I dont see how it is not your fault...you didnt take the extra insurance therefore when you have an

How we use your email Fodor's may use your e-mail address to send you relevant information on site updates, account changes, and offers. For more information about your privacy hotels florence italy and protection, please review our full Privacy Policy .
Hi Palmer and welcome to Fodors. Nice that you joined so you could post this. We are all a bunch of really nice people who like to sit around and compliment each other on great posts. hotels florence italy If I may be so bold though,
HAVE YOU EVER RENTED A CAR BEFORE!?! hotels florence italy Whew, don't know where that came from. See, there is this thing that rental companies tell you about, that fill up thing. Pretty much anyone that has ever rented a car knows about this scam and fills up prior to drop-off or bites the bullet.
What probably happened to you, is that you had only a regular Collision damage waiver, so you had to pay your participation of 750 Euro plus 23% VAT. ( Look at the term and conditions of Avis, at www.avis.gr )
Anytime you rent a car in Europe, whether through Avis or another company, you're obligated to return it with a full tank of gas or you'll get hosed in costs by the rental company to refill it. Your fault, hotels florence italy not Avis's.
Aside from that Avis is a franchise, so any complaints would be about one place, or at least one general area/country as to practices. What happens in Avis in Greece is irrelevant to Avis in other countries.
On arrival, me and my two friends, who are witnesses to everything, had to wait at the counter for a while, because no car was immediately available. We were asked to take out extra insurance, but as I rarely ever have a problem we declined.
He never checked the state of the car with us. Even when I went back to ask for some explanation about the handbrake system, he only gave some explanations from the distance, but never bothered to come back to the car.
The three of us (me, Dr Caranza and Mr Foulk) looked at the car ourselves. We noted a small scratch at the back of the car, but assumed the company was aware of this. Having rented cars in other locations where the car hire companies were not worried about handing cars to me with far more damage, we assumed that this small mark was irrelevant.
When we returned the car on Monday in exactly the same condition as we received it, the Avis man on receiving the car immediately went to the back, pointed to the small scratch and said that this was our fault and that he was charging us for a replacement bumper.
We have rented from Avis in Athens on three occasions and had no problems, nor did we experience problems with them in Germany or Austria. EuropCar is actually the only rental company that has caused us a headache by charging bogus charges to our credit card months after the rental, which AutoEurope took care of for us.
Don't think it has anything to do with other rental companies. Just people who go through life clueless - and then are amazed/horrified/scandalized and hysterical when expected to follow the same rules as everyone hotels florence italy else.
And YES, I think business and life is about honesty, fainess and trust. Like one of the posters, hotels florence italy I would not mind is there is fly's merde on the screen. hotels florence italy In return, I may have been lucky but I never had a dispute with a car rental company because of dust and more little scratches.
(2) If you see a scratch... at the minimum, take a picture of it, or - better - a series of pictures showing that you're in the rental company's lot. Make sure the picture is time stamped. This will be evidence enough to win any case.
remember that they are the ones who rented the car and nobody really cares that they had some bad experience because they were too lazy to do their homework/due diligence/whatever you want to call it.
We were given a car which IMO was nicer than the type/category I had reserved. GPS was included at no charge, and there was no charge for pick-up/drop-off in different locations. The car was in good shape, both interior and exterior, and very clean.
They didn't want to give me back the amount of money that they took unfairly. I didn't want the full amount, because hotels florence italy I understand hotels florence italy that I didn't return the car with the tank full of fuel, but just because I had an accident, and even the police said my car was not able to drive anymore, so I went to the closest AVIS store, instead of going to the petrol station. I understand if they charge me some money for that, but not the full tank. After claiming hotels florence italy by phone and email, hotels florence italy they didn't want to give me back my money. I was so upset for this unfairly thing, that I went to the office where I picked up the car, and fortunately, the kind man working in the office, the only fair worker from avis I have ever met, give me back the money charged for the fuel tank.
But I am still waiting, after 8 months, for getting back my money charged because of the accident. I know the fault was not mine. But after emailing them 20 times, they always say they are not able to reach the responsible, hotels florence italy the insurance companies don't respond and so on. They always give me excuses.
