Avis tells Escondido woman her rental car was damaged — a year later

Nobody likes a surprise bill. What’s there to like? We’re told we have to pay for something we had no idea about!

The perfect trip (almost)

Cheryl Kalas, from Escondido, spent the past two months struggling to clear her name and credit from an unexpected bill for a tire repair on a car she rented in Chicago. NBC 7 Responds stepped in to help.

In September 2024, Kalas traveled to the Windy City for a high school reunion. She visits that part of the country regularly. It’s where a good part of her heart is.

“I still have family out there, so I’ll make a whole week of it, and I have a son that lives in Knoxville, so I even made a trip down to Knoxville to see him,” Kalas said, describing her trip as perfect in every way. 

An unexpected bill

Perfect until she got a bill from Avis a full year after her trip. She was charged $86.73 for a tire repair on the car she rented and drove for about a week.

“You would anticipate that you would hear something maybe within 60 days, but a year later?” Kalas said. “That’s why I first thought it was a scam.”

Three weeks later, Kalas realized how wrong she was when a collection agency sent her a letter demanding payment.

“I asked Avis for proof, and of course, they never sent me anything,” Kalas said, making it clear she didn’t object to paying if there was proof she caused the damage. “That they had a repair ticket, that was dated in the time frame, and the date of it, that it went to repair, was dated in 2024.”

Kalas disputed the debt and kept fighting to clear her name and her credit until it became too much, she said. It became too much work, too much time bouncing from one call to the next, and she wasn’t getting anywhere.

NBC 7 Responds steps in to help

“Maybe you would get somewhere with it, and I know that you’ve helped other people in the past,” Kalas said.

NBC 7 Responds contacted Avis, and about a week later, the company sent the following message –

“Following a thorough internal review, our customer care team is collaborating with the third-party collections agency to formally close the case and ensure that no further contact is made regarding this issue.” — Avis Budget Group 

Kalas was happy to finally put that unexpected bill (and her pen) to rest.

“You’re listening to the people, you’re advocating for their needs, you give them a voice,” Kalas said, indicating that she would be keeping an eye on her credit just to make sure it was never affected.