Update #2: I received another replacement. Much cleaner, much more on par with first rental in terms of quality (hybrid, intermediate suv). This AVIS location has given me dirty cars before, this one was just unbearable. Took too much time (had to leave work) to get to a decent outcome, but it is resolved. Upgraded to three stars to reflect my many decent experiences with AVIS prior to this incident. Update #1: Spoke with customer service agent over the phone again. He was very kind and helpful. He refunded a day of service. He says tI should be able to exchange the car again, which I will do after work (since I have missed quite a bit today). Hopefully the agent at the front desk is as kind as she was during our first two interactions. Bumped to 2 stars pending new pick up. Customer service is lacking throughout. Initial process was seamless. However tire was flat the next morning after very little driving... The process of getting this rectified was difficult. The replacement vehicle was dirty. They haphazardly cleaned and never offered another vehicle or any compensation for lost work time etc. In detail: I rented the car for transporting family for my grandfathers funeral. Initially very easy to get my car. I prepaid, there was a car available immediately. Tire was flat the next day when I went to pack on my lunch break. It was difficult to get anyone on the phone initially. On chat, the first agent on chat "left the chat" without responding and there was no way to reconnect. The second gave me the number for towing and after going through a whole automated phone call worth of questions, I was directed to a site to fill in the same questions, and at the end of this set of questions I was finally given the number to a human agent. My options were presented as try to inflate the tire with the provided air compressor then take the car to a shop myself and they would reimburse for the tire or drive back to AVIS for replacement. Chose the second option, which seemed like a downgrade, despite my used time and effort. In addition, the car was dirty inside and out. Mid on the seats, food and other debris in cup holders on floor etc. The service desk agent seemed annoyed that I bothered her about it. I asked for a replacement vehicle if they weren't going to be able to clean quickly (because this it the middle of my work day), and the guy was nice enough and said 5-10min to clean. However nice he was, it is reflected that it was a 5-10min cleaning job. The car is still quite dirty, but I have to go back to work. I cannot put anymore time into this. I am very disappointed. They could have at least given me a clean vehicle or the desk agent could have been a bit nicer for the exorbitant amount of time it took from my work day to rectify this. read more

Make sure you are EXPLICIT when you get your car that you DO NOT WANT INSURANCES unless you want to be overcharged. I didn't say anything and he didn't ask and I was in a rush and forgot to do this. Later saw that $17 per day was added for one random protection I didn't ask for or want. I contacted Avis online and they seemed like they were looking into it, then they wrote back that it was legitimate and included on the original reservation. Ridiculous because they had me send them a copy of the reservation confirmation and it clearly shows the lower total and no coverages. They are dishonest AND incompetent. Great combination. Not that you have any better options at GNV but just know going in what to expect and protect yourself accordingly. Also be sure to do before and after videos and photos of your rental so they can't claim extra charges for take damage or that you didn't return it with a full tank. I have benefited numerous times from having done this. read more

I have rented from them 3 times and cars have smelled bad. 1 time they tried to charge us for not refueling, but luckily we had taken a pic of the gas gauge upon returning. This time, they charged us a fee for the smell. Yes, I should have reported it, but they always smell. I have contested the charges and will not rent from them again! read more

There is no point in making a reservation here--they won't have your car and they will just shrug. I have to use this site because they are contracted with my workplace. The last two times I've needed a specific type of vehicle to transport multiple individuals they just haven't had any stock despite reservations made weeks in advance. read more

Really upset, discouraged, disappointed ... I make a reservation 3 months in advance for a convertible, only to get there and they laugh at me when they're telling me they don't have that. Wow really! You couldn't call me and tell me this so I could of made other arrangements at another place...? What's the point in making a reservation then. I'll never book with avis again. Hope yall look at reviews before booking with this worthless no good for nothing place. But you know they gave me a Mercedes Benz for the trouble, which was dirty. Windows were so bad couldn't see out if them. And the steering wheel was sticky as well as the door. Thanks Avis, you're rocking the 1 star. Keep it up, you're good at that. I'll go to Doller rental next time! read more

