Avance Reviews 357

A wonderful trip to Greece for a wedding, ruined by what is feeling like an attempted scam attempt on car drop off.

On Thursday 5 June we picked up a 7 seater Dacia Jogger.

The check-out desk is within the airport, just outside departures. There is then a shuttle (2 minute journey) that takes you to the car. The shuttle for us arrived promptly; no issues so far.

On checking out the car, it was provided with just under half a tank of fuel, and a crack 4-5 cm long coming up from the bottom of the windscreen. We noted this to the agent, who was taking a full set of photos and videos.

So far all good, and the windscreen crack was discussed and we were told noted on the iPad. We watched the agent take photos + videos etc.

This is a great process as it protects both parties.

It must be noted that this type of crack in a windscreen in the UK would fail a MOT (Roadworthiness assessment). We assumed this must simply be a nuance of Greece that this is acceptable.

The car performed well for the duration of the trip.

On returning the vehicle, the agent who identified himself a John begun to inspect the car thoroughly. John remarked upon the crack in the windscreen and that this was our damage.

We said it was like that when we got it and we were not worried; he could simply consult the photos and video the checkout agent made.

He spent a long time with another agent in the office going through photos. This period of time seemed to be ongoing with circular discussion in Greek which we did not understand.

Bear in mind, at this point, we are waiting to leave to catch a flight, and we have a 2 month old waiting in the van with his mother.

During this process, it felt like the agents, noting our situation, are making us wait to see if we will simply accept whatever they dictate.

When I asked them for an update, they asked if I had photos. Why would I need photos if you have a video and photos check out process? Again I tell them to look at their own photos…

Following another prompt for an update, the conversation begun to escalate after I pointed out that “if Avance did not provide cars with cracked windscreens, then this situation would be avoided”. This resulted an a rather aggressive response from the agent in the office who stated if he gave brand new cars, they would still come back damaged...

After some more time, they told us verbally that we would not be charged and asked us to sign an iPad. The iPad was zoomed in and we could not see what was signed. We were not given any paper receipt nor have any emails of checkout been received.

It must also be noted, that this type of damage is not caused from driving into something or not caring sufficiently when looking after the car. The crack is on the lower edge of the windscreen, and will continue to grow. If we had caused it, for example by a rock hitting the windscreen during driving, there would be an impact nuclei.

Most importantly, allow me to restate, the crack was there on checkout, and the checkout agent was informed, agreed, and appeared to note it on their iPad.

I fear for the next client of Avance to use this vehicle.

At this point we are fully expecting to need to challenge this with our card issuer.

I do not know whether Avance is a franchise, but if it is, I would encourage head office to inspect this office, and ensure the office is following the process dictated by the franchise.

We chose a more expensive franchise, paying nearly £400 for a 7 seater for 5 days, with the intention of avoiding cowboys and scammers, and companies who have to cheat to succeed.

TLDR: Avance rented a 7 seater with a cracked windscreen on checkout. It remains to be seen whether the card hold will be released.

This review will be updated when an outcome is finalised. It has not been a pleasant experience.

Car in awful condition.

Battery dead during our stay. We have been asked to travel 1,5hoir to nearest harangue to buy new battery. We lost half day on our vacation to fix a car

Negative Review of AVANCE Car Rental
I am writing this review to warn other travelers about an extremely negative rental experience with AVANCE Car Rental at their Kefalonia, Greece branch.
I was outrageously charged €2000 for a "scratch" on the bumper. I must emphasize that this was such a minor scratch that it was virtually impossible to see with the naked eye and even in the photographs taken at the location – it was only visible under significant magnification.
I am convinced that the scratch was already present before I received the car. The fact that it was not visible from the outset strongly supports this claim.
Furthermore, the car return process was unnecessarily long and tedious. The company representative delayed me for approximately 40 minutes, which almost caused me to miss my flight.
I consider this behavior to be a clear demonstration of bad faith and an attempt to extort money from customers. I strongly recommend avoiding this car rental company and choosing an alternative.
Rating: One star (or the lowest possible rating

We hired a car with these guys in Kefalonia. Very affordable prices, super friendly service and the car was in great condition. Absolutely no problems whatsoever, would definitely use them again and would also recommend.

