| AVIS |
| AVIS AVIS Frankfurt Airport, Germany Rental Damage SCAM!! Frankfurt, Other |
| 23rd of May, 2011 by User338448 |
I travel a lot for my work, but I have never seen a scam quite like this. AVIS at the Frankfurt Airport in Germany is really getting some people on this one. You can find this same scam for the Frankfurt AVIS all over the internet, specifically from the past 8-10 months. I rented a car from AVIS/Budget for 9 days (4/25/2011 - 5/5/2011) while on a business trip in Germany. I didn't take any pictures of the car when I rented it... (Mistake 1) When returning the car, the attendant walked straight to the back of the car and tried to point out a "dent". He didn't even look at the rest of the car. He KNEW where the ding was and was 100% ready to point it out. He told me I had to get closer to see it, and that you have to look at it from a certain angle to see how the light distorts when reflecting off of it. I was not amused at all. This "ding" was quite literally 3 millimeters. He said that it was so small I wasn't going to get charged for it, so I shrugged it off and finished the process (Mistake 2). 3 days later I notice that I had been charged 3 times the amount that the original contract stated. I was furious and called AVIS here in the U.S. They stated that because it had happened in Germany, there was not much they could do. They could not even provide me with an itemized receipt of the charges, so a reason that it was so much. After 10 days of not hearing anything, I called back... still nothing. I also disputed the charge with American Express. I finally got a letter in the mail from the German AVIS that stated the damage was in excess of 1050 EUR. For a ding so small you need magnifying glass to see it?? I don't think so!! To make matters worse, the back included photos of a large scratch and dent, that was DEFINITELY not what they tried to show me (including the photos in this post). It's a fuzzy close-up of a scratch with zebra looking lines behind it. At this point, it's not just a scam, it's extortion and fraud. As of 5/25/2011 I'm still going through this mess, so if you have anything to add, please feel free to contact me or comment. Based on what others have written previously, I'm starting to think they are using the same picture for multiple claims. I have rented from AVIS before, and aside from the occasional bad smell or dirty interior, have never had much of a complaint. The company has some sort of contract with them, so they are always who we go with. Well, if this materializes into an actual fraud case, that is going to change. Considering the company I work with has over 150,000 employees, it's going to be quite a loss for AVIS/Budget. My advice to whoever is reading this:
1. Always take photos of rental cars (all sides) before driving off it in
2. Never just assume that because the attendant tells you that you won't get charged, you won't.
3. If they ever try to tell you there is damage, take more pictures, and tell them you are not signing for it. Links to additional pictures:
(not what they tried to show me) (Word Doc) - Most from past 6-10 months
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| One time back in 2009 I returned a car in perfect conditions, then a couple weeks later I got an email with pictures of that same car as being destroyed in the back. They wanted me to pay over Euro 5000 to fix the car! Such a scam!!! Finally I argued so much that they gave up. But it was nerve-wracking. |
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