And yes, I read the contract, which says that in case of accident they would charge me 800 pounds, and later, if the insurances companies decide that it is was not my fault, hotels florence italy they will give me back, but in the contract they dont say that they lack of professionalism to help the customers, or keep the customer inform when they have paid a unfair amount of money.
I know I took the risk. Anyway the fault was not mine. there was a policeman who witnessed the accident. but the problem is that the lorry driver is from Poland, and I rented the car in London and the accident was in Dover's port. And they say they cannot hotels florence italy find the lorry driver nor the insurance company. I filled all the required documentation with all the details required after the accident, the policeman helped to do so. I am almost one year waiting for an answer. It is sad that a big company like AVIS struggle to find a lorry driver or an insurance company, even if it is out of England. They have offices and stores in everywhere. It should be easier for them. And it is not just that. They didn't take a copy of any document I filled. I have had to send them twice the documents with the driver and company details. and I email them every month to know about my case, otherwise, I wouldn't hotels florence italy know how the case is going on, because they never contact me to let me know about it. I am starting to be tired of emailing them and not been informed. It is like they dont care about my situation, the 800 pounds they took from me and being not my fault, they still don't email me to inform me. If i dont email them in 2 months, they dont give me information about the case. That is not professional for a big company like them. NEVER AVIS.
And what about the fuel? they charged me for the whole tank, even having the accident 2 hours after I picked up the car. You think that is fair? At least there was a nice guy in the store who sorted it out for me, giving me back the money of the full tank. However, after calling and emailing them some times, they just said that they couldn't give me back my money that they charged for the full tank, even if I just used a quarter or even less of the tank, and that I couldn't fill it up because the car was not able to drive. NEVER AVIS.
Neveravis, once foreign vehicles leave the UK the drivers are very hard to track down, and many get away without paying fines for traffic offences. How much trouble and expense do you think Avis will expend trying to get back the 800 for you? You took a chance, and now you are paying for it. Live and learn.
I dont see how it is not your fault...you didnt take the extra insurance therefore when you have an accident, even when it is not your fault, you will pay. That is why you pay for the extra insurance.
This all sounds pretty fishy to me. If you are an experienced renter you already know what the rules are with insurance. In Australia and New Zealand the excess is about $3,000, this being reduced hotels florence italy right down if you pay the extra. You need to access if it is worth it and in an area that is likely to have other tourists driving in unfamiliar areas let alone any bad local drivers then obviously hotels florence italy it is worth the extra. I recently had a few days in my own country at a crowded tourist spot and took out the extra insurance, felt so much more relaxed about driving in the area. I only rent from the 'top four' including Avis and Budget and have never had a problem. Also if you don't return the car with the tank filled up they will charge a premium so it's your fault if you didn't do that. Try posting something positive about your trip and next time remember to read the small print before driving off..
I experienced a similar situation with Hertz in Australia. There was pre existing damage on a black car, a missing drivers hotels florence italy side door lock cover exposing bare metal. The damage was so obvious that I wrongly hotels florence italy assumed they knew about it .
I rented a car with Avis last July in Tenerife, Spain. Although my pre-paid rental included local taxes and surcharges, Avis added a total of $720 in "additional insurance, taxes, hotels florence italy fuel and other optional products/services" that were never mentioned at the time of rental or in my confirmation certificate. I tried to dispute the charges, but to no avail. Avis insisted that since I had signed the contract, I had to pay all the charges mentioned in it. So, beware.
Yes, car rental companies often have obtuse contracts and try to hose the customer every chance possible. People who rent regularly are aware of this and know how to protect themselves. But, this kind of victim blaming is beneath us all. A bit of sympathy hotels florence italy with the useful information hotels florence italy would perhaps be more appropriate?
Flew into San Diego Airport in August 2014 for a vacation with my wife. The car hire had all been arranged before we travelled. I had also arranged and paid for additional insurance, so I wouldn't need to take out any once there. However, when uplifting the car I was asked to 'sign' (using small PDA's) the contracts.