AVIS Left Me Stranded at the Airport

A similar situation happened to me recently (October 2009). I have
used Avis over the past 4 1/2 years and rented several times per year
for business. In that time I always used the same debit card at the
time of rental, this time was no different. Generally I also provided
my passport per their policy. While I admit that many years ago I had
credit issues, I have paid off every single account, have no
bankruptcies, liens, or public records, etc. My only mistake seems to
be that after having credit problems in the past (we're talking over 4
years ago) I cut up all my cards and exclusively pay cash. So while
my credit score increases - it's only at a slow rate and still hovers
around 625. While 625 is not considered good, it's also not
considered poor either. What appaled me is that I was a long term
repeat customer of Avis and their system did not distinguish between
me and any other random person off the street. My credit has been
IMPROVING over the past 4 years, but somehow now Avis suddenly
rejected me after so long. This really is bad business - National
Rental Car does not do this and picked up my business for my recent
trip. I have cancelled my pending reservations from Avis and switched
companies...I hope Avis wakes up.

This shows why everyone should have a CC, if you don't have good
credit, invest in a $500.00 secured card. It will save your butt.

This is the quoted policy from their website -

"Debit Card Policies

Avis reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to seek a Debit Card
authorization hold in excess of the estimated rental charges. When
using a debit card at Avis there may be a minimum hold of $500 and a
maximum hold of the estimated rental charges will be placed on your
account.
Upon returning the vehicle, Avis will process a release of the unused
portion of the hold subject to your Bank's procedures. The hold may
take up to 2 weeks to be released by your bank.

If you fail to return the vehicle as agreed, Avis will obtain
additional authorizations from your account to cover the rental
charges.

Avis is not responsible for any returned checks or over-drafts based
on this policy.

Positive identification in addition to your driver's license may be
required.

In the United States, Debit, Cash or Check cards can be used at the
end for payment of rental charges. For acceptable credit
identification and payment methods in countries outside of the United
States, please consult the Renter's Guide and search for the specific
location. "

No where do I see where it indicates that a person might be turned
down in a scenerio like this. It just does not make sense and is
overall bad business.
You can't be stranding customers like this - in my opinion, if the
persons debit card hold really went though ok. Maybe what they did
was try to put a larger hold on?

A lot of car rental companies seem to be placing a lot of pressure on
counter staff to make these judgements. My wife had been a steady
customer of Enterprise for years, using the same location. One day
there was a new manager, and her rental was denied because the new
manager felt she was "high risk".

Avis (where she also rents) came thru for her, but also because she
was a steady customer and her account has been flagged positively VIP
client.

Many states have laws against arbitary discrimination, people can
debate in here till the cows login if the credit check was
discriminatory or not, but if you file a complaint with yor home
state's attorney general's office you are MUCH more liekly to get a
response from Avis.

How far away from the airport was the hotel that you had your original
reservations?

I live about 50 miles from both Midway and Ohare. A cab ride from
either airport will run me about $75.00 including tip.

Did you try another car renatl agency at Midway after you were
declined by Avis. Those places might not have had the same policies?

I am inclined to agree with most of the other posters here.

To begin with, Geri, you have no RIGHT to credit. Credit is something
you earn. Whereas you've already admitted your failure to handle
credit, there is no reason a company would entrust you with a
multi-thousand dollar item.

"Sitting on the floor crying" sounds a little far-fetched to me. Any
reasonable person would easily have taken a cab to a LOCAL hotel.
Paying $170 for a cab ride is even further far-fetched and, without
further explanation, speaks further to your credibility.

In my opinion, a rental company would be wise to do a credit check
before the rent to anybody. As far as a 50/50 chance you will pass,
lets just say that depends on your credit rating. Many people, such
as yourself with a bankruptcy on their report, would fail. Many
others would easily pass.

