San Luis Obispo Car Hire

Tried to hope I wouldn't notice an extra day after being 30 minutes ov

Pros: Not much

Cons: When I picked the car up, I asked what time I needed to have the car back the next day to avoid an extra day fee. I was told I had 24.5 hours. I knew it would be close, I rushed to return the car and had it back exactly at 24.5 hours. The person checking me in (The clock started inside the pickup building, not when I left the lot and stopped when I handed the keys over inside the building, not when I arrived to the airport) made a face, I figured he saw I was close to the time and didn't want to charge me for a second day. He attempted to fix it for about 10 seconds, then handed me a receipt with two days on it. I looked at it and saw that I had returned it exactly at 24.5 hours. He told me there was nothing he could do. I told him I wasn't paying since I had it back in time, and I didn't consider a Taurus a luxury car. He told me it was and that there was nothing he could do. I told him that was unacceptable. His manager walked up and asked what the problem was, I explained the issue and he fixed it immediately. The first guy said, he just didn't know how to do it. I told him, he should have asked me to wait for his manager instead of hoping I didn't notice getting charged double. They also informed me that you only get 24 hours and 29 minutes. It is late at 30 minutes. Most other companies give you an hour.

Pros: I liked the car (when I finally got it!)

Cons: When I went to pick up the car, they said it wouldn't be available for another 3-4 hours!! Then they gave me another car to take home and said they would deliver the correct one to me later. Finally got the correct one at 5:30 p.m. (for a noon rental), and by then it was too dark to load the car. I called Avis to complain, and they said I would be credited for one of the days, which didn't happen! I ended up only keeping the care two days - was too stressed out by the whole ordeal.

They cancelled my reservation one hour before pick up

Pros: When I finally did get a car, it was clean and service at the new location I had to go to was efficient and friendly.

Cons: I was called one hour before my scheduled pick up time (12pm) and was left a voicemail simply confirming my pick up time at 12pm. I happened to call back just to be courteous, and luckily I did because I was then told they did not have a car for me, but they *might* have one at 5pm. They said this as if it were no big deal at all. When I said that was not going to work for me, and requested that they find me a car in the area at a different location, I was told I would receive a call back in 5 minutes. The woman on the phone was extremely rude, unapologetic, and interrupted me repeatedly. A half hour later I had not received a call, so I called to follow up and was informed they had found a car for me, but apparently they had forgotten to call me back to tell me. I was told at this time that my car would be a minivan and not an economy car as I had requested. After arriving at the new location, I asked if they by any chance had an economy car, and was told oh yes no problem of course we do. I'm very confused about why this happened. I was offered no explanation, and was ignored when I asked for one. I was never apologized to and was treated as if this is a regular occurrence. I had scheduled my pick up a week in advance, and had several people depending on my being able to pick up the car at 12pm. This whole experience left me speechless. I have never experienced such poor customer service, and don't feel that I brought this on as I was extremely polite and respectful through my entire interaction with all Avis staff I encountered. I was offered no compensation for the stress and inconvenience of this ordeal and would like a response from your customer service department. Thank you.