Make sure you read your rental car agreement’s fine print.
It must have been a mistake. Greg Barton noticed his rental car bill was much higher than he expected. He and his family had just traveled from North Carolina to Italy, where they borrowed a car from Avis to get around during their trip.
“It was beautiful. It was great,” Barton recounted. “We decided, for convenience purposes, to return the car a day early.”
Barton thought the action would save his family some money off the final invoice. Instead, the opposite happened.
Avis charged the Bartons $1,000 to $1,500 more than they expected
After several back-and-forth phone calls, Avis sent him a copy of the rental car agreement.
Sure enough, it stated that if he returned the car early, he’d be subject to a different rate: a higher one than if he’d stuck to the original plan.
“I don’t think everybody reads those things in detail,” he told WSB-TV. The outlet’s sibling station, Channel 2 Action News, reached out to Avis to try to understand the Bartons’ rate switch.
After the news station made contact, the rental car company refunded the difference
According to a statement, Avis said that it had contacted Mr. Barton and explained the different rates. Even though this was all stated in the contract, the company issued a refund for the unexpected rate change.
“I feel great,” Barton said. “It was a long process, but we feel good about it.”
Make sure you read your rental car contract
We might assume Avis gave the Bartons some of their money back because of the press contact. When it comes to rental car agreements, understand that companies might have conditions that trigger increased costs you might not be prepared for if you never read the fine print. This goes for any formal document, of course.