I have been renting cars from Avis for 11 years, and am currently Chairman's Club with them. But this is the only location that will not do a one way rental! I guess that they do not need my business anymore. read more

Car seat was requested with rental. No anchor clips were provided and when asked they did not have any and replied they did not use them with their kids car seats. Not safe. read more

Wish I'd seen all these reviews first. I rented a car in Jacksonville (where they were eventually nice, despite ignoring me for a few minutes when I walked in) and returned it to Gainesville. An agent neglected to check my car back in so I was charged $88 extra. Took a few days of going back and forth with corporate over email to get the charges refunded; they ended up admitting GNV avis had made a huge mistake. They were pretty confused too and way too many emails were exchanged for a fairly straightforward thing. My guess is that this was not a mistake but they probably routinely do it do pad their wallets. Even though they refunded the money it was still a waste of time and effort. read more

if you have any other options, use them. the phone tree and automated assistance alone are reasons to avoid these guys - but when my car died on day 5 of an 8 day rental, their incompetence, and bureaucratic approach were mind numbing, let alone the unfair way they felt that offering me 1 day free rental might be compensation for the insanity of a day trying to deal with them and 3 days lost. read more

Avis - worst customer service ever. - Car Rental Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

With an empty airport, you'd expect service to move fluid but absolutely the opposite. The clerk at Avis will take approximately 30 mins for each transaction while the line continually wraps around the long empty hallway. I would advise to find another location when renting a vehicle in this area or you will be waiting hours behind 3 ppl ahead of you. read more

Operations at the Avis Gainesville Airport location has serious problems. On the way to pick up my reserved car I received two notifications from Avis one saying your car will be ready in 30 minutes and another saying my car would be ready in 15 minutes. I walked up to the desk at the appointed time and the car wasn't yet available. It still needed cleaning. As I waited I saw three other costumers walk out to get their cars only to return because of some problem or other with their car. After about a twenty minute wait my car was ready and I was on my way. read more

Military families beware! Do not rent from this business. The black man is rude and very unprofessional. I'm a military wife and I had my husbands credit card to pay for the rental. Well, if anyone knows what a GOVERNMENT issued ID looks like the sponsor says Spouse including the spouses name and the cardholders name. I also had our health insurance cards that have both mine and my husbands name. Long story short, they didn't accept the card. When your husband is deployed and your one of only ways to pay for a rental to return home is denied I have a huge issue with that. Avis will NEVER receive business from me and I will definitely share this with all military families. So happy my husband is serving this country that doesn't help military wives in return when needed. read more

Avis/Budget has a systemic unprofessional culture to allow this woman to represent them as an employee. I have to 100% concur with the other negative reviewers (on Google) who had to deal with this racist and rude employee at Gainesville Airport who makes up random rules because it seems this has been going on for at least a year and yet there is no repercussion and they allow this woman to still work here. Make sure you are sweet in the beginning and get her name the first thing because when you try to get her name after all the insults and humiliation she lobs at you, she will threaten to call the police. If I wasn't in the middle of a trip to drive my elderly mother for a surgery tomorrow, I would have gladly waited for the police and airport security to see how she handles a situation where she was in the wrong from the beginning to end where she even said "Good riddance" as she gave us the keys. You have been warned. We needed to exchange the car because the one we got from the point of origin (ATL) was infested with ants in the back seat and then the passenger rear view mirror also became loose 2 hours into our trip. We spoke to roadside assistance and customer service by phone and they told us to go to the Gainesville Avis (100 miles away) to get the car exchanged and said there would be one reserved for us. Once we got to the Gainesville counter, this woman tried to separate myself and my sister in law and said that I wasn't supposed to hold the keys even though I was an authorized driver on the car. What? She also said there was no history of all the convos we had with roadside assistance and customer service and said we had to sign a damage liability, which was conflicting info from what REAL Avis agents told us on the phone. As soon as we started to call customer service again, she changed her tune and said there is a car available for us. But then would help other people in line and was all sugary to them by calling them "Ms." And "Mr." while just pointing at us, telling me I wasn't listening to her even though she was changing information at every sentence, addressed other customers who were in groups, loudly sigh and roll her eyes during the whole 1+ hour interaction. She blatantly cut us off everytime we tried to ask a clarifying question, tried to make us sign random forms, withheld information, etc. but was respectful and helpful to all the non-Asian customers and employees. Of course she gave us a filthy car with dents and scratches without even bothering to provide us the form where we can mark the imperfections on the car. The inside of the car was also not clean and I highly doubt this location even adheres to Avis' Covid safety pledge of sanitizing the cars as she can't even follow the first pledge to wear a glove. I will never ever rent from Avis again. Go somewhere else where they value customers or equip yourself with the info for FTC, BBB, FL Attorney General, and FL Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Services if you have to deal with the Gainesville Avis location. read more

