Nice owner, but gave me a car with a front tire that had a slow leak. I inflated it later that day, but the next day the low-pressure indicator came on again. I called Avis when we got to LA (3 inflations later) and they told me I had to bring the car in. They wouldn't send someone out to my location. Meanwhile, they're charging me $150 A DAY to pick up in San Francisco and return in Las Vegas. I tried to exchange the car at the location nearest to me, but they had no premium model to exchange and told me to go to the airport. This is on one of my vacation days. Very fortunately the manager (Victor Gonzalez) at the LAX Avis hub took care of us promptly and efficiently, giving us a brand new Taurus in exchange -- I'd give Avis a zero in customer service.Just plain arrogance and stupidity to make a client who's paying $2400 for a 17-day rental bring in a problem car himself. read more

This location is an easy walk from the Downtown Berkeley Bart Station, which makes it convenient to use. Their hours can be kinda funky. The staff tends to ignore you while they do their job. The on-line reservation system speeds up the rental process. However, this location does NOT have an express lane for the preferred renters. ARGH :( minus a star. read more

Don't use Avis. They gave me a dangerous car with a faulty tire that blew out completely 8 hours later after only 32 miles. I drove 29 miles from Maui airport to the hotel, then the next morning, 3 miles to the shopping center. Total 32 miles. Report says 130 miles. False As I parked, one tire had a complete blow out. Called Avis roadside assistance,. It took 3.5 hours to arrive. Totally wasted the first day of my vacation. Adding insult to injury, they charged me $470 for the whole incident. They exchange the car for a better, newer one. At the airport, I did not want to take the car, but the rude staff would not change it claiming that was the only intermediate car available. Not true. False. Plenty in the parking lot. One and half months later, I received a letter informing me of $470 charge, for tire, auto repair (What? There was no damage to the car, just a tire blow out, faulty tire), towing, and admin. fee. A similar rental car blow out incident happened to someone I know. Advantage Rental Car took the car back with no problem, and exchange the car without a charge. They admitted it was a faulty tire. Not with Avis however, they argued and stood by their charges! So for a 31,400 mile old tire, they charged me for a brand new tire, claimed rim damage (False), towing and admin. fee. That's the difference between Advantage and Avis. GO ELSEWHERE. DO NOT RENT FROM AVIS! read more

One of the worst experiences I have ever had with a car rental service and certainly the most unhelpful interaction with a customer service representative I've ever encountered. Instead of trying to help with an issue that arose because of my reservation, this man started raising his voice and became very hostile. When I asked him to stop shouting at me, he shouted in an even louder voice that he was "not shouting!" His behavior was truly reprehensible and I strongly advise readers to steer clear of this place because they treat their customers with contempt. read more

Quick, easy and pleasant. I made a last minute reservation through Hotwire and they had it all ready. Very nice couple that runs the place.

WARNING, avoid this rental location at all costs! The problems began when I went to pick up the reserved car, they gave me a vehicle that had obviously been urinated in and it was not possible to get into without gagging. I refused that car and requested a different one, after 30 minutes of arguing they finally relented and provided a replacement vehicle. The problems continued the following day. Immediately prior to returning the car I stopped at a gas station 3 blocks away from the rental location and filled up the tank, 8 gallons in a hybrid car that was driven only 160 miles, and unfortunately the gas pump did not provide a receipt that I had requested. I returned the car and the owner of the rental agency said that without the gas receipt he would have to charge me a $19 "fuel service charge", added to my bill. I pointed out that the car was completely full, he remained adamant and walked away. I told him that I dispute the charge and he laughed, saying "go ahead, it is all on your charge card already!". Unfortunately I did not check Yelp BEFORE choosing this rental location, hopefully you will be more careful than I was. read more

This place rocks! I was in and out in 15 mins, i was on a time crunch after going to two other rental car places. I called and asked if they had any cars available the nice lady on the phone said yes. I asked her if their was a long wait, she said there was not a line right now. Got there and the lady at the front desk was fast and efficient and new what she was doing. Which is so nice when you are in hurry and have to get back to work. I give Avis and it's customer service 5++++++ stars if I could. This is my new place to rent cars. Thanks Avis read more

I wasn't able to rent the car that I really needed to get to San Josè, although I had a reservation. The reason apparently is that they don't accept debit cards unless you have a US diver license, which would be fine if they would state it clearly on their website. Instead, it is sort of hidden between the lines, and I only found it our when I showed up to the place and the rude and uncaring person at the desk told me that. When I told him that I really needed the car and complained that they don't mention their Debit Card policy clearly in the website the only thing he was able to say was: "We would have told you if you called us". To conclude, more annoying than not getting the car, was the unacceptable attitude of the person at reservation desk, who gave me the feeling that he almost enjoyed the fact that I couldn't access the service. They will never have my money and I hope people who read this review come to the same conclusion. Go to other rental places in Berkeley (like Herz on San Pablo av, to mention one), where they treat people with more respect. read more

The staff were incredibly helpful and kind. And that counts for a lot when you are a frazzled traveler.

