Avis Car Rental

Terrible customer service! The rep tried to up-​sell me a car that I did not want and when I declined politely, she made me feel stupid! I told her I just want what I want and she was being really pushy and made me feel uncomfortable. I did not like the experience and will be taking my business elsewhere.

warning!!! do not use avis!!!
warning!!! do not use avis!!!
warning!!! do not use avis!!!
warning!!! do not use avis!!!
warning!!! do not use avis!!!
by far the worst car rental place i have ever been to in my 40 years of living.
save your money!
do not go here!
i was bamboozled into upgrading!
they said it was going to be an additional $ 15 total, they tacked on $ 15 per day!!!
after i asked 3 different ways, 3 different times that it was $ 15 total, the lady said yes… total.
then i got checked out and got charged triple!
what a scam!!!
warning!!! do not use avis!!!
warning!!! do not use avis!!!
warning!!! do not use avis!!!
warning!!! do not use avis!!!
warning!!! do not use avis!!!

After having had such a horrible experience at Fox, Avis (next door) was able to help out.
They had different cars to choose from, gave a great rate and their car was clean! The customer service agent was friendly, attentive, and not pushy. They were pleasant to deal with!

15 people in line and one person behind the desk @ 8:30 am. Workers in the back peeking at the line. Horrible service!

They only have one person working here and the wait time is extremely slow. Avoid this company if you can.

At the time of writing this the overall Unilocal rating is 2.5 stars which should scare virtually everyone away. I’m a semi regular traveler and fly into Oakland at the very least twice per year. My company arranges the booking but I am going to talk to our corporate travel booking agent and see if we can place our business elsewhere as this is about the third very poor experience in a row I’ve had.
There is ZERO management presence at this location. No direction at all; like an Adam Sandler movie. Does Avis understand that this is an airport location? So all the customers they deal with have been herded around all day and don’t want to stand in lines anymore. The customer just wants to get their vehicle and get to their destination. It’s extremely annoying as a good customer to arrive and have only about 3 guests in front of you and the line simply takes what seems like an eternity. Cameron was the tall and younger guy working who earned them a second star. If not for Cameron they get one star. (you can’t give a zero) Infuriating was the long bank of computers available and the lady sitting at one watching the line but NOT serving a customer. Just sitting there. Cameron was doing his best, trying to talk with his customers and trying to engage the people waiting in line but his company was vastly letting him down. I knew enough not to blame Cameron, he was really trying. The problem was, THE RENTAL CARS WERE NOT READY FOR CUSTOMER PICKUP! In my industry, if you run out of what you are in business selling, we say «You are out of business.» Avis was out of business and didn’t know it. Something in their supply chain was not working. So even though there were just 2 other customers not being served in front of me along with the ones already at the counter my whole experience in line was about 25 minutes. That’s the length of watching a sitcom.
DEAR AVIS: WAKE UP! Do you have any regional management oversight? Do you have anyone who looks at consumer review websites like Unilocal? If you don’t, why the heck not? And if you do, why in the heck do you allow one of your very busy sites to have a 2.5 rating? I hope to never have to give you our corporate business again but if I do return I hope to see that you have your act together and care about giving customers a quick and easy check out experience. Here is a quote I often use in my line of work from a fellow who new something about cars:
«Employers don’t pay the wages. Employers handle the money. Customers pay the wages.” – Henry Ford
Signed Sincerely, THE CUSTOMER

Usually I get great service. This time the young lady that helped us had THE WORST attitude EVER! And to top it off, their customer service reps at their 1800 number were just as horrible. This is not a solution-​based company, nor do they understand the meaning of customer care.

«Fred» told us on Friday when we picked up the car that the «Loss Damage Waiver» is free, only for us to discover right before we signed, that the paperwork clearly states that «LDW» is an additional $ 17/​day. So basically «Fred» lied to us. He also lied again when he said that our reservation allowed us to choose between a Chevy, Volkswagon, or Kia, with no mention of any «upgrade» fee… so we went with the Volkswagon. Only to find out when we returned the car on Sunday that we were being charged for the vehicle upgrade! Unethical sales & business practices by «Fred». Beware of «Fred»!

I was charged for a Sirius radio that I didn’t asked for. The agent just told me «The Sirius radio is activated in the car», so I was led to believe that it was offered to me, as at no moment did she mentionned a cost for it. I then signed the contract believing that all was in order, and then the radio was charged in extra when I got back. When I went back to th office to complain about it, I was left with a «Don’t you read what you sign? You have signed, so there’s nothing we can do about it». Absolutely unacceptable,

Great service, excellent selection of cars to choose from, give your information, you’ll be directed to the lot around to your left side of the building, look for your vehicle, A10, C14, B17, you get the idea, one last check out, and off you go, simple as that.

