Poor customer service

ComplaintsCar RentalEuropcar

Complaint

0
clarion
Country: United Kingdom
I rented a car from Europcar in April while in France. I was not satisfied with the service offered and the additional charges I received afterwards.

First, I had to wait more than an hour to get my car which I rented and paid for well in advance. I was on a tight schedule and that delay unacceptable.

Second, When I returned home, I received a bill from Europcar where they charged me for two extra days, and some damage charge. I tried to investigate what damage was done to the car that I needed to pay for but got nowhere.

Comments

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  • 0
    Tony
    | 1 reply
    Hired a van for 1 day which should have cost £38. Credit card charged £838.
    No explanation, no correspondence and no answer to telephone calls and emails.
    I still have the form which clearly shows "vehicle returned without damage".
    The depot were no help either. They don't care.
    Disputed the payment which the bank but I am not holding my breath despite having the form as proof.
    I feel sick.
    • 0
      watchdog replies to Tony
      Europcars you are on borrowed time you have been reported and you can be assured you will hear from my solicitor
  • 0
    Pam
    Yup, Same goes for europcar holland.

    I guess its a Europcar worldwide-thing.

    NEVER use Europcar (And never use UPC either)
  • 0
    Vanessa
    Europcar is the worst car rental company i have ever dealt with. My partner hired a car in the UK for 2 weeks, left it back to the airport in perfect condition, full tank of fuel, and was signed off. When he came back to Australia he started to notice large amounts of money come from his credit card, the latest amount being AU$1500. He spent 2 hours on the phone to people in the Leicester office and the manager there was rude and not helpful at all. They kept saying that they did not have it in their system that there had been money taken even tho he had emailed them copies of the amounts taken from his account. He received an email a week ago to say that they would be refunding him 385 pounds = AU$600 odd... and today he has only received AU$290!!

    These ppl are a joke and this is nothing short of theft what they are doing to everyone!!
  • 0
    Dec
    Hi,

    Really glad to know I'm not the only one EuropCar have done this to. Recently came back from Bari, (Italy). Car all passed over, invoice for £zero, as pre-paid. Then 2 weeks later a credit card bill for £52.34. I phoned them 3 times, eventually emailing them. Got a reply saying it was a High Season surcharge. No notion of this was made and their email telling me this was curt.  I certainly wouldn't have used them as the total price moved then out of my bracket.

    I await their reply but something tells me it may be a while!
  • 0
    Ioannis
    I have rent a car in Italy . I ruturned the car at 13:30 but they charged me 210 more euros because as they said to me I returned it 17:30

    I have the signature of the employe  that i have return at 13:30!!!

    I phone to them and they said to write email to customer service to complain!!!
  • 0
    Ioannis
    I have rent a car in Italy . I ruturned the car at 13:30 but they charged me 210 more euros because as they said to me I returned it 17:30

    I have the signature of the employe  that i have return at 13:30!!!

    I phone to them and they said to write email to customer service to complain!!!

    but they did not reply to email
  • 0
    bellebabble
    We had a negative experience with Europcar in Europe over Dec/Jan 2010. Everything went well until we returned to Australia. After our return, we received notification from Europcar that 180 Euros would be deducted from our Mastercard for GPS hire and for a drop off fee. I tried for 2 months to contact Europcar Customer Service in Germany to say we never hired a GPS and disputed the drop off fee. They eventually admitted to an error with GPS but would not refund the other. I asked for an explanation as to how the extra charges could have occurred considering we had an 8 week hire yet their charge was for 3 day hire of a GPS, and they replied that 'no further correspondence would be forth coming"!
    How convenient to add extra charges after the customer flies home and cannot query the charges. Sounds like a rort to me.
    Do yourself a favour, NEVER use Europcar...anywhere!
  • 0
    omr
    I agree with all the comments. DO NOT RENT FROM EUROCAR!!
    Just got back from Spain where I rented the car from them. They found a minor paint chip on the back of the car and charged me 150 euro cause they claimed I caused it. Apparently you need to check the car with magnifier glass before you take it otherwise they will find something when you return it.  I filed a complaint, they gave me a reference # and told me they will get back to me. They never did and I can not find anywhere on their web site where I can follow up.
  • 0
    Ann
    NEVER USE EUROCAR!!!!!! WORST COMPANY I HAVE EVER DEALT WITH.
    When my car was in garage they arranged for me to get a car through Europcar very nice I thought!!!!!!
    Car was delivered to my house though Audi customer service..again Great, one week later car was due to be collected!!! This is where the problems have started, I have called and called and called and each time I got through I can only say I was been dealt with by the thickest person on the planet!! result is I still have the bloody eyesore of a car sitting in my parking space !! (Audi parked on the road) and they so far have refused to collect it...even though I offered to take it to them and the reply was 'No JUST BRING IN THE KEYS' or even worse 'leave the keys beside ur wheely bin' !!!

