AVIS Rentals CHARGED OVER $12,000 WHEN REPAIR BILL WAS ONLY $5000 ripoff Jackson Hole Wyoming

We were told by the associate that we really didn't need the insurance as ours was full coverage and would carry over.  We also notified the attendant that our friends were going to drop the vehicle off at the airport and were never notified that we needed to add them to our contract.  After dealing with everyone involved I would never rent from AVIS again. I am positive I am not the only one they tried taking to the cleaners.  I am fortunate about taking pictures and being voicturous enough to stand up for myself

Avis and Budget Rentals had the nerve to send me a letter stating that because of the circumstances they would not rent to me in the future. Like I was going to give them another penny. Nice way to keep good customer relations. I think now they are intentionally just stressing me out.

Michelle,

I do not know the particulars of the rental but from what you said in your second posting I am convinced that you feel pissed off and mispoke the factual errors. As for why I suspected that this might have been a hoax, it might be because I live near nuerotic college students and have seen them do that type of stuff. (Particularly to former employers.) If I added to your stress, I apologize.

You do have an ally in your hometown. There is an AVIS dealer at Ford Field. Bob, at the AVIS in Iron Moutain knows about your situation and knows how to contact me. Bob is like me, he does not like his neighbors being jerked around by rental agent who is not paying attention. The store you rented from was the only Avis owned store in Wyoming. And you are dealing with corporate HQ. So that at least makes getting answers a straight foward matter. Neither Bob nor I are corporate stores but we will do what we can to help you get answers.

Sincerely,

If I understand what you are saying. You had two addtional drivers, and signed forms that said the additional drivers fee was $35. Yet you were billed for 3 additional drivers at $45 each for $135 in charges plus the taxes on this item. If that is the case, then you are entitled to a refund of $65 plus the taxes.

What happened is that someone did not throw away outdated forms that listed an old rate. They then used the old form without correcting the listed fee and charged you what the computer told them to, which was $45. That is wrong. If the form says $35 then that is what you can be legally charged and I do not know of a state that allows for them to charge you more then what is written on the contract and I doubt that Wyoming law allows it either.

This side issue was caused by
1) a manager who did not want pay for new forms
2) an employee who did not throw away all the old forms like they were supposed to
3) a rental agent who was not paying as close attention as they should have been.
OR some combination of the three. The extra additional driver can also be attributed to a lax rental agent.

For that I am sorry because they reflect badly on those of us that care about our jobs. But when I make mistakes I own up to them and your counter person should have. This issue should be easily cleared up. It sounds like you kept your copies, like you should on every legal contract. Copy the additional driver forms and mail them in requesting a reversal for the fees that were incorrectly billed and ask them to remove the third additional driver charge unless they can produce a copy of the third additional driver form.

It's been years since I rented a vehicle, maybe 10 or 12 years ago. The last time I did rent a vehicle, they asked me if I wanted full coverage through them, to cover everything. I think it was an extra $3 or $4 per day. Now we read here about the people who are always getting ripped off by the rental car companies for $400 or $500 for little dings or minor damages. This post is probably the largest we've read about. My point is, for the extra bucks she would have been covered. A couple of hundred dollars would have saved her thousands. I hate rental car companies, so that's why I avoid using them if I can. I use to run a type of security business and we use to provide vehicles. One person we "ran" for eight months straight and rented a vehicle for her the whole time. I got to know the rental car companies fairly well and got pretty good rates. It wasn't coming out of my pocket, we billed the customer, but I fought for every dime. I figured if the vehicle got wrecked or shot up, it would be covered. So I do have some experience with them.

I am not an insurance agent and neither are most car rental employees. If you are renting a car, talk to your insurance agent. Find out from them what coverage you need for where you are driving. DO NOT rely on your credit card. Most credit cards are secondary insurers. This means that they pay after your insurance does. To date there is one credit card that says it will pay for "loss of use" on a rental. But it requires you to get confidential and proprietary statements from the rental car company that no one is going to give to a third party. Most credit cards do not pay for having the vehicle towed, storage fees, loss of use, diminished value, etc. A rider on your insurance policy may be the best way to go.

My boss told me that he does not care wether you buy the "Loss Damage Waiver" or not. He just cares that you have the coverage you need in case something happens. Did you know that some car insurances end when you hit a certain state border? (I met someone whose insurance ended two states away.) And more end if you drive out of the country? Lets not talk about the insurance that ends when you leave the continent.

Talk to your insurance agent. Check if you have a credit card that provides coverage. Find out if your employer has negotiated coverages with a car rental company. Ask questions. I would rather deal with an intelligent customer who is comfortable about their coverage then one who is freaking out cause a rock chipped the window.

PS: Do not let an unauthorized driver use the vehicle. That will void all protections from the car insurance and could void an insurance company's rider.

