europcar.co.uk

Absolutely Awful Experience

As our flight was delayed, I called ahead to let Europcar know that we would be late to collect our vehicle. The man on the phone explained that, it is totally ok as as a courtesy, staff members stay at their desk for up to 2 hours after a booking is due. I asked if there was any fees involved. He said no, its free, flights are delayed all of the time, so we don't charge for it. Amazed and happy, we finally arrived at Dublin Airport only an hour after our booking.As I approached the man on the Europcar desk, he asked us what did we want. I explained that we had a booking. He said that "he wasn't expecting us". I showed him my confirmation email with Europcar on my phone which he took. He said he was struggling to find us on the system. After a few minutes he said "you're late, that will be a 40 euro late fee". I explained the phone call I had had previously with a Europcar agent. He laughed at me and said "I have been working here for 16 years and I am a supervisor and I have never heard of this". I explained the phone call again in more detail, highlighting that the man on the phone said "there would be no late fee charge" more than once. The man on the desk asked "who did we speak to?", I explained that I didn't catch his name. He laughed again and said "if you don't pay the late fee, you are not getting the car, it's that simple". Hearing that I had no choice, I agreed to pay it. He then asked to see my driving licence, which I handed to him. He asked how long I had been driving and I told him "11 months". He said that "you need a minimum of two years". I explained that when I was booking the car on the Europcar website, this was not stated. He said "it did say that, you just obviously didn't read the terms and conditions". I explained that I did read them and couldn't find that detail". He then asked to see the email on my phone and put out his hand. So I handed him my phone with the email on the screen. He then took 15 minutes just reading through my emails, going on to the Europcar website and attempting to book a vehicle, trying to locate the terms and conditions where it stated the 'minimum two years rule'. I could only see what he was doing on my phone by stretching my head over the desk. He laughed to himself whilst he did this and he said that he could not fid it. During this, he didn't say a word to us. My mum explained that she's tired as our flight was delayed by 5 hours. He said "so, I've been waiting here all night for you to arrive, how do you think I feel?". He handed me back my phone and using his own phone, quickly got up some terms and conditions stating the two year minimum. He then said "see there it is, you didn't read the terms and conditions". I again explained that I did, I just didn't see it". At this point, I said ok that's fine, we'll just get a taxi". He then continued to talk at us for 6 minutes all whilst holding my license in his hand. I gestured for it back and he ignored me and continued to talk nonsense. It felt as if he was doing it on purpose, to keep us there longer. He again complained that he was waiting for us all night and now we're not even getting the car, because I didn't read the terms and conditions, that we wasted his time. I said "I understand that we're not getting the car, will I still be charged?". He laughed and said "no, because you haven't got the car". I said "I know that, but what about the cancellation fee or late fee?". He said there would be no charge as they don't have my credit card details". I asked if I could please have this in writing, he said "no, no that's not up to me, that's up to the company". He then said "if you go upstairs, you can get an Uber taxi for cheaper". He finally handed me back my driving license and as we were leaving he said his name was "Peter". (I am not sure if he was telling the truth or not). We went upstairs and there was nowhere to get a taxi from as it was 'departures' only, again, this felt like he did this on purpose. We eventually found the taxi rank on the same floor as the Europcar desk and left.This is not a complaint that I couldn't hire the car, I accept the two year minimum. This is a complaint about the man on the desk, he was patronising and very rude! He also contradicted himself several times as first he "was not expecting us" and the next minute he "had been waiting all night for us". We will never be using Europcar again, absolutely appalling experience. Avoid!and to anyone wanting to rent a car in Dublin, you honestly don't need it, the trams and buses are so frequent! and a lot cheaper than renting a car.

Date of experience: Jul 05, 2024