US Car Hire Scam - AVIS unauthorised upgrade - how to resolve?

ivojohn

We recently completed a 6 day road trip in the US and booked a Car via AVIS

The cost of the hire Car was £350 booked and paid for in advanced via a broker found via Skyscanner - car hire comparison. We purchased extra insurance separately. The Car specified was a RAV4 or similar.

On return we were immediately charged an additional $879 for an item described as: @non pkg items

We queried this charge the following day and its seems that we were unknowingly upgraded. We specifically asked them at the desk for the RAV4 but they told us they will get what is available. We did not ask for an upgrade and were not told that this other car would be an additional cost (we were given a Kia Sorento - hardly an upgrade anyway and certainly not something that should TRIPLE our original hire cost). Two of us were at the deck in desk at the time.

They immediately offered to 'half' the additional charge  - which to me demonstrates how common this scam is and how often people need to dispute this.

A quick google seems to show that this is a common scam and their are many examples that mirror our experience exactly.


what is the best course of action? Even the reduced amount will be difficult to pay.

Aylesbury_Duck

Sounds like something to consult your card provider about.  Or maybe your travel insurer for advice?

visidigi

Raise your issue through the broker you booked with. They should be able to assist - the reason why its three times the price for the upgrade is because its not gone through the broker account with their discount.

photome

Have they provided you with a screenshot of what you signed for at the desk…if you signed to say you agreed the upgrade/extra cost I don’t think you will win

if they can’t provide that then you have a good chance with your card provider

I was caught out once many years ago and they did provide a screen shot with my signature 🙁

who was the broker you paid in the UK

ivojohn

thanks everyone for the replies so far @photome - this is the problem - despite two of us being present and sure that no extra charges where mentioned. There may be a chance that it was signed for. Will ask for copies of the signed documents as a starting point.

You can say that we should check what we are signing - however you take people at their word and after a 9 hour flight it isn't always easy to go through pages of small print.

This seems so widespread with US car hire companies Martin Lewis should dedicate a specific section to this. There is no point in protecting yourself from insurance charges if your are deceived this way

ivojohn

we booked through Trip.com

brianposter

What exactly did you sign and why do you not have a copy ?

ivojohn

We have requested copies of the signed docs (they were done on a tablet) but where told it will take up to 7 days

The most frustrating bit is that we didn't get an upgrade:
RAV4 retails from $32k in the US
KIA Sorento retails from $31k in the US

They just class it as an upgrade in their system. But objectively why would 3 adult travellers (2 of whom where at the front desk) agree to triple their rental costs to get a car with an extra row of tiny seats in the back?

In the UK I would be happy to take this to court

• yes, there may be a written agreement to the upgrade
• but we have 2 witnesses to a verbal agreement to the contrary

To me this looks like undue enrichment. I fail to see what 'upgrade ' we actually paid for an wonder if that is an avenue to pursue them?

born_again

Sorento is a bigger car, actual purchase cost does not come into it.
As we know state side bigger is better 🤷‍♀️

Written is going to trump verbal.

But in UK
Sorrento starts  @ £44K to £56K
Rav4  Starts @ £38K to £48K

ivojohn

Not sure the point of this comment?  A RAV4 is bigger than a BMW4 series coupe - I wouldn't expect to pay less for than the BMW based on it being smaller.

The KIA Sorento is 189 inches long.
The RAV4 is 180 inches long

Are you saying the extra 9inches justifies an extra $900.

visidigi

ivojohn said:

Not sure the point of this comment?  A RAV4 is bigger than a BMW4 series coupe - I wouldn't expect to pay less for than the BMW based on it being smaller.

The KIA Sorento is 189 inches long.
The RAV4 is 180 inches long

Are you saying the extra 9inches justifies an extra $900.

Its not relevant. As you said 'its classed as an upgrade in their system' which can class a car any which way it wants.

Its simply not relevant to your situation who, external to Avis values a car one way or another.

Now back to the crux of your problem - what have trip.com said? Do they see it was upgraded on their side or is this an addition to your agreement which is a pure Avis transaction?

You will have to wait for the proof from Avis - lets just hope it wasn't buried deep in a T&C document they didn't let you sufficiently read through.