We booked a mini-van online. When we arrived, it was not available. We booked at another location, it was also not available. We called the national line and an agent reported that there were no vans available anywhere in DC. AVIS should not induce bookings when there is no availability. Complete fail. read more

RUN!! This place actually owes me stars for putting up with them and their foolishness. From the start it was a mess and I would have cancelled if I wouldn't have been charged almost the price of what I paid for the rental to begin with. Where do I even begin.... It was a mess even trying to find this place and when I did I stood in line upstairs (where all the cars actually are). I found out that is for the preferred Avis customers and the peasants like myself must go down a level, so I do. I wait and talk to a very energetic man who is dancing around and being very extra. He tells me that the Ford Edge that I called and made sure they would have for me and confirmed with the representative was not available. He listed off a bunch of other cars he could give me instead so I picked the best of a gruesome bunch. He asks for the card I used to make the reservation which I didn't have. He said I could stick any card in there and give him the last 4 of the card I used to pre-pay. I asked him several times if anything would be put on the card that I stuck in the machine to which he responded no each and every time. A hold was placed on that card which he neglected to tell me about. Had that sent me into the negative and I incurred overdraft fees I would be even more pissed than I already am. Then he gives me the paper work and tells me the car is upstairs I go to the car and I'm waiting for someone to go around it with me to take pictures of any little dents, dings, etc to note the state of the car before I take it as in prior rental experiences and that never happened. I was told the keys were in the car and sent on my way. I get in the car and one key is broken pretty badly. I tried to show several people on my way out so that I won't be charged for it cause that would be just my luck. They shrugged it off and said hey you have two, don't worry about it. Once I got out of the dark dungeon that they keep their cars in, I start to notice how filthy this car is. I call and talk to a representative to let them know that there is stuff all over the passenger seat and back seat, the back seat is torn, there is some dark splatter across the roof...something went down in this car and nobody bothered to clean up the evidence. So I call the bitch about the state Avis gave me this car in and just keep getting transferred in this endless loop until I get exhausted and fed up. I had to leave for my trip anyways I didn't have time to deal with the foolishness. Fast forward to day one on the road and the coolant level is low so I have to stop and pay to put coolant in the P.O.S when I feel like those levels and stuff should have been checked before it was given to me but that's too much like right. Then I'm in a bind and need to extend this awful rental and end up having to pay almost what I paid for the car for 3 days! They gave me some sob story but I'm not buying it. I told them they just wanted to take advantage of people. This place is trash, they don't care about their cars, they don't care about their customers, they just want your money. read more

HORRIBLE LINE, HORRIBLE SIGNAGE. I guess they're remodeling or something but the computer kiosks randomly standing left unplugged. We went to the 2nd floor (elevator took 5+ minutes just waiting to go up one) only to be told in the form of associate yelling out of their kiosk saying "if you're not a preferred member, go downstairs!". Sigh... now I'm standing in hopefully the right line and actually get a car so we can get our vacation started They gotta have a better signage though. For real. read more

AVIS car rental DCA parking lot the worst of the worst award winner, never rent car there , read the fine prints , and experience the worst customer service , all stuff must be fired !!! especially the ones in the parking lot preferred sitting non sense employees . I would give 0 rating if I can bit lowest was 1 star sadly . read more

Zero stars for a mess up which started at this locations counter, and zero stars continuing through to the Avis customer service department.... My husband returned his vehicle last Thursday prior to the counter opening and failed to receive a return confirmation receipt as he usually does. He called 3 times to inquire and was unable to get it rectified. Today he asked for a supervisor when he called, as he was again told that it for some reason would be a few days before the rental would be closed. The supervisor again told him that in order to manually close this rental they would have to charge him a gas fee, which could then be reimbursed later. And they told him he would not be able to rent again tomorrow morning if he did not pay and close the rental. So we asked, can you tell me who is responsible for the error that caused this issue? The supervisor replied that the Avis airport counter employee is at fault by entering the incorrect mileage. We then stated, so although it is YOUR company who is responsible for this error, I cannot give you MORE business tomorrow unless I pay a fee I'm not responsible for. With no logical reply to provide, the supervisor simply stated snidely, so what's your question? So....Avis messes up a return, tells the customer that THEY will need to go to the trouble of paying a reimbursable fee to close a rental, and a supervisor insults the customer when confronted with this nonsense? Ultimately he was somehow miraculously able to close the bill without this bogus charge, a feat claimed to be impossible for 3 days and 3 customer service reps. Deplorable customer service. read more

