Avis Car Rental

I went switched from Avis from Hertz due to the Aeroplan benefit. Unfortunately, I am new to this rental company and I had 4 cars during my rental. Each car either did not work, one was filled with smoke from the last renter (hence they did not clean it) and the third car just stopped working. I did call into Avis and they did drive a new car to me which was a perk.

This said, I just rented again this week and they overcharged me for the Fuel. I am at a loss of words. Personally, I would have left 2 stars but the car was in good shape.

Again, only reason I go back is because of Aeroplan or else I would be at Hertz - its just faster, easier and there is never a bill discrepency and the cars are well maintained.

Had to cancel a planned trip because Avis at the airport refused to help switch my rental car that has a mechanical issue although they did promise the switch on the phone 2 hrs prior to my arrival to the location. It was after 8pm and they were the only Avis location that’s open.
I’ve phone everywhere including the original Avis location I rented from, the Airport Avis, and Avis customer service, everyone told me I can go to any Avis location and switch for a car without mechanical issue. However, the representative at the airport that I spoke to did NOT care that my rented car had a mechanical issue and was unsafe to drive. It felt like he wanted me and my problematic car to leave more than anything else. He had plenty available cars at his hands, but he said since I didn’t rent from this Avis location (airport), he couldn’t make a switch for me. There was not a single word of apology. He also said that the number I called earlier wasn’t their desk. So I later called the same numbers again. That guy was the one who picked it up! So I was indeed calling the right number. After picking up my phone, he quickly said that he cannot switch the car for me, no apology this time either, and he hanged up on me.
It was THE worst service I got at any rental places.

Booked an Intermediate rental car and was downgraded to an compact (Nissan Versa) car; when I asked about other options they said the only alternative was to pay extra for a Tiguan. Getting home with the Versa I find an automated e-mail saying I had been originally assigned an Tiguan free as a Avis Preferred member - the agent must have just decided to manually downgrade me to hope for an upsell. Disappointed the agent would mislead me and give me a smaller car yet still charge the full Intermediate car rate.

Rented a car from Avis YOW.

The drivers side glass had been broken and replaced before I picked up the vehicle, however there were shards of glass all over, one such shard made it into the back of the seat and after sitting on it and only noticing when I felt a burning sensation that the glass had cut the back of my leg and resulted in my shorts stained with blood.

The windshield wiper fluid had also been neglected to be filled and after light rain I could not clean the windscreen when spray dried on the windshield and had to stop a few times during my highway drive so I could see out of the window. In my opinion this is dangerous.

The door was also filled with glass shards and could hear it rattling around on my 4 hour trip to Toronto.

A simple 10 minute pre check of this vehicle could have solved all these issues.

Finally when I picked up the car I was told 200km / day was included. However upon drop off was charged for every single kilometre.

NEVER rent from Avis. The most horrible experience I have ever had in 40 years of renting a car. Long wait on line when I am a preferred customer and should have been out in 5 mins. Only one agent and there were 16 of us on line. And I was charged for an extra 7,500 miles in the 40 hours I had the car. That would have meant I had to drive nonstop for the 40 hours and average 160 MPH. The bill was supposed to be $550, but the bill they sent me was for $2,700! Again, NEVER RENT FROM AVIS!

I booked a car for a weekend trip to Ottawa, which I prepaid for. This location double charged me when I picked up the car and I have since tried multiple times to contact them to refund me to no avail. No one answers the phone at the counter. I have left a voicemail for the manager and have yet to hear back.

Déçu par AVIS USA/Canada. Des frais supplémentaires apparaissent sur la facture lors du retour du véhicule, non clairement annoncés lors de la prise du véhicule. On ne comprend pas, on ne fait que payer en plus. On a eu le cas à Los Angeles, puis à Toronto.

Depuis j'ai eu un retour par le service client AVIS Ottawa. J'ai eu des infos claires. Merci.

I was very with the car I was given. The service was excellent. I wish I knew the name of the gentleman who served me. Very professional and friendly.

I am very much unhappy with the AVIS location at Ottawa International Airport. I booked a car at this location. I was having my Ontario driving license, credit card and my company photo ID as well. Still, they did not give me the car because they said they required a 2nd government-issued photo ID card. I showed a digital version of my Health card but they did not accept it. On other AVIS locations, I have not had this issue. It is mentioned nowhere that I need 2nd government-issued photo ID. So unprofessional. I travelled 1.5 hours by bus to get there. Unfortunately, I had to cancel my weekend plans now.

