Avis Reviews 933

Where do I start....

Arriving in Pisa airport to collect my car on the 13rd of October 2025 - and returning 6 days later!

This is for sure the worst experience ever with a car rental agency, what a pity I did not read the reviews before.....!

I am an Avis Preferred Plus customer, whatever that means. Nonetheless I was scammed at the counter by the clerk - who apparently charged me for an insurance (which I already had from my Mastercard Platinum) and additional charges, which amounted to more than what I actually paid for the car for the 6 days I had it..... What the f'''''k

DO NOT USE AVIS - there are so many others to choose from - who actually care about their customers. Who does not cheat them - and who is authentic and serviceminded....!

I will never use Avis again for sure.

DO NOT RENT AVIS HERE, or anywhere based on this experience. I contracted to pick up a car at Bari airport at 7pm. I arrived at 7pm. The desk had a crowd gathered around. I stood, waited. Some kind person said you have to take a ticket for your place in line. There were no instructions whatsoever! I took a number, #44. They were working on #2. There had to be 60 or more of us waiting once people de-planed and gathered around. 60 customers, TWO agents. After more than three hours got my car. Are you in high demand at this airport, Avis? Great, then send no less than 8 agents to process your customers. Will Avis refund me the three hours I was shorted? My contract was for 7pm. If I were late three hours I’d be charged. Will NEVER rent from Avis again. By the way, make use of virtually any other rental company at this airport including Hertz. No lines.

Used the rental office in Florence airport.

Heinous tactics used to put add ons on after playing upfront.

The customer service is shocking and trying to reach a person who will properly look at your claim is nearly impossible.

Avoid at all costs. You will end up paying for it otherwise.

Avoid Avis car hire at Brindisi Airport at all costs. The customer service is appalling with agents consistently using tactics to sell add ons. I have been charged twice and adhered to all T's & C's. Almost all customers ahead of me had numerous issues when dealing with Avis agents, ranging from incorrect drivers on bookings, no booking at all despite arranging and booking ahead, changes of vehicle that was not booked and down grading of cars. It is the worst car hire customer experience I have ever encountered. Complete rogues!

Avis is scamming me. I am from NY and rented a car in Italy picking up at Ciampino airport and returning to Fiumicino airport. When I picked up my rental, it was hit in multiple places. I sent pictures complaining the next day that it’s ridiculous they obviously charged someone for the damage and never fixed it. Why should I have to drive in a ghetto car when I’m paying money to rent it? Fast forward to drop off, this agent who helps me has the audacity to say there’s tire damage that wasn’t notated by Avis before and he was trying to pin it on me. He asked if I had any photos but I was in a rush to get to my plane and said he believed me anyway and I was good to go so we ran to security. I found photos my husband took when we picked up the car while we were on the plane and proactively sent them to the case I already had opened when I originally complained. I also mentioned that I didn’t want to see unexpected damage charges on my account. Now I am seeing a charge for over $1700 when I should have been charged closer to $800. Avis is scamming me for damage caused by someone else. Here are all the photos to prove it wasn’t me. These photos are all taken in the parking lot at pick up before I even drove the car. I will never rent from Avis again since they are thieves.

Never again — WORST EXPERIENCE EVER.
Avis Rome Fiumicino operates with zero values, and here’s why:
1. My rental was quoted at ~250€ online. In the end, I was charged double.
2. There was no signage to the Avis office (they had apparently moved buildings), making the process even more frustrating.
3. Check-in was a nightmare — nearly one hour of waiting with only five people ahead of me.
4. At registration, the staff was blatantly unprofessional: the agent was rude, took a personal call while “assisting” me, and tried to downgrade me to a car far below the tier I had paid for. When I objected, she openly complained to her colleague about me, and instead of addressing her behavior, he backed her up — all in front of me.
5. The clerk falsely told me I had no protection at all and tried to pressure me into buying unnecessary insurance. In reality, my rental already included coverage with an excess in case of accident. This was not a misunderstanding — the entire conversation was in Italian, so there was no chance of “lost in translation.” It was a blatant upsell attempt.
6. The car had a broken windscreen that was not even mentioned in the contract.
7. The final insult: Avis later called asking for a 10-star review in exchange for a 10% discount. Do they really think anyone would sell their integrity for €50?

This company shows nothing but disregard for its customers. It should not even be in business. Close your doors — WORST EXPERIENCE EVER.

Dubious business practices.
I rented a car from AVIS in Italy and paid the entire rental fee of €452.32 in advance. When using the car, I adhered fully to the agreed terms and conditions. After my return, I received a bill for €1,076.69, which is completely unjustified. The amount has already been charged to my credit card.
What's almost worse is that AVIS's customer support is non-existent. Not a single email was answered, not a single request for a callback was fulfilled, and the phone was never answered or simply hung up on.
After many years and countless rentals with AVIS (my status is therefore “Presidents Club”), that's it for me. I will never rent from AVIS again.

AVIS is a scam, charging Airport fees and repairing costs without informing. Never rent there!!

If I could give my experience zero stars, I would.

Renter beware. I picked my car up in Florence, drove it to Todi, parked it and drove it to Rome 2 days later. There are superficial scratches under the car, they are saying I made. I did NOT. They fraudulently charged my Credit Card for 2000. The damage was there when I picked up the car. The contract for the car, the color doesn't even match the color of the car I rented. I have heard nothing back from Avis. This is a complete SCAM! Do not rent from this company!! I am going to fight this with my insurance, CC, and possibly take them to small claims court- they can cover these expenses. This is the most ridiculous experience I have ever had.

