Deposit

I rented a vehicle from Avis at King Shaka Airport from 14–21 December 2025 while on vacation in Durban, and unfortunately my experience was extremely disappointing. When collecting the car, all the usual terms and conditions were explained — except the requirement that the vehicle must be returned “clean.” If Avis has a 20‑minute turnaround time for cleaning cars (as I was told), then surely cleaning should be part of the normal process, especially since they remove all the small top-cover carpets from the back of the car because they “get lost,” making it almost impossible to avoid sea sand getting into the vehicle. This is something they never mention upfront. I paid a R3,500 deposit, and when the rental ended, Avis deducted R698 for a valet, despite the fact that this was never properly communicated as an additional charge. What’s worse is that I continue receiving SMSes claiming that R698 is still outstanding, threatening that it will negatively affect my credit profile. I even received an email from Oscar Machete with an invoice for the same amount — even though the R698 was already deducted from my deposit. So why am I being charged twice? Avis promotes the slogan “People are more important than cars”, but from my experience, this is simply not true. The lack of transparency, the poor communication, and the ongoing harassment for a payment I already made is completely unacceptable. I will definitely think twice before renting from Avis again.