Avis Budget Group Reviews 311

I received a charge on my debit card on 3/12/26 at 9:19pm in the amount of $789.09. The next day I called because it gave me the location of the charge which was in Myrtle Beach, SC. They informed me that I had to call customer service. I called and spoke with multiple agents who could not find my name, card number, phone number, or email in their system. Finally I received an email this week that told me to call a different number, so I did. Once again I spoke with multiple people and multiple divisions and nothing. My bank told me that the charge was forced through and there was nothing I could do. I have never rented a vehicle from them, I don't even have a drivers license!

Please avoid renting from AVIS Budget in Grenoble to discourage their scammy practices. The staff will try to scam you with a smile on their face.

I got flat out scammed for €250 for a 6 day rental - 41784198GB1

This review concerns only the Grenoble Airport location - I had very good experience with them in many other locations. However there have been a large number of reviews reporting similar issues in Grenoble and the leadership doesn't seem to care.

I booked a compact SUV for 16-21 March 2026 for a trip to Les 2 Alpes (reservation 41784198GB1) for a total of €313. When I got to pick up the car, the lady at the reception asked where I plan to travel. When I told her the destination is Les 2 Alpes she informed us it was MANDATORY by law to have winter tires, which must be upgraded separately as the car we chose did not have them. This was a blatant lie, as the law in France requires (in specific mountain areas, including Les 2 Alpes) EITHER equipped winter tyres OR to have wheel snow chains/socks with you. We knew this and we were planning to either buy our own from a gas station or choose a different "snow chains" upgrade that was €90 for the entire rental.
However, the winter tyre upgrade is €45 + VAT PER DAY, as such the lady instructed us we must purchase that one - as she likely earned a higher commission on the upsale.

As we trusted the staff vs our own research in a matter concerning French road laws, we did pay for the upgrade totalling £250.
We later realised we got scammed however it was too late.

She could have been honest and informed us correctly, instead she was incentivized by the commission and chose to mislead us.

Furthermore, the first car she gave us did not even have snow tyres on. She said it does, but when we checked for the standardized symbols it was clear they were summer tyres. Only after showing this to her she gave us a similar car but with winter tyres on.

For anyone reading, you DO NOT have to have winter tyres IF you carry snow chains / socks while in those areas. Furthermore, officers CAN require you to fit snow chains / socks depending on conditions EVEN if you have snow tyres.

As an Avis President’s Club member who has booked exclusively through Avis for years, I’ve now had three serious incidents that show a disturbing pattern of poor billing and service:
issues:

I was charged a $50 cancellation fee after being told I “booked incorrectly” and even accused of making a reservation in the future, despite clear screenshots and timestamps.

I was wrongly billed for a parking ticket that was not my fault, and Avis refused to contact the local owner who had offered to take responsibility.

In Phoenix, I was given a visibly damaged vehicle and documented it with time‑stamped photos, yet was later told I was responsible for the damage and threatened with a charge.

Each time, I had to spend significant time fighting for a correction. The most recent case was escalated to executive relations, where I was told my account was “fully refunded” when it clearly was not, and they offered no meaningful goodwill to a loyal, top‑tier customer.

Given this pattern of opaque billing, poor accountability, and dismissive service, I have canceled all future Avis rentals and will be moving my business to another provider. I would not recommend Avis to anyone who values transparency and fair treatment.

Absolutely appalling, almost criminal. We returned our car to Bordeaux Airport Budget/Avis in perfect condition after a three day rental. Due to a long queue of traffic into the airport we were at risk of being late for our flight and handed in the keys, too trustingly, and told the guy everything was perfect. We should have waited for the car to be checked with us present. We had only driven the car twice, to our house and back to the airport, and the car had not been damaged. I queried the strange way the deposit had suddenly become a 'charge' on the facture, and after a long exchange of emails they have sent me a picture of a tiny scratch on a wheel hub that we have proof was not there before, from our own photos. It is invented and the 'repair cost' conveniently the 'exact' amount of our deposit. Now we are having to fight with them - our photos against theirs. It is so cynical on their part, and just plain crooked. Never ever use Budget/Avis. We were alarmed by the reviews but it was too late to change our booking. At Bordeaux the team seemed friendly and fair, but in the event they have invented damage to keep the deposit, the amount of the charge conveniently the exact amount of the deposit. It's so disappointing and just plain sad.

