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Last night, I returned a rental car to the Avis Car Rental location at New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The car was due at 10:30 PM, but we arrived early around 8:30 PM. The lot was empty and when we pulled up there was no attendant. Finally, a guy got out of a nearby car and said we were good to go. He did not look at the car and got back into the one he was in and reclined the seat fully while closing his eyes. I stood there in disbelief before asking if I could get a receipt. He said it would be emailed and then went back to his nap.
It has been around 12 hours since the car was dropped off and I have yet to get a receipt. It’s impossible to call the Avis lot itself at the airport and when I called I was routed to India. The agent on the phone had no idea what I was talking about and told me that she could do nothing. She then hung up on me. I’m beyond frustrated with Avis and am waiting for the car rental agency to try some nonsense and say that I returned the car late or never at all.
Hertz has had many issues with cars not being properly checked in and customers having the police called on them for stolen vehicles. I am still aghast that this guy was just blatantly sleeping on the job. We’ll see when (or if) I get an email. The app offers to extend my rental, but there is no way I’m doing that. I’m curious to see how this plays out, but furious that this employee has caused me so much agita over not doing his job.
Anthony’s Take: The old saying “it’s impossible to find good help anymore” has never been truer. I still cannot believe the level of laziness here and am hopeful that I’ll receive my receipt soon without issue.
(Image Credits: EW Howell and Avis Rental Car.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
4 comments
Lazy New Yorkers. Are you surprised?
I rent often from DCA and that’s standard policy at Dollar Thrifty Group (which includes Hertz) which is all collocated on the same floor of the rental car garage. You pull in and the guy says make sure the car is empty and leave the car unlocked with the keys in the car. Sometimes they remind you if it’s not full, it’s $10 a gallon to refill. It’s also standard practice nowadays for the receipt not to come via e-mail if you are a member of any of the group’s frequent traveler programs. You will see the receipt on their website and it can take up to 7 days to show up.
This is where a body cam is useful. Knock on the glass again while the body cam in on and act dumb saying “are you sure it’s ok to leave the car here and it will be checked back in later and not be considered late?”. Often, people will not notice the body cam and create a scene.
In fairness, a lot of Avis locations have scanners that pick up the car’s blackbox data the instant when you drive into the return lot. They pick up your mileage and fuel level automatically and then email you the bill/inovice, often before you leave the lot. No need for an attendant to scan the car’s barcode or look at milage or fuel. Maybe JFK has one of these systems?