Unfortunately, I'm not too happy about this place. I where at the reservation desk two days in a row trying to talking the total price down with the assistant (not manager) there. We agreed (nothing written down) on a price including full insurance, GPS, free mileage (all inclusive). I thought everything was fine, and came and picked up the car and signed some forms (not looking too much into them). When I returned the excellent car I had to pay something like $60 extra (in addition to the 'fixed' price) for 4 days rental for the bloody GPS! And the manager said "oh, the GPS is NOT included in the fixed price"... I could then see in the document I signed upon pick-up, that the GPS was actually not included in the fixed price (but I was told so earlier)... I guess you have to read carefully what you sign and don't trust agreements that are not written on paper - especially at AVIS. read more

Rented a car from this place online. When I arrived they did not have record of my reservation. I am 25, however the owner was very open about his skepticism that I could actually rent the car. Upon return they insisted that there was pet hair in the car (no animals ever entered the vehicle) and that a cleaning fee must be paid. Very poor customer service. Do not use this company. It's worth the little bit extra to go to the enterprise on Ashby and Shattuck. read more

Checked out friday a.m. with very quick and thoughtful service and the car was quite clean! (I bring along cleaners, esp. windex, and paper towels for filthy rental cars I've become accustom.) So that was nice and the car worked well, no problems on a long drive. Wish they had a weekend special for less. Beware the grace period is a half hour only! read more

My car rental was quick, simple, and pleasant. The lady on the phone and at the counter was pleasant and efficient. I reserved a car about two days in advance and had no problem with pick-up or drop-off. The car (a Ford Focus) was clean, in good condition, no problems. I would rent here again. read more

I called on a Thursday for a business rental of an SUV for pickup in two Sundays. Rentals of SUVs are not allowed over the internet. Lori (or Laurie) informed me that she could not get me a rental and was not going to try. I am an Avis wizard member, and a frequent renter at the Webster Street in Oakland (closer on weekdays). I have never had a problem with them. I also know that a coworker of mine, and a frequent renter in Berkeley, can get an SUV whenever he wants to. I would not recommend this location for rentals. I'm sure not everyone will have the same experience, or have to talk to Lori/Laurie. However, I was incredibly dissatisfied with the service I was "shown" when I called, as a Wizard member, for a rental. No special service unless you are a frequent customer at the location. read more

I was pleased to rent car from that place - I have never been to Berkeley before, but I thought of this rental car place because it was conveniently located near BART station, and the price was very good! The lady offered us few good advises and a map, which is hard to get these days. Google Maps on my iPhone did not work, so the map was very handy. And, finally, she let me return the car before her center's opening time - I was at the gate 30 minutes before the opening time. What we did not like is that we could not drop off the car after hours; that is the agency policy, and it has nothing to do with customer service. read more

My opinion: The customer service was awful from this Budget (I guess now Avis) rent a car location. Worst rental experience I've ever experienced in my entire life because of the awful customer service at this specific 2000 Kittredge location. ABSOLUTELY AWFUL customer service. read more

I would never rent from this place again. Short Story: Quoted a cheap price online, then I was charged full price when I picked up the car because they decided it didn't apply. Long Story: I made a reservation online through Avis and used an online coupon for a weekly discount. Later that week I received an email confirmation quoting the same price. I later called the shop directly to confirm the price and the validity of the coupon and I was told it would apply. On Sunday, when I picked up the car I was told the coupon was not valid and that I would pay full price. I asked if there were any other promotions and was told "It's August and there's never any discounts in August." I paid the full price to get out of dodge knowing there's nothing else open in Berkeley on Sundays. When I called customer service on the 800 line to file a complaint, they said I never even picked up the car based off my reservation number. When I gave them the rental agreement number, they told me it was a budget rental number. So this shop decided not to honor my Avis contract, and they pushed a Budget rental onto me at full price. After all that confusion was cleared up, the customer agent refunded me the difference and apologized saying it never should've happened. If they fixed the problem over the phone, why couldn't the workers at the store? It spells out slimy dishonesty and lack of integrity. read more

