Italy

Unjustified charges: 1. When returning the car, no inspection was performed. Instead, they asked if we were going back to Rome or taking a flight, then simply said 'ok.' It's not acceptable to claim they were busy and let customers leave first, as we saw three employees leisurely smoking. 2. There is concrete evidence that the staff lied. We had just filled up the tank a few kilometers from the airport, but they charged us 15 EUR for an 'empty tank' after we left. 3. They fabricated car damage. No accidents occurred during our rental, and the damage was not confirmed with us on the spot, yet they charged us 291.69 and 67.2 EUR. 4. If this is an issue of individual employee integrity, then failing to thoroughly investigate and reasonably explain to customers is a problem with Avis as a company.

Normal

There was no Citroën at the airport, so we were given a larger Volkswagen Multivan for the same price. Fortunately, I'm an experienced driver, so it was no problem.

AVIS and Budget share the same counter. There were quite a few people picking up cars at Rome airport, and I waited for almost an hour. The car was in good condition, and returning it was even easier. Since the fuel was used up, the return desk just took the keys and signed off, and we were good to go. Very convenient.

Despite booking over a week previously so that Avis would have plenty of time to set things up, when we arrived they did not have our car ready (Merc E Class) and did not have anything comparable to offer. After calling their associates, the only available alternatives were a monstrous Merc G Wagon (imagine trying to park that in the land of the Fiat 500) for more money, or a BMW 3 Series Touring. We took the BMW. Then we were informed that the insurance that we'd already paid for via Easyrentcars would not offer adequate cover, and for fully comprehensive cover we had to book with Avis. Given that we'd already had a car damaged in a car park in Italy on a previous trip, we felt that we had no option but to comply with Avis' advice.