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We rented a van because we have 2 disabled kids. The van had a seat that would not stay down. This was a huge safetry concern for us but not them. The lady at the counter was very disconcerning and did not care. They were able to give us a 12 passenger van but this was very difficult to transfer 2 disabled boys so we called cooperate later that day and they said they had a regular size van and gave us a confirmation number so we went back the next day and it was the same van in which the seat was broken. They continue to rent a vehicle in which the seat does not stay down. We asked the exact same lady from first day. Why they continue to rent that vehicle and she said, "maybe others don"t need that seat?" What a joke this lady and company Avis is. Stay away from this joke of a rent a car company. If i could give 0 stars I would. read more

My experience with Avis was pretty good until the end. I had no issues finding the place (Gainesville Regional Airport is super small) and I had no expectations that they were going to give me a nice car to drive anyway, as I chose the cheapest option possible. I ended up with a Kia Forte, which was okay since I was driving small country roads that weekend anyway. That experience was good. When I went to return my car, I knew it said that you had to know your mileage and I thought I could give the woman an approximate number. Instead of getting one of her staff to check it, she made me go all the way outside (the parking lot was quite far) to check the EXACT number. Who remembers their mileage anyway?! And since when did checking and recording the mileage become MY job?! I felt like I was doing her job for her and overall, that last moment just ruined my experience with Avis. I sincerely hope she treats her other customers better. read more

The absolute worst car rental company and location I have ever worked with. They actually called me at dinner and asked if I rented 2 cars. When I told them that would be physically impossible, they said I needed to go back to my hotel and get them the number off my key. When I said that was not happening, they said they'd text me with more instructions, which of course never happened. Now, I get my bill, which is twice what it is supposed to be because they said I turned the car in at 6pm. My flight boarded at 230pm, so kind of hard to do. To really hammer home how great they are, I called customer service and the lady said they were closed but to hold for customer service, which is closed by the way. Needless to say, wont be using Avis again read more

The total and complete lack of customer service at the Gainesville Regional Airport has caused me to cancel my Preferred Membership and try a different rental company. I have rented from Avis for multiple trips this year alone and to have a piece of paper shoved in my face as though I was illiterate and offer no assistance other than I could call customer service to request a refund for my prepaid rental was not only insulting but the definition of poor customer relations. Last time my car was not ready and at the St. Petersburg Airport the tank was not filled; but I understood things happen. Avis needs a complete revamp of their employee training. read more

I have no words to explain my experience, but I will try. "Corri Smith, the manager", was a heartless woman. She made everything so difficult for us. My aunt passed away the day before and we were in distraught. She said, "we were being difficult and her niece passed away last night and we didn't see her being rude." I could not believe she even made this comparison. It was very uncalled for. Corri made us pay for another reservation, that was triple the price and then got mad when I signed in the wrong area. She would insist on helping the person behind us when we would ask questions. This lady was the most heartless person. I am very appalled that a company that people should be able to rely on when emergencies happen have a person like this working for them. I will not use Avis or Budget again because of Corri. This does not even describe the whole experience. I have the whole conversation on recording and I will be sending it to the company so there can be repercussions. Please stay away from this company at the airport. read more

