Europcar Reviews

Name: Europcar
Rating: 1.17

1.2 Rating 266 Reviews

4 %

of reviewers recommend Europcar

Company Reviews

Questions

Metrics

1.2

Based on 266 reviews

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Own Driver
On-time Delivery	Greater than 52%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	Greater than 62%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Telephone, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Customer Service	1.1 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult
Returns Process	Could Be Better

Visit Website

Write Your review

Tell us how Europcar made you happy

Minimum 10 characters

Would you like to add a photos or videos?

Strengthen your review by uploading photos & videos.

Drag files here or browse

(Supported files: jpg, png, mpeg, ogg, mp4 & webm)

What's your name?

Leave this blank if you'd like to publish your review anonymously.

(Optional)

What's your email?

We need your email address to verify that your review is genuine

Please note that we may share your email with the company to verify your order.

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Sort by: Most Recent Most Recent Highest Rated Filter: None None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“**********************WARNING AVOID AT ALL COST****************** Cant speak for any other branch but Birmingham Airport where foreign visitors are at risk of exploitation via onerous terms and conditions that are manipulated, deceitful or misleading staff and a determination to relieve you of your deposit . If you hire here be prepared to forfeit no matter how much you looked after the car or filled fuel to the brim. disregard at your peril or have a good lawyer.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“We hired a car for 4 hours and attended a meeting in the city of Brisbane and returned the vehicle 20 minutes early. The vehicle was inspected and all seemed fine. Two weeks later, we were advised that their had taken $434.15 from our credit card claiming a professional cleaning fee and providing a photo of the cup holder with dust in it as evidence. we followed the complaint procedure with three emails over a 30 days period and never received a reply. A week after our final email we were advised they had taken a further $197.00 for management fees. In researching this issue, I discovered that they are doing this all over the world. it's now their business model and you should avoid them at all costs. I have contacted a current affair and sincerely hope they take up the story as the public needs to be warned about this criminal operation masquerading as a legitimate enterprise.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Do not rent from Europcar. I rented a vehicle from Europcar Milan-Malpensa at at the end of August/beginning of September. The vehicle was returned via their express return at the airport. The return was processed and my final bill charged. About a month or so later they sent me an email claiming that I damaged a wheel (I did not). I do not have photographs of the wheel to prove that I didn’t do the damage, so reluctantly opened a claim with via my travel insurance for the car rental. I’m convinced that either the damage was there from a previous rental OR, more likely, someone else damaged the wheel after the return and Europcar decided to pin it on the last renter, betting that they wouldn’t be able to contest it as I can’t. Europcar did not immediately cooperate with my insurance company to provide the necessary details for card services to issue the check, but eventually did. In the process, even though they knew that this was being handled via claim, Europcar attempted to charge my card (thankfully the charge was blocked automatically by Chase as it was international). The check was issued by the insurance company at the end of November. Europcar continued to harass me via email instead of reaching out to the issuing company directly because they say they hadn't received the check yet. They threatened a collection agency, demanded a stop put on the check, and that the insurance company complete a wire transfer. They continued to refuse to reach out to the insurance company (card benefit services through my credit card) about this. The travel insurance does not do wire transfers as a matter of policy. They put a stop payment on the first check and issued a fresh check in December, assuming the first check was lost. Europcar continued to harass me. I publicly posted my experience on their Facebook page. A representative reached out to me directly claiming that the issue would be dealt with. They opened a case for me and said someone would reach out ASAP. I received many emails apologizing it was taking so long for someone to reach out to me, but no one directly did and I would continue to receive emails of harassment. Finally in February I received confirmation from Europcar's Treasury department via e-mail (and I quote exactly, with the original spelling), "We have requested more information from our trasury dpt. and they confirm that the payment has arrived. We apologize for the inconvenience." TODAY, August 28, 2020, I wake up to an e-mail from a collection agency that Europcar has hired claiming I haven't paid for the supposed damages! I've forwarded the original confirmation of payment FROM EUROPCAR and am considering pursuing legal action, even if it just means having a lawyer deal with the collection agency. The upsetting thing is that a lawyer will cost more than this payment—WHICH WAS MADE! Close to a year from the initial rental, this continues to be an issue. Do not rent from Europcar under any circumstance.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I had a terrible experience with Europcar and was left angry and disappointed. They scammed me for £60 and their customer service was useless. Do not use this company even if initially they seem cheaper; they will hit you with an unfair hidden charge: When I booked my car over the phone I double checked the price quoted and was assured by the agent that that was the price with no hidden charges. And that my 5pm return was within office hours. And if I needed to extend the rental I would be charged at the day rate, £20, with no extra charge. This was confirmed by my booking confirmation email, quoting the same agreed price and stating the branch hours were 8:00 to 18:00. However, after the chap delivered the car to my house and I checked the rental agreement there was a £60 charge for “out of hours”. I rang Europcar for an explanation but was told by two agents (the first extremely rude) that there was nothing they could do about it as they couldn't see the contract and that I had to contact the branch. But they couldn’t pass me through and couldn’t give me the branch’s number. I figured there wasn’t much I could do about it anyway as I needed to leave to catch a booked Eurotunnel and it would get sorted upon my return The day of my return I tried to extend the rental by a day, expecting it to be £20 as I was told when I booked, but was now told it was going to be £82 for an extra day! Upon my return at 16:50 and to my surprise I find the branch closed so I am forced to use the key return box. When I made a formal complaint to customer services and asked them to review the booking phone conversation to see that the Europcar agent had assured me that 5pm was inside opening hours and there would be no extra charge and that they had charged me £60 unfairly, their response was pretty much: “we don’t care, you signed the rental agreement, and you put the keys in the return box, we are charging you £60”. So I am taking the matter to the BVRLA, the car hire ombudsman. It is also worth noting that even though I was charged £115 to take the car abroad it came without high vis jacket, without warning triangles, and without a GB sticker, all of which are legal requirements on the continent.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Booked a car online, they didn't have any car left when we arrived to pick it up, holiday ruined. We also had to raise our voice to have a receipt for cancellation as they wanted to dismiss us without it simply because the staff couldn't be botehred to produce it. If you care about your plans, stay well away from these cowboys.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I wish I read reviews before renting from them. They ranked bad every where. When we were at Queenstown airport we needed a car ASAP and every other companies had a long queue in front of the counters except for eurocar. There was no one there, so to avoid waiting I got a car from them and it was the worse experience ever. I should have got the sign! They are so unfair, dodgy and dishonest. I wish I could rate them negatively. A barely noticeable chip on windscreen we didn’t even know if we caused. They charged us $1000, and if not because I got partial protected insurance I could pay $4500! Such a rip off I hope they close down”

