I can't quite understand how this company is still in business. In this day and age, how hard really is it to sync your inventory with your customer promises? They can't rent you an electric car so don't believe it if they say they can. Also, why on earth does it take 20+ minutes to get a rental car? This was MUCH faster in the 1990's -- apparently this company has been actively enshittifying ever since. read more

Not that there are any other options nearby? Why in pray-tell does it take 3 minutes to make a reservation on line but 15-20 minutes to check in with the agent at the Charles hotel? But the real kicker is the engaging personality of the agent... NOT! Reminder Ma'am...you're in customer service read more

This location is total scam. I completely refueled the car until the nozzle clicked at Mobil in 816 Memorial Drive 5 minute prior to drop off. The car was checked by someone that gave me a thumbs up and all good, and said I could either wait for receipt up on top with a long line, or just let the individual handle it once he went up. He goes and adds 28 dollars on fuel surcharge on top after telling me I am all good . This is the scummiest of car rental scams I have seen, please beware. Like I can't physically add fuel to that car because the nozzle clicked, how you gonna give me a thumbs up, say line is too big upstairs he will handle the receipt and sneakily add 28 dollar of fuel surcharge? I started a case with Avis, but this location should be sued. read more

Got to the rental office on Dec. 26th. They did not have the full size car that I wanted and checked off when renting online. The one woman behind the counter was absolutely frazzled. She only had a prius. But I said I needed a full size to fit the family. I asked why Avis took a reservation when they couldn't keep it. She said: "Do I know?" They had no other cars so we had to take it. I wanted a refund for the difference in cost. Said I'd have to call the company. What's happening to Avis? "The we try harder" no longer applies. No wonder that Uber is doing great! read more

Cars dirty random crap happening outside I need to get to the hotel but car breaks down 5 minutes in

Not a great place to rent cars. Only 1 person at the desk and often has "will return shortly" signs with no one there. They're supposed to pick up and drop you off but Bc of having no staff, it is not possible. Not recommended unless you're stuck in Harvard Sq and must. read more

Courteous professional service, booked at the last minute and felt very taken care of. The vehicle was spotless and an unexpected upgrade.

Showed up at 7am on a weekend and no one was there. Waited 30 mins and still no one showed up. Finally an hour later someone showed up but couldnt give me a car and we had to drive to downtown location to get a rental car. Another time I rented a suv and was given a minivan. Asked for a discount or to speak to manager and was given neither. Do not rent from here! Bad customer experience. Beware read more

I believe they just changed their tagline to Avis: we dont give a f..... I went to this local office today after calling their customer number to switch my car. I arrived to find out they did not have the car I was told they had. I was given such helpful nuggets of advice of " you should have gone into boston" and my favorite "you should have called this location instead of the 800 number." Great, they're just admitting that thier customer service is useless. The only option they gave was switch to another car, same make and model of the one I just told them I didnt like, or pay and extra $700 for a different car. I chose option 3, calling Hertz and never using my Avis preferred number again. Given that I drove 30 minutes to get there on the advice of their customer service, they should have given me the upgrade for free. read more

I've had multiple poor experiences here (for example, waiting for a car for three hours in the lobby, and then having to just take an Uber to the airport location to rent a car from their inventory instead [which of course they did not reimburse]), but when I got a letter in the mail asking me to pay $350 in damages from a rental that I had made 8 months ago, I decided to act (in the form of this Yelp review). I called Viking Billing Services (which is the third party that they use to outsource these claims) to dispute it. I had gotten someone in the garage to sign off on the previous damages that the car had before I drove off. Viking asked if I still had the form (I said no, because it was 8 months ago). They said next time to keep the form for a year (which is ridiculous) because claim damages are so heavily back-logged. Since Viking did not have any proof, thankfully, they were able to cancel the claim. So if you are going to rent from here, remember: do a walk around the car and note any damages, then keep that form for the next year, just in case they decide they want to file a damages claim against you. If you don't want to deal with that, don't rent from here. read more

