Europcar UK deception
Complaint
Daniel Smith
Country: United Kingdom
I made a formal complaint regarding the service received at the Europcar "Edinburgh City" location. At the time of writing this, my reservation is still in progress, but I placed a call to Customer Services at 10:30am on the 14th September and spoke with Sam. She took some preliminary notes regarding my issues, but urged me to document everything to date and advised that I would be contacted to discuss my experience after the rental was closed off and invoiced on the 18th September.
9 Days later I called again to find that the email I was asked to send (despite a read receipt being sent) was lost and my initial phone complaint was not actioned. I was asked to send the email again, and then wait another 7 days before calling to see if it arrived. There was no method for them to let me know that an email had even been received, and they would not check the inbox if I called before 7 days!! This is still on going and the original email is below.
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I arrived at the Edinburgh City location to collect the car at 10:00am and it was extremely busy. The queue was out the door with collections and returns. Two people were at the counter and the Manager did not leave his office while I was in the branch. After an extended wait, I was served by Jiri with the paperwork timestamped 10:46am.
Jiri processed my paperwork and I opted for the extra £6.80 a day insurance. At the end of the process I was given the keys and noticed they were not for a VW, I asked what type of car it was and if it was a similar class/size to what I booked. He responded with "Its a Vauxhall Mevira, its a large car".
I inspected the vehicle and found it completely inadequate for my needs. I booked an intermediate car as I had 5 adults and luggage to transport. The Meriva was undersized, underpowered, and was NOT the same class as what I had booked. According to europcar.co.uk the car supplied is a CDMN while I had booked an IDMR. I completely understand that a booked car may be substituted for a similar vehicle as described on the website, but nowhere in the contract does it state an inferior vehicle could be supplied without warning.
I had to wait until Jiri came outside the office as the queue inside was still very large. I explained to him that the car was not suitable and that I would not accept it. He said to wait outside and he would get back to me.
After another 10 minute wait, he returned and said "My manager said just drive to Edinburgh Airport and they will swap it out for another car, we have nothing here". I expressed to him that he needed to call them and ensure that something would be available. I was not happy to drive there and just hope they would have something. Jiri assured me he would arrange it. I confirmed my mobile number, and even wrote it down again on the paperwork for him. I was assured that it would be organized and he would call me in 10 to 15 minutes to confirm everything. I started to make my way to the Airport and waited over 30 minutes for Jiri to call, but he never did.
I parked at Europcar "Edinburgh Airport" and returned the car to bay 102. I went to the Returns Office, explained the situation but the office had received no call from the "Edinburgh City" branch. They were confused as to why I brought the car to them at all, and after a lengthy explanation they accepted the Vauxhall Mevira, but as they were also extremely busy there was a substantial wait for it to be checked for mileage and damage before I was told to go to the collections office.
I arrived at the collections office and had to explain the full situation again. My story needed to be verified with staff from the Returns Office as no one called ahead or would accompany me to the office to explain the situation on my behalf.
While a vehicle of the correct class was being located, I explained that it had been over two hours since I arrived at the "Edinburgh City" branch to collect a vehicle I had pre-payed for. I asked if there was any gesture that could be offered in light of the poor service I had received, . The Customer Service Attendant said that there was not a single spare vehicle available to upgrade to, and that because the booking error was made by the "Edinburgh City" office and not the branch I was at now I would need to follow it up with that office. I was finally supplied a SKODA SK OC2.0D SE on a new agreement #xxxxxxxxx.
It is important to note that at no point between making the original booking online to being handed the keys, was I ever advised that the car class I booked was not going to be available. That in itself could be excusable, but coupled with Eurpocar "Edinburgh City's" attempt to deceive me into accepting a lower classed vehicle than what I paid for and then, when challenged on this deception the Branch Manager not even leaving his desk to speak with me is deplorable.
I was under the impression that Europcar was a National company, but this could not have been exhibited as further from the truth when Europcar staff would not make a single phone call to another branch to help resolve the issue, and the "Edinburgh Airport" branch's response was that it was not their problem because another branch had made the error. Clearly the responsibility held by Europcar as a company is somewhat hazy especially to it's employees. I booked the car on the Europcar NATIONAL website, used the NATIONAL call centre, and had money taken from Europcar (not a local branch) so why couldn't another branch 7 miles away that is part of this national company offer a gesture?
The purpose of hiring a car was to make the most out a short trip with family travelling from Australia. I had arranged a number of visits on the Saturday, including tickets on the Jacobite Steam Train for 5 Adults that we had to forfeit as a result of this inconvenience. I remained calm and polite in all dealings with Europcar staff as I just wanted to salvage as much of the day as possible with my family. Unfortunately all staff I dealt with seemed more interested in passing the blame or making things difficult for others than resolving the issue. If I had been contacted prior to the day of collection, I could have made arrangements to collect a car elsewhere on the day. If the Edinburgh City Branch Manager had managed to leave his desk at some point during the entire process and explain the error or made a phone call in some attempt to alleviate the situation, then I highly doubt I would have felt the need to escalate this further.
