Photo: GMC
A well-known U.S. car rental company with a global presence charged a Canadian woman $6,189 after her three-day trip with a GMC Yukon Denali got registered as a 22,669-mile drive. She discovered the hefty charge while waiting at the airport for a plane to Europe. Here’s how it all unfolded.
Giovanna Boniface wanted to drive her daughter to university and help her get settled while also paying a visit to her mother-in-law. She rented a vehicle from Avis and prepaid $773 (CAD$1,000) to not have any headaches. Headquartered in the U.S., the New Jersey-based car rental company operates worldwide. It even offers its services in states like Tanzania, Vanuatu, and Kosovo.
After she was done with her plans in Toronto and Kitchener, Boniface returned the GMC Yukon Denali without any damages. The trips added about 186 mi (300 km) to the odometer. Things looked good.
But everything changed when the woman reached Toronto Pearson International Airport. She was waiting to embark on a plane to Europe. To pass the time in the airport, Boniface checked if the transaction went through and if everything was alright. That’s when the woman saw a charge of more than $6,189 (CAD$8,000) from Avis. The receipt received via email showed she drove 22,669 miles (36,482 km) - a whopping 7,555 mi (12,160 km) per day.
For this unbelievable distance that was supposedly covered in the three days spent with the full-size SUV, the car rental company billed her $0.19 (CAD$0.25) per kilometer.
The woman said she would’ve had to drive constantly at about 311 mph (500 kph) during those three days to cover the distance charged by Avis.
She tried to find out immediately what went wrong but couldn’t get in touch with company representatives at the airport. The woman then reached out to Avis Canada. Some employees answered, but the call was disconnected two times before she could even say what was happening. Boniface had to eventually board and leave Canada, even though the charge was still not canceled.
She arrived in France and tried to get some help from the payments processor Visa. They couldn’t be of any service since the transaction was not finished. Normally, credit or debit card holders can reach their payment processors to dispute a transaction by filling out a notification in a maximum of 120 days. The same time limit is available for Mastercard too.
Eventually, local media got involved in the story, and, according to CTV News, a couple of days later Avis returned with a call and fixed the whole thing. The company apologized and refunded the money charged in error, after the story got traction.
Giovanna Boniface said she understood things can go wrong sometimes but remained convinced her case could’ve been handled better. She underlined the whole experience wasn’t indicative of good customer service.
After she was done with her plans in Toronto and Kitchener, Boniface returned the GMC Yukon Denali without any damages. The trips added about 186 mi (300 km) to the odometer. Things looked good.
But everything changed when the woman reached Toronto Pearson International Airport. She was waiting to embark on a plane to Europe. To pass the time in the airport, Boniface checked if the transaction went through and if everything was alright. That’s when the woman saw a charge of more than $6,189 (CAD$8,000) from Avis. The receipt received via email showed she drove 22,669 miles (36,482 km) - a whopping 7,555 mi (12,160 km) per day.
For this unbelievable distance that was supposedly covered in the three days spent with the full-size SUV, the car rental company billed her $0.19 (CAD$0.25) per kilometer.
The woman said she would’ve had to drive constantly at about 311 mph (500 kph) during those three days to cover the distance charged by Avis.
She tried to find out immediately what went wrong but couldn’t get in touch with company representatives at the airport. The woman then reached out to Avis Canada. Some employees answered, but the call was disconnected two times before she could even say what was happening. Boniface had to eventually board and leave Canada, even though the charge was still not canceled.
She arrived in France and tried to get some help from the payments processor Visa. They couldn’t be of any service since the transaction was not finished. Normally, credit or debit card holders can reach their payment processors to dispute a transaction by filling out a notification in a maximum of 120 days. The same time limit is available for Mastercard too.
Eventually, local media got involved in the story, and, according to CTV News, a couple of days later Avis returned with a call and fixed the whole thing. The company apologized and refunded the money charged in error, after the story got traction.
Giovanna Boniface said she understood things can go wrong sometimes but remained convinced her case could’ve been handled better. She underlined the whole experience wasn’t indicative of good customer service.
Google News