europcar.co.uk

AVOID AVOID AVOID - THIEFS!!!!

Pre-booked and pre-paid for a small automatic car for pick-up from their Northampton office, however on arrival at the rental office on our way on holiday, I was informed that the car group I had booked was not available and they only had a large Volvo XC60 available, but that it would be £10 extra a day. I said I had already booked a small car group and paid and the answer was that it was either this more expensive car or nothing. And I should be aware that the payment already made was non refundable. I was completely held hostage and forced to sign a contract for the more expensive car, with no alternatives offered, except loosing the £200+ already paid to this company and the holiday. I did not want to drive a large car, as I am not used to driving on a regular basis and therefore wished for a small car, hence why I booked a small car. After ended rental I received the invoice where not only had they added the £10 per day, they had charged for an additional day, despite the fact I returned the car early. I wrote to customer service to complain about this extra charge, and after waiting for more than two weeks I receive a condescending and rude response, that it is my own problem as I signed a contract for the more expensive car - yes I was left no choice but to sign the contract or loose my money and cancel my holiday! This is a complete disgrace and it is clearly their business strategy of getting more money out of customers! If they cannot honour the contract initially made between us when I pre-booked the car, it should not come at a financial loss to myself, it is their fault and responsibility! And if a location doesn’t offer certain car groups, it shouldn’t be a possibility to pre-book it, they are knowingly forcing customers into a contract that they cannot honour and thereby force the customer to pay additional charges. So conclusion, AVOID, they will clearly do anything to steal money from you.

Date of experience: Aug 22, 2025