Terrible experience with Avis/Budget. Rental booked from Canada for Italy. Of course, the international team has to take care of the issue I had. It took 5 months to get an invoice from Avis/Budget…I was charged an additional $2633 Canadian for my rental (my actual rental was less than that). They never reached out to me so that I could provide photos of a 2cm dent. They provided grainy photos and charged my cc on the date of the return. It’s now been 7 months and I’m still waiting for someone from their team to ask me for the photos taken when I picked up the car. Logically, before they charged me for the repair, they should have contacted me to notify me. Instead, after a visa claim and multiple attempts & contact with the better business bureau, I have my final invoice. Absolutely awful experience that has caused me much grief. I have lost hope that I will get my money back but I did tell them I would put terrible reviews on each and every platform that I can!

Megan MacKenzie called me today about my upcoming car rental. She explained the documents I needed to bring. She registered me for Quick Pass. She explained the insurance (£80 to cover all damage with no loss of deposits). She explained how to reach the depot with the shuttle bus. She was professional, informed and kind. 5 star customer service. Thank you

So I tried to prevent this as long as I could, but this company is absolutely terrible. Do not use. I was promised a refund over a month ago because of a terrible experience I had with one of the representatives at the Beavercreek location and now it’s going on two months and I have not received a refund and actually have to take legal action now as getting a lawyer and suing this company just to be able to get my money

AVOID PERTH CITY AVIS/BUDGET
The manager was unfriendly and unhelpful. Her demeanor was blank and she repeated the same sentence over & over again ("I need your physical credit card") & wouldn't engage in any sort of dialogue,
She refused to entertain any suggested solutions and offered none of her own then cancelled my booking while I stood in front of her dumbfounded.

She then added my name to their BlackList to prevent me ever hiring from Avis/Budget again.

Ive never come across behaviour like it before and will never do business with them again (even if I wasnt blacklisted).

Waiting over a month for my deposit back is unacceptable

Shame you can not give minus 5 stars. Disgraceful service, horrible customer service from south but also NORTH AMERICA. Do not ever use.
Our car broke! It wasn't serviced and batter was gone! Service took 2 days to exchange and we had to drive 200km with broken car, that we were told not to stop in any case by their mechanic! Then we had to pay for fuel and now instead of apology or refund they demand more money! Absolute joke of rental

They just did not accept to give the car pre texting I had no justification of domicile. When I came back with justificatives they say there was no car available.

Would be even less than 1 star if I could. Reserved through a booking agency. Didnt get the car I requested, and ended up paying over double what I reserved, due to 'insurance coverage' I never requested. Reservation at the airport took over 1 hour to fulfill, as the clerks were goofing around, dancing and spraying perfume at each other. Couldnt verify any damage before or afterwards with anyone, so based on 'trust' which luckily wasnt an issue. Tried to speak to customer service about the excess 'insurance' charges and was left in the dark for over 5 months, before an email showed up advising there was no resolution and we were on the hook for the extra charges. Even spoke to a manager who said the same. Joke of a company and worst customer service I have ever experienced. Will recommend anyone and everyone to steer clear of Avis/Budget

Charged me £350 after I returned my vehicle - these were apparently 'agreed upgrades' which were not disclosed to me when I collected the car. Dishonest business practices, avoid.

Budget/Avis Dubrovnik airport fraudulently charged us for insurance that we did not ask for. We already had insurance. They then lied and said they had discussed this with us. DO NOT rent a car with these crooks. The fact that Budget continue to allow this to happen is a disgrace.

I rented a car from Avis and it was old and smelly. When I returned the car in the same condition I received it, I received a claims letter that I damaged the car and had to pay $500! What a total scam it is. I will never rent from this company again - beware!

I rented a car through Travelocity for the airport in Seattle Washington in June 2025. When we got there, we showed Eva’s our car rental reservation and they made up a story saying they weren’t able to get it and we needed to rebook directly through them. We were charged hundreds of dollars more for our rental car and they said there was nothing they can do if we wanted a car we needed to rent from them directly. They said all we had to do was call Travelocity and get a refund. Something seemed very shady, but we needed a car because they said that was our only way of getting a car that day. So we call Travelocity and they had no idea what that private Avis rental car company was talking about. Stay away from renting from this place if you don’t want bad customer service and get fraud out of your money. They do it with a smile and they look you right in the eye and lie and try to charge you extra. I called my bank and submitted all my documents and my bank approved and agreed it was fraudulent. Now they are trying to charge my credit because the charge got reversed. I’m gonna report this to the Better Business Bureau and even try to get the Attorney General involved because I’m sure I’m not the only one that’s dealing with this .

