In July 0f 2009 I planned and booked a trip for myself, my closest friend and her mother to go to Germany.  I am a veteran and an Army Wife who has lived in Germany before.  We had planned the trip for December during the Christmas Market time.  I booked a rental for Budget to be picked up at the Nuermburg Airport.  The vehicle was to be a midsized wagon, 5 speed with a large 6 cyl engine.  Having lived there and traveled the Autobahns everyday, I knew what I had to have in order to travel the way we had planned.  I am 5'9", my friend is 6' and her mother is 6'2".   I called Budget International and confirmed the rental, ensured I could use my debit card for the transaction upon arrival.....I covered my bases.  What I did not know was that there was no Budget Agent at the Airport, their was however, an Avis one acting on their behalf (Avis is the parent company....so of course they would act on their behalf, even in Europe).

When we arrived in December at our destination we were 3 hours late (flight cancelation in Amsterdam forced us to take a later flight) and the rental office was close to closing, the young woman spoke very good English and I would venture to say was probably married to a service member, she seemed very well aware of miltiary practices of travel.  She gave us the information to look over (in English) and I presented both my american driver's license as well as my international one.  I still had my USAEUR license as well but it had expired.  She then said "may I have your card"  I handed it to her and she handed it back....stating that you could not use a debit card to pay for the rental....I then said back to her how I had already checked with Budget International and they said using a debit card was fine....and I thought I was paying for it afterward, that this was just to keep the rental open, my intention was to pay with Euro at the end of the rental (as the cost was split between the three of us)  She said NO you must have a credit card to hold the rental while you have it, if you wish to pay with a debit card you may.....I was dumbfounded, what the hell....I was standing in the AIRPORT IN GERMANY.....  Neither myself or my friend had even thought to bring one, I had 4 debit cards to 4 accounts with well over 10k in them 500 in Euro on me.....I don't like credit cards....I have one, but I did not bring it.  So we all stood there looking at one another when my friend's mother said, you can put it on mine.....we just needed to get the hell out of the airport and get to our hotel....well over an hour away.

Upon going to the garage to pick up the vehicle, we were so relieved to see a German Station Wagon, almost brand new sitting there....sighs actually left our mouths.....all the horror stories we had read about people not having the rental they had rented......we could not get the luggage into the vehicle as it was parted rear in first....my friend was standing outside the car with her mother and I got in and pressed the clutch and sat there a second.....got out and looked at my friend (who's husband works for a dealer and has for well over 20 years in finance) and asked her "have you ever driving a manual and when you press the clutch there is absolutely no tension in it?"  She said no, I agreed, neither had I, until this moment, as there was no tension in the clutch when you pressed it......by now the rental office had closed and we had no choice but to take the car....I had intended on calling and having them switch out the car the next day....but that never came.

We drove 93km, approximately 54 miles when I exited the autobahn, needing to turn around to take the exit we passed, at the bottom of the very very dark exit, at about 8pm (gets dark in germany around 4pm in the winter) in the freezing rain......I went to put it back into first to accellerate and the transmission would not move.  This vehicle had 10k km on it, the equivalent of 16k miles.....was still under its manufacturer's warranty....we did not have a cell phone with us with a Germany SIM card, I had to yet have time to buy one.  I knew exactly where this hotel was, I just missed the exit because we were talking, I lived about 35 minutes or so from it when I lived there......

From the Good passersby that allowed us to call Avis to send help, we made 3 phone calls to them....before having to call the Polozi (German Police) and request help....upon their arrival they called Avis who informed them (its also 11:30 pm by now, we were left for 3 1/2 hours in that spot) that we had to get our own help, they were not coming.....dumbfounded I just stared at the police officers.....I know a little German and the police officer in the passenger side said "what the f(*k" to his partner.....they knew this to be a practice that was unheard of by companies that supply road side assistance to their patrons.....

ADAC arrived and put the vehicle up on the rear of the truck and we climbed in, we were taken to an avis dealer that was maybe, on the outset, 7 minutes away.....where we were given the substituted contract for the new car, I asked them, "is this comparable to the vehcile we had rented" Oh yes......well let me tell you, the car had no hub caps, had a small 4 cyl engine and was an automatic small 4 door hatch with no hubcaps....I was livid, we had been driving a VW Wagon....they told me since I broke their car, I had to drive an automatic....I didn't break anything, it was already like that....they all started speaking in German, gesturing towards me and laughing....I understood part of it, and basically they called me a dumba** American who thought I had the situation under control......I made them call their head office in Berlin where I was told that there had been problems with this car before.... I still refused to take the replacement......It was not until they had promised of a new car the next day from the airport, that we took it, they shoved all our luggage in, on top of us, literally and I drove to the hotel.  We were to have arrived there at around 8pm, it was 1am by now.....wet, tired, frustrated, I was in tears......the beginning of our 10k trip.  I knew it was not a good omen.....but I tried to remain positive.

