We were lucky to receive an unexpected upgrade when the car we had reserved was being checked out by another agent at the same time. The hybrid sedan we received instead was perfect for our traveling since we were driving many miles between destinations each day. The staff was very friendly and helpful, and it was a part of our very enjoyable stay in the Albany/Hudson Valley area.
The main problem was at the new LAX rental center. This place is massive, and not so easy to find where you need to go without someone giving you directions. But the real problem was with Avis staffing and car management. There were only two agents at the desk, both who were amazing in dealing with the stress, but the line move so slow - it took 30 minutes to process all of 6 or 7 rentals in front of me. And then when my rental was processed, I was asked to sit and wait while they found a car for me. Another 30 minutes. And then when I was assigned a car in a spot, I went to that spot and there was no car. So I went to the counter down in the parking area, and a very nice attendant went and found me a car. Took her two tries, but she did find one, changed my paperwork, and I left the rental center almost 90 min after arriving. If this was at a super high volume time I would understand a little more, but this was 9pm on a Wednesday evening. Again, the staff was doing the best they could, and everyone was very professional and working very hard, best I could tell. This is a management issue plane and simple. Maybe the LAX rental center is to blame. Don't know, I was renting for a one way to get to Bakersfield the next morning to pick up another vehicle, but had I just finished a 12 hour (or longer ) international trip, gone through baggage claim and customs, waited for and taken the shuttle to the rent center only to wait another hour + to get my car, it would have been hard not to lose it. To everyone's credit that night, despite some tears and clear expressions of frustration, the renters and the rental car employees kept things civil. I don't pretend to understand the challenges at these mega rental centers, but the one at LAX seems to be a disaster. I'll avoid it as much as I can. And for Avis's part, I can only guess that they had their part in it, too. We rent from Avis often times because my wife's employer has a corp account with special pricing, but the service is always hit and miss. Its a tough biz……...
Great will use Avis again
I arrived at Bedford to the power being off in the building. There was no way to get the car other than wait for the power to come back online. I sympathize with those working at there at the time - clearly not their fault. I got on the phone with the avis national line - they were hugely unhelpful in helping remedy the issue, finding me a new car, or helping reimburse the travel expenses of picking up a car somewhere else.
The office was severely understaffed for the late night pickup. I, and 20 other customers waited over 2 hours in line to get the reserved car.
The rental spot closes at 4:30, which wasn’t mentioned in any of the reservation materials I got from Kayak or the sub-rental company. With our flight delay, it meant we arrived after it closed. This upended our whole trip, and at such a small airport there were no other open rentals.
