AVIS San Francisco International Airport Review: Pickup/Drop-off Excellent, Cleanliness Excellent, Customer Service Exc......

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Tammy Macaulay

United States

Reviewed: Mon, Aug 18, 2014

About AVIS: 2.0 /10

Very dissatisfied with the staff handling the rental. We waited in line at the counter at noon, and after half an hour, it was our turn. An older man served us very slowly. Since we had a lot of people and luggage, he said our reserved large car wasn't good and recommended upgrading the model for an extra $30 per day, which seemed reasonable, so we accepted. However, his operation was extremely slow and unfamiliar. He first charged my credit card a pre-authorization of over $4,800. Then he said he made a mistake and needed to cancel, since we upgraded the car model. He charged me $5,800, saying the first charge would be refunded. Later, we found out the $4,800 would be frozen for over two months, causing inconvenience for subsequent expenses. Why not recommend the upgrade before processing the payment? During the transaction, he kept saying he needed to CHECK the car, making us wait at the counter for over four hours. Despite various urgings, he kept saying 'soon'. I'd just flown for 14 hours, was tired and hungry, and nearly fainted. Finally, I complained to the manager, who immediately arranged a brand new SUBURBAN for us, which resolved the issue. What on earth!? We had to swap the car once more due to other issues, and AVIS did it efficiently, saying it would take two hours and it was very punctual. This service was satisfactory. Returning the car was very convenient without needing GPS, just follow the signs, very clear.