and rebook, this is scam. Im preparing to take it to court. DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY.

First one star service I ever wrote!

Totally Disappointed with the service provided by AVIS-Budget Heathrow, to the point that I needed to write it immediately after being treated so badly by the female staff on duty in the night of 22nd March (around 7pm).

Walked in with booking confirmation from 3rd party (trip.com), served by a male staff who informed us that the system was down so it would take quite a while to process bookings. Upon checking the UK DVLA of my husband, the male staff said that the system not showing synchronize data (or data not came up), and he then asked the lady (he seemed junior compared to her, and to our suprise, she immediately said: “WE CAN’T GIVE THE CAR TO YOU GUYS”, in a very harsh and unfriendly tone. She also added: “you can try re-booking but if you book
through 3rd party we wont be able to give you cars (does she have any problem with 3rd parties that do car rental service maybe? but even so, is it professional to treat customer this way?)

My husband immediately checked himself to the website (while they served other passengers, naturally), then he showed the synchronized data on the official website of the UK DVLA, asking the guy to have a look, but the female staff came again and said no.

We then asked if we can use the foreign driving license, and while the male staff first said yes (he did try to help but seemed scared of her), the rude woman immediately came and said (witnessed by many visitors there, please check CCTV): “NO, WE WILL NOT GIVE YOU ANY CARS BECAUSE YOUR DATA DID NOT COME UP ON OUR SYSTEM”
So instead of providing help/solution, she just immediately blocked and cut off the conversation.

Never before I gave 1⭐️ review in my life, but even after saying that we have just arrived after 72hours flights (due to the middle east crisis), she simply did not want to help. And the funny thing was, we went and do another booking with other provider, and succeedeed. The staff there also super welcoming and provided extra quick help, knowing our long and tiring journey.

Avis, you need to really put serious attention on how your staff representing your name, and please tell her that yes, we customer do need their/your service, but it is never wrong to show empathy/kindness/solutions.

The team in Liverpool John Lennon Airport were absolutely outstanding to me on Friday 20th March.
My flight had been diverted there from Leeds - Flying from Dublin. I arrived at the car rental extremely upset as I’d been travelling for a family emergency.
I honestly couldn’t have asked for more supportive, empathetic and understanding customer service team. A huge thank you for everything you did for me