Review Time
Booked a car through the website for a trip to Belgium (CRL) and paid in advance and provided the flight details.Flight ended up being delayed, called ahead and advised the flight was delayed. Arrived at their office at 1810 to find out they had packed up and gone home at 1800.Called their customer services who advised that I should simply re-arrange and collect the car the next morning (obviously not a realistic option).The next day my card was charged a further €90 as as no show fee (not deducted from my refund, charged on top!)Top tip for next time, don't bother paying them in advance if you think there's any chance your flight could be delayed!I went upstairs to SIXT, who were friendly, helpful, and gave me a free upgrade. (they were also open, which was massively helpful).
Hired two cars to be collected at the same time and location for me and another family member about 3 months before the collection date. I paid about 100 extra to get an suv type vehicle like seat ateca / tiguan etc. When I arrived to get the vehicles they let slip that they didn't have 2 cars as they thought it was a mistake (even thought they had taken full payment for both vehicle types and never tried to contact me) they said I had to instead take one karoq as ordered an a volkswagen passat estate but would not reduce the price in recognition of the second vehicle. Bad enough as this was we recognised we had no choice on that day other than waste our holiday. When we went to lift the vehicles the karoq wouldn't even start! Europcars solution.... Give us another passat estate that we didn't want and said that they couldn't give us a discount as according to their system they were the same type of vehicle! If anyone has any doubt Google passat estate and skoda karoq. While they tried to convince me they were very similar the customer standing behind me chipped in that he was leaving back his car and they had done the exact same to his party but had gaslighted them into believing that they were wrong. Shocking experience but seems to be the norm for these cowboys
I Booked through Ryan Air a ford fiesta to collect at Dublin Airport the original cost was 68 pounds.I get there to pick it up and they say you carnt pick it up yet because I selected the wrong time on ryan Air website even though the date was correct I even showed the guy on desk the date and booking and he said it was for the following day,no it wasn't it was there in black and white and he said if you want to collect the car now there will be an early collection charge of 40 euros.I had no choice had to pay it,then he tells me there is a 1500 euro deposit which can be done on a credit card,I told him I don't have a credit card only a debit card,ok he says you will have to leave a 250 euro deposit,which is refundable on return of car,so this 68 pound car has now gone up to 358.I return the car and they say they can smell smoke in it and have to charge me 100 euros,I don't smoke by the way.Do not hire from these crooks or book through Ryan air
Recently booked a car in the UK with them (was redirected to QEEQ, who ultimately the booking was with). The original booking I paid for included a car from Europcar, unlimited mileage and a different drop off to pick up location.When we arrived to collect the car it was an absolute conundrum. The agent at the desk ended up charging us DOUBLE what we had already paid in AUS. He also wanted to charge us an extra $400 for the different drop off, even though we had included this in the original booking, he said it wasn't!It was an appalling experience and I feel like we were completely ripped off.
I hired a Fiat 500 at Glasgow Airport. All was fine until a flat tyre on a remote Scottish lane. I looked in the boot. No spare! Europcar remove the spare tyre service kit that Fiat equip the car with and leave an 0800 number to call. This is fine if it's not raining, you are not miles from anywhere and if there is mobile coverage!! I had to walk 2 miles to get reception. I then had 4 hours to wait until a recovery vehicle arrived. The recovery firm had to wait until the next day to go to the nearest Kwickfit. We had to take a bus 2 hours to get to Oban to pick up the car the next day. The fault with the tyre was a leaky valve but because it had to be driven to clear the road it had to be replaced. Total bill from Europcar was £395!So we lost a day with the car, fortunately, it was possible to extend our stay in our bnb for an extra day.All this because Europcar removes an essential item to ask for an extortionate charge to insure against a puncture!
Unfortunately, my experience with Europcar was really disappointing. Be careful when it’s busy at the airport - I got “upgraded” without realising. My €250 euro rental ended up being €500 because when asked “do you want a manual or automatic” and I said “I don’t care, whichever is better” - that actually meant an upgrade. She clearly talked about a €250 fee for using my debit card and a holding deposit, so I put the final total down to that. The cost isn’t actually written directly next to the word “upgrade” on the invoice where you sign. It just says “25,000km”. If I saw “Upgrade: €250”, then of course I would have questioned it. Unfortunately, Europcar customer service just say, you signed off on it, bad luck. They also mentioned I was late to the airport by 2 hours but the lineup was 1.5hrs. It’s also irrelevant? It doesn’t have anything to do with the charge. So that was a bit frustrating to have my questions dismissed and have a random aspect turned back on me. I get that the airport is really busy and staff are under the pump, but it should have been made clear, just as it was made clear about the debit card fee. For this reason and the car itself being fine, it’s 2 stars not 1. Be careful out there, guys!
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.
I rented a car in Scotland, which had engine trouble which we exchanged for the same make and model. After 1 weeks rental we were charged over £1000 for excessive mileage, according to Europcar we drove 7000 miles. We initiated a dispute on 5th July as the mistake was 100% theirs, but still have no money back, no e-mail or any communication from Europcar at all, even though we have e-mailed numerous times. Our last phone call to them was on 22nd July when they told me that our refund had been approved on the 19th July, but still we have not seen a refund, and it is now 26th July. I am disgusted by their lack of care, customer service is non-existent, and the fact they still have over £1000 of my money nearly 1 month after the rental, and there is nothing I can do to expedite getting my money back.
After queueing for 40 mins at Aberdeen Airport to collect the car I had booked, I was told that they had a new rule in place which required me to show a paper utility bill on top of my license and everything else I had. I have hired from there before and they had all my details. They said they would not rent the car to me. I went next door to Avis who were amazing.
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