Europcar - DO NOT USE!!!!!

Buckley

Buckley

Well-Known Member
Review of our amazing week later but an early warning for anyone still to go this season - do not use Europcar.

Not only is their service woeful - an hour and a half wait for our to get our car while they struggled to serve the 2 people before us, but they are scamsters.

I returned our hire car, full of fuel, damage free at midnight last night and was surprised to see someone at their desk in arrivals. My impatient side wanted to drop the keys through the letter box, but I waited while the young lady served a couple of people and took receipt of my keys. I asked if she needed to check for damage and she asked if there was any. I said there was not and she laughed 'no need to check then.

On the way home from Gatwick this morning I got a text message -'Please call Europcar - we have detected damage on the car you rented whose keys you have dropped in the key-box'

After a phonecall in which I was perfectly polite about their 'mistake', they hung up on me after insisting they were going to charge the my card, but not telling me how much.

I've since checked and they taken 217 euros plus the hire charge that I had already paid in advance.

So after completely clueless customer service they charged me for the hire twice and some non-existent damage. I've already disputed the charges through my card company, but it's a pain and I've no doubt it's a deliberate scam. Clearly the usual game is stacked in their favour because out of hours, they rely on you not checking the car for damage with them and having left the country when they charge your card.

AVOID!!!!!
 
Absolute b@stards!

Hope you had a fantastic time regardless of this rubbish, and many congrats to you and the future Mrs Buckley :lol: (it's a change from saying "The Current" :lol:)
 
Thieving feckers... i used them last year and they tried to knobble me and the missus for a socket set and jack that was supposed to missing that was never there. I told them bollocks..
 
check... get them to sign off on a all clear waiver before I leave...

Had to do that in some other places too...

Once I just forged a sig and sent them the forgery...

They quickly reversed charges.
 
Buckley said:
Mysterious damage to the back bumper they reckoned (on the car not the missus!).
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:lol: :lol: :lol:.

On a serious note did you have excess insurance ?

I avoid Europcar wherever possible. Narrow escape last trip but 1 - after 17 phone calls trying to get a car (I exaggerate not) they were the only company on the island with one free at a day's notice. Screwed me for 300Euros for 3 days prepaid for a VW Polo. Then when I arrived would not serve me on the baggage reclaim side of the desk. I kicked off big time at them on arrival and nipped next door to Atesa.

Cunningly, I had booked Atesa online for the same period, but arriving a day later than I really was to get availability. On arrival managed to persuade them to shift it back at the airport desk and got upgraded from a Grp B to a Group K Citroen Picasso at no extra - the whole thing worked out at £80 and I had the keys in my hand before my bag arrived.

Smugly waltzed back to Europcar and said cancel booking, you can keep your car. I got a full refund as was only booked that morning.

No silly nonsense over alleged damage from Atesa having dropped keys in box either despite car being like Armageddon with dust and filth when I gave it back.

Europcar Ibiza suck !
 
You had a bad experience, unlucky.

All hotels get a bad review, all car companies get a bad review.

If we all refused to part with cash on something someone had a bad experience with then we would never go on holiday, never hire or even buy a car, plasma TV, washing machine or eat at a restaurant.

Did you take photos of the car on collection and return?
 
JPF said:
You had a bad experience, unlucky.

All hotels get a bad review, all car companies get a bad review.

If we all refused to part with cash on something someone had a bad experience with then we would never go on holiday, never hire or even buy a car, plasma TV, washing machine or eat at a restaurant.

Did you take photos of the car on collection and return?
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The number of reviews with exactly the same experience and the fact they claimed I posted the keys in the box suggests it's a standard trick.

We waited an hour and half for the keys when we got there at 2am - taking snaps wasn't on my mind.

I believe it to be a genuine scam and one they repeat often. And the scam aside, the customer service was so so incompetent, I would never use them again.
 
Buckley said:
The number of reviews with exactly the same experience and the fact they claimed I posted the keys in the box suggests it's a standard trick.


We waited an hour and half for the keys when we got there at 2am - taking snaps wasn't on my mind.
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You cannot take snaps in the dark or even properly check a car you collect at that time of night, even in that supposedly "lit" car park.

Technically, the girl at the desk should have given you a final contract and terminated the hire on receipt of keys otherwise it's the same as dropping the car back unchecked with keys posted in box - she likely just added the keys to the pile to be checked in next morning by the office in the car park. It is only the offices in the car park building itself where you leave the car that will sign off final contracts.

Only way to avoid these potential scams is to give car back in 'working hours' (before 10pm usually) and if necessary get a cab off somewhere like PDB till your flight leaves rather than wait around the airport for hours. If you have excess insurance though, any alleged damage like that can be reclaimed. Under £10 a week = bargain and less than a cab to Bossa to wait out the flight to avoid damage scams. Doesn't make it right though.

PS - were they really open at the airport terminal after midnight ? Their official opening times do not stretch even remotely to 2am - if you try to book a car direct with them to collect at that hour they will tell you to p*ss off !

and PPS - this is the only company in Ibiza I have ever got a damage bill from, except for Avis and that was on account of a blown out tyre that I knew all about as it happened whilst I was driving their car.
 
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my wife used to work for one of the major uk airlines... they stopped selling on behalf of europcar because of all the problems that came with the sales.

when customers could not get any helf from europcar they would then start calling the airline that was just a sales agent.

the current scams are..

you paying for a full tank at the highest local price but getting a car thats half full..
when you make a fuss they say "just bring it back the same then"
but still try to charge for an extra half tank after you have left then with the car.

the upgrade scam..
sorry we dont have the car you wanted but we do have a bigger car..
(this is a common one if you only want a car for 2 - 3 days...)
you get a bigger car... a full tank costs more.. (quite often diesel) but you can use your full tank as you only have it a short while.
will they refund the half / 3 quater tank... NO...

then there is the other side to the upgrade scam...
we have upgraded you for free...
then you find an upgrade cost added to your credit card later..

if you pay in advance. or when you drop off the car and have a recipt.
most credit car companies will dump/return charges that get added after the original payment was made. more so if you can prove that you were not there to agree to the payment being taken from your card.

personaly i have allways paid with a different card than i reserve with.
and paid at the desk on pickup with a debit card..
that way they have no legal right to take from the card that was used to make the reservation.
its even posible to give one incorrect number on the car thats used to reserve as long as they take no money from it at that point in time.
thus later on they cant either.

sadly you have to play them at their own games.

alot of the hire car places are just agents ie paying to be part of a brand name.
have used sixt a few times with them doing the upgrade scam.. ending up with a huge car... huge fuel bill.. but only having it 3 days...
needless to say the car got ragged... 5 gear... whats that...lol
 
kimajy said:
... Then when I arrived would not serve me on the baggage reclaim side of the desk ...
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that´s the worst joke ever.
happened to me 1x last year (not europcar).
both windows were open - the one facing baggage-area and the other area facing arrival-hall.
these retarded ****ers had put a paper @ the window saying that service only possible
from the other side. :spank:
no costumer ot whatever was at the other window that time. :x
so pretended not to understand and threw my passport, creditcard and booking-voucher
inside on the table.

finally i got what i wanted -
paperwork done and carkey in hand b4 luggage in sight :p
 
kimajy said:
You cannot take snaps in the dark or even properly check a car
you collect at that time of night, even in that supposedly "lit" car park.
...
Click to expand...
why not ?
all cars i rented within the last years were in the parking deck opposite airport.
always make 5 pics b4 departing (every side of car + dashboard)
absolutely no problems in that garage regarding bright enough for piccis or whatever ...
 
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