AVIS BUDGET are dishonest and should be avoided at all costs.

I recently rented a car from Cape Town International Airport. I was given an "upgrade" to a car that was so awful and undriveable that I have to make a 2 hour detour to make an exchange for double the cost.

Avis put a hold on my credit card of almost three times the cost of the original rental (the upgrade cost was paid directly). When I returned the second car to CTIA there was very clearly a school noticeboard tack in the tyre, which I pointed out. I drove for almost 4 hours and picked up the tack somewhere before my last stop, after which I subsequently drove for almost 2 hours to get to CTIA.

Two days after returning the car I was sent an invoice for the whole rental for the value of the hold, with a charge for the "Accident" of R8282. When I queried it I was told "oh yes, that's a mistake, it should be for R800", which all seemed quite reasonable. However today I received an invoice where the charge had been reduced to R6635 and now it was for a "traffic fine administration fee". When I queried it, I was told that I was going to get a further discount, however, their discount and how much I am being charged do not add up.

Then I spoke to Avis and CTIA and was told that there was a bold through the tyre. Clearly this is nothing but a money making **** on the part of Avis.