Service at this location is horrible. The 4 times I've rented a car, the lady at the desk is extremely grumpy and unhelpful. Ive seen her interact with other guests as well combatively. While the cars themselves are as you'd expect from an Avis, the unhelpful staff alone make this location one not worth visiting. read more

This Avis is located at the Charles Hotel, with the cars the underground parking structure and the rental desk inside the lobby. I just had a very good experience with Avis here. I picked up a car in Battle Creek, Michigan and drove to Cambridge, dropping it off at this location the next morning. (I drove through Canada - it took me 14 hours, including a few stops along the way) I got the car at 7am, but the Avis at the Charles Hotel doesn't open until 8am. I showed up at about 7:45 and there was already someone at the desk ready to help me. The computer tried to charge me for an additional hour rental, but he noticed it and took it off the bill without my even having to ask. He was very friendly and it was a great overall experience. read more

It's been a while and long overdue for an update. So again. Location is great! Staff: - The usual staffers are friendly in addition to being professional. There are one off times when I get someone who I normally don't see at the desk and the staff goes through the motions without a care...but that's rare and I have rented over 20 times at this location. Basically, the usual staffers will try to accommodate your needs and provide the service you want. I really like working with the regulars and would have given 4 stars for their professionalism. - The one off random people? Yeah, going through the motions and makes me into the argumentative client that refuses to take "that's just what happens normally here" for an answer. (IE- been renting over 15 times and the girl tries to tell me that cars without automatic windows are normal? In this day and age? Don't try to rely on "normal practice at this location" for forgetting to set aside decent cars for the Avis customers who took the time to reserve in advance or we will find other places to take our business. Especially if in the past 15 rentals, I have never heard of such cars at this location. Own up to your greed or lack of professionalism in renting out the reserved cars without calling for cars from other locations to this one before the scheduled arrival of reservation customers. I mean really, problem solving folks. Not too hard!) But other than that it's good. - I don't have garage workers trying to pass off pre-existent scratches as my fault or arguing over the cell phone pictures. Makes my life a lot better not having to feel like I have to have a cell phone pic of every scratch when I return the car. - After the first few bad incidents of them not saving cars for advanced reservations and making me take out (and pay for!) expensive town cars or larger SUVs, they seem to finally get the policy that prepaid reservations deserve to be set aside so when we arrive we get the car we paid for not some random car that costs 10-20$ more. All in all, I will continue to use Avis as of now. I still take pictures of larger scratches because I never know who will be the garage worker when I return who yells at me. I will also not be pushed into taking some larger (uglier) and bulkier car instead of the smaller car I reserved and be forced to pay more money because someone didn't have the sense to set aside cars for reservation customers. But, I am cautiously optimistic. It takes a while to regain a customer's trust but I think they are on the right track. Last note- price - Not the cheapest. It's like $40 + to rent a small economy car for one day. Insurance is around $20. So renting for one day with insurance and gas is around 60-70. I tolerate it for convenience (and just rely on good Visa for insurance) but I have to say AVIS is not winning brownie points for this. I would definitely rent for longer periods and rent more if it wasn't so expensive. read more

I prepaided online at avis.com but showed up to a magical 13$/day "fee". Buyer beware: there is a city tax on rental locations inside hotels. Any information about the "fee" is conspicuously missing from Avis.com. I easily could have chosen a competitor, but that Avis location had the most competitive prices online. I find it despicable (and a borderline scam) that the fee is not advertised to the buyer until you show up to the rental location (at which case you're cornered and forced to pay it). Other than that, great car and good service. But the hidden "fee" leaves a very sour taste in my mouth. read more

(It seems there are two pages for this location. Submitting the same review for this one as well) Worst experience of my life. Unacceptably unethical practice. I rented a GRAY car for the night and never left Cambridge. Five months later they mailed me a bill for a parking ticket in the City of Boston issued to a RED car. I provided a photo proving the ticket wasn't issued to the car I got. They disregarded it and went ahead charged my credit card for the ticket and some fees. What was outrageous is after I submitted a dispute through Chase, AVIS started LYING just to get me to pay for this ticket issued to some other people. I built a strong case of dispute with all the evidences, then Chase contacted AVIS. AVIS conceded that I had a different car, but now they claim I exchanged my car in the middle of the rental and the ticket was issued to me when I had the first car. That NEVER happened! They are just plainly lying to get me to pay for the ticket. Before, they were confused about which car I took. That was just poor management, but this lie is unacceptable unethical practices. I called the manager of this location asking him to find a grey car rented out on the day. He said they only keep records for three months. Yet they waited five months to tell me about the ticket. What a convenience for them. Would not recommend this location or AVIS to anyone. read more

