Avis Rental Car Scam Artists in Maui ,Hawaii

I had a bad experience with Avis Car Rental in Maui on April 13, 2009. We rented an intermediate car for 11 days and had a firm price. When we arrived at the counter exhausted from a long plane trip and a line of customers behind us the woman signing us in began the hard sell tactics. She said our car would be a PT cruiser and we would need to upgrade to accomodate our luggage. She started with the SUV scam which we turned down. My husband is six feet so he wasn%26#39;t going to be comfortable in a PT Cruiser. I asked for a free upgrade that had been offered when I signed to rent from them. They said that would be a ';Fusion'; and still wasn%26#39;t adequate for us. My husband agreed to the upgrade as he didn%26#39;t want to make a scene. The car was a Chevrolet Malibu and cost us $15.00 a day additional fee. The woman talked in terms of a Chevrolet Impala but somehow we ended up with the Malibu instead. The other hard sell tactics involve selling you their ';good deal'; the gas package. Of course there are the various insurances and the loss key insurance. I discussed this with management when we returned our car on April 24 and got $50.00 refunded on our bill. The fact that the Chevrolet Malibu was a 2009 automatically bumped it up one category. Just want other customers to know that an intermediate rental with AVIS in Malibu is a PT Cruiser. Be an informed consumer.

Avis Rental Car Scam Artists in Maui ,Hawaii

So how exactly are they scam artsists? They are salespeople it is their job.

What car did you think you were going to get? I%26#39;m sorry only 6 ft tall? He isn%26#39;t that big and would have been fine in the PT.

Avis Rental Car Scam Artists in Maui ,Hawaii

Travel with a photo copy of you personal car insurance with the car rental coverage highlishted.

Some credit card companies give you free car rental insurance coverage too. So take a copy of that with you.

If you have a AAA membership then bring that card too. They now have emergency service on Maui.

Sorry to hear about your experience Roxy. Unfortunately, some of these ';salespeople'; at these rental car places (not just in Hawaii) are getting worse and worse when it comes to trying to sell you this and that!! I also agree that a PT Cruiser is not what I would consider an intermediate car. I%26#39;ve discovered that if you rent a particular size car and when the website says for example a Chevy Malibu or ';similar';, well that ';similar'; could mean anything and everything to that salesperson at the counter!!

Thank you for your ideas on what to bring along in regards to insurance coverage. I know I need to be an informed consumer.

We were there on April 12th and ran into the worst service we%26#39;ve ever experienced while renting a car. The process took very long and when my husband finally got to the counter he was told that they didn%26#39;t have any full size vehicles ($37/day), as we had reserved, readily available and that we would have to wait about 15 minutes while one gets prepped. The other option was to upgrade to a larger vehicle for ($78/day). My husband said that we would wait. We ended up waiting about 25 minutes for a car.

Thanks Umaqa, for the support concerning my rental experience. I will be more careful in the future to inquire just what I can expect as far as the car size.

I do feel the ';sales people'; try to take advantage of people%26#39;s inexperience concerning renting a car. We turned down all the insurances etc. It was mainly the category of car that became the issue.

I, too, do not think Avis did anything wrong.

They (avis) can suggest things (upgrades) but ultimately, you have the final word!

You can say No. Or ';No, Thank You';

BTW the malibu and fusion are VERY similar cars.

Was it just the two of you?

Or did you have a lot of additional riders/passengers?

Just wondering because the PT holds a lot of luggage for 2 or even 4 people.

I had a VERY favorable experience with Avis, Kahului in %26#39;07. We received a great rate, were upgraded for free from a Pontiac G6 to a Grand Prix and pickup and dropoff took less than 5 minutes each.

NEVER take the prepaid gas plan, it always works out in their favor. I%26#39;m 6 feet tall and got a PT Cruiser a couple of years ago from Alamo and it was no problem for me. Alamo considers a PT Cruiser and Mitsubishi Eclipse as mid sized cars, mid sized compared to what a Mini Cooper.

roxy - I am sorry that you feel you were %26#39;scammed%26#39;, but the above behavior is pretty much standard at every car rental counter I have ever been to (quite a few).

My sister in law drives a PTCruiser, she is almost six feet and so is my bro-in law. The back seat is not great, but we took a long weeked for four with luggage and groceries with not a problem. I can%26#39;t drive it because I%26#39;m short! My husband is six feet and had no problems! (although I sure would not choose one)

The term intermediate is so ambiguous - so that%26#39;s a topic that I can agree is very confusing.

The information you have offered may very well save someone else the hassle, or confusion. In the end, the reservation that anyone has for a car is going to be a bit of a ??? because not one agency will guarantee you that you get what you reserved, especially if you are wanting a particular make of car - but they do need to honor the rate quoted you.

I hope the rest of your trip went much better. Mahalo for sharing this with us.