Europcar UK

Great pick up with Rosa at Valencia airport, poor drop off experience at Madrid airport. We were charged €71 to fill up 19 litres of fuel as we couldn't find a petrol station on the road from where we were to Madrid airport. That equates to €3.74 per litre when the terms and conditions state a refuelling service charge of 65p (GBP) over the price per litre at the petrol station. So we were charged about £20 more than we should have been!

I want to share my experience of a “blatant scam” by Europcar to help prevent others from falling victim to such frauds. I rented a car at London Gatwick Airport after booking the car and purchasing a "Premium" insurance policy online with e-Dreams. At the airport counter, the agent informed me that since I already had insurance with full coverage, I did not need to subscribe to any additional insurance. I was also told that a deposit of 700 euros would be charged (something I was already aware of through the contract signed with e-Dreams). In good faith, I signed the required forms on the tablet (the amount indicated was £647, which I believed to be the deposit) and was given a document with the rental and payment details; nothing else was handed to me, nor sent via email (certainly not an insurance policy that might have raised some suspicions). After two months of waiting for the refund of what I thought was the deposit, I was informed, upon my inquiry, that no refund would be issued as the amount charged corresponded to the cost of the insurance I had supposedly subscribed to. Realizing I had signed a document without verifying that the amount (which was not specified) actually consisted of £100 for the deposit and £546 for the insurance policy (this was the final amount charged), I nonetheless filed a complaint with customer service. Their prompt response (only 21 minutes after my email!) stated that since it was impossible to verify what had been discussed verbally, only the signed document held any validity! It goes without saying that all the information regarding the costs and charges was written in such a small font that one would need not just a pair of glasses but a magnifying glass!

I’ve used this company three times now and each time they’ve found a way of extracting more money. They use very skilful means to do this, please be careful extremely careful when hiring cars from this company. I won’t hire from them again

When they delivered the car I was happy. The entire time having the hire car went well. The problem is getting this collected. I was told they would be at my home 6pm and would call 15 mins before hand. No call happened no show either. I called and called. Then I got a text the following day telling me they would be here in 15 mins. 90mins later then it changed. They can't come and pick it up. But an email came to me telling me after it's gone off hire I'm totally responsible for it and I'd be charged. I had already told them on the day it came off hire that I had a death in the family and they didn't seem to care. Now it's the weekend it's still here. No idea when they are even coming to collect. Dealing with the solicitors after my crash was hell as they arranged this and now I have problems getting the car back. Shame it's a really nice car they provided me after the crash but as for the service getting it back to them is rather dire. If there is a next time I know I won't be back.

booked a car 3 days in advance and they cancelled on the day of my pickup saying they don’t have anything available… no apology and arrogant staff … avoid using them

I was declined at the desk with no onward travel and Europcar simply could not care less!!!! AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

Shocking service from the Fareham branch - email 1 hour before they close the day before my booking to tell me that can’t verify my address - shock horror I have lived at the same address for 3 years and it seems to have been good enough for DVLA and all my financial commitments for that time without a problem - europcar quick to take your money but customer service is absolutely the worst - would never recommend this company and I have been renting vehicles from other providers for years - recommend you stay well clear!

The staff were rude. The car wasn’t like the one we’d booked. They tried to push lots of extra insurance on us for a lot of money and were visibly cross when we declined. I wouldn’t use them again

Staff at the branch were professional. Car was clean, or so I thought? I was bitten over 25 times by fleas. There was still dog hair on the back of drivers seat. No ones fault, but the previous rental person.

Be very careful if you decide to use Europcar DUSSELDORF. They are complete SCAMMERS. Charged me for 800 kms over the agreed amount. Very difficult to prove otherwise. Very sneaky and untrustworthy company. *******STAY WELL CLEAR*******

I hired a van from the Maidstone site for one day. The staff on site were very helpful. Unfortunately, the company has subsequently charged me £80 administrative costs for the Dart charge, despite no penalty being levied, and the charge being paid in full (I have documentation from dart.gov to show this). I tried on numerous occasions to pay the Dart Charge immediately after the crossing, but the van WAS NOT REGISTERED AS HAVING CROSSED. Explanations of this to Europcar have been met with the email equivalent of shrugged shoulders. I have used Europcar countless times in the past but will never be doing so again. Stick with Hertz!!!