Terrible experience—my car had a flat tire. It was a nightmare trying to contact someone in customer service, had to hold over 30 minutes. They towed the car but told me I’d have to go to Siena—an hour away to get a replacement. Ruined a short holiday break not having a car. Now fighting for a refund 😡

I rented a car with full coverage and cross-border option at the Avis office in Trieste Airport. On the second day at 15:45, the car broke down in the middle of rural Slovenia. The international roadside assistance was terrible—nobody spoke English, loads of calls and every time we were left on hold for over 30 minutes. Desperate, stuck in the forest with no food, no water, and no shelter, we called the Avis office directly. The operator was completely unhelpful, repeating things like “Call roadside assistance, I can’t do anything, it’s not my job, it’s not my problem…”

We eventually had to call the Slovenian police to rescue us from the forest at 23:00. The next day we returned to the Trieste office for a replacement car. The same Avis employee, extremely rude and disrespectful, once again told us it was not his problem. No apology, no professionalism, no support. They simply abandoned us without the slightest concern.

We had to spend over €300 on taxis. When I asked to file a complaint, the same employee told me to “check the Avis website” because it was not his job. Once again, zero help.

Without any doubt, this is the worst service I have ever received from a car rental company.

We hired a car from Avis via a 3rd party so paid for everything inc insurances up front. We refused their add ons on arrival. When we return the cars we were told no charges and then they had a small screen for us to sign on. Anyway upon returning home we were had a charge on each car - both totally different prices. We were then told that it was for loss damage waiver, location fees and VAT and we had signed the agreement. So they lied to get us to sign. We should have checked the paperwork before we left the desk but they take advantage of the fact you are focusing on getting your flight and we took them at their word. One car chatge was £25 and the other £108. Tried to argue to as why would we agree to pay for something we already paid for but we havent been successful. Please double check your paperwork and dont trust them.

Used AVIS for the first time at Malpensa, Italy. I’m always a bit apprehensive about using car hire companies for the first time as I have been stung before (BTW never use Goldcar!). Pleasantly surprised, no issues whatsoever. Veronica on the desk was fantastic. Our flight was delayed, but they emailed me not to worry and they would keep our booking and have the car available until 2:00am, not that was necessary. Car pick up was really easy and again no issues on return. Happy customer.

The absolutely worst experience ever. The rules and regulations are so complicated, but they always seem to translate into more money is needed. None of Avis‘s offices in Italy work in concert. If you make a contract in Rome and have a problem in Naples, you are entirely screwed. The fact that Avis has a very limited variety of cars available is annoying, but pales in comparison with the tricky way they handle insurance. Do not get insurance from Avis. If you have the misfortune to use Avis as your car rental company, do it through Expedia and get insurance through Expedia. But I would just advise to avoid Avis entirely and use Europcar instead. They may seem to charge more upfront, but when all is said and done, Avis will pull a fortune out of you before your trip is over.

I reserved a 7 passenger van for 6 days through Expedia. Pick up at the Rome airport and drop off at the Venice airport. They would not honor the Expedia price and said I needed another $1000 worth of insurance. I argued it down to $700 more and they said to call in later to resolve. This was after flying all night and 6 of us with luggage sitting in a parking garage. Rome Avis pick up was a cluster F. They gave me a van with the tire light on and adding air did not help. 2 hours later they brought a second van. As we drove out the DEF fluid light came on flashing. It took another hour to bring back for fluid. I returned it 45 minutes past the original rental time and they charged an extra day even though they delayed us 3 hours. It has been 3 months of calling and them saying it is under review. Do not rent Avis in Italy.

Oh my god! How horrible it was! We waited about 1.5 hours in Marco Polo Airport in Venice to collect a pre-booked car. The procedure was extremely slow, and they lack staff.

Avis Venice is a scam operation, pure mafia. Once they have your credit card they steal your money. Do not!!!!! Do not!!!! use this company

I booked the car on trip.com for $546. As soon as I arrived in LA, the agent pushed a whole series of unwanted upgrades and rushed me into signing the contract without explaining the costs. In the end, I was scammed because the reservation went up to $1220. Terrible service… I will never book with Avis again and I’ll make sure to warn all my friends.

We had made a reservation for a mini car for 6 days at a total cost of €266. Prior to pickup, we received a phone call in which we were offered full coverage insurance for €32 (including all taxes and fees), which we accepted.

However, upon arriving at the rental office, we were informed that the total charge would be €722. When we questioned the discrepancy, we were told that insurance was €52 per day. We attempted to show our original reservation and explain the prior offer we received, but the staff member refused to look at the documents and responded in an aggressive and dismissive manner.

We asked for clarification about the charges and whether there were additional items we could opt out of. She refused to explain further, stating only that she had applied a discount and that €638 was the final amount and that taxes are 42%. The agreement included items such as a damage waiver, windshield protection, and other extras that were never explained to us or agreed upon in advance.

Given that we were already behind schedule and unable to get a clear explanation, we felt pressured to proceed with the rental. To add to our frustration, the vehicle we were given was not clean and was not fully fueled.

And just to add to the bad experience, upon returning the car, we fueled the car up to the same level as we received it and found out that they charged us another €55

Awful experience when we rented a car from Palermo airport. Four days into the holiday and the car had a fault. We reported it and were told it would be picked up. Then we were to go to Sciacca the nearest town in a taxi( which would be reimbursed) and pick up our new car from the Avis office there. There isn't an Avis office in Sciacca! We were left with no other solution than to hire from a different company as Avis Budget would not answer calls especially when we spoke English. The calls were dropped. They took the money for 2 weeks car hire and only supplied a car for 4 days. They have not reimbursed the taxi fare. They should not be in business!