The store had a short queue, but the staff was pretty slow and often answered phone calls. Initially, I chose Avis despite being double the price because I wanted a new car and good service. However, the actual cars provided were quite old, one had nearly 40,000 km and the other almost 30,000 km. The Mitsubishi SUV was also outdated. Later in Auckland, I rented from EUROPCAR, and got two very new SUVs with one having 1,500 km and the other 5,000 km. The car features were also excellent.

The store's computer had issues on the day of pickup, making us wait for a long time. The Indian manager at the store seemed incompetent, claiming my newly updated driver's license was expired without even checking the translated copy. The situation left me stressed and sweaty due to jet lag. When I wanted to extend the rental, they insisted on inspecting the car in person, making me visit the store for no reason at all as nothing was actually done.

I returned the car on time, but they charged me an extra day with no way to file a complaint.

Professional, standard, and worry-free

For the first 4 days, I got the Hyundai iMax 8-seater van I had booked. The rental company provided a 2017 new car in great condition, and the pickup process was simple. On the fourth day, we needed to exchange the car in Wellington to get the same model in Picton on the South Island. However, AVIS in Picton couldn't provide the same model and gave us a 5-seater Highlander instead. They suggested we try our luck tomorrow morning if we don't pick it up today. Due to our itinerary and hotel reservations, we had no choice but to continue with the smaller vehicle for another 5 days. Key issues: 1. They did not provide a matching model and downgraded us, ignoring our concerns. 2. The service attitude was poor; they demanded payment for scratches on the previous vehicle (which was clearly noted by the front desk to have been caused by the previous renter). 3. They were verbally sarcastic and ignored our request for a similar 8-seater model. They showed disdain for Chinese people and accused us of being unreasonable when we left. Note, six adults and six suitcases crammed into a 5-seater SUV—it was unbearable.