Worst experience ever renting a car. Their system went down & they had me waiting for hours & the people working at the front desk are not the nicest. Worst customer service I’ve ever experienced! I should’ve read the reviews on here before renting a car from them. It would’ve been very helpful :/

Oct 15 Update — over a year since I posted that last review, and I have to say, these guys consistently have the best customer service and nicest people. Oh, and the cars are good too.
⁷⁄₁₄ — Honestly, I cannot see why anyone would give this less than four stars. I rent here at least fortnightly, and I have never not had a positive experience. ONCE, I was charged for not turning in a key. I called the manager, explained the situation and it was easily resolved. There are always good cars, even when making last minute reservations. At the turn in, I have had the friendliest people EVERY, SINGLE TIME. Compared to Hertz, across the lot, Avis wins, hands down every time.
After reading other users reviews, I see why they give poor marks. They’re the people who use Priceline and Hotwire. I’m not excusing poor customer service, but if you want to be treated like royalty, treat the provider like royalty. Book through the Avis site, and don’t quibble over $ 2−5/day. Again, I rent here every week or two, have rarely seen the same people, but have always been treated like I’m their best and only customer.

The worst experience I have ever had renting a car. These folks system went down and I sat there for an hour before I gave up. To make matters worse I prepaid this through Priceline. They could not deliver the car now I have to wait for them to consider giving me my money back. This is the 2^nd time in 6 months I have been screwed by Avis. There is a reason why they always have a sign out saying «cars available». That’s because no one is dumb enough to rent from them except for me!
Do yourself a favor spend $ 2 more a day and get better service elsewhere!

I had an awesome rental experience at the OAK airport during my recent family trip to see my brother. Traveling with young kids and spouse can be challenging, sometimes, but this trip was different. I had a surprisingly decent flight into Oakland on Southwest from Sea-​Tac (smooth takeoff & landing, happy & efficient cabin crew, on time departure), I had an equally amazing experience at the Avis counter. While others were being hammered/​up-​sold at the Hertz and other counters, I had a very pleasant encounter with Ms. Dash (nickname — her actual name was easy to mispronounce and even easier to misspell); she took a look at my reservation and profile and was very selective in offering just the options that I might want to accept given that I was traveling on my own dime. None of the fear-​mongering about the consequences of not buying *their* collision damage waiver, liability coverage, not offers for GPS, satellite radio, etc. She offered me a choice of minivans (they had several!) and I got a newish Dodge Caravan in pretty decent shape. (Not perfect, but what minivan is without minor dings after 15K?) Return was a little less smooth, but the lone return specialist (Jason?) was all smiles despite the gaggle of travelers eager to catch their flight. Note: I’m not penalizing Avis for people who show up to return their car 60 minutes before their flight and expect heroics and miracles from other people… just sayin’.
No more Hertz for me – Hertz Gold Plus status hasn’t done anything for me, and I’ve consistently found their rental staff to be an unhappy bunch. Based on my last several rental experiences, I am an Avis convert for business and leisure rentals, especially when visiting the Bay Area through OAK.

It worked out OK. They try their hardest to upsell you… Need damage waiver? Bigger-​faster car? Hybrid? Navigation? Satellite radio activation? Gas fill-​up option? Yada Yada. Not much of a chance at a free upgrade or selection at this location. I was put in a VW Beetle, probably their lowest-​tier vehicle. Great rate though. I’m waiting to make sure their invoice matches my final Priceline quote. This location doesn’t provide you an itemized bill when you use a 3^rd-​party booking service like Priceline or Hotwire.

This Avis is really cool. The management and employees are easy to deal with and will make sure you have the right car.
Avis First Business is never an issue and when you ask for a certain car you get it no questions asked its done.
I like this Avis better than San Fran or Sac just because they run the lot right.
They keep good cars and there’s no Drama like some Avis’s are.
Avis at Oakland Airpot is the best deal.

TERRIBLE service. Just TERRIBLE.
S-​L-​O-​W agents at the counter. 20-​minute wait while the agent managed to get through TWO customers ahead of me.
Deceptive business practices as well. I was shafted on rate («Oh, we don’t have the car you PREPAID for…») and refueling. Email to Avis customer service was met with a dismissive canned reply.
I’ve had very good luck with Avis at other locations and other times, but not here; not now. Go down the counter to Hertz.

After years of dealing with Hertz, constantly losing reservations and getting skanky cars; Avis is a breath of fresh air, Are they perfect? No. However they have never lost a reservation, they always have a car ready for me, and the cars are generally clean and in good shape. I almost always make my reservations online and with a Wizard number (do they still call it that?) I can usually just find «my» car and drive off. Accurate, efficient, and competitively priced, I’ve been a fan for several years.

I’ve got status with Avis, so that will probably color this review for anyone who doesn’t.
When I got to the lot after midnight last week, the Operations Manager was there to greet me by name and attend to my every need.
Location is great, shuttle service takes you to and from the Terminals.

Service was prompt and I have no problem with them trying to up-​sell me, or for trying to scare me into buying insurance and such. I realize that it is part of their job, and I don’t mind that I have to keep telling them no. It is almost like a game to see how long it takes for them to give up.
I knew I left my phone in the rental because I was talking on it in the parking lot, and when I got home I did not have it. It was about midnight when I called the office. I was told that they would have someone check the car and call me back. They did call me back and told me that two people checked the car and it wasn’t there and perhaps someone turned it in to the lost and found at the main office. This seemed highly unlikely to me I was home in less than 15 minutes and I doubted that anyone took it to a closed office at midnight.
I called the next day and it was not turned in. Later the same day I got a call back, they had found the phone on the front seat. I wonder where the two people who searched the rental car looked.
And they would not honor the Entertainment Coupon