Avis introduces no human car rental!

[markis10]

Kind of ironic that Avis likes to promote how good its staff are in terms of service on their website (and I find they are great in general), but are also promoting rental via a self service machine!

AVIS CAR RENTAL KIOSK AT SYDNEY, BRISBANE AND MELBOURNE AIRPORTS

[thewinchester]

Looks like NCR's self-service division is finally getting more traction on their terminals outside the traditional hospitality & retail markets.

I do wish more big companies would introduce self-service options, albeit the fact that AVIS has limited the system to Wizard members isn't a good way to start. They should have looked at allowing reservation retrieval from the guaranteed credit card (and/or even the member's frequent flyer card linked to a booking - quite easy to do without airline involvement).

Also interested as to how they get the signature on the rental agreement. From the looks of the terminal, it seems to print out an A4 document for this which I assume is signed when you hand it to the attendant to collect your vehicle. Would have been far simpler for them to incorporate a small digital signature pad into the station which would have meant one less step & far less frustration trying to find a pen.

[markis10]

Both the Wizard and Hertz # 1 programs allow you to pick up a car with no signature, I suspect thats the reason why Avis have required the preferred membership, the kiosk becomes essentially a confirmation that you have taken the car or clocked on!

[AdMEL]

Looks like NCR's self-service division is finally getting more traction on their terminals outside the traditional hospitality & retail markets.

I do wish more big companies would introduce self-service options, albeit the fact that AVIS has limited the system to Wizard members isn't a good way to start. They should have looked at allowing reservation retrieval from the guaranteed credit card (and/or even the member's frequent flyer card linked to a booking - quite easy to do without airline involvement).

Also interested as to how they get the signature on the rental agreement. From the looks of the terminal, it seems to print out an A4 document for this which I assume is signed when you hand it to the attendant to collect your vehicle. Would have been far simpler for them to incorporate a small digital signature pad into the station which would have meant one less step & far less frustration trying to find a pen.

Except that Avis currently do not require a credit card for a reservation!

Most people that have Wizard numbers would have Avis Preferred membership, which does not require a signature.

Both the Wizard and Hertz # 1 programs allow you to pick up a car with no signature, I suspect thats the reason why Avis have required the preferred membership, the kiosk becomes essentially a confirmation that you have taken the car or clocked on!

As I've alluded to, I don't think that's technically correct - I believe you can have an Avis Wizard number without being an Avis Preferred member - it's called My Avis.

[markis10]

I did mean preferred, with a wizard number, which is designed to be zero signature.

[JohnM]

Avis Preferred/Wizard No. is noted as 'Signature on file' on the rental agreement. Same for the CC used to pay.

The only thing a Preferred renter with an advance booking needs to do is go straight to the car and show their driver's license to the gatekeeper.

[AdMEL]

I did mean preferred, with a wizard number, which is designed to be zero signature.

Avis Preferred/Wizard No. is noted as 'Signature on file' on the rental agreement. Same for the CC used to pay.

The only thing a Preferred renter with an advance booking needs to do is go straight to the car and show their driver's license to the gatekeeper.

You both appear to be missing the point! Avis has two levels of membership - My Avis and Avis Preferred. Both give you a Wizard number, but My Avis does not store credit card details and still requires a signature, whereas Preferred stores your credit card details and does not require a signature. This new system only requires you to have a Wizard number - it does not require you to be Preferred, therefore if you only have My Avis, a signature is still required, as thewinchester​ mentioned.

[markis10]

Your right, it is interesting that is not just preferred members, no doubt the signature is checked at the boom gate, for some reason brain keeps thinking wizard equals preferred and that is what was required, when it makes sense for Avis to cater for non preferred members who take up more of the staff time and thus cost more to service.

[AdMEL]

Your right, it is interesting that is not just preferred members, no doubt the signature is checked at the boom gate, for some reason brain keeps thinking wizard equals preferred and that is what was required, when it makes sense for Avis to cater for non preferred members who take up more of the staff time and thus cost more to service.

Yes, it's interesting that they allow it to be used by My Avis members, which still require a signature, given the logistical issues. It's also interesting that they even have My Avis - I guess some people have an aversion to them holding their credit card details and being able to charge it any time they choose, even if accidental. This has happened to me a couple of times, albeit with Hertz, not Avis. As a slight aside, your previous comment about Preferred being zero signature is spot on - when I joined Preferred, I did it online and no signature was required. Following joining, all rental agreements state 'signature on file', but in my case it isn't! They never required me to sign anything!

[JohnM]

Yes, it's interesting that they allow it to be used by My Avis members, which still require a signature, given the logistical issues. It's also interesting that they even have My Avis - I guess some people have an aversion to them holding their credit card details and being able to charge it any time they choose, even if accidental. This has happened to me a couple of times, albeit with Hertz, not Avis. As a slight aside, your previous comment about Preferred being zero signature is spot on - when I joined Preferred, I did it online and no signature was required. Following joining, all rental agreements state 'signature on file', but in my case it isn't! They never required me to sign anything!

That's interesting. When I joined Avis Preferred sometime way back in the last century I believe I filled in a form and snail-mailed it to them. I figured that's where they got my 'signature on file' from. Never heard of/taken any notice of My Avis.

I think I'm showing my age here .

Anyway, I've been Avis Preferred for a loooong time and it always works pretty sweetly, except in a few remote or franchise locations they always want to swipe my CC (Casablanca last year is the one that most recently comes to mind) and where the receipt can come through quite some time after the rental finishes.