Service is ridiculous. There are no signs directing people to exactly what they need to do. We went up stairs where there were 3 people at the kiosk and no line. The lady asked were we privilege members and we said "no". She then tells us that we have to go back down stairs (we just walked past this floor up a flight of stairs) to a line full of people with ONE person working the desk. After we got our receipt to pick up our car we were sent you guessed it ... BACK UP STAIRS ‍. This is foolishness. If the place is empty in one spot and packed in another it should be all hands on deck to accommodate every customer not just customers of a membership club!!!! read more

Kimberly Pope kim@interviewologist.com AttachmentsAug 14 (2 days ago) I have been an "avid" Avis customer, however after the worse customer service, and condition of the car that was given to me and my Mother Shirley Taylor, age 70, I'm giving serious thoughts to never being an Avis customer again, as well as, Tweeting my experience, sharing on Trip Advisor, Yelp, Facebook, and other Social Media outlets. Why? We flew out from LAX I was flying to DCA and driving down to Glen Allen, VA to Visit with my Father Joe Pope, who lost his youngest brother Gene Douglas Pope, who died on August 4th, 2017. His service was held at Vincent Funeral Home on August 9th, 2017. We didn't make that service, and then my Father lost his Sister Shirley Crostic, on Friday, August 11th. I came home to help my Father with arrangements. I arrived at the Avis Car Rental service area of DCA, and the first car was a white Corolla, that smelled of stinky feet and bad fast food, and bald tires. (My Dad is a mechanic). I asked for another car, and it didn't smell, and I couldn't see it was dark. The next day, my Mother, and I was appalled, we could not pick up my Father or any of his other six siblings due to the state of the car. Please see photos below. I was only offered $50.00 to drive around and represent Avis in this wrecked, dirty, smelly, disgusting car. We ruined two pairs of beige shorts sitting on the car seats see photos. If this is how Avis wants it brand representing, one word Wow, I cannot believe this is how you would treat a repeat customer since 2015, I guess no one cares how they take care of personal/business clients. Please let me know what else you can do for me besides a "token" of $50.00, really? Plus, I prepaid for the car. I will be turning the "rental" back to Avis tomorrow morning at 7:00 am. I have filled the tank up with gas too. I will be posted this experience to every Social Media Outlet, as to offer me a token is simply not enough. Very disappointed, Kim Pope Kim Pope CEO/Founder kim@interviewologist.com read more

This is my second time renting from Avis...and my last. I waited in line for OVER 40 minutes to pick up my rental. The customer service was poor both times. There has to be a better way. The agents may act the way they do because of the conditions but corporate needs to do better. I never have this issue at Enterprise. Have more agents! It's a Saturday for goodness sake! This is awful. Go anywhere else because his doesn't make me feel like a valued customer. It makes me feel like cattle. read more

Actually less than one star! I'd only give a half a star for having used a vehicle. Our wait time was over an hour, the representative was rude & abrupt; then to top it off, the vehicle was given with only a 3/4 tank of gas. When I called to report the discrepancy, I was told it was my fault that I didn't check it before driving away. Basically, this is a scam, makes me wonder how many people get jilted with less gas then told it is the customers' issue to resolve. Not sure if this is about the location and the workers there; however, one of the worst customer service experiences I've ever had and makes it even worse to have been scammed resulting in an impression that it is the organization. Will never utilize any Avis company or any of its affiliates knowingly. Awful experience! read more

