After renting a car from Avis at the airport to help get her daughter in settling at university, Giovanna Boniface from Vancouver, Canada, found herself facing a charge of $8,000.
Accroding to the report, the company alleged that she had driven 36,000 kilometers in just three days. It means that she drives nearly the distance of the Earth's circumference.
She reveal that she drove the car in the distance between the airport, downtown Toronto, and Kitchener during her visit to her mother-in-law. She estimated that she had driven around 300 kilometers in total.
She added prior to her trip, she had made a prepaid payment of approximately $1,000 for the car rental. Additionally, she checked her credit card statement online to make sure ensure the correct processing of the charge.
According to her receipt, Avis had billed her for covering a distance of 36,482 kilometers at a rate of 25 cents per kilometer. It means that she had to drive for 72 hours at an average speed of approximately 500 km/h.
After noticing the unexpected charge, Boniface told CTV News Toronto: "That's when I notice this charge for over $8,000 from Avis."
After receiving the bill, she called Avis, but to no avail. She was even disconnected by Avis twice. Then, she had to board the plane with frustration.
She said: It was just ringing and ringing and no one was answering. It was really frustrating just trying to get to somebody. They didn't seem to really get what my issue was and I really needed them to remove this $8,000 charge
Boniface called Visa, and after arriving in Paris, to dispute the transaction, but Visa stated that they were unable to take any action at that time as the charge was still pending.
However, a few days later, after news of Boniface's excess charge viral on the internet. After that, she received a phone call from Avis, that informed her that the extra charges would be reimbursed.
According to CTV News, Avis shared that it has apologized to Boniface for the error and confirmed that they have issued a refund. However, they did not offer an explanation for the error.
