Ok let me break down why Avis ended up getting 5 stars instead of one; EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE. My parents and I arrived at 10:30pm, went to the counter (no line) with my reservation and were told it could not be honored because I was under 25 and the promotion code used (by their representative) didn't waive the $27 a day additional fee. Upset of course, as I had made sure to mention this over the phone to the representative at the beginning of the conversation for my reservation, I asked if the fee could be waived? No. "I wish there was something I could do for you." With no other option, we had to change the reservation to my father (74 yrs old). We got a Ford Focus and I went to the hotel, ready to give them a 1 star rating...
The next morning, I called Avis to see if I could speak to someone to honor my reservation. After hearing what happened, someone transferred me to a man named Cliff; what a BLESSING. After hearing what happened, not ONLY did he honor the reservation and not charge me the additional $27 fee per day (6 days), he also upgraded our car from a Ford Focus to a Mazda 6. He singlehandedly changed my mind about Avis and made my experience with Avis a positive one and a 5 star one at that!
No hassles with the car, everything went smoothly. Checking the car back into the airport was less than 2-3 minutes. No additional chagrges.
Thank you Cliff for making my first car rental experience a good one! He has been there for 20 years and there is a reason for it!