Jonathan sent a message to Ronald L. Nelson – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Avis Budget Group, Inc. – email address that said:
Good afternoon Mr. Nelson. I'm writing you a quick email to let you know of an experience I had while renting one of your companies vehicles a few weeks ago. I rented a vehicle from your Bradley International Airport location towards the end of July. Upon checkout I asked for the additional insurance coverage as my auto insurer had advised me to do; the transaction was rejected by my credit card company immediately. So I paid the $493.00 for the weekend rental and left a bit nervous. As I proceeded on my journey, I call my Credit Card Company to inquire as to why the second transaction for additional accident insurance was rejected; they stated the counter person at Avis attempted to charge me twice for the car rental and had entered the same transaction ID and amount twice; hence the second transaction was rejected.
Moving along on my journey, I discovered several hours later that I had a screw in the drivers side front tire; but no low pressure indicator or warning lights had come on; so we proceeded on to our destination, which did arrive at with no interruptions. As the tire stared to bother me, I called AVIS roadside assistance and was informed that I could either change the tire myself or have a replacement vehicle sent over; I chose to have the replacement vehicle sent over as I figured I was spending $500.00 to rent this vehicle why should I have to change the tire myself. After waiting for the replacement vehicle to arrive I received a text stating the vehicle was on its way; I was then notified by AVIS roadside assistance that since I didn't have any additional insurance, I would be charged quite a bit of money for the replacement vehicle (towing charges I believe); of course I was livid and chose to cancel the replacement. I took the vehicle to a local Firestone and had the tire fixed at a cost to me of $21.00.
When we gave the car back I assumed all was good and the transaction complete; imagine my surprise when three days ago AVIS charged me $30.00 for tolls; I remember looking at the FastPass in the car but since no one explained to me that this was active I naturally paid all the tolls as I went thru them with my own money.
Im not writing you to complain or look for anything for personal gain sir, I am wring you to let you know as a first time renter from AVIS I will not be returning for a second time.
I was completely disillusioned as to what renting a car and the experience would be like. I should have been told at the counter what the options were if the car brokedown or I had a flat or something of that nature and furthermore I should have been informed the FastPass was active and tolls would be charged back to my account. Things I would have assumed to be entry level conversation between AVIS' rental agency staff and the renter. Regardless we enjoyed our experiences and the weekend went relatively well.
Thank you so much for reading this.
Sincerely,
Jonathan
