Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/30/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have rented six cars from Avail and everything has always gone smoothly. The only two thing that I can think of -- I returned a car ONCE with 3/4s of a tank instead of a full tank. I tried to book a car today to visit my family on Easter and my reservation didn't go through -- the app directed me to the support team, who told me that I was banned & unable to make any future reservations. They refused to give me a reason why; this confused me as I've NEVER had any issues with renting cars through this service. The support agent then told me that they "cannot provide specifics on Avail's methodologies" and to contact them after 6 MONTHS!I am extremely confused, angry, and disappointed. Moreover, the fact that there is no phone number (everything has to be done online) is ridiculous.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/02/2024

  O 3/31/2024 customer ********* attempted to book a vehicle with Avail car sharing. As a part of that booking Avail conducts a review of the customer to assess borrow-worthiness. This is necessary to protect the assets on our platform as well as public safety generally by assuring valid, licensed and safe drivers are using our vehicles. During the review on 3/31/2024 customer ********* received an Ekata Confiedence Score of greater than 400 (scale from *****). Higher numbers indicate lower confidence in customer identity and transaction worthiness. Avail sends *****, an external partner, attributes the customer has provided in their booking process to make this assessment. As a result of the score greater than 400 the customer received too many risk points and was blocked from booking a vehicle with Avail.
  
  While Avail has large volumes of data correlating elevated Ekata score to elevated risk to the platform, it is a malleable score which adjusts to the inputs provided as well as time and associated transactions with the given identifiers. So a customer could receive an elevated score at a point in time, but two months later the score could be different. When a customer accumulates too many risk points they are blocked from transacting with Avail and this blocking event is not timebound but can be protested, as is happening here.
  Bearing this reality in mind I, ********************* the head of Trust and Safety, am recommending the following. I will unblock customer ********* (Done April ******** @ about 11:30AM CST). This action will allow the customer to attempt to book with ********************** again. It should be noted this is not a guaranteed pass as the customer must pass the screening before receiving a vehicle. An Avail customer support team member will reach out to customer ********* to update them on the fact they are now ************ with Avail

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/02/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have been renting from Avail for the last month and it has been fantastic. I went to go book a trip today and was informed that my reservation was cancelled. I chatted with a representative who informed me that my account has been blocked. I understand that they dont have to tell me why but they didnt even try to help me. *** spent so much money on this company and the fact that they cant help me unblock my account is baffling. Im renting a car from them as we ***************. I dont know what else to do or who else to go to. They dont have a phone number to call and their chat members didnt help me at all. If you could please help me, that would be fantastic.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/05/2024

  Notes from ********************* (Head of Trust and Safety):
  Avail is in the process, right now, to roll back the risk points assessed for a Last Minutes Booking on non-first time borrowers. In ****** case it was the last minutes booking risk points that put her risk point total OVER the threshold. In ********************* was caught by a safeguard that is being purposefully dismantled.
  
  So, seeing as this change has already been approved and will very soon be a policy that is applied to all bookings I have no qualms in un-blocking and reenabling ****** account for future bookings. The aforementioned change is expected to go into effect in the next week or two when the software engineers conclude the programmatic changes which will be applied to all bookings going forward.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/23/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Cancelled my reservation without notice and left me stranded in the city with no other way to get around

  Business Response

  Date: 10/26/2023

  Avail canceled ******************** reservation and notified him by email at the email he provided on 10/20/2023 at 10:35 AM, approximately 2 hours after ******************** made the reservation on 10/20/2023 at 8:14 AM. 
  The cancelation policy applied when Avail was unable to charge Mr. ********* form of payment for insurance fees that were initially waived upon providing valid proof of insurance.  ****************** indicated he had valid insurance at the time of the reservation, and the fee was waived.   He failed to upload a photo of valid insurance, so the insurance fee was charged.  His credit card failed/declined the charge.  
  