I can really empathise with what happened to you. I'm wondering if
they could have processed the rental before you flew out there? At any
rate, you were aware of the problem beforehand with your card, and
without a credit card it's very difficult to rent a car anywhere.
I do think Avis should have tried to accomodate you to at least ensure
you got to your hotel safely, since this is a new policy and you were
misled by their statement on the website. Now it seems they lost a
customer.
The cab fare sounds outrageoulsy high...how far was this cabride?

You paid $170 for a cab ride?

Newsflash: You've been had.

I don't understand the part where you were charged $170 for a taxi to
a hotel when you were at an airport. There were no closer hotels at
Midway?

While it should have been stated SOMEWHERE that if you use a debit
card you could be subject to a credit check (was there ANYTHING in
your reservation agreement to this effect?), the additional expenses
you incurred are not their problem.

It's unfortunate, but as some of the other commenters have pointed
out, so is the behavior of some renters who don't take the
responsibility of renting a $20,000+ vehicle seriously.

Not that this is your situation, but one bad apple really does spoil
it for everyone.

I too have a bankruptcy and I can tell you this is completely
ridiculous! I believe the complaintant is correct in being upset here.
Avis had a legal obligation to disclose all rules pertaining to the
rental on their website. Now, perhaps they have and this person missed
them-a posibility I understand. However, since this is a "new" policy
they should have accomodated her by at least getting her to her hotel
where she had the original reservation. I think that would have been
reasonable due to the circumstances. However, I am confused as to why
she didn't make the inital deposit while online through their
site-perhaps that would have prevented this entire mess. I usually pay
for the deposit online with my checkcard first to ensure a) I actually
have a reservation and b) to ensure my card will be accepted.

You had a bankruptcy. You are a risk. You know that. Next time bring
several sources of money so to speak with you so you do not wind up
stranded again. Even a simple credit card would have been better.

It really is too bad that this happened to you, and I do sympathize
with your situation. However, as a former rental car agent, I can
understand this policy. Many people seem not to consider that when
they rent a car, they are basically being allowed to drive off with a
car that may cost $20,000+, after putting down a deposit of only $400
or so. The level of trust there needs to be high.

You would not believe the number of "problem rentals" a rental place
is dealing with at any given time. People will take out a car for a
week and keep it for three. They will damage the car and try to hide
it. They will call and inform the location that the car is in impound
and they are on a plane flying home. They will pick up a car in
Kansas City and leave it in Alaska. All these things cost time and
money to fix.

There are certain criteria that problem renters seem to share. Many
of them use a debit card instead of a credit card. Many of them have
bad credit histories. Of course, that isn't to say that all people
with debit cards and bad credit histories will cause a problem rental,
but reducing the number of customers that fit that criteria will
reduce the number of problem rentals.

At the location where I worked, we had a problem with renters that
lived locally. They would show up at the airport in the middle of
the night, rent with no reservation, and then chaos would ensue. On
one notable occassion, a man rented a car, lent it to a buddy, and
said buddy sold the car for crack (true story). Our location decided
to do background and address checks on all renters living within 100
miles of our location, and to stop renting without reservations after
8pm to local customers. I'm sure that we ended up denying service to
a few people that would have rented and returned with no problem, but
that was made up for by the money and time saved not having to deal
with rentals gone wild.

Again, I'm sorry that this happened to you. It looks like you were an
unfortunate casualty of Avis' struggle to cut down on problems, and
that really is too bad. I doubt that Avis will reconsider this
policy, since it probably saves them quite a bit of money in the long
run, but I hope they at least get back to you to explain it. Good
luck.

Geri H.,
The situation that you describe is unfortunate.
However, as you proceeded with your bankruptcy you were told that
filing for bankruptcy would effect you for as much as 10 years.
This being one of those cases I think the most you can anticipate from
AVIS is maybe some "goodwill offering" because they were simply
adhering to what appears to be an operating policy.
Stop back and let us know what kind of response you get.
Bill R.