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Help from UK: scammed by Europcar (1 Viewer)

Interesting comments indeed. I knew some companies were franchises but hadn't realised that Hertz were. That said there staff should all adhere to Hertz standards - maybe this is a way to hurt the Luton branch - as complaints could affect their franchise terms - I was also be amazed that the Hertz head office simply said that the staff weren't trained by them - how crass as this is their shop window!

The easiest way to record your hire car pick up is the video the car. In 30 secs you can do a tour of the vehicle and also wheels.

As for records; there are certain records that would have to be kept by law or at the behest of the credit card companies - these would be the renters and drivers and also payment records which would presumably include something to justify an 'extra' charge for damage.

I think all of the above examples are worth following up. Cancelling the credit card is a good starter. My friend was fined, by the police, for having an overweight van in Spain - which he disputed - he reclaimed the credit card payment which the police in Spain never pursued so don't be afraid!
 
And I’m afraid that I know of thousands of incidents where customers have damaged the rental vehicle and said nothing on return. One customer on entering the returns office was asked if everything was OK? He said “everything is fine thank you”.

The rep decided to check the vehicle and witnessed major front damage that cost over £3,500 to repair. For once they actually had to repair the vehicle as it could no longer be legally rented.

I will never defend rental companies but sometimes customers really do try get away with murder.
 
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Memo - never use Europcar in Britain. Good to know as I am going to Scotland for a holiday.

I normally take care to photograph the car from all angles on pick-up, usually when the clerk is present. But nevertheless, the purpose of the holiday is pleasure, not having a stressful law case with a scamming company, bank, consumer organization and whatever.
 
My recommendations:
Photograph car from all sides and close-up (1)
Ask if car needs to be clean on return (2)
Always go for full tank on return (3)
make sure your credit card has enough funds when picking up the car (4)

(1) We once were missing a wheel cap in Agadir. We didn't photograph that side of the car / wheel during pick up. Luckily, the guy from the office was honest and he knew the cap was missing.

(2) We turned in a very dusty rental car in Brazil. We wanted to clean it but all car wash facilities on the way to the airport were closed. We had to pay extra for cleaning of the car (like 4 times as much as a car wash would cost). Normally, we could have turned in the car a bit dirty, but they said this was too much...Best to avoid this kind of annoyance by making clear agreements during pick-up.

(3) An empty tank on return is mostly profit for the rental company, and sometimes some stress because the last part of the road is done on a near-empty tank. I always prefer full-to-full

(4) Last but not least there is the hassle of blocking funds on the credit card. one example: payment of the car was 80 euros, automatically charged from my credit card. The deposit was 1250. My card limit was 1250... The deposit was NOT charged when some kind of insurance from Budget cars was taken. I already had insurance, but as I was out of limit on my credit card, I had to pay another 80 euro for the Budget car insurance, just to make sure I didn't have to pay deposit. So in the end I paid double for the car...

As for damaging rental cars, I must say I have been quite prudent and thus no real damage done to all rental cars except maybe a cracked underside of a front bumper or wheels out of alignment because of hitting bumps in the road...
 
jurek said:
Memo - never use Europcar in Britain. Good to know as I am going to Scotland for a holiday.

I normally take care to photograph the car from all angles on pick-up, usually when the clerk is present. But nevertheless, the purpose of the holiday is pleasure, not having a stressful law case with a scamming company, bank, consumer organization and whatever.
Click to expand...

Funnily enough, it was Europcar we used in Hereford and they were exceptionally good!!

I think in the UK this may be mostly an issue at airports where they have a never ending supply of fresh prey (many of whom are not likely to ever be seen again). Local agents are more likely to be reliant on repeat customers and word would soon get around.
 
Torchepot said:
Only talking from personal experience as someone who regularly hires cars in Bristol, Hereford, London and Nottingham over several decades - without a problem.
Click to expand...

Happy to hear that your rental experience has been positive. Perhaps you are a rare vigilant rental customer.
 
temmie said:
My recommendations:



(2) We turned in a very dusty rental car in Brazil. We wanted to clean it but all car wash facilities on the way to the airport were closed. We had to pay extra for cleaning of the car (like 4 times as much as a car wash would cost). Normally, we could have turned in the car a bit dirty, but they said this was too much...Best to avoid this kind of annoyance by making clear agreements during pick-up.