Hired a car in Darlington UK perfect car great service from the staff very helpful, unfortunately at the hotel I was staying i was given a parking ticket by mistake so I was not fined but was charged an admin fee by europcar of 58 pounds even though the ticket europcar got said ZERO balance to pay and that is not proof I was not finded, not happy

1 hour 20 minute wait to pick up the car at Pisa airport on 26/09/24. They have 8 desks and only one was manned. No apologies, no offer of a minimal discount or an upgrade nothing. There was some karma as people were giving up and going to other desks and we are getting married in Italy next year and will be telling our 100+ guests who will need to rent cars to avoid Europe car at all costs.

On the 10th of March 2024, I hired a vehicle from Europcar and returned it on the 11th of March 2024 with no issues raised at the time of return. I was surprised to later receive a damage report claiming that I had damaged the vehicle. This report contained my signature, but no damage was brought to my attention when I returned the car, nor was I shown any documentation or proof of the alleged damage at the time. In an effort to resolve the matter, I sent several emails to your customer service team seeking clarification. However, the only responses I received were automated emails apologizing for the delay and requesting my continued patience during your investigation. Months passed without any meaningful communication. Two months after the incident, I sent the following email to inquire about the status of the investigation: ----- Dear Customer Service Team, I am writing to you again to resolve the following issue. We have not received any communication except for two messages stating: Dear Customer, Thank you for your continued patience during our investigation. Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in responding to you, due to the nature of your query; it is taking slightly longer than usual. It is our aim to provide you a full and thorough resolution, including any necessary supporting documentation. We would like to offer you our assurances that once the information we are seeking has been obtained, we will respond to you. In the meantime, thank you for your continued patience in regards to this matter. We look forward to contacting you again in the near future. Could you please advise on the status of this issue? ----- Despite my best efforts, this email went unanswered. Instead, I was contacted by Shakespeare Martineau LLP Clients Account, a debt collection firm, which was both intimidating and unexpected, given that no final resolution had been communicated to me regarding the alleged damage. In August, I finally received a response from Europcar stating that "a member of our team will review your query and reply accordingly." However, no action followed this, and on June 10th, I received another email stating that you would not be pursuing any third-party providers and would be billing me directly. As you can see, I have received numerous conflicting and contradictory communications from Europcar throughout this process. This is not only highly unprofessional but also confusing and distressing. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, I am entitled to clear and transparent information regarding any charges or claims made against me, as well as reasonable communication in the resolution of any disputes. Europcar has failed in this regard, breaching your obligation to provide services with reasonable care and skill as required under Section 49 of the Act. Furthermore, the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 outlines that it is illegal for companies or third parties to engage in intimidating or unfair practices. The involvement of a debt collection firm in this unresolved matter, without following your own procedures, raises concerns about the fairness of this process. I find it unacceptable that Europcar has escalated this matter to a debt collector instead of adhering to the process stipulated in your terms and conditions. I request that this issue be resolved in accordance with the law and your own procedures.

Terrible terrible service. Whilst waiting in the office, my first clue was someone else being told their hire had been cancelled without any notice to them. That customer was not happy. My turn, I am told that hire has been declined but could not tell me why. I am now 30 miles from home with no mode of transport. I explained that I had followed every instruction from them a week prior to hire, so why am I now being declined whilst stood at the desk. Just got told they couldn’t hire me a vehicle. I would never use this company ever again after this experience. Quick enough to take my money at the booking stage but I have to wait up to 28 days for the refund. Do your checks prior to the hire date to avoid angry customers at the desk!!! Joke of a company.

