A woman is alleging that the Avis rental car company stole nearly $2,000 from her husband on a recent trip, and they’re still looking for the refund.
TikToker Isabel (@isabel.m.emery) shared her story in a video posted a week ago that has gotten more than 107,800 views since. In it, she tells of how her husband returned a rental car to Avis on April 15, only to find 11 days later, while aiming to get a new rental car, that Avis still had the previous car listed as unreturned.
“The guy said, ‘You can’t rent another car; you already have a car,’” Isabel relays in the video. “And he said, ‘No, I returned that car.’ And so he said, ‘OK,’ and he ended the rental agreement … And so Mike was able to take that new car, so we didn’t even think anything of it, and then a few days later … a couple days after that, we get a receipt in our email that says that we’re being charged $1,900 for the additional days of that rental.”
Isabel says she first tried to settle the dispute with Avis, but the company maintained that since its records show the car wasn’t returned until the 26th—the date Mike rented the new car for the second trip—the couple wouldn’t be getting a refund.
Isabel figured that they could then work through American Express to handle the dispute since Mike used his Amex card to pay for the rental.
“And so then Amex says, ‘Actually, no, we’re not going to give the money back because of this rental agreement.’ And I explained this to both sides: The rental agreement is wrong. Returned on the 15th, they did not log it as returned, and that is why the rental agreement goes until the 26th.”
She notes, “I am so frustrated. I feel like screaming. I feel like I’m exhausting all of our avenues, and there is like nothing to do.”
@isabel.m.emery Hey Avis, can we have our $1900 back now?? #fraud #avissucks #ignoremynails ♬ original sound – Isabel
Isabel isn’t alone in this feeling. A recent Daily Dot story followed another Avis customer who said he returned a car in late March, only for Avis to claim the car wasn’t returned. That customer shared, “The fact [is] that I’m being accused of stealing a car from a company who literally admitted to me that this has happened many times before and it’s an issue with their operations issue with their technical inventory. But I am still getting the blame for stealing the car for something that I returned?”
Commenters had a few suggestions for reconciling the situation.
“Lawsuit. Immediately,” said someone, perhaps not following the whole rental return agreement issue. “The burden of proof to prove you [owe] the money will fall on them. You just save your reciepts and get ready for court.”
Someone paying more attention pointed out, “Since they didnt end the rental agreement when he returned it there’s no receipt. Avis has documentation showing ‘they had the car’ for that whole time.”
Another suggested, “Cameras! They would have to have cameras seeing the car! Plus did the car get rented out during that time?”
Isabel responded, “I feel like it must have been rented, it’s a Tesla and I feel like they go kind of fast from car places!”
That led someone to respond, “Tesla! All the information on that tesla is available to them. They can see if it has been driven and where it has been located etc… they have the information.”
Isabel posted a follow-up video showing some sort of resolution was in process, though issues with getting the full refund she feels they’re owed leaves her merely “happy-ish.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Isabel via TikTok comment and to Avis via email.
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