I want to share my experience of a “blatant scam” by Europcar to help prevent others from falling victim to such frauds. I rented a car at London Gatwick Airport after booking the car and purchasing a "Premium" insurance policy online with e-Dreams. At the airport counter, the agent informed me that since I already had insurance with full coverage, I did not need to subscribe to any additional insurance. I was also told that a deposit of 700 euros would be charged (something I was already aware of through the contract signed with e-Dreams). In good faith, I signed the required forms on the tablet (the amount indicated was £647, which I believed to be the deposit) and was given a document with the rental and payment details; nothing else was handed to me, nor sent via email (certainly not an insurance policy that might have raised some suspicions). After two months of waiting for the refund of what I thought was the deposit, I was informed, upon my inquiry, that no refund would be issued as the amount charged corresponded to the cost of the insurance I had supposedly subscribed to. Realizing I had signed a document without verifying that the amount (which was not specified) actually consisted of £100 for the deposit and £546 for the insurance policy (this was the final amount charged), I nonetheless filed a complaint with customer service. Their prompt response (only 21 minutes after my email!) stated that since it was impossible to verify what had been discussed verbally, only the signed document held any validity! It goes without saying that all the information regarding the costs and charges was written in such a small font that one would need not just a pair of glasses but a magnifying glass!
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