Avis: We Try Harder (to Screw You)
December 31, 2007
Obviously, they're trying to crack down on folks that bring the car back with the gas tank indicating, but not absolutely, full. To prevent a few, mildly obnoxious scofflaws from getting 2 or 3 liters of free gas, they treat the rest of their customers like thieves.
Then there's the 11 percent "concession recovery fee". My local Avis (in Midtown Manhattan) pays five times as much rent as the Austin Bergstrom location, but they don't get away with a "concession recovery fee". Sure, they jack the daily rental rate, but they don't try to fob it off as some pseudo-governmental fee.
There's also a $2 per day CFC fee, for having an air conditioner, in WINTER. Of course, all these "fees" are themselves taxable, at 15% -- Austin has to get its vig too.
My favorite is the $.75 a day "REIM" fee. The Avis rep I spoke with couldn't explain that one. "Must be some government tax, you know." It's my favorite because it sounds (the way I pronounce it, anyway) like what Avis is doing to their customers: reeming them.
Next in news:Max's Day in CourtThen there's the 11 percent "concession recovery fee". My local Avis (in Midtown Manhattan) pays five times as much rent as the Austin Bergstrom location, but they don't get away with a "concession recovery fee". Sure, they jack the daily rental rate, but they don't try to fob it off as some pseudo-governmental fee.
There's also a $2 per day CFC fee, for having an air conditioner, in WINTER. Of course, all these "fees" are themselves taxable, at 15% -- Austin has to get its vig too.
My favorite is the $.75 a day "REIM" fee. The Avis rep I spoke with couldn't explain that one. "Must be some government tax, you know." It's my favorite because it sounds (the way I pronounce it, anyway) like what Avis is doing to their customers: reeming them.
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