********* business practice

We hired a vehicle from AVIS at Cape Town International Airport on the 18th of January 2026. The consultant assisting us told us the price for renting the vehicle, the deposit they required, and that we get 400km free driving.

The consultant did not advise us as to how much a km will be charged if we drove more than 400km. There was no other advice given. We took it for granted that we had insurance on the vehicle we rented and that there would be no other charges unless we drove more than 400km.

We expected the consultant to at least verbally give us advise about any insurance we could have taken in the event we: experienced any mishaps, the handing over procedures or anything else that was important when one is renting a car.

Instead, she just gave us the keys and gave us the bay number where the car was parked. Even though staff members were standing around doing nothing. None of them were told to show us where the car was parked and / or do a hand over.

We then returned the vehicle on the 20 th of January 2026 to an employee of AVIS (by the name of Themba), who confirmed verbally that all was in order and that he knew about the damage to the bumper that was on the left-hand side of the vehicle closest to the ground. We, later the same day, received an email from Owen Willie of AVIS claiming that we caused damage to the vehicle, and are held liable, and our deposit will be forfeited. The damage he was talking about is the same one that Themba confirmed knowing about.

We contested this claim, stating that we did not cause the damage and that we are being falsely accused. We later received an email from Atwell Yola confirming that Owen was correct, as he had gone through all of AVIS’s systems and found no damage to the vehicle prior to our rental, and the decision stood. He further stated that if we had dated evidence, we should forward it.

If they were so sure that we caused the damage, why are they asking us for dated evidence?

When we sat as a family and discussed the emails from AVIS. My daughter advised that she took a video of the car before driving off. On watching the video, we noticed that the damage that Owen and Atwell were speaking about existed prior to us renting the vehicle. Avis has attempted to shift blame onto us.

We then forwarded AVIS dated evidence that the damage existed prior to us renting the vehicle and received no further correspondence from AVIS. We tried call Owen and Atwell and got no response. We also left messages for them, but it fell on deaf ears.

We somehow managed to get hold of Atwell and got him to view our email and dated evidence. We were later, the same day, partly refunded and no breakdown of any charges has been received to date.

This experience has been extremely upsetting and stressful. As a customer, I acted responsibly and transparently, yet I was being unfairly treated, wrongfully accused and was going to be financially penalized.

We are led to believe that AVIS knows about all these small damages, which they have charged the customer who caused the damage. They do not repair the damage and when someone else borrows the car and does not have dated evidence that the damage pre-existed, they are charged for the same damage.

I find this conduct unprofessional, *********, and unacceptable, especially from a company of AVIS’s reputation. Customers should not have to fight to get their own money back after following proper procedures.

I am requesting: 1. Immediate review of the evidence provided 2. Full refund of my deposit 3. Clear communication and accountability from AVIS

I would strongly advise future customers to document everything when hiring from AVIS, as this experience has seriously damaged my trust in their service.