Heathrow Our first hire was fine everyone very nice. Brand new suv had no damage returned without incident. Our second hire a week later was not so good. We were given a well battered yellow BMW with all damaged listed on the agreement, I double checked with the desk before we left. On return, as is the way we were in a dash to get to the airport. The guy looked at the wheel hub and said that's new damage. I said no look it's listed on the rental agreement right there its old damage, and gave him the agreement. Also told him I'd checked it with the guys it was listed before i took it out. HE DID NOT LOOK AT THE AGREEMENT AND KEPT OUR PAPER RENTAL AGREEMENT (my second mistake). My first being that i didn't think it necessary to take pictures of the damage as it was already listed and checked. He then took photos and put them on the release which he insisted I sign. I asked if he would verify with the pictures from previous hirers so he could see it was not my doing, he mumbled something which I assumed stupidly was a yes. Now two months later I've just received notification I will be required to pay for the damage. I regard this behaviour as down right dishonest and disreputable and will never hire from them again. Good lesson in how to ruin someone's holiday memories. Thanks but never ever again.

I had my booking for hiring a van cancelled by Europcar the day after I made an on line booking. I phoned to ask why and they replied that they had run out of vans. I asked why they took the booking in the 1st place as on-line prices generally go up towards the weekend and their action has prevented me from booking with another company at a reasonable price. The reply was ‘ company policy’ and I was encouraged to offer feedback which is what I am doing. No real apology and I would have thought it fundamental for a booking service to have the vans available at time of booking. I shall not be ‘pestering’ them for custom again!

This is the second time I have had an issue with Europcar in a month. After paying £150 via Autocar to rent a car from Malaga for 3 days, I was then charged a further 150 euros for the 'basic rental' fee by Europcar as well as 50 euro for an airport fee, another charge for the car being electric (even though I didn't book electric), they then said that insurance was 37 Euro a day but didn't mention tax on top and basically it has cost me at least £350 to rent a banged up crap car for 3.5 days which was insane. Completely scam.

********* ORIGINAL POST *********** 9/25/2014 BEWARE!!!! BEWARE!!!! You have been warned. Horrible experience with EuropCar UK. I rented a car through Booking.com. When we arrived, they told us they didn’t have the car that we requested/paid for prior and they were going to upgrade us. They upgraded all right. On top of the $700 we already paid through booking.com they charged another $1200. They told me the initial $700 was included in the $1200 so I only had a $500 upcharge. I asked why there was any upcharge since they did not have the car I booked. I was told because I reserved the car through booking .com and not through them it would not be a free upgrade that I could go back to booking.com and request a different car or upgrade to this one at a cost. I am standing at the airport with 4 other people and didn’t have many options at the moment so we elected to pay the difference for the upgrade. Little did I know they charge me $1200 on top of the initial $700 I had already paid. I was not aware of this until AFTER my trip. Now that the car was dropped off they charged me another $400 to replace a tire because there was a minor cut in the side of the tire. This is the same tire that had previous damage noted on the rental contract. Where the cut was and the size of it you could not see it depending how the car is parked. When I returned it the cut was in the 1:00 o’clock position on the tire and easily visible. If the car is parked with the tire between 4:00 – 8:00 o’clock position you can not see the defect. At any rate I was charged $400 to replace the tire that only had about 60% remaining tread left on the tire. All in all it was a horrible experience with them and I will never use them again. ******** UPDATED ********** 9/29/2024 Reached out to their generic response. Let's see what they do about the issue. ******** UPDATED ********** 9/30/2024 Response from Customer Service Thank you for contacting Europcar Customer Services. I can confirm the rental station will offer additional optional products to our customers upon their arrival at the desk, to ensure they are aware of all the products and services available. It is then the customer’s decision to accept or decline the products offered to them. Whilst I appreciate you have stated that the upgrade charge was not agreed to, I would be unable to comment further as I was not part of the verbal discussion. When the two parties involved are providing conflicting information, I can only base my decision by the documented evidence available. As the rental agreement and Additional Optional Products form have been signed, in acceptance of the product, the request for the charge to be refunded has been respectfully declined. Regards, Omar Amoifek

We hired a car for a weekend break, Thursday to Sunday. On Friday the car shows a mechanical fault to the suspension. The car was removed and not replaced despite over 40 telephone calls to Europcar. We were staying at a rural location and all plans for the few days had to be cancelled. No compensation was offered whatsoever. An incredibly poor and shameful service.