Do not rent from this location if you care about actually getting the car class you book. I booked a compact for my ferry trip and they only had a minivan. Waited an hour and they found a midsize. Incredibly frustrating! After waiting longer they have gone to Allston to get the compact I booked. I do want to say I feel awful for the folks who work the desk. The system sets both us as customers and them as workers for this. But it's a constant problem in my experience with both Avis and Budget at this location so be warned. read more

Had a good experience renting a car here. I was renting a car for the weekend, and had no wait on pickup or dropoff. I received a car in the class I reserved, and the car was clean and had a full tank of gas. read more

In my quest to rent from every rental facility in the greater Cambridge area, Avis was next on the list. I wasn't overly impressed, as there was nothing to make me recommend it over anywhere else if the price is comparable. In this case, the price was cheaper (thanks Orbitz!), so away we went. The bottom line is this - this is a no-frills rental facility. Meaning, even in the New England winter of ice and snow and slush, an ice scraper brush is too much of a luxury to include in anything less posh than a full-size (apparently, in the SUVs they'll let you have one that extends!). Get the more expensive car, and maybe they'll treat you nicer too. Alas, I'm too poor for that. But, even their economy cars are nice enough (no real eyesores in the lot, the "compact" we got was a brand new black Sentra). One perk worth mentioning - they've started a SmartCar fleet (the only one I know about in the area), and although the rental price is no lower than an economy rental ($49.99/day, about $60 after taxes and fees, they said), it might be fun to take one out on the town, if you value parkability over cargo space. But, eh, I've had better rental experiences elsewhere. read more

Minus three stars for hassling us for using a gift certificate (who gives a gift certificate to Avis? Where do you even find an Avis?). Plus two stars for the attendant making everything work in the end (seriously thankful for that) minus three stars for the rudest (in spite of being ultimately helpful? Is this looking at horse mouths or something?) customer service we've ever experienced. Don't waste your time unless you're a masochist, in which case it might be a great place to do business. read more

We went to pick up our car in a Saturday morning and were greeted by Dianne, who was over the top excellent. You could tell she took pride in her work and got us in and it in no time. Easy pick up - will be returning read more

Where to begin? Do I start with the teeny tiny little space that is the rental office? No place to sit while you are waiting and believe me, we had to wait. The lady that was behind the desk was very grumpy and not helpful. How about the VERY poorly written (hidden) rule regarding addt'l drivers and them needing their own credit card? My daughter and I planned this trip for my birthday for some time.I decided to rent a car because my car is older and this was a long trip. I thought it would relieve some stress. Ha! While filling out the on-line form,I saw that an addt'l driver needed a driver's license. We brought that only to be told that she could not drive at all. She needed her OWN credit card despite the car being rented with mine. Despite my many inquiries, I have yet to receive a response that shows me where this is written. That meant that I had to do all the highway driving which I absolutely hate to do. If I had known that before hand, I would have figured out something different and saved myself almost $500! Then, let's move on to the car itself. Toyota is usually a good name which is why I chose it. That car was so very uncomfortable. 2021 is not a good year for a Toyota Corolla. Also, between picking up the car in Cambridge and driving to my house, 2 nails ended up in the tire? Were they there before? I had no idea they were there. When we went to leave for our trip, the tire pressure was down to 20. Thinking it was just low, we filled it up and went off on our way. Over the course of my vacation, the tire pressure kept going down to 20. It took 2 trips to a tire place and EVERY SINGLE DAY of vacation to get that rectified. I would have gotten the addt'l insurance if my daughter was driving but she was not. You have to pay extra for Avis to take car of a low tire. I had AAA so I thought I would be fine. Little did I know. Finally, Friday, the day before we left, it was fixed. Next, let's move on to the serious lack of cust. service response. I've asked the question regarding the addt'l driver, I've left documentation regarding the low tire and finally, I asked if my drop off point could be modified because I wasn't feeling well and was thinking I had Covid. I really did not want to have to drive to Cambridge again. Either no response or minimal automatic. When I finally made it to Cambridge to drop off the car, the person behind the desk asked me if I the rental was ok, I said no. He then answered the phone and waved me off. I really, really hope I am NEVER in a position again to have to rent from Avis. read more

