Avis car change - potential problem - advice on how to handle.
 

Many, many months ago we rented a convertible with Avis from Annecy. As in the past, the car shown was a renault megane (or similar) which is a 4 seater with space for 3 bags. This is the car shown on my email, but when I look online it now says Citroen DS3 Cabriolet (or similar) which is a 4 seater with space for only 1 bag - but maybe more importantly isn't really a convertible. It basically has a glorified sunroof - http://www.ds3-cabrio.citroen.com/

My husband will have his bike box, plus we will have our luggage. There's no way it will all fit into this car!!! We've done this before and have had just enough space with the Renault, but had to put the bike box into the car with the top open. There's no way to do this with this car.

I've sent an email to the Annecy office but did not receive a response.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on what we should do at this point. We arrive on Thursday and the car is booked for Friday so I was thinking of going over on the Thursday in case they would be able to find us the correct car but not sure.

Thanks in advance.
Hez

Don't wait until Thursday.

Go online and change your reservations.

In European countries, I don't depend on local, overworked staff to be of assistance.

Change it online and get a written reservation. Take the printed out reservation with you. This is something I've done, unfortunately, far too frequently.

There's no way to change it to a convertible. They are all booked or 3x the price we've paid.

And that's Avis Frances only convertible choice now. I don't know if they still have some older cars or not.

Well, call them. Or cancel the reservation and call AutoEurope and get what you want. Why would you wait until Thursday?

I am not aware that - except in very specific circumstances - usually a very high price - they guarantee you a specific car. It is usually a class of car you reserve - with the company having the option to give you what they have on the lot.

We have only reserved a specific car once - a Mercedes my brother was thinking of buying and wanted to test drive extensively - and it was definitely a premium price. (And we all ended up hating the car. (The model in europe must have had a completely different engine - since the car had no pick up - even one day with just my SIL and myself in it.)

I would start trying other companies immediately to see what they can guarantee.

I guess I was looking more for advice on how to talk to them to hopefully have them try to find me the right car.

Like I said, convertibles are either sold out or are 3x the amount.

Also, I feel it's not a matter of guaranteeing a specific car, but totally changing the class of car - one with a big sunroof is not the same as a convertible. And changing from a car with room for 3 bags to one with only space for 1 is unreasonable.

Well, hell, CALL them! What is the issue? If you're so insistent on getting something specific, pick up the freaking phone!

If you think that Avis is unreasonable (and I would never in a million years book with them in Europe), cancel the reservations and start over.

Stop whining and get ON it!

Geesh, I thought this forum was for asking for help, not for having people accuse one of whining when asking for it.

I was asking for some pointers on 'how' to talk to them. What might be said to perhaps grease the wheels and encourage someone to help me out. My French is not great so I though perhaps someone might have a bit of insight into the best way to approach the situation.

I've already stated twice that there are no other suitable cars available, cancelling the reservation and starting over is not an option, unless we want to pay more for a crappy non-convertible car. For reference, we paid $700 for a 16 day rental. Like I said, booked months and months ago.

Also I've rented from Avis in Europe at least 6 times now and have never had a problem so not sure why such a major issue on that point.

The Renault Megane is not a convertible, so I'm not sure what you reserved months ago.

I really doubt Avis will expend the time and effort to find you the "right" car, whatever that would be at this point. As you said, "... convertibles are either sold out or are 3x the amount."

Did you pre-pay the $700 for a 17-day rental? If so, that could be one reason why prices are higher now (72 hours out).

Autoeurope.com is showing the availability of a Renault Megane at Annecy for 16 days at US$545 (basic package) or US$882 (insurance package).

Yes - the Renault Megane comes in a convertible - http://www.renault.com/en/vehicules/...cabriolet.aspx - we've rented it in France from Avis before.

I realize prices are more expensive now, that's why I can't just go and book another convertible for the same price elsewhere now.

Also my email confirmation from Avis is for the Renault convertible (with picture and all).

Did you specifically rent a convertible all those many months ago? If so, I'd contact Avis to verify that is what you are going to get.

Yes - I rented a convertible - my email confirmation states convertible and my email shows the renault. If I go online and look at the booking it shows the Citroen DS3 which has a retractable roof (see my original post) but is not, in my opinion, a real convertible. Hence my problem.

Contact Avis to confirm that you will receive the convertible and not the retractable roof car.

What is a retractable roof? Is that like a sun roof or moon roof?

>>I was asking for some pointers on 'how' to talk to them.<<

no one on here can tell you 'how' to talk to them Just <i>talk</i> to them

And you insist nothing appropriate is available so what are you expecting them to do?

IME a specific model is never 'guaranteed', just like an automatic won't 100% be guaranteed.

Have you considered a van?

StCirq is right.

Talking - arguing with posters here does not solve your problem.

It's your problem, fix it. If it's too late to get your precious convertible, so be it.

If there happens to be an acceptiable convertible, you get lucky. If not, carry on.

LOL - "precious convertible". Yes, we like convertibles, that's why I book them a long way in advance.

And I was not attempting to argue with people here - I was asking for advice on how best to approach the agents at the Avis office with my situation. I don't know if perhaps they have these cars available, but elsewhere in Europe that they could get to that location. I don't know if somewhere up the line they can exchange cars with other car rental companies (like airlines can put you on another airlines flight if they really want to). Maybe someone has had luck calling some person at Avis in France that could help me out. Perhaps there is another solution I haven't considered. I am not confident in how to ask these things in French, so I was merely asking for advice.

