Avis Rent A Car

Watch out. Their system is always «slow today» which means that you will sit in line while the computers work through blacked our screens and other technological challenges. Enterprise has faster computers.

This is a BAD REVIEW for AVIS OAKLAND, not AVIS. First, we were supposed to pick up our rental at 8am. The lady arrived at 815am and there was no system! As there were already four people waiting, she was rushing through all of us. The car we got smelled a lot like air-​freshener. We mentioned the smell, and she said it was normal, they just had cleaned the car. The car was missing mats. At the point we thought it was OK, we jus wanted to get off because she was late, so we (mistakenly) accepted the car. However, after 30 min driving, we realized the floor of the car was covered in dog hair. Furthermore, the air-​freshener vanished and it was substituted by plain cigarette smell. We had to change the car in another AVIS location in the way, this was OK because there was no extra charge, but we should not have had to change the car in the first place. We’ve realized that renting cars at airports is way cheaper and better than at city locations.

The experience we’ve had with Avis on Webster street, Oakland is very pleasant. The customer service is quick and effective. And the employees are very nice, they were not aggressive in trying to sell us upgrades as other car rental places are wont to do. When we returned the car a few minutes before their closing time, the lady reminded us that we forgot to refill the tank (or else we’d need to pay almost double the price for Avis to refill the tank for us) and waited for us to come back even though it’s already a bit after closing time. Plus, we got a great deal and VW beetle which is cool.

An INSANE fire– bell that goes off every time you walk in or out or drive in or out. How is anyone supposed to have a pleasant experience after their wits are scared out of them and their heads ringing from a FIRE bell. Unbelievable and completely insane. There are a MILLION other ways to achieve the same goal.

Okay… It’s 8:10am, ten minutes after this place is supposed to be open, and no one is here but the three people waiting for service, including myself. Where are the employees? Business depends on reliability. I will not be going back to this location unless it’s an emergency, and even then… :/

I love Satin so much. She is the best at getting me in and out super fast for work. Cars are super clean and she always gives me a choice of cars. I go out of my way to rent here because it’s so great.

Avoid this place. The customer service is severely lacking and they may even be running some sort of scam. I rented a truck — returned it with no damage. A month later I got an accident form in the mail from their Florida division for damage to the vehicle. Apparently, and this is from their customer service department, they send these out to the last several customers when they happen to notice damage. I took out the LDW coverage so wouldn’t be liable anyway but beware — you could easily end up on the hook for their incompetence. There are other, more professional rental firms out there — use them. I learned my lesson.

Geez lady, would it kill you to smile??? This is what goes through my head every time I pick up my car for a day-​long work trip. I swear she turns into stone if the ends of her mouth turn up to form a smile.
Pros: it’s around $ 40 (excluding gas and including $ 9 waiver) to rent a car for a day. Clean cars.
Cons: these people have never heard of customer service. Grumpville-​USA… from the looks of it, I’m not the only one who thinks so.
Come here if you must. Don’t expect much.

Whoa, sounds like a whole lot of disappointed Priceline users out there. I find it difficult to fault the rental agent for the issues these people had, though.
And while all the added fees are kind of shocking these days, you should wait until you see the taxes that get added to rentals originating at on-​airport locations.
I’ve found this to be a perfectly fine in-​city location. Like most other off-​airport locations, it doesn’t have the biggest car selection and you’ll often end up with a grab-​bag of whatever car is available (I once picked up a Ford Crown Victoria for the day, looking like an undercover cop) but the folks working the location are perfectly friendly and capable, dishing out clean, dent-​free, well-​maintained cars.
I usually pick up cars here for a one-​way trip into SFO, and promise to bring something interesting back. Like a Camaro SS. A lot more fun than taking a regular taxicab.

Rude, unintelligent, inexperienced, and lying/​dishonest customer service woman. I asked if I could swap out the car at the Oakland Airport, and she told me that she didn’t want me to do that, and if I was going to do that, she would charge me extra.

