I would like to express my disgust towards Europcar Venice, Sorrento and Rome, and all your employees for the way me and my family were treated during our trip to Italy.
The store had just opened, yet the two employees stunk of cigarettes and were flustered and clearly unprepared.
I handed over the DriveAway VOUCHER I already had pre-paid in Australia, together with my international licence and passport.
The young employee who I was interacting with, told me they did not have the vehicle I had requested and would give me another one which was of the same size.
He then asked for my credit card to pay for the One-Way Fee of € 183.00 which was clearly shown on my
DriveAway VOUCHER, and to my surprise he told me I was also required to pay Insurance on top of the Roadside Assistance and the One-Way Fee, totalling € 982.94.
I told him once again that I already had paid for insurance and that I paid for it in Australia via my Travel Agent. I told him to check, but all he did was ignore me and said I needed to pay for insurance otherwise they would not release the car. He said "we cannot give you the car unless you pay for insurance". I insisted and showed him the voucher one more time and pointed at the box which clearly shows: ADDITIONAL FEES COLLECTED LOCALLY BY EUROPCAR One-Way Fee €183.00. He insisted and again said that it was a requirement to pay for the insurance or else they would not release the car.
I told him that I was sure this whole procedure was incorrect and that I would check with the Travel Agent as soon as I could get in contact with her. I then asked him if they needed to take any photos of the car in case there was existing damage, and
he told me I didn't need to worry about any damage, and that I could dent it, scratch it or throw it off a bridge if I wanted to because I was fully covered by premium insurance.
I was tired of arguing with him as it was cold, it was raining and my stomach was churning from the turbulent boat ride from Venice lagoon to the mainland. So I put the luggage in the car boot and proceeded to drive away.
My Travel Agent was furious and confirmed that all I was required to pay was the One-Way fee of € 183.00, as clearly stated on the DriveAway Voucher.
My Agent said that she would contact Europcar and find out why I was charged the extra money.
The next time I spoke to my Agent, I was in Sorrento. She told me that she had spoken to the wholesaler and that I needed to go to Europcar in Sorrento and ask for a refund.
I proceeded to Europcar and spoke to a lady at the front desk and explained to her what had happened and what the wholesaler told my Agent.
She shrugged her shoulders and said that she could not give me a refund and that it was impossible that my agent would tell me such a thing. I showed her the DriveAway Voucher and asked her to check the reservation in the system and that she would be able to see all the details. She said she couldn’t do that, and looked at the receipt I was given in Venice and said I was charged for the Premium Protection that I must have asked for. I told her I already had insurance and that I had paid for it in
Australia via my Agent.
I said I did not ask for premium insurance and that I wanted a refund.
She said that one of us was lying, either me or the employee at the Venice Europcar.
However she said, she could not verify it because she was not there physically to see which one of us was telling the truth.
She said she couldn’t do anything about it and wrote an email address on the back of my voucher (customerserviceitaly@europcar.......), and told me to send a complaint to them.
Europcar and all the employees I dealt with in Venice, Rome and Sorrento are rude, unhelpful and have no empathy whatsoever.
I was robbed of € 982.94 which converted in Australian
currency is $1742.06. That is a lot of money in Australia.
I have travelled extensively and have hired cars all over the world. This is the first
time I have used Europcar, and it will be the last.
4 months on, Europcar is still avoiding any conversation with my travel agent.
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