    I will never ever use this company again, even If i was completely stuck.


    Complete idiots, be warned everyone if you do finally get through to customer services they tell you they cant help!!! what bloody use is that??
  • 0
    JP Spain
    Hi everybody

    First of all, I am sorry about all the problems you are experiencing. Seems to me the service in this company is dropping drastically.

    I had a problem with a different company (Avis), so I completely understand the anger and frustration being abroad and confrontated to problems, delays and bureaucracy regarding rental cars.

    I have promised myself (and acomplished) to never ever again rent with Avis, so I usually use Hertz or Europcar. Probably I have been lucky, but I have used Europcar several times, 100% satisfied everytime and good service.
    I even accidentally left my sunglasses in the car, and the guys found them and returned them to me by mail (Hamburg Airport office)!

    It is true you are always overcharged with the fuel. I have tried different ways, and I have been unable to return a car correctly refilled as their opinion.... I think it is just like VAT, you cannot avoid it.

    But it happens with all companies, so I imagine luck has a lot to do with it.

    In my book, Avis is the worst and I will never rent with them again.

    Anyway, good luck and always demand your rights!
  • 0
    Kilometro0
    Europcar is the worst company in the world!
    I agree with all posts, I had a similar experience in Madrid, they charged on my credit card 330 euros for a supposed small and invisible damage. I guess the personnel has a percentage on these charges, it should be investigated by consumer associations.
  • 0
    ANDY NORWICH
    AVOID THIS COMPANY,THEY ARE A SCAM OUTFIT... after 4 weeks of returning the vehicle they decided without any authorisation to take £80 from my barclaycard for fuel and damage charge,when the fuel was filled to the rim and there was certainly no damage and it took them 4 weeks to realise,never again,i would rather walk to gatwick
  • 0
    Ebrahim
    Had the same problem with Europcar in Muscat. Once i got home to South Africa i noticed that i was charged almost double what was agreed, send many emails and still waiting for someone to contact me.  Europcar sucks.
  • 0
    Gursel
    I had the worst experience with Europcar. We rented a car from Milan Bergamo. On our last day, without realizing it was a diesel, we filled in wrong type of gas. We realized that we made a mistake immediately, and called Europcar immediately without starting up the car. They sent us a truck to tow away the car, and offered us a ride to the next highway exit without providing us with a new car. And we had taken full insurance that we thought would protect us from anything. The day after, our credit card was charged with 600 euro only to clean up the tank, which is almost 4 times as much as what it normally costs. when we tried to contact Europcar in Italy, we were very rudely told to not call again. when we called the garage that repaired the car, they said they cannot disclose any information about the costs of repair, as it is confidential information to Europcar. The bottomline is, NEVER NEVER rent from Europcar!!! It is the worst company ever.
  • 0
    Emily
    The exact same thing happened to me in France with Europcar.  As we were waiting in line we heard the Europcar agent tell the person in front of us that his car took diesel.  Neither me nor my friend had ever driven a car that took diesel so we specifically asked the agent when it was our turn if our car took diesel.  She checked something and said "yes, the car runs on diesel."  We refilled right before returning the car and it was immediately obvious that something was wrong.  The key tag had a spot where they were supposed to indicate the fuel type but it was blank, and the car manual was in Spanish.  I explained the situation to the agent when we dropped it off and wrote a formal complaint, nearly missing my flight in the process.  Two weeks later, I have a mystery charge on my credit card from Europcar and no way to contact them.
  • 0
    Dodger
    I had two problems with Europcar in 2009 and 2010.  