The other review on here seems to be more about issues with online subcontractor disputes between Priceline and corporate Avis, than with the actual nuts and bolts of the local Avis on Webster. Sure, sometimes they will be get returned a car in such a state (from another state) and be so busy that they may not be able to spend as much time as they like making it spic and span, but in general all of the cars I have gotten from here have been in great condition.
And that’s a lot of cars. I rent from here, on average, once or twice a month for work. Satin (yes, that’s the name of the woman who manages this office) and her brother are always extremely nice and accommodating. To the point where they have even waited 10 minutes after closing just so I wouldn’t get charged another day. They really make it feel like a personalized experience, rather than treating you like a walking dollar sign. And they will get you out the door quickly.

OK friends, here it goes… I can’t stand Avis.
«So» you ask «why do you keep coming back?» well… I’m cheap. Yep, I like a great deal, will hunt for hours to save $ 5.00 a day and will do most anything to get the best deal for big ticket items that I can. No, I won’t drive 10 miles out of my way to save $ 3.00, I’m NOT one of those, but I like to save big $$ on travel, airlines, car rental etc. So I thought I was getting a deal.
Mr. Astrid S. and I were in the process of relocating or as they say in my favorite country, «shifting homes» and I needed some wheels to get around this amazing area. Yes, I know I could shame train it, use Bart, my bike etc. but here’s the thing. I want what I want when I want it and I don’t like to wait. So when you shame train it, Bart it, or bike it waiting happens. But you have wheels? Oh yes my friends, you come and go as you please and that suits me quite well.
So, I digress…
Anyhoos…there I was on
(which my friends is not giving the deals they used to… still worth the effort, but not the bargain they used to be– even in personal bidding, not doing it like they used to) and saw that I could get a rental car for some $ 23.00 a day. Ok, that sounds good so I reserve, show up the next day and waited to be amazed. Humph. OK, OK shield your eyes at this point. Look away. ok, you’ve been warned.
So I go in and was told that it would be cheaper for me to take a weekly rental at $ 157.00– but there would be a $ 10.00 change fee. Thinking about it, I said OK lay the car on me and charge me the extra cause that is a good deal. I was then given VW keys to a Golf. SWEET! I’m thinking I scored, which well, I didn’t.
The little silver Golf was trashed inside, smelled like a foul essence of cigarette and cheap Kmart perfume and was filthy. I saw there were Nevada plates, so I assumed a hooker making her way back from a bad week of lousy John’s rented this little number on a one way hoping to do better in Oakland. So I get in and drive off. No biggie, smells like shit but zippy. I like zippy.
Drove it for a week, no issues and little fuel use. I like that too… but just had to drive around with the windows open and the trunk didn’t open. Not from inside, not from the fob nothing– oh and the «SERVICE NOW!» light stayed on pretty consistently, oh and the back left door didn’t open from the inside– the right did, but not the left. Other than that, not bad for a week.
I decide to keep it two more days, figuring by then Mr. Astrid S. would be in town with our car and I would have no more worries, so I call the main Avis number to ask for an extension. I’m told by this eloquent and loquacious CSR (not really, just a joke here) that they would charge me another $ 10.00 extension fee and that I would have my
price.
Go to return the cigarette car and well guess what y’all? Sparky adds all kinds of fees. Oh the car is $ 35.00 a day now (what? hellz no! I had a deal!) and then he charges me an extra «late arrival fee» to which I said «WTF?» and then tacks on some other charges. I am terribly unimpressed at this point and bring back my receipt before going out the door to show Mr. loquacious that he has indeed overcharged me. He says cause I agreed to the weekly change, I voided my
deal. Oh no, this is making me mad– no one told me about this one. Then I point out that the stinky car is not late, but right on time and he offers to «refund my $ 10.00». You know what? He’s a giver, just a giver. Heart hugs. Whatever.
Folks, we aren’t doing any trust falls here. We aren’t even doing a happy dance, we are doing a scam slam. I’ve used Avis in upstate NY before and had similar issues. Fee here, fee there. I usually use Enterprise, they often have good deals and I have never gotten $$ dings.
Avis, not the place to be.