I was told that returning the car clean was a requirement of all hire car companies in Brazil.
Click to expand...
 
Bubbs said:
Happy to hear that your rental experience has been positive. Perhaps you are a rare vigilant rental customer.
Click to expand...

Maybe this is becoming more common recently. For several years I tried to get by without a car, relying on pedal power, public transport and a great many rentals. I wasn't habitually vigilant but never got scammed.

In response to your previous comment - I'm sure I could be more wrong if I really put my mind to it ;)
 
Bubbs said:
Happy to hear that your rental experience has been positive. Perhaps you are a rare vigilant rental customer.
Click to expand...

I rent cars many times a year and overall I have to say I too have had very few negative experiences and quite the opposite quite many that have been very positive.

Three examples that stand out as exceptions occurred in Spain (no surprise there), Luton (hmm) and Morocco - all took some hassle, but were eventually sorted, the Morocco experience by the UK branch of Budget.

1. Spain was with Enterprise and they charged me for cover that I did not sign for (extra passenger cover) and for something that was never clarified - I carefully avoided the typical Spanish scammers such as Goldcar and was a bit dismayed by Enterprise doing the same - however a mere two emails and they apologised and refunded all the extra charges, and as bonus (or mistake on their part), they refunded the money for excess coverage which I had signed and agree to.

2. Morocco was with Budget and a charge for 'cleaning' appeared on my credit card bill some days later - despite the staff in Morocco saying all was okay at the airport. Didn't answer my e-mails, so requested help from Budget UK (as I had booked through their website). After a couple of weeks, Budget UK sent me an e-mail that the Morocco office was not replying to them either, so they would accept my account of the event and they refunded me.

3. Luton was really strange - I don't remember the company, but I assume somehow they lost my credit card details and couldn't charge me for the car rental or insurance or anything. Being 'nice' people though they sent me a really shitty letter saying I was a walk-in customer (i.e. with no advance booking) who had never produced a credit card at the rental office and demanded I send my credit card details. Sending a copy of my reservation, I pointed out that they were totally wrong and also that it was impossible to rent a car without showing a credit card, I also said I did not wish to send credit card details by unsecure e-mail, but would be happy to pay by other means if they apologised for their accusation and also explain what happened to my credit card details. To this, they got even nastier and told me they would take me to court for non-payment. I replied that they were welcome to take me to court as I had copies of the booking and even bank statement showing a block had been made on my credit card corresponding, if I remember well, to the deposit. Long and short, they sent loads of nasty e-mails warning of imminent court action, I told them I would no longer reply to them, but await notification of court proceeding. Perhaps a month or so later, I got a very apologetic e-mail from a senior level manager who had seen the now escalated case and he was appalled at the behaviour of staff to that point. End of story, I never paid anything for the car rental.
 
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Jos Stratford said:
2. Morrocco was with Budget and a charge for 'cleaning' appeared on my credit card bill some days later - despite the staff in Morocco saying all was okay at the airport. Didn't answer my e-mails, so requested help from Budget UK (as I had booked through their website). After a couple of weeks, Budget UK sent me an e-mail that the Morocco office was not replying to them either, so they would accept my account of the event and they refunded me.
End of story, I never paid anything for the car rental.
Click to expand...

The glass on the front of the headlight fell off and smashed when we were in Morocco. I improvised a cover by slicing a plastic bottle in half and when we returned the car, no big deal was made of it and we were not charged.

We had an issue with a 'valet charge' on returning a car at Cape Town despite the fact that we had already paid to have it properly cleaned before return. I made a bit of a fuss and they didn't press it but I think some may just accept it and pay.



A
 
Enterprise are the company that really stands out for poor service for me, both times with my local branch. Once I rented an MPV for a work trip (4 people plus gear) and turned up, to find they'd unilaterally moved my reservation to another local branch - and tried to blame me for making a mistake on the website booking form (I hadn't..). Another time I turned up to collect a pre-booked van to find it wasn't available, fortunately another local firm saved the day.

