Car hires in Nahalat Shiva, Jerusalem

Pick up was very smooth … Shireen at the reservation counter was very knowledgeable and accommodating and attentive to details, explaining the contents of the rental contract. The return of the car was equally smooth … Yoram and Raz were friendly and courteous.

When I came to pick up the rental car, I entered the Avis office and found none of the staff were wearing masks, violating the local indoor mask mandate. Upon entering, I was completely ignored by the two agents. The first was half-asleep, the other was busy with some paperwork behind the desk. Neither welcomed me or said anything to me so I went up to the second, since she at least seemed to be working. When I told her I was there to pick up my rental I felt like it was a significant inconvenience for her to actually have to do her job. Throughout the transaction, the first agent was hanging her head in an apparent attempt to sleep - she seemed to be either extremely hung over or still drunk from the night before. After picking up the car I discovered the previous renter’s clothes and garbage on the floor of the back seat, so it had clearly not been cleaned. While driving, I needed to clean the windshield, and found that the wiper fluid was completely dry!!! Apparently cleanliness (during a pandemic), fleet maintenance, and driver safety are not relevant to Avis! Upon returning the car, I wanted to complain about my experience. The return agent told me to speak to the man in the office, who called someone else and told me to wait. After 5-10 minutes, a man who later identified himself as “Guy” finally drove up and entered the office. When I started to tell him about my complaints, he continuously interrupted me and insolently rejected what I had to say and clearly didn’t care at all. (Some version of: not my problem; what do you want from me; blame the Jerusalem office; and similar evasions were all he could muster. Not a single word of apology!) I left in disgust, swearing to never rent from Avis again! “We Try Harder” indeed. More like “We Don't Bother!”