“After the RAC booked it, they rang to say they could not commit to supplying a vehicle even 6 hours later. I had to book another car hire company. They suddenly arrived about 3 hours later. They didn't pick up for hours but expect you to wait for them for 8 hours after paying £15 for the pickup service. During this time you are still responsible for the vehicle. (see T&C's 11.1)
I made a complaint via email to get my £15 back, they refused. Customer services are useless and very rude. Could not get through to the local branch ( Tonbridge) for ages. We spent so much time on the phone trying. The Tonbridge manager called after I left a message with a sales assistant who rang me asking for the car back the next day after they collected at 6:10 pm the day before. She said we could have the £15 back but nothing was ever received. Online customer services still refused to give £15 back after a formal complaint via email for a car collection that took 4 hours! The branch is only 2 miles away! 8 hours is not reasonable. Poor communication. Other reviews reflect this. Additionally, the delivery driver said the gauge always showed 8/10th full even though actually 10/10th full. So I returned it 'full', but it wasn't the case so gave them extra petrol on top. ~They will probably leave a standard response below telling me to call their rude helpline ( who can't even call the local branch for you) or unhelpful email, if they do you, you know to AVOID!”
“I reserved a car in Spain, was quoted €163, agreed and pre-paid the contract.
Car was good: low mileage, perfect condition. No problems.
Refuelled to the brim 20kms before the return. Return Assistant photo'd the dashboard,with the fuel gauge indicating 'Full'.
Then I got the Final Invoice:
• €20 'Refuelling Surcharge'
• €18 for 11 litres of 'Added Fuel'
• €5 per day for a 'Family Pack' – which we hadn't asked for, wasn't in the Contract, wasn't in the car.
Net result: The Invoice went from €163 to €275.
A V O I D”
“Got a hire car while waiting for a glass repair the car was absolutely filthy & stank of cigarettes when I rang them to complain they said they couldn’t help it’s disgusting when covid is increasing cleanliness should be vital”
“Hired a Europcar in Dublin. Was ripped off with insurance costing more than twice the car rental. Was charged for petrol even though I filled on return. Left my phone in the car and have been emailing and calling all week but no one returns my calls. Do not use this organisation or any carhire.ie as you will be mugged. please for your own sake do not use Europcar ever!! Thanks”
“Fraud at Europcar.
Europcar Lisbon airport added exstras to the contract inspite of the fact that i clearly did not agree to these extras, offered at the desk.
They took advantage of the fact that nobody really reads the contract and people trust the contract to contain what was agreed.
They ask you to sign on the screen without showing you the contract and then, when they give you the paper, they rush you to go get the car.
When you return the car you find out that you are charged 270Euro extra for full coverage that you already purchased from RentalCover and for road assistance you rejected.
You talk to the guy on the desk, he offers you the extras, you refuse, but the extras are within the contract.
Fraud by definision.”
“I would give no stars if it was possible! Do not book here. You book for one price and then they charge your card multiple times for things you did not agree to. When you tell them this was not what you agreed to they say do not worry it is okay and continue to charge you. It is a scam!!! Emails and complaints are not answered, phone calls hung up on. They use your signature from the reservation to state you agreed to all these other charges. Why would I pay for 2 weeks of a car I had already returned?!? That does not even began to explain the other issues we had with them. The list goes on and on. The car didn’t work properly. They had me and my 2 kids under 5 waiting on the sidewalk outside in Mexico for nearly 3 hours in the middle of the night for a car that was reserved and already paid for. They would have left us there stranded too, they told me I could wait until 8am when the manager comes back!”
“Europcar Stansted Airport, UK
I made reservations through booking.com (although it looked like I was dealing with Europcar directly) and paid before pick up. The car I had reserved (and paid for already) was not available so they offered me a slightly bigger car for a minimal surplus, which I accepted. come to find out Europcar charged me again the full amount + the surplus of the "upgrade".
I filed a complained with AMEX who were useless handling this despite having all the documentation I provided.
My Advise: STAY CLEAR FROM EUROPCAR and BOOKING.COM.
As far as I am concerned they work together and scam people in paying double.
white collar criminals in the likes of the Liberian maffia.”
“Dear all,
What I want say over all experience is not acceptable. I received the SMS money deduct I know I use the toll, but my main question that they not even send any notification. I reply them why you deduct the money they said you used the services. Than I told them why you not call or send message. They keep saying i send all ready Account team saying we send you not reply. I am keep saying I didn't received any mail from you side after all investigation they found they send notification wrong email id. account team say sorry and apology. I need to ask every one this account need to confirm than they need to cut money not like that only. Even though when they delivered the car fuel 6/8 i return them 8/8 means full tank. for deduct money they are particular for return not , communication poor between account and customer. lack of communication.... I will never ever use this company again not at all. Account team mistake they not send notification/ message they have wrong email address. its not my mistake and from where they get wrong mail. I don't know but this is irresponsible team.
Thanks”
“Rented a car through Europcar in May in Portugal. Arrived in Lisbon early morning to plan and attend my mother's funeral so unfortunately did not check the condition of tires. After about a week realized front tires were completely bald. Upon returning car was given email where I could send issue to. I sent detail together with picture of tires. The response received was they contacted manager in Lisbon who said tires looked fine. After rebutting they came back and said there was wear and tear but not dangerous. These tires were bald!! Car would never pass any sort of inspection in the condition they were in. DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY. They are not concerned about issues, feedback or facts from customers.”
“I had an issue with Europcar. They blamed me for having done damages to the car and I was forced to pay £1,400. They just dropped me the keys on check in, and they didn't show me the car or explain anything about the contract. His contract shields the company and makes the customer fully responsible.