At Dublin airport (can't remember if it was Budget or Europcar) a couple of years ago they operated a 'collect full, return empty' policy - fine if you are touring the country, not so good if you are just planning on driving to Athlone and back.

Aberdeen airport Budget are the worst I've come across for the hard sell, trying to upgrade you to a 4x4 (at extra cost) when all you want / need is an Astra. Europcar at Faro airport were similar, but Budget at that location much better.

On the positive side, top rental experience for me was Nippon rent a car at Kushiro station. I got exactly what I'd ordered (a Subaru Impreza with winter tyres), service was friendly without any blether about upgrades, and the accompanying information pack was compendious and helpful. But then I guess that was Japan...
 
kb57 said:
Enterprise are the company that really stands out for poor service for me, both times with my local branch. Once I rented an MPV for a work trip (4 people plus gear) and turned up, to find they'd unilaterally moved my reservation to another local branch - and tried to blame me for making a mistake on the website booking form (I hadn't..). Another time I turned up to collect a pre-booked van to find it wasn't available, fortunately another local firm saved the day.

At Dublin airport (can't remember if it was Budget or Europcar) a couple of years ago they operated a 'collect full, return empty' policy - fine if you are touring the country, not so good if you are just planning on driving to Athlone and back.

Aberdeen airport Budget are the worst I've come across for the hard sell, trying to upgrade you to a 4x4 (at extra cost) when all you want / need is an Astra. Europcar at Faro airport were similar, but Budget at that location much better.

On the positive side, top rental experience for me was Nippon rent a car at Kushiro station. I got exactly what I'd ordered (a Subaru Impreza with winter tyres), service was friendly without any blether about upgrades, and the accompanying information pack was compendious and helpful. But then I guess that was Japan...
Click to expand...

Our best was in Costa Rica, for anyone going there I can highly recommend

Rodrigo Alfaro [email protected]



A
 
The easiest way I can think of contesting is to claim fraud with your CC company... a couple of CCs that I have cover primary CDW (only if other CDW insurance isn't taken out)........approx 3 years ago.... 2 weeks in Italy with 2 cars (at the same time) and Europcar tried to charge for damages. I Immediately filed a fraud complaint with the CC company on the whole amount (including rental costs) and Europcar never responded........so no car charges whatsoever. Agree with others - always take photos - I rent cars ~ 40X a year and that's the only time I can think of when a rental agency has tried to scam me........
 
cassowary said:
The easiest way I can think of contesting is to claim fraud with your CC company... a couple of CCs that I have cover primary CDW (only if other CDW insurance isn't taken out)........approx 3 years ago.... 2 weeks in Italy with 2 cars (at the same time) and Europcar tried to charge for damages. I Immediately filed a fraud complaint with the CC company on the whole amount (including rental costs) and Europcar never responded........so no car charges whatsoever. Agree with others - always take photos - I rent cars ~ 40X a year and that's the only time I can think of when a rental agency has tried to scam me........
Click to expand...

And when checking your vehicle take your time. The fiddling rep will try rush you so you don’t see damage that has already been claimed for. Always rub your hand under the front bodywork which is hidden from view. This is a well known area where drivers have run onto kerbs when parking front on, and a favourite of rental scams. It works every time.
 
Bubbs said:
If the rep says you are not allowed to write on the first copy of three (usually white because it photocopies better) take no notice and put what you want on the form
Click to expand...
I have had this in Prague (with Europcar actually, on business). Good to know I was in the right.

I must add that I usually rent cars from Europcar privately and never had any problems.

I had some issues with Hertz in Morocco, but that was because I had not pointed out a scratch before I drove off. Nothing came of it in the end.
 
I hired a van to move home some years ago
Upon returning home satisfied the hire company rang to say a tyre was punctured which I disputed of course
They told me they would take £75 from my card (which was a PAYG credit card) I wished them good luck as obviously there were no funds associated with the card
Never heard anything more on the matter
So for the £10 service charge for using the PAYG card which I then destroyed I was unable to scammed - good value in my eyes
 
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