Avis - Drove 6 miles when I noticed, my passenger took the photo. When I called I was told it was my error and nothing would be done - Car Rental Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

AVIS PENTAGON CITY FOR UBER DRIVERS is the worst. You have been warned. Cars rented for uber at this location are the worst. I went there to pick up a car. 1st time: car was dirty and had dents and smelled like a colognue-bathed skunk had been in there. I told the unprofessional associate noway. He got me a second car. I drove it off the lot, filled with gas, then discovered NO Air conditioning. Avis told me to bring the car back and they would give me another. I asked about the full tank of gas I'd just put in the car. They said they would think of something. I brought the car back, and the third car they offered stank, was dirty and had dry vomit on the passenger floor. I said, no thanks. They had nothing else to offer as they don't rent to uber drivers the nicer cars. They refunded me and refused to compensate me for the full tank of gas I'd just put in the other car. Refused to help me. Screw them. If you are an uber driver and you rent from them, you will be sorry. Unprofessional staff. And their cars are the worst of the worst. read more

The customer service at Avis in general is usually good compared to the other rental agencies in my opinion, but at the DCA airport they are amazing. They have a lot of patience, do their best to make sure you leave comfortable, Janice who I believe was the manager assisted me more than was required. Forever grateful. Thanks Avis! read more

I waited for about 50 minutes in line to get a car. Terribly long line, moving SLOWLY. One staff member said she had to go to the bathroom and came back 20 mins later but just walked into the back office. It was end of shift so she and another one just walked away, leaving one person out there until one new person came on. Worst rental car experience I've ever had. read more

Don't use this rent a car. They over charge me. The girl said if I wanted extra insurance and told me it will only cost $64 but I ended paying more than $300. I will never again use Avis! I filled the gas before returning the car but still they charge me $19. This is highway robbery. Stay away from Avis. read more

DJ AND SHANNON at the Waldorf location provided an exceptional experience. I will be returning to that location for my rental car needs.

I went to Avis after my flight was delayed and arrived to find Enterprise closed. I was delighted to hear that they had a vehicle available for under $100! I give them my card, my license, get the paperwork and I am told that my car is up one floor in specific car slot C21. Fantastic. I'm not a big fan of this system, the "go get your car, we stay here" but everyone else was closed so I had no choice. I go upstairs, walk around for a good 10 minutes before I can even find C21, when i do find it, I find a minivan! My paperwork said Kia SOUL. Now I'm no car enthusiast but I can spot a SOUL and a minivan any day of the week. I check the license plates and they don't match. Awesome. I decide to walk around the entire lot to see if I can find this vehicle in any other parking spot, but it is nowhere to be found. The cool thing is that they leave all their keys inside the vehicles so I could have taken any but then the clerk at the security gate would have turned me back. I head back to the desk, and they are gone, which makes sense since they close at midnight I believe. Anyway, I was not able to drive away in my awesome rented Kia SOUL and I was stuck at the airport. I was able to get some work done on my laptop while I waited for Enterprise to open. Once they did, they honored my reservation from last night, no questions asked. They walked me to my car, did an inspection and sent me on my way. Avis still charged me for the vehicle and even charged me more than the $99 that I agreed to on my receipt. Charges on my credit card were almost $400. Upon calling Avis for a refund, they proceed to tell me that they will need to investigate this matter because the car was taken and returned somewhere in Virginia. They would have to look into video footage and I would not get a refund until then. Well Avis, I'm glad my credit card has fraud protection because I'll be filing a case ... wait, I already did. Avis, please get your act together. You rented the same car to two different people, you two-timing scallywag! read more

Will never rent from Avis again. I rented a car for over 30 days. Apparently their computer system can not handle this. No one could tell me the final price for my car. For "fun" I even called customer service. I was on hold for an hour. Finally they were at least able to give me an estimate. You would think they would encourage people to rent their cars for long periods, but apparently not. Every interaction I had with this company was a disaster. For example, I was early to pick up my car (at L street location). The guy was rude and seemed like he was making me wait just because I was early. After waiting for 30mins I went to check on it. Without even checking his computer or calling anyone he said, yeah it was ready now. read more