It seems that they've offered you a smaller car. Looking at the two pictures you've provided, I don't see much difference between a convertible and a retractable roof, except that one car seems much smaller than the other I would expect them to honor the SIZE of car.
If not can you just book a larger car that isn't a convertible to fit the bike box?
I understand posters who are urging you to call and not wait, but some of them have missed the point that if the car is smaller your bike box won't fit.I would not rent a car where it had to be the EXACT car or my items wouldn't fit, in Europe OR the States.

Unfortunately the situation is likely they will not have your convertible, but until you call, who knows what happened or will happen. I rather doubt they will search Europe for a car they can rush to you; you may have to settle or cancel and book through another agency. Those of us who settle for "crappy non-convertibles" are trying to get it, but it's getting hard. I don't know France, but we know better than to expect specific cars in Italy. And we don't use Avis. Good luck.

Thanks newtome - I've always seen renting a convertible as a 'special' class of car - so with the retractable roof car there are struts that remain down the side of the car which impede the view. For the back seat, the windows don't even go down. It's just not the same experience. I guess if one has never been in a convertible the difference might not be so apparent.

We love convertibles, being able to be part of the landscape as we drive is a big part of the enjoyment of our holidays. It's why we book convertibles. And why I am so keen to be able to hopefully be able to get what we booked

Yeah, perhaps "crappy" was a bad word - heck, I just bought a Ford Escape that I love. It's just that on holiday we like to have a convertible. We plan a long time in advance so we can afford the convertible. It's a specific class of car. If one had booked a 5 seater with 5 bags so they could fit their family with luggage, being switched to a 5 seater with 1 bag would be a problem.

I love convertibles -- my current primary car is a roadster. I get it. But even here in the States - if you book a convertible and all the convertibles are gone when you arrive at the agency . . . you are SOL

No agency will guarantee a specific car - the best they'll do is " . . . or similar" But even w/ the 'or similar' wording the same class of car is not guaranteed. If they have to send you down in class they'll usually give a reduced rate. Or they'll bump you up to a larger/more expensive class and eat the extra $$/€€

More than once I've booked a small car for a specific reason and been bumped up to a large car I didn't want. Once I booked a compact in LA and ended up in a Mustang Convertible (I know that is rubbing salt in the wound - but I didn't <i>want</i> a rag top that trip.) It was take it or leave it.

You have no real leverage here. If there aren't any, there aren't any. Call them and hope for the best. But you'd better have a plan B

Basically, whenever you want a "special" car in France, your best bet is to book it only in the largest cities. The small agencies can never guarantee that they will have a car, because they have to rely on car that are expected to return -- and which sometimes get returned to different cities.

Lyon or Geneva airport (French side) would have been good places to book this kind of car.

Please do come back and let us know how this was resolved.

kerouac - the problem is that Avis has changed all the convertibles in their fleet from the renault to the citroen.
I was thinking of going in on Thursday so that if there were another car somewhere else they might be able to get it to me, or I might be able to go trade this car, or something like that. Also, we are flying into Geneva so getting a car from Lyon would have been difficult, and the same car at the airport was over $500 more. I've rented convertibles from small Avis offices before without issue so didn't think it would be this time.

janisj - I've rented a lot of convertibles over the years and only once has the car not been available. That was Avis in Sydney, and they gave us an SUV and traded the car out the next day. That sort of solution would be amenable here as we're in Annecy until Monday. But again, that's why I thought going in on Thursday might help.

socaltraveler - will do. We are thinking now that we might be able to squeeze the bike box through the roof opening - but it will be a bit tight if that works. We've also considered that maybe they will keep the box for us as we could fit the bike in by itself most likely. Still a bummer for it not to be a 'real' convertible though.

In any case - I guess I didn't really explain what advice I was asking for very well. If a French person were coming here I would advise them to be nice, smile and be excessively polite. Also appealing to someones good nature, and confidence in their ability to make it happen is usually helpful. I've had mixed response with this approach in France before, and thought perhaps there was some cultural difference that I might be able to learn so as to hopefully get them to be more willing to help me.

I'm sure it will all work out fine.

I think that how to approach the Avis rep depends on the rep. I would try the approach the way you would at home and see how it goes.

I also suggest you call Auto Europe and Kemwel today and see if they can come up wih a solution that works. If so, you can then cancel your Avis reservation.

Good luck!

That car you're showing looks like a convertible to me.

If Avis promised you something else - and now says they can;t do it - I think your only recourse is to go elsewhere (they can;t make a car they don't have).

But I think they will tell you this car IS a convertible.

But agree that arguing here won;t help - you need to get on to the rental companies.

The rental companies in France never promise a specific make and model. It is that "make and model" or "equivalent." Your problem is to at least get "equivalent." Any reason you wouldn't want to get a car directly at Geneva airport?

So here's what happened if anyone is curious....

I decided to wait until Friday and just see what happened. When I got to Avis they had a Mercedes A class for me. I asked if that was a convertible and I could see his face drop as he looked at the booking again. Apparently that car class in Annecy is a car with snow tires!! I told him that I would be going to Geneva on Sunday to pick up my nephew so I could change the car over then if that would be helpful. This seemed, along with my Presidential Plus status, to encourage him to fix the problem. He called the head manager for the region and she called Geneva to specifically make sure that could have a Renault Megane (the car that we originally booked) available. So we had the Mercedes for two days, but the Renault was at the airport as promised. Bar a bit of Swiss side/French side confusion, which wasn't too much of an issue - it all worked out fine!!!!

We have seen several of the Citroen's and they are definitely not a convertible!!! The great thing about a convertible is the unimpeded views and the DS3 does not provide that at all.

I don't know if there's a moral to this story except, perhaps, that being positive about being able to find a solution, and willing to compromise a bit seemed to work out fine.

I'm glad it worked out.

Thanks kerouac. :)