Avis Rent A Car

This company was so unprofessional, they threatened
me that because my insurance had not paid yet for the rental that they reported the car to loss prevention and were actively looking for the car. I had been in the store not even 24 hours before and explained the situation and they were fine with it. The next call is I’m a criminal and they are looking for me??? And to add insult they wont rent or extend my contract, Even after my insurance called and told them the check is in the mail…“I should go rent somewhere else!!!” Don’t rent from Avis on memorial spare yourself the grief! What jerks!!!

I’d rent from them again if I had to, thank goodness I don’t have to.
The location:
The store is located in an «outhouse» in an old car lot that long ago shut down. The parking lot looks like a bomb zone and they have a metal corral surrounding the place that they lock up anywhere between 30 mins and 1 hour before closing time (convenient?).
The Employees:
The employees I dealt with are like night and day. The first, an older gentleman with gray hair and a beard, was quite professional and helpful. If you absolutely must rent from this location I’d call and inquire about his hours because you do not want the second guy.
Guy number 2 was a weekend employee. He appeared to be about 22 and possibly worked in the body shop behind the place but watched the counter on weekeneds (not a good impression when the guy that takes your keys is covered in grease and wearing a monkey-​suit). He was gruff and carried a thick Oklahoma accent. Thankfully I married an Oklahoma girl (gal?) and can usually make out the general idea of what they’re trying to convey.
The Rental:
I’m a corporate traveler with over 1300 rentals under my belt, usually with Enterprise. Avis happened to email me a good price on a weekend though and I thought it would be nice to expand my network of rental locations so I gave them a try. My job is to handle the databases for many of CitiCorp’s locations. I am often onsite for 24 hours or more working overnight to resolve issues and set up systems. At this point I knew I’d have seven locations to access and would likely be up until 3 – 4 AM on Saturday. I asked about closing times for the return on Sunday and was assured that as long as I made it by the time the corral closed at noon that I’d be ok, but if I didn’t that I’d be charged for another day ($ 51.50).
Well, I happened to make it to the desk for my return by 11AM but our Mr Professional guy isn’t there today… Instead we have the weekend help, complete with mechanic’s monkey suit and greasy hair and fingers. This gentleman takes my keys and says in a deep oklahoma drawl, «I’m gunna go chek it owt.»
Ok, no prob.
He returns and asks me if I’d like to keep the $ 40.00 on the same card — I’m sorry, what?
He says, «You shoulda been here at 10. It’s 11. It’s $ 40.00 for anotha hour.» Note above that it’s $ 51.50 for an entire day… Good thing I wasn’t 2 hours late or I’d have been out $ 80.00 at this rate!
I said, «Really? You’re hitting me $ 40 bux when my rental is only $ 50.00 a day?» Then I tell him in a casual and offhanded tone that in all my time of renting vehicles I’ve never had a problem with a return that was same-​day. He stares at the keyboard and says, «I’not chargin ya» —-long pause here while he hunt-​pecks the keyboard and I begin to think maybe he’s not a jerk after all. Then he says… — — «tha c’puter is.»
So I dropped it and took it up with Corporate. No sense in arguing with a mechanic. They were quite friendly and very helpful. I wholeheartedly recommend that if you have a problem at what appears to be a privately owned branch that you skip the headache and take it up with their corporate customer service.
Thankfully for me the charge was reversed and all ended well, but I my next rental will be at the location at 2501 West Memorial Road if I ever rent from Avis again.
Edit Sunday, June 8^th, 2014: Dropped from two stars to one star for the owner’s comment below. «Shudda turned it in on time n’ read-​ed yer papers, boyh!».
Yeah. I’ll do that next time. Oh wait, there won’t BE a next time. Our corporate dollars will stay with Enterprise and Hertz, who don’t make verbal agreements they can’t handle.
Have a fantastic day!