I rent cars quite often, and this is the first time I have had to pay $22 to go through ONE toll booth. There was no other line to go through, they didn't have a cash option. Needless to say, I will never rent from them again. read more

If I could give 0 stars, I would. They cancelled our reservation without informing us. No calls or emails. They essentially destroyed our family vacation. Customer service was very unhelpful and rude!! read more

I reserved a rental for the weekend over the phone they told me it should be a Camaro. The location for pick later tells me a mustang. They are nice, but not what I want to pay for. It wasn't gonna be the right car so I cancelled it online. Got a cancellation confirmation number emailed to me from them minutes later. Mind you days in advance of the reservation weekend. A month goes by they haven't refunded the reservation. So i call customer service. They start getting all pissy with me cause I say there's a mistake. they call me a LIAR! Tell me I have to pay them for not picking up the car. I call back the next morning with the email confirming that I took care of it. They refunded me fully... be careful Avis BLOWS! read more

Rude and unhelpful. No customer service. Never again. Basically having a reservation means nothing and life happens.

I had pre paid for a luxury car and it was paid in full and deducted from my bank account. It was a special event and wanted to make sure the rental would accomodate us. At the time of booking the car was a Yukon. When I arrived on Friday I was greeted at the counter by a woman named Constance who told me she was having a bad day! Wow!? OK. Then she asked my name, her demeanor changed dramatically when she noticed it was of Spanish origin. Then immediately told me that the only car she had was a Kia, I then told her to please find something else because it needed to be a larger vehicle. I was left with a final choice of an Impala or a Tacoma. Sincerely, I thought she was joking. I handed her my liscense and my charge/debit card and she told me "tough we can't take debit".It is paid for!! I had used the exact same card at Avis in the past AND in Europe without any issues. She said I can use my utility bill and rent a car from the kiosk next door. I asked for a full refund and she said NO, sorry you gotta call the 800 number. So I was left stranded at the last minute after both pre paying and given 2 weeks ample notice of the car. This woman was very abrasive,mean, and overall made me feel both a level of humiliation and embarassment that I had never encountered. This location is the worst and I will never consider recommending it. They need a quick lesson in being ethical and treating a customer with dignity regardless of thier ethinicity. Do not patronize this businness. Please refer to the other reviews as well. As I walked away she kept telling me it was not her problem, and you won't get a refund anytime soon. How Nice Eh?! read more

This Avis centre DOESN'T WORTH ANY STAR, but I have to give at least one for a review, so this is the reason why it has a star. We rented a car through this center a month ago successfully and everything was ok. We were then out of Gainesville for 10 days, so we returned the car and got to rent another one when we came back. When we came back to the same counter, the lady said our driving document was not valid as it's an international driving permit, not a license. She then asked the manager to judge, and the manager said she can't rent a car to us as we couldn't show a valid license. We told her we did this a month ago in the same counter with exactly the same document, why are we rejected this time? She said 'someone was not paying attention, but I was paid to do my job'. "If you do not have your license, go and find the police'. We then found a policeman in the airport, he checked with other government departments and confirmed that the driving permit we were holding was valid in the US. The policeman then went to the Avis counter with us and told the lady that the States accept the driving permit, but the lady said the manager was having an interview so she won't come out to see us, and the lady again rejected us for renting a car there....... Why you could rent a car but being rejected a month later in the same counter presenting exactly the same document? and the explanation of the manager was that some of her staff was not doing the job but she is??? and the manager could even ask the customer to go get a police and then walked away??? What kind of attitude is this??? We do not expect any 5-star hotel service here, but this is totally not the service we deserve. We were so angry that we called the Avis customer service hotline to complain, but the manager kept saying he's not involved and we should not be angry at him, he didn't know why the counter would act like this. What's the most impressive is that the manager asked a few times " What else do you want?", sounds like we want to take advantage from him! I would say this hotline provides somebody to pick up your call, provides you customer service, but with NO QUALITY. The experience of dealing with Avis is 'FRUSTRATED', 'ANGRY' and 'TIME-WASTING'. We will NEVER rent a car in Avis again !! read more