Avis car hire UK - Car not roadworthy?

Sam_Bam

Hello Everybody
Hired a car through Avis in July. Pick up was from Gatwick airport. Staff were lovely and told me that there were three small areas of damage on the car, and that if I found anything else I should just take a picture and tell them when I returned the car. 

Got to the car and found a  lot more that three areas of damage.  There were small dents, scratches, stains, holes in the carpet, and the boot shelf was missing a plastic button etc.  When we got in the car it smelt of cigarette smoke, even though there was a no smoking policy!
I took pictures of everything and drove away as the girl on reception had said to do.

I had hired a 5 seater, and the car hire was for 5 days. 
On the fourth day of the rental myself and my children went to pick up my parents for a day out.
My mum sat in the middle back seat of the car, and when she went to use the seatbelt the buckle was stuck behind a plastic button on the belt and would not move, rendering the seatbelt unusable.
The day out had to be cancelled, as I could not take all four passengers in the car.

When I returned the car the man who greeted us didn't really bother to inspect the vehicle, and when I told him about the problems he told me to speak to Avis head office. 
I have complained to the head office 3 times, and sent photos of all of the problems, but I've heard nothing.

The poor condition of the vehicle was extremely disappointing, but the fact that the middle back seatbelt was unusable meant that I had not been supplied with the car I had paid for - a five seater.
I also assume that a fitted seatbelt that does not function is an MOT failure, meaning that the car was not actually roadworthy.

I have asked Avis for a full refund as I was not supplied with the car that I had reserved, AND the car was not roadworthy in my opinion, but as I previously said I've had nothing back from them, and from reading their reviews on Trustpilot I imagine that I'm in a long queue of people also waiting for replies and refunds.

Any advice?

[Deleted User]

A full refund might be a bit much as you didn't reject the car right away, and got some use out of it. What is the response to your complaint?

Sam_Bam

Hello Rigolith
I simply received a case number when I complained, and I've since responded to their email with photos and to chase them up, but all I get is a standard email to say that they'll come back to me.  It's now three weeks ago.  
Didn't reject the car as we only discovered that the seat belt didn't work on the fourth day of the rental.  Only rented it for 5 days.
The bad state of the car was just disappointing -  the fact that it turned out not to be a five seater, and technically not roadworthy, is why I'm asking for a full refund. 

brianposter

Sounds like a 20% refund might be fair.

[Deleted User]

If they are ignoring you then try your bank.

Sam_Bam

[Deleted User] said:

If they are ignoring you then try your bank.

A huge Thank You, Rigolith, for your post.  I got in touch with my credit card company, MBNA, as you suggested.  Told them the situation with the car not being road worthy, and that I wanted a full refund.  They asked me for all of the correspondence between myself and Avis, which I sent to them via their secure email.  Shortly after that MBNA came back to me to confirm that Avis have agreed to refund me in full, and the money was in my bank the next day.  MBNA were really helpful in the whole process. 
Whilst all this was happening Avis came back to me offering a £20 voucher towards my next rental with them, which is an insult, and just shows how Avis don't take their customers, or their customer's complaints seriously.
Thanks again for the advice.

[Deleted User]

You're welcome.