  On October 20, 2023, at approximately 6:30 PM, Avail chat agents attempted to help ******************** by explaining the issue and offered a resolution of rebooking the reservation.  ******************** declined help through non-response.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/26/2023

  I am rejecting this response because:   I was never once notified of cancellation. Your ran my card 4 hours after I booked my reservation and your company confirmed it. Your company even sent emails on how to get into the building but absolutely 0 notifications of cancellation. Sitting here coming up with lies shows how shady your company is which is exactly why I shut my card off because I knew your scam of a company would run my card hours later. Y'all are not only frauds and scammers but now youve shown your liars that will do anything to preserve your companys image now Im determined to show your all frauds scammers and liars and that your piece of s*** company needs to be shut down. And no I did not refuse help y'all never attempted to help you just told me because you couldnt scam my card hours after paying you cancelled my car again without any notice. I got stuck in ****** overnight walking the streets with people drugged out of their minds because your company *****, I also missed my first night at my Vrbo which I cant get a refund for. Not only did your company attempt to scam my card, you cancelled my car without notice, proceeded to not have any other cars to offer, left me stranded in a dangerous situation, caused me to waste money, and now your sitting here lying your ***** off to save face. When this company drowns Ill be ******* and ******** on your imagines your f****** piece of *****. 

  Business Response

  Date: 11/01/2023

  To address cancellation without notice-
  
  
  Avail notified ****************** at the time of booking 10/20/2023 8:14 AM  that either proof of insurance or payment of the insurance fee is requried to book a vehicle.  ****************** did not upload a copy of his insurance ID card at the time of reservation or anytime after.
  
  Avail notified Mr. ******** of insurance charge failure due to insufficient funds and cancelation of reservation on 10/20/2023 at 10:35AM -2 hours after ****************** made a reservation.  Proof of email provided.
  Upon cancelation, Avail refunded in full, the reservation cost on 10/20/2023.
  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/09/2023

