Q: Avis overcharged me for a one-month car rental in England, and I’ve had absolutely no luck in getting the error removed. I’m hoping you can help.
I booked the car rental through the British Airways Web site. When I arrived at the rental counter, I gave the employee my U.S. driver’s license and my U.K. credit card.
Avis’ computers were down when I returned the car, so the agent couldn’t give me a receipt. You can imagine my surprise when I checked my Visa statement and found that Avis had converted my U.K. pounds into dollars because I had used my U.S. license. As a result, I paid an extra $124 for my car.
I called Avis’ customer service number, which was a complete waste of time. I also sent them an e-mail, but I have heard nothing back from them, nor have I even received an acknowledgment of my message. Can you get my money back?
– Laura Cattell, Houston
A: Avis should have charged you in the currency it specified when you signed your car rental contract. But what did you agree to?
The Avis contract should have offered a choice of currencies — yours or theirs. But if you didn’t make a selection, and there is no record that you did, its reservations system would have defaulted to the currency of your country of residence. So if you live in America, you would be charged in American dollars even if you are a British citizen renting a car in Britain with a credit card issued in the United Kingdom, which pays the bill in pounds.
That would mean your pounds would be converted into dollars and then back into pounds, incurring a processing fee of up to 3 percent each time. That doesn’t make any sense, and I don’t think any reasonable person would expect you to pay that.
Determining the Avis policy on currency conversions is maddeningly difficult. The terms and conditions on its Web site contain separate contracts for different parts of the world, and it is utterly confusing when it comes to the subject of currency conversion.
According to the European contract, the rate of exchange used for any currency conversion will be “conclusively determined by Avis.” I take that to mean the company can basically do whatever it wants, but I’ve been assured that it doesn’t. In fact, Avis’ policy in Britain is to give renters a choice of paying in the currency of their native country or in pounds. An agent should have reviewed those options with you when you picked up your car.
Currency conversions are a tricky business in the best of circumstances. Credit cards charge a fee, and travel companies often do, too. If you don’t pay attention, you could rack up a lot of surcharges without realizing it. Any time you plan to cross the border, it is important to check with your credit card and travel company to make sure you’re using the payment option that allows you to avoid unnecessary surcharges.
I checked with Avis to get its side of the story. According to its records, an agent explained the charges to you in a phone conversation a few weeks ago, but that you “then hung up the phone on one of our representatives,” according to a spokeswoman. That may be why Avis never responded to your follow-up e-mail.
Needless to say, hanging up on a phone agent doesn’t help your case. Travel companies can attach notes to your reservation that follow you around like a rap sheet. A little politeness sometimes dramatically improves your chances of resolving a dispute.
Avis refunded the $124 in fees as a gesture of good will.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
This issue here should not be whether Avis had the right do rip off their customer, but whether they want to treat their customers that way. Their answer says yes. So, let it be known: Avis does not have a problem ripping of their customers. This case shows clearly that Avis is not in the business of reting cars to their customers for a given price. They are in the business of extorting their customers for as much money as possible after customers tried to rent a car.
Thanks for this alert. I ‘m in England and plan to make a rental car reservation as soon as I get around to it!
I had a similar problem with Hertz two years ago. Never satisfactorily resolved. I wrote it off. Life goes on. But I won’t use Hertz again – or it seems now, Avis. Buyer beware.
I rented a car at Hertz in Frankfort/ Germany. Everything was fine.
But lots of extra charges. Airport tax extra, not applicable at non-airport rentals.
I paid 600.– dolars for 12 days, small car Ford Focus.
What angered me was the exchange rate applied. Instead of letting the credit card
convert the Euro amount to dollars. Hertz converts it to dollars at 1.46 Euro/ dollar rate. Real rate was 1.41 at the time.
Ernst Schuetz
Renting a car in Europe is not for the faint hearted – do you use a US company with it’s own offices, a US company who is affiliated with a company in Europe, go direct to a Europe based or a local companycompany where you are visiting?
Why not use a travel agent and/or a tour operator who will look our for your interests and believe it or not can get you a rental with AVIS, Hertz, Europcar, Maggiore, etc. and save money over dealing directly and can arrange for prepayment, etc.
And if there is a discrepancy you’ve got someone to go to bat for you. Your business is valuable to your professional travel consultant who represents you than to than a vendors agent or a programmed computer who works for one company, not you.
I made a reservation from London to Nairobi on British Airways directy through their website. The bookin was in UK pounds, howevr, when I got my bill, the exchange rate used by the credit card company was unbelieveable. It appears that there was a “service charge” levied if charges were levied in another currency. I figure that I lost almost $100 in the transaction.