Avis Excessive charging Atlanta, Georgia

            On September 7^th of this year, I had absolutely the worst experience ever when renting a car. This was the first time I tried renting from your company, and I dont see how I could ever do it again. I was in the Atlanta area for my daughters wedding, and this experience put a huge damper on the otherwise fantastic weekend.

Details: Reserved a full size car through Orbitz. Pick up and return at Atlantas airport for (9/1 to 9/7). When reserving, my total cost WITH fees came to $289.17. At your service counter in the airport, I talked to someone named Corey at about 10:00 PM on 9/1. He tried hard to upgrade my full size car to a more expensive vehicle. I kept telling him, No I just want a full size car for the $289  - nothing more, nothing less.. The one addition I did ask for (and indicated this on Orbitz) was a childs car seat. He then asked about fuel services and insurance. I told him I would return the car with a full tank. I also told him my car insurance company covers anything that might happen with a rental car. Therefore, NO insurance was needed. He went through several screens on a monitor before me, and asked me to sign in a couple of places. At no time, did I see a screen that indicated how much I would be paying. I assumed that it would be the $289.17 quoted by Orbitz since I wanted no extras. The transaction finally ended, and I left. On 9/7, I returned the car with a full tank and was handed a receipt by the attendant. My wife and I jumped on the shuttle to the airport, and I looked down at the final amount. I was stunned to see the receipt said I paid $709.54! That was $420 more than I expected to pay! You can just imagine how furious and I was! Going through the bill and comparing it to the Orbitz bill (which also listed the fees I was to pay), I see that I was charged the following that were NOT included in the Orbitz bill:

1) $65.00 for the car seat.

2) $59.48 for 11.11% fee (have no idea what this is).

3) $15.17 for fuel service (which I declined).

4) $167.94 for LDW (insurance? which I verbally declined to Corey).

5) $29.94 for RSN (have no idea what this is).

6) $54.72 for 10% tax (should be a lot lower since my total should have been only the $288 from Orbitz plus the $65.00 for the car seat).

7) 77.70 for ALI (another insurance, I suppose, which I told Corey I did not want).

Again I stress I told Corey that I did NOT want anything extra that wasnt on the Orbitz bill except for the car seat. There would be NO reason to pay for insurance when my car insurance covers rental cars. One more point several us in line waiting to be served made remarks on how slow the service was. I was 8^th in line, and waited at least 45 minutes before being waited on. My daughter and I counted 8 agents behind the counter. Several times they would wait on one customer, then walk away for 10 minutes, or congregate in a group of 3 or 4 and just talk for a while. Everyone in line was getting very impatient and upset. Meanwhile, you could see the Hertz counter to the left with no one in line. People would come and go so much faster.

I would like a refund on the extra money I was charged. I did talk to a manager there, and she did refund me $115. Im sorry, but that was not enough. And she also had the nerve to offer me a $25.00 coupon for next time I use Avis. My daughter and I almost laughed at that. Did she ever think we would do business with Avis again if this is how they operate? Charging way more than the customer expects to pay? The coupon was returned to her.

I like to state the facts and close with the way companies handle issues really says a lot about them. Word of mouth travels. Everyone makes a mistake but how you resolve them sets you apart.

And $13 a day for a car seat? Please. Next time Ill pay the carry on charge for the airline and avoid this cost as well.