Impossible to reach customer service
I was in a car accident with a Budget Avis car 4 years ago. One day after arriving home from our trip to Greece, I noticed that they took +1.200 euros from my creditcard, without explanation and this has not yet been reimbursed. It's impossible to speak to the people in charge of my file and they simply ignore every e-mail I send. Everytime I get to speak to an Avis Budget employee they tell me there's nothing they can and do, they will forward my e-mails and raise the issue and then... nothing happens. After some vague followup via mail between 2021 and 2023, I have not heard from them since 2023. Absolute scam. Avoid at all cost.

Disgraceful scam of a company. NO stars at all.
I booked and paid for a car online through Holiday Autos for Avis Budget, to hire when my party of 5 arrived in the Republic of Ireland.
AvisBudget charged me an extra £300 for insurance after the holiday.
When booking the vehicle, I also booked the damage refund insurance online. My booking receipt said the car hire desk at the airport may ask me to pay for extra insurance on the day, but I would NOT need this as I had paid for the damage refund already.
My booking also had collision damage waiver and theft waiver included. My booking stated I would need 2000 Euro excess taken from my credit card at the desk. I have never had a credit card before, so I specifically got one with a limit of £3000 for this purpose. I followed all the correct steps, purchased the extra insurance and travelled to Ireland in good faith.
At the AvisBudget desk in Cork Airport, I was told the excess needed against my card was 3,500 Euros. This was completely different to all the information I received during my booking, and conflicted with what my booking voucher and receipt said of 2000 Euros. My card declined, and the lady at the desk told me I couldn’t have the car. Obviously I panicked as 5 of us had just flown from England to Cork, and now I was being told I couldn’t have the car. I explained that the booking informed me I only needed 2000 Euros excess, and my credit card had enough for this, and why was it different? I was given no explanation, just a shrug of the shoulders.
The lady at the desk then said she would see what she could do. I had paid for a GPS satnav, so she removed that charge. She gave me paperwork to sign with a balance of £452. My original booking was £521. The GPS charge was £104, and she explained that this was the new invoice showing different charges after she had taken things off and worked around the computer system. There was an extra excess waiver charge of £24 added which I agreed to. At NO point in this conversation did she tell me I would be paying another £300 for insurance. She explained charges for the motorway toll would be added. That was it.
I contacted the company when I saw charges on my credit card for £300. They said it was for collision damage and theft protection waiver. Both of these things were already included in my booking as my attachments will show as proof. I disputed these charges and showed my receipt, explaining that I booked in good faith where I only needed 2000 Euros, and it is not my fault that they changed it to 3,500 on the day.
They then replied that because I couldn’t leave the 3,500 Euros deposit, they charged me extra insurances which I signed for. I didn’t sign for this extra insurance as I wasn’t told that was what they were, and I already had all the insurance I needed. I signed for the new amount taking off the GPS and the £24 extra charge.
AvisBudget have totally disregarded the fact that they have given the wrong information throughout the entire process. If I had known the excess was 3,500 Euros, I would have got a higher credit card limit in the first place and none of this would have happened. This was totally out of my hands. They then claimed I didn’t have the correct insurance, when I did indeed have ALL the insurance that was required of me.
They have employed sly, dishonest and appalling tactics to extort extra money from me. Who knows how many other innocent people fall for this complete scam. It is outrageous that they can do this, and I do not have this extra £300. I will now get myself into debt for something which is not my fault at all. They should not be allowed to falsely advertise and scam people. I hired the car in good faith and did everything correctly my end, only to be slapped with extra charges due to their error.

Zero stars. 1st issue: Car type downgraded on 9 day rental, no acknowledgement or compensation from ABG. 2nd issue: Rented car in Memphis. Dropped car off in MS and was charged $382 one way fee at Budget counter. Received receipt and later received email receipt from ABG for the same amount. 6 days later Memphis Budget charged me an additional $1900 for improper one way rental. Apparently, Memphis is a Budget LLC and MS Budget location did not have authority to accept the one way rental. ABG will not acknowledge the error and stands by the Memphis LLC charges even though they accepted the return.

Rented a vehicle from Budget JFK on Aug 15 and the experience was totally unsatisfactory
Service failures began at pickup
1. 2 hour wait time to get a car ( car lot was full )
2. Car would not start on the 16 th so planned meetings had to be cancelled and rescheduled
3. Roadside assistance was needed to get car started.
4. Budget then charged me for the roadside assistance to start THEIR car
5. Upon return to Budget JFK rear hatch would not open
6. Key fob was dead as well so manual release had to be found
7. Response from complaint to Budget HDQ took 2 months and offered no recompense just a one day free rental
I’d give this company a lower rating if I could but can only caution when considering this company for car rental service