They address their complaints to his customer service, which is useless, as they are the ones who make you pay the unfair invoices after an "hypothetical" investigation.”
“What a joke! Go a hire car , alarm keeps going off on the thing no matter hiw many times you press the button. Was meant to be picked up on friday, 7 days later and its still sat on the drive. Didnt collect on days that they said they would. Dont ring back when you ask them to , no communication at all. They called on tuesday and showed up tp the house ,no one was home due to having surgery. It has been a huge hassel to have hired a car through you. I will never get one again and i will advise others not to go through you.”
“Horrible experiences with Europcar for 2 reasons: 1.The systems does not show the real price: in fact you need to buy at least basic unsurance package at the desk, otherwise Europcar refuses to rent you a car. Means in reality: the rental price doubled. Absolutely fraudulent. 2. The get 5 emails on return (unnečcessary spaming) but none of them guides you to the right point of return. And what is really a shame, a guy in Europcar desk pointed me also to a wrong drop-off point (even though he was told, I got the wrong directions and need the correct one, being under time pressure). Avoid this company at any costs!!!”
“Rented car in San Juan, PR. The seats were disgustingly stained inside. They should at least invest in seat covers. They have newer cars that are very scratched and banged up outside. I've rented here before and cars we're in better shape.”
“Don't hire from this disgraceful Company.
Tried to hire a car, so I could drive a Terminally ill disabled gentleman on his favourite holiday in the UK. Arranged to pick up from Nottingham depot. Booked for 6 days. Paid over £500. They took his money, then I get a blunt voicemail, saying they don't open Sunday (never booked Sunday) so they would cancel and refund. Never gave me an option to discuss and sort this misunderstanding out. NOW I FIND OUT THE REFUNDS CAN TAKE 28 DAYS!!! We go on holiday in 2 weeks and he don't have the funds to book again, until money has returned.
THIS IS ABSOLUTE SCANDALOUS, AND WILL LEAVE THIS REVIEW EVERYWHERE I CAN & GO TO THE MEDIA, IF I HAVE TO. If the CEO in the UK sees this, Your Company is a disgrace - SORT THIS OUT!!!!”
“Reservation # 1129097964
I recently hired a van from Europcar for the period 4th to 11th January 2021. I made the booking directly with them on their online site and elected to have the vehicle delivered to me and collected at the end of the rental period due to the covid-19 situation.
I received email confirmation of the booking showing that delivery and collection was included in the price I paid.
At the end of the rental period I called them to confirm the time they would come to collect the vehicle and I was told that collection was not included in my contract because I had made the booking on their online site so it was not confirmed. I was very disappointed to hear that because I had received confirmation at the time of booking that it was included.
I was told that I would have to return the vehicle myself.
The booking confirmation I had received showed that the rental location my booking was registered to was around 2 miles from my location, so I decided to return the vehicle and draw a line under the matter. When I went to the location printed on the booking confirmation I found that it was shut down and the site was being re-developed. I immediately called Europcar again and asked why they made me waste my time travelling to their car hire location that had been shut down.
A very unsympathetic rep then informed me that I would have to take the vehicle to another location around 4 miles away.
I obviously refused to do that and informed them that they would have to collect the vehicle from my home where it was originally delivered.
The vehicle was collected by them the next day and the collecting driver checked the vehicle thoroughly and informed me that there was no new damage to the vehicle. He asked me to sign a sheet that only showed the scratches to the bodywork that were noted when the vehicle was initially delivered.
A week later I received an emailed invoice with a £155 charge from Europcar informing me that they had found new damage to the vehicle - a puncture which was identified when the vehicle was returned to their depot several miles from where it was collected. They also sent me a copy of the collection document which I had signed when the vehicle was collected and someone had now hand written a note at the top of the document about a puncture.
I naturally disputed this because the collecting driver did not flag up a puncture when he collected the vehicle, he drove the vehicle several miles back to their depot and could easily have got a puncture himself and the document I signed did not note a puncture.
I assumed that they had decided not to go ahead with the disputed charge because I was not contacted by them again.
I only noticed a couple weeks later that Europcar had collected that disputed charge of £155 from my credit card account.
I have been renting vehicles over many years and this has been the worst experience I have ever had.
I would avoid this company like the plague in future.
They would never get any business from me and I would Definitely not recommend them to anyone.”
“Europecar is a scam company, hope they close down that business, simply ripping off every one, I rented a car for a week and got ripped off $3000.Please stay away from them.”
“this is a terrible rental company- i got a tiny scratch on the rear of the vehicle from a branch and it was less than 1 cm- they charged my card $800 for this . rent somewhere else.”
“Please avoid this firm. Their Stansted Airport desk defrauded my elderly uncle and aunt out of nearly £300 by telling them that as their incoming flight was a little late (hardly a rare occurrence) the Ford Fiesta they had booked and paid for (for a week) had already been rented to someone else.
The conman, sorry salesman, then proceeded to say the only car available was a completely unsuitable Mini. Rather than be stranded more than 50 miles from home, my relatives reluctantly agreed but were then told they would have to pay more as it was an ‘upgrade’. The spiv (who didn’t put his proper name on the paperwork) then added extra insurance they didn’t need.
They thought they would be able to sort out the issue later but had not bargained for Europcar being total charlatans. When they complained to the so-called trade body BVRLA, Europcar changed its story and insisted the original Fiesta had been available but a tall couple in their 80s had requested an upgrade to a Mini.
I know who I believe.”
