Follow-up to Avis Price Mistake

As I predicted the other day, Avis has started cancelling all of the reservations through the mistake code posted that caused prices to come up as $0 or only a couple of dollars for a two day weekend rental.

Dear XXXXX,

At Avis, our goal is to provide a stress-free rental experience whenever you need a rental car. Upon review of your recent reservation, XXXXXXXXXXX, it has come to our attention that the discount code you have entered is invalid, and so your reservation has been tentatively cancelled. If you have a valid coupon certificate, we are ready to restore your reservation. Please note, you must present your valid coupon certificate at time of rental. Prepaid reservations will be refunded in full and no cancellation charges will be assessed.

If you would like to recreate your reservation, you may do so by visiting Avis.com or calling 800-633-3469.

We apologize for any inconvenience this cancellation may have caused. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you in the future.

The deal was originally posted by Mr. Pickles (disclaimer for a back-up plan was presented), and was quickly broadcast around the internet through Million Mile Secrets, The Points Guy, Miles Momma, FatWallet, and SlickDeals. The Points Guy even went so far as to post a work-around through the United site in a follow-up post.

It was only after I even made a mention of warning consumers to have a back-up plan, did a disclaimer get added to Million Mile Secrets post. What was even more frightening is that none of the other posters of this information, even more than I listed, made any attempt to warn the consumer of the real likely case that the reservations would not be honored, and if they were relying solely on this Avis reservation for a destination, they need to have a back-up plan.

Fortunately, Avis acted swiftly and cancelled all (hopefully) of the reservations before they even became active, since the first use would not have been until this weekend. So no one technically could be out of any inconvenience at this point. However, I would venture to say that there is at least one person out there that made the reservation because they saw it promoted by their ole’ trusty blogger or forums, and will never see the cancellation notice, show up to the rental desk, and be surprised by the cancellation. It is just the society we live in, and odds are stacked that it will happen to someone.

I am just not a big fan of jumping on mistake, time tested and approved, methods of trying to score a deal, because they most likely are too good to be true and will be cancelled. And when I see the masses promoting these types of things, I think it would behoove of whoever is posting the idea to at least warn your readers.

Save Money, Travel More!

Source: InACents Reader Beth