Avis Autonoleggio - Roma

Dishonest staff, long wait times, a crowded and stressful place. A deplorable rental experience from this Avis location. It took two hours to get served at the counter, and there were only four or five people ahead of us. We found the staff wasting time aggressively up-selling each customer with extra auto insurance, GPS, tanks of gas, and even changing their pre-paid reservations completely. Thankfully, we got a similar car to the one we reserved but others weren’t so lucky. I wasn’t sure if they had run out of vehicles (even though they were supposed to be reserved) or purposefully bait-and-switched reservations to charge more. I’ve observed them deny two customers their reservations because they need “two credit cards in the same name” for their specific vehicle, even though they were pre-paid. If they couldn’t produce two credit cards, they were given a lesser, smaller car, but charged them more than their original booking. Most of us left feeling of scammed and lied to. For our reservation we paid for a car seat, no additional insurance, and no GPS. They scrapped our online reservation and offered a “better deal” but couldn't tell us how much it would cost until the very end when it came time to sign. Turns out it costed more. They tried to sell theft insurance, windshield repair insurance, additional collision insurance, GPS. I made sure to decline all of this. They also lied about having us prepay for a full tank of gas, adamant on the gas prices being the same and whatever unused portion of gas would be refunded. Do not fall for this. It was extremely dishonest. You'll be lucky to come out of here getting exactly what you reserved and paid for. When we received the car there wasn’t enough time to do a damage inspection, because there are literally two parking spots in front of the office. It was very stressful. Cars were honking to get out of the way, and we just had to trust it was pre-inspected for damage with the marked paper they gave us. We were so rushed out of there we didn't notice they hadn't even installed our baby's car seat! It wasn't even in the car. We had to turn around, doing our best to navigate the one way streets, only to find a parking spot four blocks away because street parking near Avis is a nightmare. They finally brought us a car seat to the office, which was still dirty, and said here you go. I asked if they could drop us off to our parked car and they agreed. They dropped us off without helping to install the car seat, and it turns out there was a seat belt clip missing, rendering the whole car seat useless. Not wanting to deal with them anymore, we did the best we could and went on with our trip. It was definitely not very safe. It took a total of four hours from arriving at Avis to finally receiving our car. What a nightmare!! Thankfully we chose to return our vehicle at FCO where the process was smooth and simple. Signs are clearly marked on your way into the Airport and the FCO Avis staff, in contrast, were warm and polite. Beware: DO NOT rent from Avis Via Sardegna 38A.

They try to upsell you, but that's no surprise in any car rental location. A guy on the deck tried to slip additional 20€ in my reservation price because I arrived 30 minutes early (thus exceeding rent past whole number of days if I return the car on reservation's time). Just be alert and check so the coats and all the dents on the car, but nothing outstanding. Queue was short, car was delivered quickly, and it's quite new (~10000 km).

To start I must mention that service at the location was very pleasant. That is where nice things about Avis end. First, I did not receive the car I have reserved and instead was offered apparently the same class car...much smaller than what I have requested. Had to get larger car and pay much more money. I have rented and returned the car in April - I have received "administrative fee" charge on my credit card in the amount of $57 in June for Avis apparently notifying me that I have received a ticket and it will be mailed to me by authorities...that cost $57. Fast forward to August, I receive another administrative fee for $57, almost 4 months later. Called Avis and of course nothing can be done that is their fee and timing does not matter to them. Now waiting for another ticket... Customer service is horrible and the process they have in place is even worse! To find out 4 months later about a ticket and administrative fee is unheard of. I'm a frequent traveler and rent cars every time I travel and I have never received a ticket from rental company not to mention $114 in "administrative" fees charged automatically to my credit card. I would recommend to stay away from Avis! Go to any other company (Sixt takes care of you best – I was always upgraded to higher class car if they do not have my reserved car and NEVER received any administrative fee or ticket even though rented from them 7+ times) If they were only available at that time. Hope this helps and saves you horrible experience with Avis.

A curious cocktail of incompetence and dishonesty, with a dash of Italian service thrown in. Avoid at all costs, unless you have hours and €€€ to spare. We had prepaid online for a model guaranteed vehicle. Upon arriving we were told the model was not available. The lady serving us tried to force us to take a much smaller vehicle, and rudely asked why we needed a larger car when we refused. We were eventually offered a more expensive vehicle than the model we had already paid for, but were expected to pay the difference. When we started the car numerous warning lights showed, and we were chased down the street to be told we couldn't actually take this car. We were then given a replacement car, and the lady used this opportunity to draw up another contract with additional charges sneaked in. The interior was filthy, wiper fluid empty, and 1/8th a tank of fuel missing (but we still had to return full). Also were told we couldn't inspect the vehicle for damage before leaving. We then had to wait 40 mins when returning, and despite repeatedly refusing additional excess and breakdown cover when picking up, were asked to pay for these. AVOID AVOID AVOID

Never, Never rent a car here. The staff was very dishonest and tried to upsell. Even I’ve prepaid all rental fee, I had to upgrade the car with additional charge. But that was actually downgrading. I’ve got a smaller car than I booked originally. It was a terrible experience. Without changing my reservation, I couldn’t get one which I booked. The staff also lied about having me prepay for a full tank of gas, adamant on the gas prices being the same and whatever unused portion of gas would be refunded. It was extremely dishonest. Hope this helps! What a horrible experience with Avis.

Friendly, Helpful Service. The agent at the counter was especially friendly and helpful. I don't need have a printed voucher but was able to email it from my phone. Bottom line: I just appreciated dealing with someone in this bustling city who took the time to treat me as an individual, and not just another transaction. I've rented plenty of cars. She explained everything clearly and with a warm and friendly attitude and offered me a very nice upgrade to a BMW Mini at an unbeatable price. Really made the whole experience much more enjoyable.

Don't ever book a car at this location. I had to waited 30 mins because the guy working was chitchating or flirting with the woman ahead of me. Once it was finally my turn, he started telling me how crazy that woman was which is extremely unprofessional. On top of it, he rushed through my reservation and didn't apply my prepayment from Expedia so I ended up getting double charged. Now I have to go through a month long process trying to get a refund from either avis or Expedia but both keeps pointing at the other. Update - 3 months later Both Expedia and Avis continue to point the blame at each other and closed the case on both side so I essentially paid double for making this booking. Don't believe these responses that they are going to help you get sorted through any of this mess.

On arrival no booked type of the car was available . I've got whatever similar they had. I made couple of pictures of exterior and interior of the car and invite the agent to verify. I am not specialist in searching defects on the car, so whatever I found I pointed it out. Agent reply on some of them was - we don’t care about minor scratches in Italy, but marked my finding anyway. The long story short, on our arrival Avis at Fiumicino airport Avis agent who checked the car pointed out that scratch on the front passenger side rim is not marked on check list. He then proposed to admit my fault and pay €250 on spot or complete appropriate form and my credit card will be charged roughly €350. I know for sure, that damage was before my rental, I just missed it to notice, and I believe few more clients were charged for same scratch with price similar as new rim. So far no response from Avis