Customer service: poor. Policy: poor.
I pre-paid for an Avis rental in August. I even called ahead of my arrival to ensure everything was in order, and I was assured it was. When I arrived in Calgary, I was denied the rental due to their confusion re: my credit card. They insisted they would not accept a debit card, and I attempted to explain that mine functioned as a credit card, with a Visa logo showing on the card. The rep already made up her mind, and refused to rent me the car, despite that I had already paid. It was a nightmare.
Given that it was 1 a.m., there was no manager for me to talk with, and no public transportation to take me downtown. I was left without transportation for the weekend, a great inconvenience given all I needed to accomplish.
I have used Avis around Canada and the U.S. I had never been treated as poorly as I was by this location. When I called Avis to complain, they informed me they were only going to refund me a portion because of the cost to reserve the car in the first place. I was outraged. It took me two weeks before an Avis representative agreed to refund my money.
So poor was my experience that I will never use Avis at this location ever again.