AutoUnion singlehandedly ruined my holiday in Croatia.
The mental anguish they have caused me is the worst customer service experience I’ve had in my 30 years.
I purchased a rental car contract for 12 days w/ FULL COVERAGE through Discover Cars to cover every part of the vehicle (collision, tires, etc.) for $82.27 USD. I show my email from Discover Cars for proof. They pressure me to buy an additional 140,80€ for Full Coverage even after I show I have it. I could not call Discover Cars because my US cell phone didn't yet have service in Croatia.
On the road, I get a flat tire.
I call AutoUnion to figure out which way to proceed.
After 14. FOURTEEN. phone calls back & forth, the representative w/ 3 days of experience, Danielj, tells me I need to purchase the tires myself “because I'm too far away from their office in Zagreb,” & they will reimburse me. I ask about replacement cars, him calling people, etc., all turned down.
In expressing my disdain of taking care of this myself, he reassured me, "It’ll only take 20 minutes to get them changed.”
These back & forth calls leave me stranded with a vehicle that couldn't be used on the highway for ~36 hours... I also end up paying 400 kuna out of pocket to get the spare put on because there were no tools in the vehicle, & they "don't offer roadside assistance," even though at pick up the owner said everything was covered.
“I understand you’re frustrated with blowing a tire,” Danielj says.
No, I’m frustrated with the inability to provide straightforward customer service.
In the morning, I drive 3 HOURS to 3 different shops to find one open & w/ the correct tires.The final shop informs me 2 tires have to be installed because legally, the 2 back tires must match.
I call AutoUnion while I’m at the shop AGAIN, confirming this is okay. Danielj says yes. Under Danielj’s guidance, I take the 2nd tire that's still intact, filling my trunk & compromising my storage space to benefit AutoUnion.
In the afternoon, I receive an email from their Country Manager, stating,
“Even if you have insurance with us, on the terms and conditions that you singed by point 7 VEHICLE MALFUNCTION is written that you need to call us before you do any thing on the vehicle to give you approval and informations where to go.”
The tires MUST BE REPLACED due to not being able to drive above 80 km/hr with a spare. It’s written on the spare and was told I cannot drive on the highway w/ it. Expecting me to go ~8 more days of my contract on the highway on a spare to cut cost? That is a SAFETY issue.
I insisted that AutoUnion do all of this in the FIRST PLACE, only to be forced to do it myself. & THEN have legal language thrown at me saying I need to call before doing anything? When I have call logs of FOURTEEN phone calls.
This is also review of the owner, who verbally assaulted me when I returned the car, insisting that I was wrong on all accounts. He said I gave them the wrong back information for reimbursement (the support team said I needed to send an IBAN number - US banks do not use IBAN), and that I caused the tire issue (the tires are old & the car is clearly not well maintained as shown by the low washer fluid).
He kept screaming that “I have your signature.”
That doesn’t make it right that you pressured me to pay for duplicative insurance from you, refusing to read the full email stating I had Full Coverage upon pick up and return, fighting for myself for endlessly, almost causing me to miss my check-in with my host & my flight back.
I hope this review encourages AutoUnion to train their employees more thoroughly before placing them in front of customers.
AutoUnion will make back the money they had to spend to reimburse me for the flat tire replacement - they already have charging me for duplicative insurance.
But I will never get back the 10 days (and counting) of conflicting direction, verbal assault, and misplaced customer blame that they put me through. I still am waiting on reimbursement.
Respectfully, I do not recommend booking a rental car through AutoUnion, ever. I never will be again.