Some of you may have read the plight last week of Tarikh Campbell, the Teaneck New Jersey native who had rented an Avis rental car while visiting family back home. A graduate of MIT and instructor at Harvard, he walked out of his childhood home on August 14 and discovered the 2020 Toyota Camry he was renting from Avis at EWR was missing. That was the beginning of a bizarre story that Campbell shared on Twitter:
Last Friday, I flew to NJ for the weekend to visit friends and family. I rented a white 2020 Toyota Camry from the Newark Liberty International Airport branch of @Avis. All was going well until my rental disappeared from right outside my childhood home on Saturday night.
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 20, 2021
The police confirmed that there was no impound order on the car, so it couldn’t have been towed. That left me with the thought that it could have been stolen. Even though I still had the keys? And it wasn’t a keyless start vehicle? And car theft has never been a problem here?
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 20, 2021
I called the police back to file a report. They sent an officer to my home who wrote it up. I told him where I’d been all day with the car and that the last time I’d seen it, it was legally parked right outside my home. It was 2:30AM and I had a flight back to Boston at 9AM.
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 20, 2021
The @Avis rep told me that because I hadn’t returned the car I would continue to be charged for it and would be liable if it wasn’t returned. She said the car could maybe be tracked and gave me someone’s business card to follow up with. I gave back the keys. Got on my flight. pic.twitter.com/rjlPRbnokn
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 20, 2021
That was when I got the idea to check the EZPASS activity on that transponder. Like if it had been stolen and the transponder wasn’t removed, then it would have pinged whenever going through a toll and I could sort of track what highways and exits the car went through.
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 20, 2021
Strange…so right around the time I noticed the car was missing, it was on its way to the same area where I picked it up. What a coincidence that a thief would take it there…By itself, this wasn’t much…but then I got a call from my aunt about what her home security picked up.
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 20, 2021
The tow truck spent 12 minutes loading the car and then left with it, rejecting the theory it’d been stolen. But remember, the police hadn’t ordered it to be impounded. Also I hadn’t given out my NJ address to anyone, not even @Avis. My driver’s license address is in Boston.
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 20, 2021
The @Avis app on my phone suddenly showed the vehicle was “returned” at 11:59AM on Sunday, 4 hours after I returned to the Newark branch by lyft and 90 minutes after I'd already landed in Boston. Well geez, who could have returned it??? By now, it should be clear what happened. pic.twitter.com/RtFKcKmdVs
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 20, 2021
So now I’m really blowing up @Avis' lines. Remember the business card I was given for someone at the branch to follow up with? Out of service. Another local number I was given: no pick-up and doesn’t take VMs. Customer service reps refusing to connect me directly with the branch. pic.twitter.com/vUzpYb652G
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 20, 2021
And to add insult to injury, @Avis has proceeded to bill me as if I returned the car AND they’re charging me late fees! All without any acknowledgement that they repossessed the vehicle and that I’ve been trying to reach out to them for days.
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 20, 2021
For all the trouble I’ve been caused: losing my rental, filing a police report, worrying my neighborhood, being told I was liable for a $20K+ car, hours wasted trying to reach @Avis, and being charged full price + late fees. I just want @Avis to do the right thing.
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 20, 2021
Yowsa, what a story!
Anyway, those were all posted on the morning of August 20th. His plight, of course, was retweeted a few thousand times and caught the attention of the likes of USA Today, Yahoo News and other news outlets.
By that evening, Avis had finally responded to Campbell:
Avis is also escalating and investigating this matter. Now while my charges are rightfully being refunded, the overall ordeal has yet to be redressed! And I will not let up. Being made whole will require a lot more than just a refund!!!
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 20, 2021
Meanwhile, the Teaneck Police Department has assigned a detective to Campbell’s report and Campbell is even smart and thoughtful enough to ask the detective to expand the investigation:
I've asked him to reorient this investigation to whether unlawful activities or operations were performed by any agents of the company and additional collaborators, and whether there might be additional victims.
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 23, 2021
Avis’ only response was that they were “investigating” the matter. However they did confirm that Campbell would indeed get a refund for his rental, and that’s an excellent thing.
Finally, 3 days later, they had something of an update:
I received an apology but no explanation for why customer service had been so dodgy and unable to track the already repo'd vehicle. Avis is reimbursing my additional costs, returning my personal items, and ironically…offering me a future credit.
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 25, 2021
I'm ready to move on and have a normal, uneventful life again. While it took all your voices to get this much addressed, nothing might have been addressed without your voices. You hit them where they care most: their brand and reputation.
— Tarikh Campbell (@tarikhcampbell) August 25, 2021
I suppose it’s the happiest ending that could have been expected.
Feature Photo: Avis
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and get emailed notifications of when we post. Or maybe you’d like to join our Facebook group – we have 23,000+ members and we talk and ask questions about travel (including Disney parks), creative ways to earn frequent flyer miles and hotel points, how to save money on or for your trips, get access to travel articles you may not see otherwise, etc. Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.