I have used Europcar five times in the past without issues and it has been easy - including abroad in Turkey (where we had to wait 25 mins for the guy to come back from a toilet break, but didn’t complain). Foolishly, I trusted the company and I made a booking weeks ago for a van to move house. The day before I'm due to pick up the vehicle, they have called me to say there are no vans available. They would have known this days in advance and I could have looked into getting something else.They called me in the morning, but I did not answer in time. I called back, only to be on hold for 30 mins, after which I gave up because I'm currently still working and had a meeting. They called me again just now at 14:30 to inform me about the van with a very weak apology. I am shocked and absolutely furious after the blasé phone call I received from the Park Royal (London) branch to inform me of this. I've worked in customer service and the apathy at the other end of the phone was tangible. The guy I spoke to was giving very general statements about availability at other branches and wouldn’t even check to see if there were alternatives elsewhere. Again, I’ve worked in customer service, I know most people making these calls - especially from physical stores - are unlikely to be passionate about the work. However, it doesn’t justify a thinly veiled attitude or the dismissive way I was dealt with. It doesn’t matter how many people you’ve had to let down about vans, every customer should feel heard.They offered an alternative, smaller vehicle, but frankly I don't think that's good enough. Having looked into the size of the replacement vehicle following the call, it’s not suitable for what I need. After getting off the phone, I’ve realised this vehicle will definitely be too small. However, because it’s too short notice to cancel online without paying their £45 cancellation fee, I called the customer service team again. I’ve added a star onto this review solely for the fact that this person - the third person I’ve spoken to at Europcar today - was actually very helpful, polite, and cancelled the booking without charging me. I didn’t get his name but I appreciate that he made this easy and painless, as I was really very angry.I am not someone that usually kicks off or writes bad review. However, I have made this account specifically to write this review. That is how angry I was following the phone call from Park Royal branch. You’ve lost a loyal customer to Entreprise - who are more expensive but I’ve used them before and never had an experience like this one. Shame on you Europcar, do better and train your in-store teams in customer service.
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