Europcar 1 star review on 25th June 2020

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“They will rip you off with your deposit don’t go with them bad news”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“We rented a car for 7 days at Krakow airport, Poland, and brought it back after 2 days (we had to return because of the COVID outbreak). We obviously accepted to pay for the full 7 days as we knew our rent was non-refundable. However, the man at the rental office claimed we had made 2 scratches at the front of the car (not noticeable, underneath). When we rented the car, the man wrongly indicated the scratches at the backside. We even allowed Europcar to check the cam recordings made in the office to prove we were right, but alas, they insisted on paying for the "damage". As they had blocked an amount on our credit card, we sadly had no choice. We have been renting cars for over 30 years all through Europe and the US, and never had any complaint. This is our first time that a rental company lied and treated us as criminals. Stay away from Europcar, they are dishonest people.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Europcar is a shady company to put it mildly. I rented a vehicle in Morocco at the start of the Covid-19 spread. I returned the vehicle prematurely after a 4 day use due to the virus as Morocco was grounding international flights. I purchased a new airline ticket to fly outbound the next day. I was lucky enough to purchase the ticket. After I got back to the U.S. I contacted Europcar to credit my account the unused days, they jerked me around enough and wasted my time without resolving the issue. they adamantly refused me the refund and I gave up. they have my $1000.00 I will never think of renting from them again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Do not rent from Europcar! We rented a full size van for a family Christmas vacation in Chile. The second day out, with less than 200 miles of highway driving the clutch failed catastrophically. There is zero question that the clutch had to have been on the brink of failure, but we could not see internal damage. We had no incidents that could have caused the damage. The vehicle had about 30,000km on it. They charged my credit card in excess of $800 for the road call and repairs, which were legitimately their cost. I got no satisfaction whatsoever. I will never use Europcar again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“This is the worst mentality at a car rental location I have ever come across in over 30 years of rentals. Sad, because my experience of Europcar in other places, notably Heathrow, has always been great. To cut a long story short I have just been billed £420 to "repair" (I would love to see evidence that the repair has actually taken place) some microscopic scratches (almost certainly caused by the roller in the car wash) that could have been removed in 30 seconds using some T-cut and elbow grease. They were so small that I did not even notice them when I picked the vehicle up despite having inspected it carefully, but the over-zealous checker knew straight away how to find them. I wonder how many other unsuspecting motorists they scam in this way. The Gatwick location of Europcar is a disgrace to the network and probably their attitude is doing more harm to the Europcar brand name (too bad for the serious and honest locations) than their penny pinching, scamming attitude here brings them. They certainly won't be getting my custom again. For my next rentals I have already taken scrupulous care to avoid Europcar or any of their sub-brands - Keddy, Interrent, Goldcar and booked with Avis whose service I can confirm was second to none.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“This is the absolute worst rental company out there. I highly recommend that you pick another one. We vacationed in London October 2019, it's now almost April 2020 and we just received a 400$ charge to our visa card. No explanation, no invoice, nothing. We had paid off everything prior to leaving once we dropped off the car. The inspector checked the car and everything was perfect. They are scammers! Be aware!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Had a weeks trip to the UK from the US, used a booking company for the car and pre-paid the insurance. when I picked up the car from Manchester airport the guy told me the insurance was invalid and scared me into paying their insurance. I though OK I'm in a foreign country and they drive on the wrong side, I'd better make sure I'm properly insured, even though I'd already paid, I paid again. Had a great vacation, took the car back, no tickets, no accidents, no problem. 