Avis has screwed my family vacation. Consider another company.

Avis rented us a car with a bad battery. We drove it off the lot, traveled an hour away and it never started on its own again.

Avis demands $132 for roadside assistance on THEIR car! So we used a friend and we used AAA. But we need a new car- we can’t keep getting jumps every time the car stops. They tell us to go to the nearest location and swap it. So we call that location, and they don’t want to help. They “are an independent operator” and will not exchange cars they didn’t rent. The manager told us, “Did _I_ rent you a bad car? No.”

Avis will not replace the battery or bring us a better car. They want $132 to help us charge the battery so we can bring it to them and swap the car. Personally, I would love it if the problem was the engine so they would be forced to come get this POS. But if we want to drive at all, we have to get this charged ourselves, drive it an hour to their facility and hope they have a replacement.

I don’t need a specific car, but I do need something big enough for our family and our luggage. But they will not promise us they have a car like that, or a car at all, when we arrive.

I got to tell you, we have been pretty civil during our phone calls. We don’t scream or curse anyone out. But all we have got is either hostility or exaggerated helplessness. No one in this organization gives a shit.

I was supposed to get these kids to a theme park hours ago. We only get a few days off for family vacations, and we are going to lose a whole day dealing with this. Avis is not my friend.