Service was OK but they charged us over $40 in fees for a $32 rental (total price for 1 day was well over $70). I felt like we were getting extra scammed because they knew we were in a hurry. Car was clean, easy reservation process. Check out took 45 minutes, even with no line. I got the feeling that other rental companies would have given me a lot less hassle. read more

TAKE PHOTOS OF YOUR RENTAL BEFORE YOU LEAVE. 7 weeks ago, I rented a vehicle with a lot of scratches. Most of the damage was circled with a white marker already. I assumed that Avis knew about the damages. I just received a letter from Viking stating we had over $1,000 in damages. Viking sent me the photos of the damage and it was the exact damage that I took photos of. Viking subsequently dropped the claim. read more

We rented in NYC and returned the car here. No problems with rental or return. However, about 30 days after our trip ended we got a call followed with a letter in the mail from Viking. This is the company that Avis uses to collect damage fees. They stated that we owed over $1200 for damage done to the vehicle during our rental. We had returned the car with no damage and the Avis return people had signed off on it. Evidently this is not an uncommon occurrence. Viking is insisting we pay, (we are fighting it, of course). If you rent from them be sure to take pictures of the returned car with a date and time stamp. We will never rent from them again and it's not worth this hassle. It's a scam and Avis will not deal with it and just refers the complaints to Viking. read more

The good: they always accept my name your own price on priceline, which means that I never have to pay an arm and a leg to rent my car. The cars that I have received are usually nice. The cons: I always have to wait at the counter and then it's always a struggle to find an economy car (although, last time they gave me a mid-size instead, woo hoo). So, the process usually takes 45 minutes between waiting in line and then working with the desk person. Other companies usually have me in and out in 10 minutes, but they cost more. I have received several rentals that smell like cigarette smoke, they're obviously clean but the smell is ingrained in the fabric. One was so bad I had to ask for another car, they were happy to oblige. read more

Avoid this Avis like the plague! You will wait endlessly in line, especially on the weekend. I gave up waiting and walked up to Enterprise and was in my car in 10 mins. Unfortunately I had already paid using Priceline - HUGE mistake!!! Live and learn.. They deserve minus stars, not plus! read more

Check your contract prior to sign your name and check again after they give you the paperwork. They added roadside assistance and gas purchase on my contract even though I specifically declined all options. I was on government business travel and I told them the government would pay for any damage/repairs. I didn't realize the charges until I am back in the office and filled out my travel claim. Update: Called their toll free customer service hotline and talked to a representative. The lady I spoke with was so unprofessional. I filed a complaint and they finally refunded my money. read more

Rented a car in May. Unorganized, long lines. I can be patient, the worse part was the car was filthy. Front passenger seat covered in dog hair. read more

Absolutely the worst! Last week it took me 90 min to get a car which had been rented and paid for in advance online. I travel nearly weekly on business and am not new to this. I had to wait in 3 lines because of Avis's shortcomings. They initially gave me a car to which they had lost the keys. So then I was forced to wait in 2 additional lines. After that they told me a car would be pulled up for me to the preferred counter. Nope after waiting 20 min the car was in a spot (which I wasn't given any information about) the entire time. Miserable! read more

Customer service was terrible. One of the two reps spent 15 minutes chatting about comedy shows with a customer while a line formed. Get to car and it's completely filthy, inside and out. I didn't have the time or patience to walk back to the counter. Won't be using AVIS at DCA ever again. read more

This is the first time I use Avis service, and I believe also the last time. Make sure to check your credit card transaction at least for two (if not three) more weeks because they can charge for tolls a lot later -- I had this problem even I've already made 100% sure every time I drove through a toll station I paid cash, and I even kept all receipts. But it didn't help, because you would need to argue with the toll company... What's even worse is they have the worst customer service I have even seen: the representative hung up on me before I could even finish the sentence. I am a math professor in a college, and I am always polite and rational -- including this time, and this guy just hung up on me because he lost patience! This is enough, never going to use their service again. read more