I used the phone number on the bill that Avis issued me. Why should the airport have to field calls about this when it isn't their fault. It is the company itself? So I gave the phone number of the person responsible for handling the claim. We could barely afford to rent the car, so we didn't get the insurance. We got into an accident because the weather was bad not for bad driving. I saved up for 2 years just to be able to go on the trip.

As far as the airport goes I get so confused because people call the area Jackson when on the map it is Jackson Hole. I flew into the airport there so I assumed it was the Jackson Hole Airport. And if the additional fee was incorrect why did I get charged for 3 drivers when there were only 2 and the contract we signed was for $35.00 not $45.00 ( which I was charged). So I should logically be refunded $55.00 and I was only refunded the first time something around $47 nad had to call back and have the remainder put back on my car.

Why would I make something like this up? I have way much better things to do with my time than deal with this stress.

I rent cars several times a year and always take the damage waiver. I would rather pay $30 a day than $12,000 for a whole car.

Thinking that your own car insurance will cover a rental car is a bad idea. The rental company will use their own shop to repair the car and charge far more than the going rate to do so. The rental company will also charge you for loss of revenue while the car is out of service. Your car insurance will not pay more than the normal cost of repair and will not pay for loss of use. Plus, if you file a claim against your own insurance your company may raise your rates or drop you entirely.

BTW, what the rental company offers is not insurance. It is a damage waiver, meaning that if you pay them the extra money they won't make you pay for damage to the car. And even with the waiver there is often some types of damage that they will make you pay for.

When you rent a car you become liable for any and all damage to it no matter who is at fault. I would rather pay for the damage waiver and feel like a chump than to be bankrupted when the car is destroyed.

There are several reasons why this report is a FRAUD.
1) Avis does not have a car rental at the Jackson Hole Airport, because there is no Jackson Hole Airport. Avis does have a rental facility at nearby Jackson, Airport in Jackson, Wyoming.
2) The Area Code for Jackson Hole, Wyoming is 307 not 946. So they have a false phone number on this report.
3) The fee charged for additional drivers is incorrect.
4) Avis does not have a contract with your insurance company. They have a contract with you. Your insurance can not "AUTHORIZE" AVIS to repair a vehicle. Your insurance can agree to pay a bill that you present them, however it is AVIS' decision how to proceed in repairing or replacing their property that you damaged.
5) $1,000 in loss of use fees is cheap. "Loss Use" covers, fees from the towing company for moving and storing the vehicle, storage fees while the claim is being assessed and a decision on the vehicle is made. It also covers administrative fees such as filing reports to the DMV, labor cost for processing the claim, etc. It also covers the loss of revenue earned by the vehicle for the duration of the lease, or while the car is being repaired, depending on the laws that govern the rental location.
6) If the car was salvaged at 12,200 and over 1,000 was in administrative fees. Since "Salvage Value" of a car is typically 15-20% of the value of the car, the value of the car prior to accident was a little over $13,000. If anyone thinks you can take a car that is worth $13,000, sink $5,000 into repairing it and have a car that someone is willing to pay $13,000 for. I got a Bridge in Brooklyn to sell ya.

Damage waiver is quite costly, usually around $15-$20 day. However, a lot of credit cards offer full damage waiver for $20 per rental, up to 31 days. So if you rent a car for a week, it's only $20 for the week, as opposed to $20/day from the rental company.

And the beauty of it is, you just register your card so that anytime you rent a car, the waiver automatically kicks in. If you damage the car, there are no questions asked, and it is not reported to your insurance, just like the rental agencies LDW.

I highly recommend this approach to anyone.

Damage waiver is quite costly, usually around $15-$20 day. However, a lot of credit cards offer full damage waiver for $20 per rental, up to 31 days. So if you rent a car for a week, it's only $20 for the week, as opposed to $20/day from the rental company.

And the beauty of it is, you just register your card so that anytime you rent a car, the waiver automatically kicks in. If you damage the car, there are no questions asked, and it is not reported to your insurance, just like the rental agencies LDW.

I highly recommend this approach to anyone.

First off, if the car could be repaired for 5 why wasn't it? They'll still sell it for far more than it's worth in a year or two! And 3 dollars a day for insurance? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? Last time I rented they tried to sell me 30 bucks a day of insurance that cost more than the d**n car! I pay for insurance. The submitter was right here. 5k should have been paid. You know if that rental car hit someone under their insurance they would have FLAT OUT REFUSED to pay the cost of the whole car.

I don't give a fark what you think. 5K would have repaired the car to the business cost.
Why the hell should everyone pay 30 bucks a day?
Do the math, Cory.

FIgure if the car is rented every day. 365 days a year. 30 bucks. Hell, they sell it half the time? THey fark people up the back end. SHAME on them.

What was the cost of the waivered insurance per day, $2, $3? How many days did you rent the vehicle before the accident?