When Yuehao Huang (inset) returned his rental car to Avis after completing his tour of eastern Canada, he didn’t think much about the bill. He had driven about 870 miles over the course of a week, but nothing excessive. Avis, however, thought differently. The rental car company claimed Huang had driven over 18,000 miles more than the prepaid mileage allowance in his contract and billed him an additional $4,300. That claim is a bit of a stretch, since simple math puts the distance at 2,571 miles per day. That means he had driven the equivalent of a transcontinental U.S. road trip EACH DAY. As if that wasn’t impossible enough, he would have had to drive 107 mph non-stop for the entirety of the trip, never stopping for gas, food, or sleep. Huang disputed the charges with Avis. Having tracked his week of travel on his phone, he submitted that as evidence to the company, but was met with silence. Weeks later, he submitted his dispute again, as advised by an Avis representative. Once again, there was no response from Avis and no refund. That led Huang to dispute the charge through American Express, which told him the charge was valid. Huang finally turned to the media to call attention to the billing issue and the impossibility of what Avis was claiming. That seems to get the attention of Avis, as they quickly issued a statement: "Following a thorough review, we confirmed that a data entry error resulted in the customer being incorrectly charged for excess mileage. We sincerely apologize to the customer for the frustration and delay in resolving the matter. We are processing a refund for the mileage charges. We are also reinforcing our procedures with our teams to help prevent similar issues in the future.” This is not the first time Avis has been wrong. In 2022, the rental car company charged a customer an extra $6,000 for driving more than 23,000 miles in 3 days. That would have meant an average continuous speed of more than 319 mph, which is about 50% faster than a Formula-1 driver averages when they’re on the track. Perhaps instead of reinforcing their procedures, Avis should send their representatives to a math class.