Darren is the man. I didn't even end up renting a car here, but last minute I was looking for a vehicle that sat 7 people. Even though the website showed no availability and he confirmed this when I called, he took down my number and called me back in a few hours letting me know he had a car. Excellent customer service and I'll be back. read more

A great rental experience! Terry was an excellent representative and went above and beyond for me. Thanks so much!

There is never more than one person working the desk, and that is unacceptable. I had to wait in line for more than 20 minutes both to pick up and drop off the car. Convenient location, good selection of cars, but not easy to deal with. read more

Reasonably easy and efficient pick-up and drop-off, but car was very poorly cleaned inside and out. There was a leftover chocolate milk bottle inside the door, and the whole car, especially the side mirrors, was covered with water spots. They wanted to charge me $200 extra to drop off at Logan, but I found a great workaround, initially agreeing to return the car to the Charles Hotel, but then calling the Avis 800 number later in the week, and asking if I could return the car to the airport, and they only charged my $25, less than the cost of a cab from the Charles Hotel. read more

Avis Rent A Car - Poorly cleaned Avis rental car at Harvard Square location - leftover chocolate milk bottle. - Car Rental Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

I was attacked by the person in charge of checking the car upon return. The person is still working there. I am a guy, and I could defend myself. What if someone else was in my situation? read more

Incompetent. Go somewhere else. Car not available when I arrived. Rude and unapologetic agents (two women who could care less). Other options for in-town car rentals. I suggest you vote with your feet and take your business elsewhere. read more

This was the worst experience while renting a car. Rental pick up was for 8:00AM. No one arrived to the desk until 8:30 and once they did they had no key to access the closet were the car keys are kept. So I had to wait an additional hour until someone could open the key closer. Ended with a car 2 hours after the original pick up. By far worst experience. read more

Living in Cambridge area, I chose AVIS because I needed to rent a car just for the day Saturday, and they were the ones open the latest on saturday (6PM). I reserved 10 hours before I was to pick it up, got there at the opening at 9AM, two very nice staff, rented my car for $50 (incl. insurance), I didn't have any hidden costs, drove my 380miles to maine, came back, was stuck in traffic, called at 5:59PM saying I would be 5 minutes late, I arrived at 6:08PM and they were patiently and nicely waiting for me. Got a nice Focus, did 38 MPG average. All good! Major thumbs up for the nice people at the desk. read more

I had many bad experiences with this space. Apart from waiting for a car up to two hours and usually not getting the car I booked, what really frustrates me is the rudeness of their staff. Particularly the agent (woman with curly hair) constantly complains how busy they are and doesn't hesitate to make rude and sarcastic comments. I would understand that their renting system may crash (that happened), they may run out of the cars (people may return their cars late), but I can't ignore the fact that they are very rude to their customers. Never using this location again. read more

I've never had a problem with this place. It's by far the most convenient way to rent a car in Cambridge. And the price is reasonable.

This location is a catastrophe. I waited in line for over 2 hours to get a car I'd reserved over a week in advance. When I finally got my car I asked for insurance coverage, which I purchased. They erroneously charged me for emergency roadside assistance, which I did not ask for. They also failed to explain the under age renter surcharge up front, all culminating in me receiving a much larger bill than expected. I've since tried to call them to discuss the service I was wrongly charged for, and have not been able to speak with a representative. My experience was so poor that not only will I never book from this location again, I will never book from Avis again. Any self-respecting rental company should be ashamed to offer this caliber service. read more

Waited an hour in line, very slow service. This location is understaffed and inefficient.

