car hire scam AVIS

mgdavid

don't feed the troll...

zorrowales

Well some interesting replies guys

it appears only phillip 1988 got the point

Anyway for those who are interested & dont want to be ripped off -

you would think that Avis would take the money from the pre authorised payment that they have taken / blocked / ring-fenced / reserved / whatever you want to call it - on my account

not take a totally seperate payment & then still leave the blocked money blocked on my account - after the contract was ended

iN EFFECT THEY TOOK THE MONEY TWICE FOR 12 DAYS

Their Customer service people admitted as much
They get continually hammered by clients complaining about just this

Anyway - you have been warned about their practice

pete428

they cant use the held money towards payment of the extension. if you used up the held money on extending, then left the car back damaged or not full of fuel they have no deposit held to re-claim those charges.

i feel your pain, but it is pretty normal practice with hire car companies.

sally75_2

zorrowales wrote: »

CAR HIRE SCAM 1 - AVIS - TAKING MONEY TWICE
Car Hire - Wow what an experience i have just had - I think i have uncovered aMassive worldwide scam.
I have hired a lot of cars for my staff in the last 3 years & have rarely used AVIS as they have been too expensive.
i wont be using them again -
We hired a car from Bristol recently , all other cars were booked it was a last minute thing -
All was fine , a bit expensive , but needs must.
They took payment from my card - £160 + fuel deposit / No problem
We then extended that hire for another week - No problem another payment taken from my card
I now noticed that the payments were NOT showing as been extracted from my account / but the availability of the £320 had been blocked on my account - No problem , i am experienced , i have seen that before.
A 3rd week hire was taken up , again the blockage - went up to - £480.00 - no problem
OR SO I THOUGHT !!!!
on day 21 ( 3 weeks hire ) we returned the car.
My account was blocked by £480.00
On day 23 - AVIS Took £480.00 from my account - A payment showed on my account as out-going.
NO PROBLEM I THOUGHT -
UNTIL I LOOKED TO THE LEFT HAND COLUMN -
THERE MY AVAILABILITY WAS STILL BLOCKED - BY £480.00
SO AVIS HAD BLOCKED £480.00 & TOOK £480.00 - LEAVING ME £960 OUT OF POCKET ON A £480 TRANSACTION
ANNOYINGLY THIS PUSHED ME £200 INTOOVERDRAFT ALSO - CAUSING FEES TO BE ADDED £35.00
I CALLED THEM & THEY SAID THAT THEY HAD RETURNED THE MONEY TO THE BANK & IT WOULD BE RESTORED TO MY ACCOUNT ANY DAY SOON -
3 DAYS LATER NOTHING - SO I CALLED CUST SERVICES / A POOR STRESSED CHAP EVEN MORE STRESSED AFTER ME COMPLAINING TO HIM - ADMITTED THAT THE WHOLE DEPT IN HUNGARY SPENT 90% OF THEIR TIME DEALING WITH THESE CALLS .- HE KINDLY GAVE ME £50 COMPENSATION TO COVER MY OVERDRAFT FEES.
HE SAID I WILL CONTACT YOUR BANK TODAY TO GET THE MONEY RETURNED TO YOU WITHIN 24 HOURS.
NOTHING MATERIALISED.
REMEMBER THIS IS NOT A DEPOSIT RETURN /THIS IS TAKING MONEY TWICE .
I CALLED CUST SERVICES TWICE MORE - 2 MRE STRESSED PERSONNEL / I MEAN STRESSED !!
NOTHING SO I CALLED THE UK MD ( HIS NUMBER IS ON LINE ) HE CALLED & SAID HE WOULD UPGRADE THE COMPLAINT TO HIS EXECUTIVE PERSONELL INCUST SERVICES
LOVELY LADY DEBORAH KANE - GOT ME THROUGH TO HIM
ANYWAY I HAD A CALL FROM EXEC CUST SERVICES AGAIN - GRANT - AGAIN TELLING ME THE COMPANY LINE
THIS IS DAY 7 NOW SINCE THE MONEY WAS TAKEN - IN Y BOOK THEY HAD TAKEN / STOLEN MY MONEY FOR 7 DAYS NOW - STOLEN - THATS TOO STRONG A WORD ISN'T IT ????
CALL YOUR BANK HE SAID - GET AN EMAIL ADDRESS THAT WE CAN SEND THEM INSTRUCTIONS TO RELEASE YOUR MONEY -
I CALLED THEM - BARCLAYS LADY COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT I WAS ONABOUT ( ANOTHER STORY )
I HAD TO USE PAYING AT TESCO EXPERIENCES ON YOUR CARD TO EXPLAIN... STILL DIDNT SINK
ANYWAY - SHE EVENTUALLY SAID - AVIS HAVETHE RIGHT TO TAKE THAT MONEY UNTIL APRIL 2 -2014.
DAY 12 THE MONEY WILL BE AVAILABLE..
EVENTUALLY THE MONEY WAS UNBLOCKED ON DAY 13
SO THEY HAD STOLEN MY MONEY FOR 13 DAYS.
I ESTIMATE - MY £500.00 X 2 MILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE ( AVIS IS A BIG WORLDWIDE COMPANY )
= £1 BILLION IS BEING HELD IN AVIS'S ACCOUNT.
THIS IS FOR 12 DAYS ONLY REMEMBER.......
12 DAYS HAPPENS 30.5 TIMES PER YEAR.
SO 30.5 X £1BILLION = £30,500,000,000.00 / 30 BILLION , 500 MILLION POUNDS.
NOW THAT FIGURE IS KINDA FRIGHTENING HUH ?????
IF THIS HAS HAPPENED TO YOU - BOMBARD THIS SITE - LETS SEE IF WE CAN MAKE THINGS HAPPEN TOGETHER AS A FORCE-
SINCE THE CRUNCH BIG CORPORATES HAVE TRIED EVERY SCAM GOING
BECAUSE THEY KNOW NOBODY EXPECTS ANYTHING BETTER FROM THEM
STAND UP GOOD PEOPLE AND REPORT ANYTHING -
IT IS THE ONLY WAY WE WILL WIN -
EVIL PREVAILS WHILE GOOD MEN STAND BY & DO NOTHING
ZORROWALES

i have experienced the same with avis rented with them lots.. have been trying to clarify how they release funds back to your card and have been fobbed off by various staff members who have all told me conflicting answers.. can somebody clarify to me if they release funds and take a payment or used blocked funds.. this rental was extended 3 times thanks!!

NiftyDigits

sally75 wrote: »

i have experienced the same with avis rented with them lots.. have been trying to clarify how they release funds back to your card and have been fobbed off by various staff members who have all told me conflicting answers.. can somebody clarify to me if they release funds and take a payment or used blocked funds.. this rental was extended 3 times thanks!!

If the rental was extended, why would they release the deposit?
Clearly a separate payment is necessary.

sally75_2

I understand a payment is necessary and the final invoice amount has been paid but they are still not releasing the pre authorised ammounts

rustyboy21

My eyes are bleeding !!!