    First problem:  When renting in Catania, Sicily, the gas tank was given to me on "empty" when we picked up the car.  When I said to the lady at the Europcar office that they are required to give it to me "full", she said not to worry; simply return it empty and she will mark the rental sheet to reflect that it was given to me that way.  The Europocar Rental agent lied.  She marked the rental form, I delivered it close to empty and then Europcar charged me in Palermo, where it was returned, for a full tank that they bought for the vehicle.  LESSON:  Never take a car from Europcar without a full tank of gas, no matter what they tell you...they are liars.

    Second problem:  I reserved a car this spring (Feb, 2010) to be picked up in Nice at the airport...or so I thought.  I never received a confirmation from Europcar (they never email you one, like they promise).  Some time later, I wondered if my rental had gone through, so I checked the Europcar website (which is a disaster to work with) and didn't find a rental in my name.  So, at the suggestion of a friend, I booked a car the SIXT Car Rental, who were wonderful (the opposite of Europcar).  Thinking that I now had the car I would need in August, I was surprised to get a bill from Europcar on my MasterCard for a pre-paid rental for the same date.  But, I thought, it was probably my fault and tried to make inquiries to cancel it with Europcar; willing to pay the 5% Europcar cancellation fee.  It is impossible to contact Europcar on their website.  Europcar's website is a disaster and only permits you to rent cars; not to change your rental, cancel reservation or speak with anyone.  Beware, this is some kind of gimmick.  Rent from someone other than Europcar and you'll save yourself headaches in the process.  It took me more than 10 hours writing emails to Europcar to every possible email address that I could make invent.  Finally, an email that I sent addressed to customerservice@europcar.com was answered and they promised to cancel my reservation...we'll see if they do.  My advice is to avoid renting from Europcar and try the new SIXT Car Rental agency that can be found online.  So far, my expeience with SIXT Car Rental is far superior to my horrible experience with Europcar Car Rental and the SIXT Car Rental prices are lower than Europcar Car Rental.  Also, don't avoid the tried and true American car rental agencies such as Hertz, Budget or Avis, as they can't be any worse than Europcar and they have offices in the US with a phone number and "real people" with whom you can speak.  You can't say that for Europcar.
  • 0
    KA
    DO NOT RENT FROM EUROCAR!!
    I agree with everyone! HORRIBLE HORRIBLE!!!
    and AUTO EUROPE is just as bad!
    I have been charged as well months after the fact and then had the charges removed only to get two traffic ticket's from Italy over a year later.  They gave my info to the police charged me and never explained the charges.  They have no record of this and were completely useless when I questioned them.
    I will never use these companies again!
  • 0
    Milena
    I'm having similar problems with europcar in malta. So please don't go and book a car from this company. We have paid the fees for the cdw and the tdw and unfortunately did case a slight collision with a house wall which caused some damage to the passenger door of our car. Now they want to make us pay for this ourselves and make a lot of problems telling is that the insurance won't pay for this. Plus that they have given us an old and already broken car that broke down because the brake fluid was leaking out. Luckily it broke down on a quiet side street and not on the highway. On the phone with europcar I was only screamed at insulted in the worst sort of manner. The car wasn't only defect before we got it, it also must have been involved in some sort of accident because the steering wheel always goes left as soon as you let go of it. People here try to rip you of to make you pay for fixing their old cars and are most unhelpful and unfriendly. So even if you have paid for full cover insurance they try to get the money out of you.
  • 0
    Edouard
    I rented a car at Europcar last weekend in Bristol Airport, UK.
    Today I have received the invoice, I have been charged 130 GBP for a scratch which was already in the car when they gave it to me (it is even mentioned in the rental agreement).

    This is the second time I have been abusively billed by Europcar (last time I have been billed 100 euros for extra kilometers, just because the agent has not well noted the mileage when I gave the car back...).
    This company is disorganized, and apparently dishonest.
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