Avis Car Rental

I will never rent from Avis at Punta Gorda airport again. They don’t have enough people working and they are disorganized. One of our adult children left their car keys in the minivan that we rented. We called early in the morning before going to the airport for her to leave and ask them to please retrieve the keys from the car as well as her shoes. When we got to the airport. We went directly to Avis counter. They had no idea what I was talking about. A young man said that he would go get the keys one hour later he still had not returned and we needed to get the young woman on her flight. They are not helpful. The lady at the counter was rude. We are calling the company to file a formal complaint.

Look your car over and keep your receipt! Disappointing experience. The counter lady was overwhelmed and alone, but stayed surprisingly positive - God bless her! 45 min to pickup the dirty car. Only to find a medium dent in the hatch, and the tire pressure light on the next morning. They must have filled the tire just prior to renting it and no reimbursement of the $2.50 for 4 air refills. All that only to find that the LDW that I declined we were charged for after the car was returned. To their credit, this was later refunded, but sheesh. Look elsewhere…

I received a Ford Expedition with dangerously low tire pressure, and in the filthiest condition you can imagine. I posted a video of the worst of it, but it was so bad overall that my pants got stained from food remnants on the steering wheel. They clearly don’t look the cars over. To add insult to injury, I had to clean it myself because I couldn’t use it as-is and had a tight deadline. They offered to reimburse me for one day for my trouble, what a joke.

This is the worst Avis rental location. Actually, the worst car rental operation period. Expect to wait in line for an hour or more. They do not have the typical preferred status set up where you go directly to your vehicle, and they instead direct all customers to the desk. I’m writing this from the preferred status line, with 15 or more waiting in the regular line. Two individuals working at the counter but only one is checking anyone in. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. Book your rental elsewhere.

This Avis location is mismanaged and very hit-or-miss. I’ve rented several times — at best it’s been an OK experience with mediocre customer service. At worst, my most recent experience where I was overcharged by $200+. I returned a car on time but they are so understaffed that there was no one to check in the car. The one person at the counter told me to leave the key on the overnight drop box and that I wouldn’t be charged a late fee. The next day, I received a receipt with an extra rental day, a late fee, unlimited tolls (which I hadn’t gotten) and a host of other charges. Avis corporate eventually refunded all this and honored my original quote, but this shouldn’t happen in the first place. I shouldn’t have to get on multiple phone calls and submit photo evidence to return a rental car