The management was great, I reserved a car beforehand and got it right away. I was in maybe 10 minutes and got a great car in good condition. I would recommend this place to anyone who wants to rent a car! read more

I booked a car online through the Avis website. Found the place pretty easily, and it looked nice, but the customer service made me annoyed. When I got there, the lady asked for my ID and then said in an accusing voice, "Are you planning to drive this car? You're not over 25." I told her I wasn't and that I was ok with the surcharge. Then as she was processing the information, she all of a sudden said, "You can't drive this car. You're not 21." I was confused because I didn't know that I couldn't drive the car, even though I had booked it online. I explained that to her, but she said in the same tone that I couldn't drive the car. Normally, I would have completely understood, but her tone of voice just sounded so disbelieving, as if I were trying to get by her and run off with a car. As if I was a thief of sorts. I was in a bit of a situation because I needed the rental car to get to a job interview in San Jose, so I ended up having to take public transportation. I know this situation was mostly my fault, but I am still not renting from this location again. read more

Nice selection of cars, but the customer service is notably worse than other AVIS locations. No late drop-offs is also very inconvenient.

Be warned: there is no hour leeway. If you don't return the car the second it is due back, they will charge you $23.52 extra for a compact. Bad practice given Berkeley's traffic and other car rental companies more forgiving policies. read more

I tried to get a car here with TrueCar I was going to purchase it but it turned out to be a something not right going on where the referral they referred me there long story short on my end I don't have enough credit to buy the car and the car cost too much they charge me $240 for the one day so if you do not want to get ripped off do not go to the rental find a better one that actually looks out for the little guy trying to save some money I was just trying to check out the car see basically it's a test drive for like 2 hours and then after I go pass that I get charged for the day but $240 for one day and I was trying to do this program with TrueCar something wasn't right so long story short I didn't get my money back I wouldn't rent a car here I mean if they're trying to buy one from Avis I wouldn't do that either and the guy working new this whole situation where I was just test driving and couldn't refund me he was like you gotta get through TrueCar something so both sides and get refund so for a test drive I got charged $240 just was trying to potentially buy a car not cool I want to say I got ripped off butts it's pretty obvious so if you try one of these little things to be careful test drive it and go past the 2-hour window got to read that fine print obviously you know what actually I guess it's my fault really because you can't really trust people go to trust yourself to look at the detail the situation and I know that now so yes it was f***** up I just wanted to put this out there I usually don't even make Yelp reviews at all but this one struck a nerve and maybe I can help someone save some money on a test drive really though it's just not cool man. read more

Do not rent from Avis at LAX. The line for service took 1 hour to reach the counter. We had pre-booked and they said they had to wait until a car was washed and available so we waited another 30 minutes. We prepaid for the car and filled the tank with gas before returning it. I got a 16.94 credit card charge for fuel from Avis. I called Avis and they said you will have to mail proof you filled the tank with gas including where, when, how many gallons. Shame on you Avis for fraudulent charges for fuel. read more

06-10-11 this is my first time calling or dealing with avis the lady anwered the phone rude and wasnt knoledgable about the service they offered..... read more

Avis ruined my family holiday by giving me a dysfunctional car out the gate, and is trying to charge me for road side assistance and continually showed negligence. I would never rent with this company again. read more

I experienced bad customer service and was given the keys to the wrong type of car (with faulty brakes) at the Berkeley AVIS shop on Kittredge Street. It began well, though. My first contact was with a helpful and nice employee (it seemed his job was to move and service the cars, and he was great). Then I, unfortunately, had to enter the shop and talk with the person there. I believe she was the manager. She was rude and abrupt. She was unapologetic when she gave me a larger car than I had ordered months(!) in advance. She proceeded to tell me that the larger car would use less gasoline than the smaller car I had booked (which I highly doubt). The (larger) car she gave me the keys to was an old, worn-down, smelly car, which was very bumpy to drive, the brakes did not work properly(!), the trunk could not be locked etc etc. At the prices they charge at AVIS, you should expect both good service (I do not want smalltalk, but what I do want is to be spoken to politely), and good quality cars. read more