No spare wheel - but still charged!

Rental Agreement: E***

Arrived at Avis office at Cape Town International airport on the 17th of April at 22:30pm, only to be greeted by a long queue and one person manning the desk. After 1.5 hours we were finally assisted. By this time it is midnight. We were told by the man at the desk which bay to find the car. We (myself a woman and my two teenage children) then went into the dark parking lot alone and found the vehicle. No one from Avis accompanied us, and no one was there to conduct a pre-inspection. We were exhausted from a terrible journey and long wait in the Avis office, so the last thing on my mind was to check if the vehicle had a spare wheel.

Whilst trying to load our bags we were approached by a person who we assumed was with Avis offering to assist with our bags. It then became clear he was not associated with Avis when he started harassing us for money. I felt very unsafe, and we drove away as quickly as possible.

Forward to the 23rd of April when we returned the car to Avis. A lady came to inspect the car, only to find that there was no spare wheel. It never crossed my mind to check during the week of our holiday, and thankfully we didn’t have a flat tyre. A informed the Avis representative that there was no preinspection done, and filled out the form indicating as such.

A week later I received the surprise of being charged R4500 for a spare tyre!!!

So not only did Avis put my family’s life at risk by providing me with a car with no spare wheel, I am being charged for a tyre that was never there in the first place!! Sounds like an awesome business model to me! Or what is the alternative? I used precious time in my vacation to sell the spare wheel???

I lodged a dispute on the Customer Care line on the 2nd of May (spoke with Sibo) and was assured I would receive feedback in 3-5 working days. So far nothing. I submitted an email on the 8th of May. No response.

Avis, you are very quick to take my money, but the service received has been nothing short of shocking. From the terrible and slow service in the office, to putting my family at risk by exposing us to unsafe situations in the parking lot and providing a vehicular with no spare wheel. And then having the audacity to charge me for a non existent tyre.

Please feel free to consult the camera footage from the 17th of April from 22:30pm in your CPT Int office, many unhappy customers we’re waiting for hours.

I will never use Avis again, and will share this bad experience with anyone looking for a car hire company.