Make sure to fill the car before returning it. The fee for them to do it is $140! $90 more than it costs to fill the tank. Robbery. They employees aren’t paid that much so how do they justify that cost?

**Edit - in a effort to improve customer service, Avis reached out and has resolved my issue. My feedback: ensure the agents give the customer all relevant information. The customer doesn’t alway know what they don’t know. I am quite satisfied with the service I’ve received to date.

I have rented at this place numerous times, and each time there was some kind of problem. The rental location does have lots of vehicles and some are brand-new but others are terrible. Some are very old and have not been cleaned properly. I had multiple problems with this rental location (Avis YOW) and it took a long time for the staff to solve them. Very unprofessional and this is not a good place for car rentals

Very bad customer service, they rented a car for someone under my husbands name with fake rental agreement

At Ottawa airport July 26,2023, staff was not there when I arrived at 5pm, then the car I rented was not in the spot they told me to go to. Dragging my luggage around longer than necessary trying to find the vehicle was not a good start. Very subpar pickup experience.

Old, Dangerous, Vehicles

I’ve rented 100s of cars in dozens of cities and this location is the worst. I’m frequently in Ottawa and have had poor to mediocre service from this Avis but nothing to write a review about; until now.

This weekend I rented a van that shouldn’t be on the road let alone in the rental pool. 86000kms, battered, and dirty inside and out. Drivers seat doesn’t adjust, no way to connect phones, and the carpets are shredded. I thought it was a joke but there wasn’t another option so I took it and drove away.

Once driving I discovered the brakes are in serious need of new pads and routers and there’s an alarming rattling from under the van at speeds over 80km/hr. Scary.

When I returned it the poor kid working said there wasn’t a manager (they always say that here). Stay away from this franchise. Avis Corporate should be ashamed that these people are using their brand.

Stay away from those people they use your name and rent vehicles with fake agreement to the bad people

I have had a heck of an experience with Avis, they helped me all the way in Toronto on a busy holiday getting me a vehicle when other companies let me down! Last minute too!
The best experience I had was at the ottawa airport with Haneen, she went above and beyond to help me all the times I’ve been there and I will forever be grateful for her! Haneen, had wonderful customer service and a beautiful smile! It made me not feel alone in a alien country! Thank you so much

Staff is racist! They had the keys ready to handover to me but then after I gave them my ID they started asking me weird questions and then said they don't have anything! Come here at your own discretion!

Worst car rental experience that I have ever had. The agents at the counter are unprofessional, they look and act like they don't care to be there. I rented a minivan this past weekend, a warning light came on and I had to get off the highway, luckily I was able to safely do so. When I got to another Avis location, the agent there also had a bad attitude until he realized the extent of the situation; that's when his tone completely changed—I guess Avis does not have customer service training. Avis exchanged the minivan for me for the day, but I had to incur extra costs to "resolve" this issue mid-trip. I had to go back the next day to exchange the vehicle once again for a 5-passenger. That meant that I had to drive back to that location, which cost me gas and mileage (I had a mileage "limit", and was charged by the km after that). When I returned the vehicle to Ottawa, I told the Avis rep what happened, he had a really blank look on his face because, of course, he didn't care. Avis's vehicles are poorly maintained, all 3 vehicles given to me this past weekend were dirty; one broke down, and another was past due for an oil change the moment I picked it up. I won't be renting with Avis again, I've rented with other companies and have never had issues. It ruined my weekend, imagine having to go to Avis 4 times in 48 hours, that's what I had to do.

Avis YOW provide great vehicle rental service for the rental period May 26th to May 10th, 2023. The staff were professional and friendly. The vehicle, a Dodge Ram 1500 (I'm a Ford person) was brand new and great to drive.

Pathetic experience. They try to up sell based on false information. Also don’t care about customer if he is having an issue.

Don’t know the bame name of the guy who was working night shift on 23rd June 2023. Very rude to me, says me to bring 2 IDs and corporate ID I showed him everything in softcopy but refused to give me car, the other lady working on same night was very helpful and did everything right away.

I appreciated the reasonable prices and quality of the rental will book with Avis again in the near future!