  I am rejecting this response because:   ************ never notified me of cancellation, why do you think I ended up having to sit outside for 5+ hours till I had to rent a hotel room downtown until I could rent from a better company. Your service is trash, your communication is trash, and your liars at this point give up and shut down shop we dont need more toxic garbage companys around scamming people. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/07/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This place is a total scam. Its difficult to pick up / drop off, but I thought that *** have been my inexperience with renting a car this way. At the end of a 121 mile trip, I was charged an additional $110 for a mileage overage. Avail claims I drove 420 miles in 1 day. My trip on maps was 121 miles. ************** I didnt take pictures of the odometer. Avail support is the worst and wouldnt work with me on the issue. They claimed false mileage and Ill work with the bank to dispute the charges.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/21/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This company is fraudulent. There is no customer service at the number provided and it refers you to chat bot who apparently only has a handful of pre-entered phrases. I was charged for a reservation and luckily took a screenshot but now it doesn't exist and my card was charged. There's no recourse for customer complaints.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/17/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My car was being shared out under the Avail Plus program starting in February 2022. In order to join the program I had to have my car inspected by approved Avail inspectors to go on the platform. In May 2022, the car was rented out and never returned to the lot. Avail declared it stolen later that month. It was recovered by Avail /Allstate in July and towed back to the Avail lot. It was sent from Avail to the dealership then back to Avail. Avail held the car from May to December but never returned it back in their inventory because it wasn't working properly after leaving the dealership. They have had the battery replaced 4 times (by battery shops and dealerships) and it's clear that it's not the battery, but possible something draining the battery. The dealership needs to get permission to do a drain test to figure out what is draining the battery but has not heard back from the Allstate agent after multiple attempts. However, I received a letter dated November 15, 2022 stating that Allstate was waiting on estimate repairs from the dealership. I have had not had response from the agent either after multiple attempts. All I'm asking for is Avail to stand by their claim that "You will never be financially responsible for any damage done to your car". My car had zero issues prior to being stolen but it's been dead in the water since being returned to them in July 2022.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/20/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I Was renting my vehicle out through this company avail for extra income, on May 13, I was in formed that my vehicle was not return , and a police report will be filed, 35 days later after the report was filed and insurance was preparing to payout, I was told that my vehicle was found in a Fort Worth auto pound, which my vehicle stayed in there for 60 days or so, when it finally was released avail told me the they will take my car to the shop and have everything checked out to make sure my car was ok, 2 weeks later they told me the car was good and I could pick it up well when I pick the car up I notice my windshield wiper switch was broken, the window and door lock was broken and some type of stains on the seat they got it back and fixed some of that but not all of it , tolls was racked up on my car in that time which they told me they would take care of in 10 days and it took over 30days , my mirror was off on the last time I picked up from then and it wasn't broken before that, now they stop responding to any of my emails and I was told 3days ago that a manager would call me and haven't heard anything. By the way they paid me for my car being down 35 days and it was out of service over 90 days they have been doing very bad business with me and I've been more than patient please help!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/29/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  While renting a car from Avail Car Sharing at the Miami Airport my car was towed for being in a supposedly restricted parking area. However, roughly 4 hours after the car had been towed I went to the towing company to have the car released and pay the amount that was owed. However, Avail had told me to NOT pickup the car as I was not the legal owner of the car and would therefore, not be allowed to get the car back. The claim that it would be a company task to get the car back however, after leaving and returning home from my vacation I received a call from Avail 5 days later from customer service asking why I did not pick up the car? I explained the information I had been told and was asked to sign and notarize a "Hold Harmless and Release Agreement" on behalf of the owner of the vehicle. Please note that this document has another individuals name on it and upon requesting clarification from customer service at Avail, they reiterated that I must sign the form in order to the get car back and avoid additional charges despite being charged an additional $82.50 even after customer service had informed me that no additional charges would be put forth as long as the car keys were returned to the drop box(they were returned around 3:00am on the day my reservation ended). With that said avail is attempting to force me to sign a legal document on behalf of another person without their consent and notarize it which is committing perjury.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/07/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 7/6/2022, I attempted to complete a reservation for pickup on 7/7/2022 on Avail. On the app, laptop and my phone. Unfortunately, I received an error code 402. I reached out to my bank and they informed me that there was not any holds on my account. I attempted to add my debit card on file to complete the reservation on Avail upwards of 6-10 times. On 6/7/2022, I called to check why it was an error on adding my card. I was informed that I was adding a pre-paid card. That call was at 10:09 and lasted 33 minutes. The agent realized after 33 minutes that the card she thought I used was not what I used. Almada stated in the system, a Sutton bank was added. I informed Almada that I had proof from a screenshot from 7/6/2022 showing I used my Navy Federal account. The agent said that I did not use a Navy Federal account and that they cannot do same day car reservations per their policy. She hung up on me. I called back and spoke with another agent stating the same information, she advised to add the payment method to the app. Which I did. While I was doing that, she hung up on me. That call lasted 17 mins. The next call was an hour and 31 mins. I spoke with Chanel who told me to email her the screenshot. Even after the screenshot was provided, the agent did not apologize for accusing me of using a prepaid card. She said she still wouldn't provide me a car even though the screenshot shows the error message in the screenshot. Nothing on their website from FAQs or booking that says that bookings must be done 24 hours prior. This company has false advertisement. They don't state that there is a deposit for a debit card either until you're doing the reservation. Their staff is belligerent and unwilling to actually assist their customers.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/27/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We borrowed a car from AVAIL from June 3 to June 5th from BWI. We returned the car on time on June 5th. Two days later, it was reported to us that the car smelled like smoked and required a deep cleaning costing $250. We were then charged two different fees of $125 and $150 (totaling $275). My wife and I borrowed the car and were the only ones driving the car and we do NOT smoke. We do not hang out with anyone that does smoke. We were with our family during the time we borrowed the car and NONE of our family smokes. I've tried to discuss this issue with AVAIL to NO RESULT. I'm cancelling these charges on my credit card and discontinuing service with AVAIL. I do NOT recommend their services and do NOT find them to be a customer driven business.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/26/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2022/08/15) */ The issues was reviewed according to Avail Policy and the smoking fee was refunded to the customer. Thank You