What's the point of having Avis Preferred (where you're supposed to be automatically assigned and pick up a car quickly) and the Preferred line is just as long as the regular line??? DCA Avis needs to do better! Complete waste of time. read more

Avis - Avis "Preferred" line - Car Rental Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Expect over 1 hour or more in line. One person working the counter July 16, 2017 2pm. At 2:30 still in line there are 2 people working the counter. The line is about 40 people deep and hardly moves. I'd give this place negative stars if it would let me. All the other rental car places here in the airport seem to be efficient and moving along with little to no wait times. read more

dishonest place, I prepaid for my rental vehicle and then when I picked up they added a bunch of charges but told me they were all refundable. Nothing was refundable, paid for gas even. read more

Do not rent here! This is an abomination. I dropped my car off and they cannot locate it as returned. Awful service from idiots!!! May they rot in hell!! Do not let these animals screw you over. Read the other reviews!!! read more

We made the mistake of booking by priceline - unaware of the restrictions through priceline if our pickup time needed to change. The location manager - Newton helped us out, and was able to turn a negative to a positive. Although we ended up having to pay extra, however it was a very fair price, we were able to use a premium car instead of the compact we had booked. We left happy and had a great time driving the new Mustang which only had 300 miles on the clock! Thank you to Newton and team - next time we will book direct. read more

Worst costumer service ever. I'm literally cancelling my rental and renting through someone else because your employees customer service is a joke. The lady there barely wants to do her job, shes snobby and doesn't even try to assist customers. Good luck with this one guys. read more

Unprofessional and avoid them at all cost!!! I rented a car they assigned me and told me the car was not available in the lot. So I ended up picking up the car that was available and they wrote on my receipt. Then dropped the car off the very next day. They sent me an email and letter telling them that I did not drop off the car. I was very upset and to work around the operators explaining to them including the receipts that I had rented the car and the field agent told me that I had to show proof that I filled up the gas which I DID! THEN I WAS CHARGED $870 THE NEXT DAY. Never again and I'm fighting to get my money back. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM. read more

I came in here recently because I was in a tight situation and had to rent a truck for the weekend. My Ford Ranger of 18 years had broken down, and I had to take it off the road since it was too expensive to repair given the vehicle's age and cash value. I still had some tools and outdoor gear in the back of the truck since I did not have a chance to get out to my storage unit before the vehicle broke down. I had to rent a truck for the weekend, so I could go to the car repair facility and get my property out of my old truck and take it to the storage unit. I made the reservation on Travelocity and was quoted $188.00/day for a Tacoma Titan 4X2 pickup truck. I paid $20.00/day for insurance through Travelocity. I picked up the vehicle at 7:00 A.M. Saturday morning and dropped it off at 9:00 P.M. Sunday night. I paid a total of $374.00 for both days. I declined the optional insurance from Avis which was $60.00 per day. When I brought the vehicle back to the airport, the Avis employee was rude and yelled at me to drive the truck to the front of the lane. He was standing in my way and would not move, so I had to drive around him to pull the vehicle to the front of the lane. Renting a vehicle in the D.C. area is prohibitively expensive. The other quotes I saw on Travelocity were even more expensive than this one. I would advise travellers from out of town to use Lyft, Uber, or Zipcar. Even taking a cab would be better. Very disappointed. read more

We specifically said no insurance coverage on the car because our insurance covers us already. Somehow it made it into the agreement and we paid an additional $105 for insurance we did not need. Upon delivering the car today, we had to ask what the additional $105 was for. We were told it was for the insurance we requested. A waste of $105 and their way of making you pay for fees without realizing it, until it is too late. read more