I've rented from this location before. The staff is excellent, they do their best to accommodate specific requests I come up with (I would have expected resistance or impatience, instead got kindness and helpfulness). I will always rent from this Avis! read more

I signed up for an economy car that seats 5. They said online when I reserved it would seat 5 but they gave me a car that seated 4. When I saw the car, I went back upstairs and said online it said seats 5 and that is what I need. The woman said I have to charge you more for a bigger car.. Clearly this is a bait with a cheap rate and switch the customer to a more expensive car. Bad Business and they make the Charles Hotel look bad. I have been to many Budget locations, and was a preferred customer with them. No More! or certainly not at this location read more

I have used this place before, and things were fine, but apparently it is just the luck of the draw: I now know that reserving a car using the online system doesn't actually do anything - I reserved a car, and then when I went to the physical location, they said there were no cars available, and that the online system never checks if there are actually any cars! (maybe it holds a car if there is one, that was not clear, but still pretty useless if the system doesn't tell you whether or not there are cars and lets you "reserve" one regardless!!) This is an unacceptable business practice, so I will never use this place again and recommend others to avoid it as well. If you're desperate, call before heading over! read more

I had a much better experience here than I had at other local rentals (like the Budget in Central Square, where the pick up process seems eternal). The best rates are available if you prepay online (and if you have an Entertainment book it comes with a reusable coupon for a free weekend day rental, which pays for the book's entire cost with one rental). Since all my information was already filled out online the pick-up process couldn't have been faster. When I returned the car there was a long line at the counter so I just left my paper and was e-mailed the receipt a few minutes later. The staff was friendly and didn't yell at me when I managed to lose the small token that gets you out of the hotel parking lot. Also, in regards to the comment from David C, I was not charged any kind of $13/fee -- all the fees and taxes were in line with what I paid for online. I asked the staff about his comment and they had no idea what it could refer to. The only downside is the traffic hassles that come with returning the car to Harvard Square. read more

This Avis customer service is the worst. A Avis agent by the name Jessica (black woman with glasses) was very very rude. I asked her if the location did complimentary upgrades for Avis preferred members and she was like no only as airport locations which is false because I've gone to this location and got upgrades. So I pre pay for a rental and the agent declines my reservation because she said my credit card needed to have additional $100 on it. Which is odd because my card always goes thru when I'm not dealing with this specific Avis agent (Jessica). She basically messed up my whole weekend by not accepting my pre pay reservation. I've dealt with this agent before at this location and she is not very nice or receptive to the customers that come to this location. If you see this agent stay clear of her and this location. Just save yourself the time and go to airport or a Boston downtown location. read more

Note that this location is a combination of Avis and Budget. I've rented from both companies a number of times and have had pretty good service. Cars are always in good working order. They have always been in good to very good shape and the staff is generally very friendly. My experience this weekend was a little different because Budget/Avis has come up with a new series of questionable practices/scams to try to get more money out of their customers. I was 4th in line and so I had plenty of time to hear others complaining about the same thing to know what I was in for when I got to the front of the line: 1) Lower your expectations when you make a reservation for a premium car... Your choice is a Ford Focus, Mazda 3 or, if you are lucky, a Toyota Corolla... As the clerk said to a number of customers... "There is no such thing as a premium car at our location... The website has a bug"; 2) They automatically charge you $13 for gas and you have to bring back a receipt showing you put gas in the tank if you want to get a refund. This charge is for up to 75 miles and so you are paying somewhere between $6 and $13/gallon.; 3) This is an old scam but they have doubled the already ridiculous charge... If you go over 75 miles and don't fill up the tank, they charge something like $9/gallon. They also have stopped filling up the gas tanks on their cars and so you have to try to guess how much gas to put back into the car if you want to avoid charges. The good news is that they do credit you a reasonable/market rate if you put in more than the car had when you picked it up (no... nowhere near the $9/gallon they charge if don't put in enough). Also... When you pick up the car, make sure you pull it forward into the drop off area before you do the inspection. All of the cars that are ready for pickup are in dark corners where you won't be able to see any damage. They have made sure their is extra letting in the area where you drop it off though. read more