Avis - 2 utility bills, dated within the last 3 months
Discussion
I have booked an E-Class out of Heathrow in November through the .co.uk site instead of my usual .com site. I have rented e-class level cars from this location several times including this time last year.. I have never been asked for 2 utility bills, dated within the last 3 months. Do they really expect the UK based people to turn up with these? I see they also want 2 credit cards which I have never done before but is not an issue.
It seems Avis UK run as a separate division to Avis US. That is not unusual. But, they do not provide a consistent experience and also do not recognise my Avis preferred status. As such I don't get the benefits that are meant to come with that which include a free double upgrade.
Also, Heathrow is the worst avis location on the planet by a country mile. Every time I have been there it has been a customer service disaster. Not just me as I observe the same going on with every customer. I wonder if it is because I get there in the very early hours and its all Americans who have booked through the .com site. I have come to the conclusion that they are trying to get out the worst cars while it is still dark.
The last time I was there, they told me they did not have my e-class so I could pay a massive upgrade fee to take a GLC. Eventually, they "kindly" gave me an A6 with 40K miles and the most basic spec I have ever seen. I walked passed a row of e-class cars to get to my Audi that was jammed in. I had to go back to the desk to get them to move the car because I was not going to risk scratching it. It was dark and raining so could not do a proper walk around. Next day and 200 miles away the large scratches all down the side of the car that had been "hidden" became apparent. On return the response was much closer to "f
k you" than "sorry about that and thank you for your business". Yes, the word scratch did appear on the condition report but you do not expect to be driving around in a poverty spec crashed car when you rent "luxury" as a "president's club" member.
I wish I had the choice to vote with my feet.
It seems Avis UK run as a separate division to Avis US. That is not unusual. But, they do not provide a consistent experience and also do not recognise my Avis preferred status. As such I don't get the benefits that are meant to come with that which include a free double upgrade.
Also, Heathrow is the worst avis location on the planet by a country mile. Every time I have been there it has been a customer service disaster. Not just me as I observe the same going on with every customer. I wonder if it is because I get there in the very early hours and its all Americans who have booked through the .com site. I have come to the conclusion that they are trying to get out the worst cars while it is still dark.
The last time I was there, they told me they did not have my e-class so I could pay a massive upgrade fee to take a GLC. Eventually, they "kindly" gave me an A6 with 40K miles and the most basic spec I have ever seen. I walked passed a row of e-class cars to get to my Audi that was jammed in. I had to go back to the desk to get them to move the car because I was not going to risk scratching it. It was dark and raining so could not do a proper walk around. Next day and 200 miles away the large scratches all down the side of the car that had been "hidden" became apparent. On return the response was much closer to "f
k you" than "sorry about that and thank you for your business". Yes, the word scratch did appear on the condition report but you do not expect to be driving around in a poverty spec crashed car when you rent "luxury" as a "president's club" member.I wish I had the choice to vote with my feet.
h0b0 said:
I have never been asked for 2 utility bills, dated within the last 3 months. Do they really expect the UK based people to turn up with these? I see they also want 2 credit cards which I have never done before but is not an issue.
Yup, they're sick of people turning up with false address/licence/credit card who purport to be renting a car for a couple of days but it's never seen again...Panamax said:
h0b0 said:
I have never been asked for 2 utility bills, dated within the last 3 months. Do they really expect the UK based people to turn up with these? I see they also want 2 credit cards which I have never done before but is not an issue.
Yup, they're sick of people turning up with false address/licence/credit card who purport to be renting a car for a couple of days but it's never seen again...h0b0 said:
I had to go back to the desk to get them to move the car because I was not going to risk scratching it. It was dark and raining so could not do a proper walk around. Next day and 200 miles away the large scratches all down the side of the car that had been "hidden" became apparent.
Rented a car from Enterprise. When I got to it the boot of the car was parked suspiciously close to a hedge whereas all the other ones were in a perfect line about 3 ft from the hedge. I moved it forward to discover the paint on the bumper was intact but all crazed and glittery from some impact. I checked the check out sheet to find no damage reported on the bumper. Popped back in to mention it and the assumption was that it was new damage in my care as it was not on the sheet. I had to say: "I literally just signed the paperwork 3 minutes ago and you have CCTV, so check it". The guy went out to check the damage with me and noted it on the check-out sheet after noting my PH body builder anger building.
3 days later on returning the car, another person served me, as mentioned that I was the guy with damage on the car that wasn't noted on the previous rental . I mentioned that it was lucky that they resolved it because if I had to pay for the damage, I may as well have my foot slip off the clutch and damage several of their cars in their compound. He didn't see the funny side of that comment.
Avis (T5 specifically) has always been a curio IMO.
I used to use them every week and as part of a flight/hire booking with BA and they had different rules/deposits/etc., every single week - zero consistency.
There location out at the Holiday Inn on Bath Road is really inconvenient now its moved out of the multi-storey attached to T5 too - Im guessing theyve taken over the space that GreenMotion used to occupy a while back.
But, Avis UK is still way better than the franchise for Dubai which is an absolute nightmare of try-it-on scams post-return. Ive had to report them to both Avis international and the local authorities twice now for false accident reporting and would never use them again from DXB.
I used to use them every week and as part of a flight/hire booking with BA and they had different rules/deposits/etc., every single week - zero consistency.
There location out at the Holiday Inn on Bath Road is really inconvenient now its moved out of the multi-storey attached to T5 too - Im guessing theyve taken over the space that GreenMotion used to occupy a while back.
But, Avis UK is still way better than the franchise for Dubai which is an absolute nightmare of try-it-on scams post-return. Ive had to report them to both Avis international and the local authorities twice now for false accident reporting and would never use them again from DXB.
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