After returning my vehicle, I was told to come to the desk here to pickup my receipt (why in 2018 we can't email receipts and save the environment is beyond me). There were two people working the line and three people in front of me. After helping two people across both Budget and Avis desks, the guy at the Budget side peaced out leaving the Avis guy by himself. Unfortunately, people don't know how to use the internet so the lady was doing a booking from scratch right there at the window which took over 15 minutes alone at which point the line behind me had grown significantly to almost a dozen people. During this time a supervisor or manager comes in with her clipboard and completely ignores the line and jumps on one of the computer and starts writing stuff from the screen on the clipboard (never once looking up, saying thanks for your patience, someone will be right with you all, etc.). Then after about 5-10 minutes she turns around and walks off. At this point the line is getting agitated because the Avis guy is still working on the lady's rental and he now stands up and motions to me 1 one minute and leaves the office so everyone behind me doesn't see him motion to me but they look up and now there's no one in the office at all. Long story short, I waited easily 30 minutes, conservatively, for a receipt. And outside of a piece of paper for something that was already prepaid for, the only thing I got out of this whole experience is that Avis needs to enroll their employees into customer service classes stat! If you're short-handed fine, but at least make it the best possible experience for everyone else by communicating realistically with people or at least acknowledging them. read more

This is a wonderful company - great check in and check out was able to use a card that hertz declined. The best customer service and the truck was wonderful read more

Online site is easy to use from the desktop, as well as the mobile view. They keep their cars clean, have several options, and pretty reasonable price. Hmm, there was the part where the device they use to check cars in upon return went down, so we were asked for a pen and paper so the attendant could write down the car info then have us turn said slip of paper in to the main desk. Although, I understand electronics do sometimes fail. It only added 30 seconds max to the process. I would rent from here again. read more

A minor error on our part resulted in a $300+ added fee. We mistakenly reserved a car at the wrong DC airport. When we went to the office, the Avis service rep was very nice, explained that our reserved car was at the other airport, but assured us it was not a problem and that he had a car for us. We thanked him and drove off. AT NO TIME did he tell us there would be a fee. Had he told us an extremly punitive fee would be tacked onto our original rental cost, we would have taken an Uber to the other airport. A small fee may have been understandable. Doubling our cost is an underhanded and dispicable business practice. I will never use Avis again. read more

I am beyond irritated. The customer service after I booked my reservation sucks!! First of all there are no signs that tell you where to go pick up your car when you are local. So it took me an hour to find where to go once I got to the airport. This could easily be fixed in the confirmation email. Once I found the rental location it to another hour to get through the line and get my car. When I thought I was done I was asked for a major credit card or itinerary to complete the agreement. This would not have been an issue had I been told I needed to bring one! I prepaid on line so why should I need anything else? It then took another 20 minutes to locate the car I requested. All of this could have been avoided had they transferred the vehicle to a more convenient location like I had asked. I also asked if I could return it to a more convenient location and was told no. The customer satisfaction does not appear to be at the top of this companies list of priorities. Had I not been looking for a specific car I would not have kept this reservation. To make matters worse I asked for a 2-3 hour extension on the rental to compensate for the lost time they caused me. Sounds fair. They declined my request so not only was I delayed, I know have to cut my trip short to get the car back within the 24 hour window. The Avis sign also says it welcomes USAA members. When I inquired I was told that I had to make the reservation on-line via USAA. Again, no respect for service members. Now lets talk about the staff. While in line they only had 2 people working the Avis counter. One person in front of me had an issue with her reservation. Cory B (the Avis employee) told this person not once, but twice, she is lucky to be standing here breathing or else her rental would not be an issue. Had he not repeated himself I would have assumed I misheard him. I even asked the people around me if I had just heard him say she is lucky to be alive for this to be an issue!! Who says stuff like that!. The other person working was just gross. She obviously had sinus issues and kept snorting the snot back up her nose and then deeply down her throat!! I am not sure she was even aware she was doing it. What really has me upset with them both, is neither apologized for the inconveniences and when I asked for a manger, they radioed him via a CB radio! He never came to address any of those asking to see him. I will stick with Enterprise from now on. The value isn't worth the headache. I would rather pay a little more and be treated respectfully. read more