Hiring a car? Avoid Europcar like the plague!

[Sheaf Saint]

I have just got of the phone to undoubtedly the most unhelpful and useless customer service team you could ever hope not to deal with.

 

Basically, I booked a hire car for a holiday in France in August and when we arrived at the pick up point we were told that there was no reservation for us. Upon investigating, it seems that the reservation was cancelled in error. This resulted in us having to stay in a hotel overnight in Angouleme until they could get a car for us the next morning, and the new rental ended up costing more than the original one we booked, despite being for a day less than originally advised. I was told to contact the customer services team upon return to England who could process my claim for reimbursement for the extra cost I incurred as a result of this.

 

Some chance. I have spoken to them numerous times and was given a case reference number to email my complaint to, and I was told that I would be contacted back in 3 days by a claims agent. FOUR WEEKS later, I finally got an email back giving me some waffle about their policy about not confirming a reservation immediately (despite the email 'confirmation' I got after booking) and completely ignoring the fact that a previous agent had advised me the rental was cancelled in error 3 days before the pickup date. I emailed back stating that I did not accept this and that I wanted the case to be escalated - this was two weeks ago. I called back this morning to find out what was going on and apparently it is their policy to close the claims case once they have responded, regardless of whether or not the customer is satisfied with their response, and that I had gone to the back of the queue and must wait for ten working days from the date of my response to get a contact from them.

 

Basically, they are doing everything they can to squirm out of paying up for something to which they have already admitted liability, and the general ambivalence of the staff I have spoken to has been nothing short of shocking.

 

So my advice is this...

 

If you are planning to hire a car anywhere in Europe - DO NOT USE EUROPCAR.

[Pancake]

We need a "Advise" subforum on here for consumers, employees, employers etc.

[Scummer]

Sunday Times has had articles about Europcar dodgy practices for the past 2 weeks. Worth a read, although they aren't getting anywhere with them either at the moment.

[buctootim]

I always use Sixt when I can. Only problem with them is they fequently upgrade you into a bigger car you never wanted in the first place!

[Valesaint]

I have used Europcar with very mixed results but will not use them again. The straw that broke the camel's back was when I hired an Audi from Manchester Airport and, on its return, was told that I had caused damage to an alloy wheel (an old con trick) and had caused a large stain on the back seat (my children are barred from eating and drinking in cars). These false accusations were obvious to us when the man who made the claim against us could not find the said damages when I asked him to. We ran out of time to argue as our check in time was running out. We were shocked to find a charge of £120 on our credit card statement especially as we had made a statement on the form that we signed.

 

I contacted Customer Services (a very misleading name) without any success. I wrote in my defence and told them that they had taken money from me fraudulently and I would contct the police. They were not bothered. The police were not interested.

 

Out of Gatwick the situation is similar but Southanmpton seem to be easier neverthless I will not use the again. The only way out is to take their full insurance which makes them outrageously expensive when compared to others.

 

Aviod Europcar? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[keithd]

On the same theme, be cautious of Budget.

 

I rented a car in Vegas and there were 3 or 4 things I wasnt happy with. I shant go into the details cos it was partly my fault, but because I wasnt happy I looked at the bill in more detail and noted that they had charged me for refuelling. Not a problem as they explained they do that and they get better fuel prices than I would at the pump, again very true. But the amount they charged was 20 gallons. I looked online to see the car had a fuel tank capacity of 17 gallons. cheeky ****ers

[LVSaint]

I've been ok with Europcar over the years. I book with the consolidator Autoeurope who have always hooked me up with Europcar. that said, I've never had any claims or dealt with anything that required customer service.

 

I always check the car quite well before taking it as they often have a narky attitude when I deny their CDW coverage. If there are a few scratches and the attendant tells me not to worry, I'll make sure they write it in to avoid any bull****e when I return it.

Edited 26 October, 2010 by LVSaint

[Sheaf Saint]

well they finally caved in after I got the BVRLA involved and they are currently processing my refund payment along with a 'goodwill gesture' payment. Happy days.

[jjsaint]

I have a very close friend who had a particularly nasty experience with Europcar. It sounds like she isn't alone.

[Saints Mad Si]

My company uses Europcar and I frequently use them out of Edinburgh airport and have up and down experiences with them, on the plus the car almost always get upgraded but they will charge for anything, and the customer services are s**t, and it slways takes an email to the account manager to sort anything out!

[dune]

I've always used holidayautos and never had a problem.

[devonsaint]

I always use Sixt when I can. Only problem with them is they fequently upgrade you into a bigger car you never wanted in the first place![/quote

 

Not complaining about an upgrade, are you? I had a great upgrade from Sixt in Malaga - ordered a Fiesta sized car and they gave me a BMW 320 Convertible!