europcar.de

Extremely disappointing experience with Europcar Dublin Airport

I recently rented a car from Europcar at Dublin Airport and was extremely disappointed with the entire experience. The booking process seemed straightforward, but from the moment we arrived, everything went downhill.The staff at the counter were unfriendly and unhelpful. After waiting more than 30 minutes to pick up our car, we were told to go to another floor where a shuttle would collect us and bring us to the actual rental station, located away from the airport. We waited there for almost 50 minutes, no shuttle ever arrived. A young family with children also complained, and in the end, we had to arrange our own shuttle together with them and go to the Hertz parking area ourselves.Once there, we finally received the car, but again the staff were rude. The women’s toilets were closed, and the accessible toilets were dirty.Fortunately, we had chosen full insurance, because shortly after leaving, another driver crashed into the back of our car on the motorway. Even though we were in shock, we immediately called Europcar to report the accident. Instead of helping, the agent asked a series of unnecessary questions, keeping us on the phone far too long until our phone battery ran out. Even the fire brigade and ambulance staff, who tried to assist with the call, couldn’t understand what the Europcar agent wanted.What shocked us even more: we were told that if the car needed to be collected, Europcar couldn’t say how long it would take and that we would just be dropped off at the next petrol station and left there. They also told us we wouldn’t receive a replacement vehicle because company policy blocks customers for 24 hours after an accident.Luckily, the police allowed us to drive the damaged car back to the rental station to return it. It was already dark, and when we asked for help to get another car, the employee at the return desk barely cared. He just told us to “try Hertz next door if you want.”We were then forced to fill out a two-page accident report, even though we gave them the phone number of the police officer who could provide the official report. The form itself contained ridiculous questions - even the staff couldn’t explain some of them (for example, “width of road?”).Finally, we were told that we would get back the fuel deposit, but not the prepaid rental fee, because “from a business point of view,” they said, the car couldn’t be rented again until repaired. This raises a simple question: What do you pay full insurance for, then?Overall, Europcar completely failed to deliver the level of professionalism and support, one would expect from an international rental company - or from any company at all. I strongly recommend choosing another provider.

Date of experience: Oct 10, 2025