Deeply Disappointed

On Thursday, 10 July 2025, we collected our rental vehicle (VW Polo 1.0 TSi 70KW Trend) from George Airport. Approximately 19 km from the airport, while travelling on the N2 towards Mossel Bay, we heard a loud bang from the rear of the vehicle. My husband slowed down immediately and pulled into the emergency lane. On inspection, he discovered that the left rear tyre had suffered a blowout. When removing the damaged tyre to fit the spare, my husband noticed that a plug repair had previously been fitted between the treads. He immediately suspected this repair was the cause of the blowout. We took photographs of the tyre for evidence. I contacted the Avis emergency helpline and reported the incident. The consultant instructed us to return the vehicle to George Airport, where a replacement would be arranged. While my husband was understandably upset given the danger we had just experienced, I must commend Ayapha at George Avis, who was patient, genuinely concerned for our safety, and went out of his way to ensure we received a safe replacement vehicle. My concerns are threefold: 1. A blowout could have caused a serious accident. 2. Being stranded on the side of a South African highway placed us in significant danger. 3. The vehicle was clearly not inspected properly before being released to us, as the plug repair was obvious to the eye. On 14 July 2025, I emailed Avis to report the incident. On 19 July I received an automated response, followed by a request for the rental agreement, which I provided the same day. On 2 August, I received a report from Supa Quick George stating that the tyre had never been repaired and that the damage must have been caused by driving over an object. I responded on 4 August with photographic evidence showing the repair on the tyre and also noted that two Avis staff members at George depot witnessed the same upon our return. To date, I have received no reply to this email. Furthermore, I never received an invoice from Avis. Instead, I received a text notification of R1,233.65 being deducted from the R3,500.00 held on my credit card. On 5 August, after waiting on the phone for over 17 minutes, an invoice was finally “retrieved” and sent to me. It reflected a charge for 50% of the tyre replacement. On the same day, I again emailed Avis with the photos and all relevant details, disputing this charge, as the blowout was clearly not caused by my negligence. Once again, no response was received. At this point, it is deeply disappointing that my queries remain unanswered. Not only were we placed at risk due to an improperly repaired tyre, but I have also been unfairly charged for damage that was not my responsibility. Unless this matter is resolved and the charge reversed, I will have no choice but to escalate my complaint through all available consumer protection channels. Regrettably, I will also not be making use of Avis in the future and will share my experience accordingly.