As it stands today I am still taking valuable time out of my holiday with family to write this letter. So in consideration of the valuable time I am spending to detail the shortcomings of Europcar.
9 Days later I called again to find that the email I was asked to send (despite a read receipt being sent) was lost and my initial phone complaint was not actioned. I was asked to send the email again, and then wait another 7 days before calling to see if it arrived. There was no method for them to let me know that an email had even been received, and they would not check the inbox if I called before 7 days!! This is still on going and the original email is below.
---
I arrived at the Edinburgh City location to collect the car at 10:00am and it was extremely busy. The queue was out the door with collections and returns. Two people were at the counter and the Manager did not leave his office while I was in the branch. After an extended wait, I was served by Jiri with the paperwork timestamped 10:46am.
Jiri processed my paperwork and I opted for the extra £6.80 a day insurance. At the end of the process I was given the keys and noticed they were not for a VW, I asked what type of car it was and if it was a similar class/size to what I booked. He responded with "Its a Vauxhall Mevira, its a large car".
I inspected the vehicle and found it completely inadequate for my needs. I booked an intermediate car as I had 5 adults and luggage to transport. The Meriva was undersized, underpowered, and was NOT the same class as what I had booked. According to europcar.co.uk the car supplied is a CDMN while I had booked an IDMR. I completely understand that a booked car may be substituted for a similar vehicle as described on the website, but nowhere in the contract does it state an inferior vehicle could be supplied without warning.
I had to wait until Jiri came outside the office as the queue inside was still very large. I explained to him that the car was not suitable and that I would not accept it. He said to wait outside and he would get back to me.
After another 10 minute wait, he returned and said "My manager said just drive to Edinburgh Airport and they will swap it out for another car, we have nothing here". I expressed to him that he needed to call them and ensure that something would be available. I was not happy to drive there and just hope they would have something. Jiri assured me he would arrange it. I confirmed my mobile number, and even wrote it down again on the paperwork for him. I was assured that it would be organized and he would call me in 10 to 15 minutes to confirm everything. I started to make my way to the Airport and waited over 30 minutes for Jiri to call, but he never did.
I parked at Europcar "Edinburgh Airport" and returned the car to bay 102. I went to the Returns Office, explained the situation but the office had received no call from the "Edinburgh City" branch. They were confused as to why I brought the car to them at all, and after a lengthy explanation they accepted the Vauxhall Mevira, but as they were also extremely busy there was a substantial wait for it to be checked for mileage and damage before I was told to go to the collections office.
I arrived at the collections office and had to explain the full situation again. My story needed to be verified with staff from the Returns Office as no one called ahead or would accompany me to the office to explain the situation on my behalf.
While a vehicle of the correct class was being located, I explained that it had been over two hours since I arrived at the "Edinburgh City" branch to collect a vehicle I had pre-payed for. I asked if there was any gesture that could be offered in light of the poor service I had received, . The Customer Service Attendant said that there was not a single spare vehicle available to upgrade to, and that because the booking error was made by the "Edinburgh City" office and not the branch I was at now I would need to follow it up with that office. I was finally supplied a SKODA SK OC2.0D SE on a new agreement #xxxxxxxxx.
It is important to note that at no point between making the original booking online to being handed the keys, was I ever advised that the car class I booked was not going to be available. That in itself could be excusable, but coupled with Eurpocar "Edinburgh City's" attempt to deceive me into accepting a lower classed vehicle than what I paid for and then, when challenged on this deception the Branch Manager not even leaving his desk to speak with me is deplorable.
I was under the impression that Europcar was a National company, but this could not have been exhibited as further from the truth when Europcar staff would not make a single phone call to another branch to help resolve the issue, and the "Edinburgh Airport" branch's response was that it was not their problem because another branch had made the error. Clearly the responsibility held by Europcar as a company is somewhat hazy especially to it's employees. I booked the car on the Europcar NATIONAL website, used the NATIONAL call centre, and had money taken from Europcar (not a local branch) so why couldn't another branch 7 miles away that is part of this national company offer a gesture?
The purpose of hiring a car was to make the most out a short trip with family travelling from Australia. I had arranged a number of visits on the Saturday, including tickets on the Jacobite Steam Train for 5 Adults that we had to forfeit as a result of this inconvenience. I remained calm and polite in all dealings with Europcar staff as I just wanted to salvage as much of the day as possible with my family. Unfortunately all staff I dealt with seemed more interested in passing the blame or making things difficult for others than resolving the issue. If I had been contacted prior to the day of collection, I could have made arrangements to collect a car elsewhere on the day. If the Edinburgh City Branch Manager had managed to leave his desk at some point during the entire process and explain the error or made a phone call in some attempt to alleviate the situation, then I highly doubt I would have felt the need to escalate this further.
As it stands today I am still taking valuable time out of my holiday with family to write this letter. So in consideration of the valuable time I am spending to detail the shortcomings of Europcar.
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