The car i rented was scratched in most places, almost 60.000km, dirty inside out and their response after i sent a complain was just an attempt to justify their bad service instead of just an apology.
Have been using this company for many years and before this I was happy.
Most Probably this was the last time

Rented a car from Thessaloniki airport, we arrived and left outside of businesshours. They always called us infront and checked if everything is in schedule. Communication and paperwork was quick, smooth and clear. Very polite and professional personel. On our second day car had electrical failure and they quickly found us replacement car. Both cars were nice and clean. On our leavingnight gentleman on the dropoff desk drove us to the airport door with our luggage, definately a nice touch! Very good and friendly experience overall. Thank you.

This company encourages customers to use their Avance Online Check – In which they say is "extremely easy to use". We tried it and spent approx 50 minutes trying to upload image files of our passports and driving licences. There is no guidance regarding the types and sizes of image files accepted. We eventually worked out that they have to be very small pdf's. Eventually we managed to upload the files and then their system threw up a "System error" which their employee who tried to help us online said she could not resolve.
So we arrived at Kalamata airport without having checked in with Avance. They have no office there, so everything had to be done via phones and tablets in the car park. To be fair, their employee who met us did his best. Make sure you have access to your emails on your phone ! We could not read on a small screen the small print on the contract they emailed us. The car had multiple dents and scatches all round which took us a long time to photograph and video. On the last day of our 3 week booking, one of the wheel trims (hub caps) fell off while driving on a mountain road and disappeared down the mountain. On inspection, we noticed that the wheel from which the trim had fallen was dented. On checking the video we had taken when collecting the car, we saw that this dent was visible. The same day, I called the Avance office in Kalamata to notify them that this had happened. Their response was that because we had "lost" the trim, we had to pay for 4 new wheel trims. I tried to explain that I believed that the trim had fallen off because it had been fitted on to a damaged wheel. They refused to discuss this and kept repeating aggressively "You lost it, you pay!". Next day at the airport, we paid for a replacement wheel trim rather than miss our flight through trying to discuss the problem further. They even charged us a further 6 Euros "labour" to fit a new trim onto a damaged wheel. In my view, their refusal to discuss a damaged wheel, which is a potential safety issue, is disgraceful. Avoid.

car booked for Araxos airport pick-up.
no office 2 people who had their desk there in a car?
Received a very dirty car, inside and out, later had problems with the tires were without profile and 1 tire had lost air. Car was returned, no one present, very unpleasant experience, Hertz was also in the parking lot and looked very professional, next rental = Hertz

We recently hired a car from Avance at Thessaloniki airport. All the staff we dealt with were lovely. The car was as expected and the process was very smooth. We have our own excess insurance policy so we always dread the inevitable hard sell to take the car company full insurance but this didn’t happen which was a relief. Thanks guys- we’ll definitely see you again.

Do not use this company. Worst company we have ever dealt with. We hired a car, paid a fair price for the car, and then they tried to give us an old car with over 100,000 km on it, telling us that it was an upgrade! Of course we refuse the car and then had a continuous argument with the service desk for over an hour to try and sort something out. We even offered to pay more so that we can get a better car, only to be told that they had no more cars. We ended up cancelling the car and booking with a different provider in which we were very happy with.

The Gentlemen, we spoke to at the Desk, did not offer any solution, didn’t even try to help us, and pretty much said we could take it or leave it, He was rude and arrogant. It was a terrible experience, in which not only cost us money, Increase our anxiety and stress levels to an extreme, but also cost us valuable time out of our holiday, trying to sort out this debacle, before we could continue on our holiday. We ended up being stuck at Athens airport for over three hours longer than we should’ve been.

If there was an option to rate them less than 1, I would use it. Their service was Disgraceful and not worthy of any review other than a negative review. Rate them as -1…

Save yourself a headache, Money, and valuable holiday time by avoiding this company at all costs.