The next morning I called Avis, no answer, I sent emails, no replies.....THEY NEVER REPLIED, nor did we ever receive a new car.....we were nearly killed twice on the autobahn because the car just could not perform well enough to get moving fast....we had to cut our trips to the further distances from where we were staying because we could not take our luggage anywhere far.....the trip was a washout.....on the day before we were to leave....I thought maybe we should return the car and spend the night at the airport....our flight left at 6:30am and Avis opened at 7.  I had the Euro to pay for the rental and when I tried to....I was told that I could not pay for it because they did not know what was wrong with the other car yet....I lost it, flipped out, threw the keys to the new rental towards her and told her she would never see a flippin dime from me......and left.

We arrived home on December 10th....miserably worn out....tension between us all.....on Christmas Day my friend came for dinner and she infomed me that her mother was charged 2000.00 on her credit card.....800 for the rental and 1200 for the damages we did.....I just stared at her.....I asked her why her mother had allowed the charge, I had told her to call the company and let them know her card had been compromised and close it.....she ignored it.....I had a new debit card, withdrew all the remaining funds from the account, because THEY WERE NOT GETTIN A DIME FROM ME......but they got it from her.....she disputed.....with no reason, just disputed....the charges were again placed on her card, but now it was 2259.00 instead of 2000.......I have been working with USAA, our insurance company who has a corporate account with Avis/Budget to help me get this resolved since the morning after we arrived in Germany.....5 months ago.....Yesterday I was informed by them (Avis) that because she disputed the charge and the cc company sustained the charges that there was nothing I could do.....I was not the person charged, I was the driver......and in Avis's eyes, not responsible, so they, by law did not have to do anything.....that they only ever had to look at one dispute per contract....I think this violates their own COMPANY VALUES WHICH IS ON THEIR WEB PAGE....

Our Values

We consider being a values-driven organization to be one of the core strengths of our Company. By adhering to these core values at all times, Avis Budget Group employees strive every day to achieve our Vision to be a leader in the vehicle rental industry.

• Commitment: We are committed to providing value to our corporate clients and individual customers and to those colleagues who rely on us for leadership or support. We are knowledgeable and passionate about what makes each of our brands unique and powerful, and we are committed to finding innovative ways to fuel their growth. We create value for all segments of the rental car market by faithfully focusing on service excellence and quality.
• Integrity: We display integrity at all times in the business decisions we make and the manner in which we conduct our professional relationships. We support that sense of doing whats right through a culture of open communications and a spirit of teamwork. We also value the role that diversity among our employees, suppliers and partners plays in our success.
• Responsibility: We take seriously our responsibilities as a corporate citizen, always aware of how our actions can benefit the community and sensitive to the needs of the environment. We make decisions at all times understanding our responsibility for enhancing profitability and serving the interests of our shareholders. As a service company whose success is rooted in the satisfaction and performance of our people, we take responsibility for furthering the professional development of our employees at every level of the organization..
  

Avis not only charged us for the full rental of the car we did not have, they charged us for a full week when it was returned, they claimed the charges under the accident waiver, and there was no accident at all.....I exited the autobahn and attempted to place the vehicle in 1st gear and it would not go into it.... I am also quite certain they filed the claim under their warranty which is still in effect due to the vehicle's age and mileage.  I have purchased fleet vehicles, purchased leased vehciles, even purchased a vehicle from a Rental Company, I have driven a clutch since I was 16, that was 24 years ago......its not hard to figure out who the victim is and who the perpertrator of the fraud is here......I guess they got to be a Fortune 500 Company by ripping off their customers...overseas....my husband rents vehciles from them all the time through the military.....any issues he has ever had.....the company has treated him with respect and taken care of them......

They saw an American coming, they stuck us in a car they knew had problems before (admitted to me by the man they called up in Berlin at Avis) they fraudulently charged us for damages that were not done out of anything we did.....and then filed it under an accident waiver, that had no accident.....never supplied any form of explanation as to what had been wrong, just the charges.....FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD....

My husband is a Command Sergeant Major in the Army.....I have served this fine Nation, my husband has served this fine Nation.....We lived in Germany, were part of their community and AVIS violates their own Mission, Vision and Values...... 

There is a difference between right and wrong....they know what they did was wrong....how we were treated, the 10k we spent on that trip, the loss of tickets we had paid for that went unused.....I lost my best friend over this.....our relationship will never be the same....her mother was abused as a child and is terribly frightened of the dark and we were abandoned by AVIS in the dark, in the freezing rain.....IN GERMANY ......  Some Mission, Vision and Values....

When in life did it become okay to steal from a Customer.....

Avis Steals from their customers.....every day!  Avis has no care or concern for how their customers are treated....I will never use them again.....I'd rather flipping walk.