Car rental companies usually have several ways of ripping customers off, legally.
If you’re not careful enough you could fall into their trap of hidden and extra charges, including things like unexpected cleaning, tolls, admin and fueling charges.
In fact, this shitty act usually makes most of their revenue. Thankfully, we made a guide addressing all charges on Avis and how you can avoid them.
If you’ve been charged with gas on an Avis rental, here’s why and what you can do about it.
Avis Charged Me for Gas? Here’s why
Generally, there are a ton of reasons why you could get charged for Gas on Avis.
Firstly, it’s worth mentioning that you’re normally responsible for how much gas is used in your rental car. In other words, you either have to pay for the fuel or refill the tank before returning it, depending on the level you find it on.
For instance, if you’re left with a car on a filled tank, you’d be required to return the car back to the same level.
On Avis, there are generally 3 fuel options, which includes:
- Avis Fuel Service – which works when you prepay for Avis fuel service
- Self-fuel service – when you choose to refill the rental car yourself
- Doing none – you failed to prepay for Avis fuel service and also returned the car without
To understand why exactly you could be charged, let’s go over the following.
When you Signed up for Avis Fuel Service
This is most likely the default fueling option you get.
While renting on Avis, you could choose to pay for fuel in advance, thanks to the “Fuel service option”. This allows you to return a rental car at any fuel tank level, without the need for refuelling.
You may want to do this to avoid spending time refuelling the car yourself.
However, while you take this route, it isn’t advisable to exhaust the fuel to the brim as this could cause more problems for the car. You only want to bring a car as close to empty as possible.
It’s worth mentioning that whether you used the fuel or not, there are no refunds. In other words, you should be well assured of your rental trip before taking this option.
When Refuelling the car yourself
If you choose to, you can always decline the initial fuelling policy, the “fuel service option,” available to you on Avis.
You may want to take this option if you’re unsure of how long your rental trip is going to take.
This could save you some bucks especially when you’re on a short rental trip since you’re only charged based on what you used rather than a generic price like in the case of the fuel service option.
While this is apparently a better way to approach fueling on most car rental companies, you should take note of the following tips:
- Have your rental car agent manually decline the “fueling service option.”
- Check the level of the rental car’s fuel tank before and take a picture of it, before going out with the car
- Provide the rental company with your gas receipt while returning
Note that you’re normally not going to be charged for gas here.
However, in some cases, even after declining the fuel service option, you could still be charged. This is where the importance of providing the gas receipt comes in.
One more tip: Before handing the receipt to over the rental counter, take a shot of it with your mobile camera as added evidence.
You didn’t refuel the car, and neither did you sign up for the fuel service
So what if you didn’t sign up for a fuel service option and also failed to refuel the rental car while returning? What are the implications?
In this case, you’ll also be charged an estimated amount which should cover the total fuel used. However, expect to be charged at the Avis local rate, which is likely more expensive compared to the local price.
In some cases, you could also be charged an Admin fee.
Avis Under 75 Miles Fueling policy
Avis also has a special fueling policy that usually applies to renters who drive less than 75 miles.
Based on this policy, also known as EZFuel, you’re automatically charged a flat fuel service fee of $15.99 globally and $17.99 in Canada, if you drive less than 75 miles per rental contract.
However, if you still feel like paying for fuel yourself, you could still choose to do just that. Just make sure to provide the receipt for the gas purchase to the rental counter while returning the rental car, and you’ll get the EZ fuel charge removed.
Here’s what to do if you’re illegally charged for Gas on Avis:
In most cases, you could still get charged for gas regardless of what fuel option you choose while renting.
This is because most car rental companies like Avis usually charge for gas automatically. In other words, until you let the rental location know you paid for the fuel yourself, you could still be charged.
Below is a list of what to do if Avis charges you illegally for Gas:
Hurry back to the rental location:
If it’s not been a long time since your rental period, there’s a good chance that you could get your money back. This is because the rental car you drove would be solid evidence.
If the car is still available, you’d want to take a camera shot of the fuel tank on the dashboard. If you had a “before shot” of the fuel tank, it could also be of help.
Provide the gas receipt:
One way to formally prove that you refuelled the car is when you have your gas receipt present. In fact, Avis commends this.
All you have to do here is to get the physical receipt from the gas station you patronised and hand it over to the agent responding to your issue.
Dispute the charges from your credit card
If the rental company doesn’t agree to your bid, you can take the next action of disputing the charges from your credit card.
You could easily do this by contacting your bank’s customer agent or heading to the bank yourself. However, in most case, you might not need to contact your bank, as your dispute would most likely be solved when you’re able to provide the gas receipt.
Final Thoughts
Most car rental companies including Avis would charge a fuel service fee, even when you already refuel the car yourself. However, as long as you have your receipt, you could easily dispute the charge.