Avoid this company at all costs. Booked a car from Athens airport and the staff were rude and arrogant. They tried to give us an older model car that had over 100,000kms on it and in poor condition. When we asked for another car they said it was the only car they had left and if we didn’t want it, that it was our problem.
We then had to argue with the staff at the counter for over an hour to get a refund.
The staff at the airport counter were very unhelpful, rude and arrogant.

Rent in Athens. We received an excellent car, a higher level than we ordered. Clean, excellent mechanical condition. Excellent and very fast service both in receiving and returning. We forgot personal items in the car - they did everything for us to receive them at home. Highly recommend

Excellent customer service from the Team at the central Thessaloniki branch. I was staying in Thessaloniki and had a last minute decision to hire a car for a few days. In a street full of car hire places, I went to AVANCE first as I had a great experience with the company last year when in Athens. At first the guys were struggling and said they could only offer a 7-seater which was not any use as there were only 2 of us. The guys spent 20 mins, moving things about and eventually managed to come up with a VW Polo manual for a 2 day hire, good price and I also took the extra insurance for piece of mind. On the day of collection, I asked if I could make it 3 days and again, they managed to accommodate my request. The handover of the car was smooth, there were lots of small scratches and marks (well it is GREECE after all 😂) but these were all noted and photographed. return was again smooth, quick inspection, check the fuel level and away I went. Very happy with the branch and also Avance. Would definitely recommend.

Amazing car rental and very fair.
I read the comments before I booked with this company. The good comments had a variety and I could understand the constructive feedback but the negative comments are a joke. They all have the common theme of extra charge and not being told from the beginning. That’s a big lie or misunderstanding or misleading people on purpose.
Form the moment we went to Paros rental office we were told very explicitly that we need to return the car in the same fuel position and you take a picture as well. Secondly and most importantly if you dirty the car in the inside you need to pay. If you choose to go for a swim and with the water and swimming costume go in the car all the sea salt will leave a stain in the car seats. It’s your choice if you don’t care and then you need to pay 60 euros indoor cleaning. They inform you for everything and you sign. I don’t understand how people blame others for their ignorance and luck of understanding. The guys in the office were very informative of the island, the area and always able to contact them! The boys in the transfer amazing and very kind! We paid relative cheaper price comparing with other rentals and the cars were all after 2021 and very very good and cheap to run! Definitely I will choose advance again!

Worst experience ever in my life in Kassiopi, I went to rent a car and frrom the start the lady was very rude she answered her phone and speaking to her friend and let me wait, also she was very rude and short answers not helpful at all , I asked her about the prices she said there they are like we was some dogs , I asked for the insurance if is fully covered and she said no you pay if any accidents happen and been cleaver like she study a low and no such insurance is fully come even in uk she tried to make us look stupid even we come from uk and have fully come Insurence she saying that we was wrong, very rude from the start , I asked her why she is so rude and angry with us we only try to rent a car and wanted to ask some questions about the car and we are costumers and trying to give her a business, she still not listening to us and not helping answering any of our questions, we felt like we was told off for asking all this questions to her , I got my deposit and left , visited on 8pm on the 1-8-2024

THIEVES! Watch out. They will try to pin to you car damages you didn't do

Worst company ever. Don’t rent a car in Paros with Avance. They didn’t explain us anything and it was a total scam. The fuel was in the same level as when we picked up the car and they charged us 40 euros. Never more. If you can, choose another company.

Take in account that They charge you for everything, even it is a little bit dirty with sand or sea salt marks. The worst thing is that they don’t tell you that when you rent it.

Ten minutes to take the car, five minutes to drop it at airport. And the car is OK, with 25000 km... What else ?

The car I rented was nothing like the car I booked online. It felt unsafe to drive. It had done 161,000 klms on the dial. It stunk like a well-used ashtray. And the car was so old, it didn't even have a USB port to charge my phone for Google Maps. EPIC FAIL AVANCE.
And BTW Avance - when booking, and you say "or similar car" - what you really mean is that it will be the same size, have four wheels and an engine. A VW Polo - over 12 years old - is NOT SIMILAR AT ALL.