6 months later Europcar charged my credit card again, almost the same amount bar a few $'s.. couldn't even get anybody on the phone to do anything about it. Filed a chargeback with my credit card company and am waiting to see if I get my money back. I would avoid this company like the plague, didn't get the car I booked, rude customer service and then a second charge for almost $300 6 months after I rented from them.. I hope this company is not indicative of UK rental companies.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“If you don’t have additional insurance DO NOT rent a car from Europcar. They will literally bend you over and royally screw you, as they did me. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and contacted customer service upon my return from trip only to have them do the same again. My original booking for a two week rental was $283.00 CDN dollars total. Upon my arrival at Glasgow airport to pick up my rental I was told insurance was extra. I have insurance on my Amex but had neglected to book using that card (my fault). I asked them to reverse the booking and recharge my Amex – no that was not possible as that would mean a new booking was created and I could not pick up my car for a minimum of 2 hours (its sitting outside the window). I was willing to walk away from the first booking and make a new booking but that would be considered a “Walk-in” and was three times the price! I was there in excess of two hours trying to figure a way around this and they would not budge. I needed the car so signed the slip (if I had been arrested and signed a statement under this manner of duress I would have sued for undue duress and coercion). I ended up paying over 500 GBP ($850 CDN dollars) for the insurance for a 2 week period (more than my own personal yearly insurance). Like I said at the start NEVER use Europcar!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“DO NOT USE, I was given a hire car for 24 hours after my car was damaged from Preston Europcar, Thursday 27th February at 6pm this car was collected from my house Saturday 29th February at 10.14am, driver was seen and recorded going back to blackpool Road in Preston at 10.46am driving into a bus gate, I have received the penalty notice, the hire company are now saying they collected the car at 11.14am unbelievable they have lied, 1 why would I be 17 miles away from my house when this incident happened, 2 if I was driving how could I be back at my house in time for the vehicle to be collected, I am not having to appeal against what they have said when the 2 men arrived at my home on the day in question to collect the car, I signed paperwork on a clip board, I will take this as far as I can because this company is.lieing, I'm disabled with multi health conditions.. please do not use lyers”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I recently hired a Europcar rental car at Gatwick Airport, the agent, Marie, advised that it was “mandatory” to obtain theft insurance or the car would not be released. This doubled the cost of the rental. I subsequently learned this was not the case - theft insurance is not "mandatory". I reached out to Europcar who agreed this was sharp business practice but stated since I rented the car they would continue to charge me. It appears their policy is to purposely mislead at the desk and claim there is no record. I have given Europcar the chance to comment on this review, and they had no comments.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Here is what happened: I will never trust Europcar (Keddy) ever again In carcassonne airport in September 2019 this unscrupulous company (trading as Keddy) added glass and roadside assistance to my contract without asking if I wanted it or bringing it to my attention at all! I didn't notice it had been added, and signed because I placed false trust (more full me) in them. I had been waiting for the counter guy to offer me extra insurance, and was ready to refuse because I had bought in advance, excess, glass and roadside assistance cover from Ryanair in advance. In fact I remember thinking it was weird he hadn't tried to sell me extra insurance at the time! They waited until I had returned home from holiday before taking £87 from my credit card for insurance I had never requested or needed! When I complained to them about the misselling they initially ignored me, then fobbed me off by referring me to their terms and conditions. I took my case to the European Car Rental Conciliation Service (ECRCS) and Europcar actually claimed that I had been fully appraised of the insurance and had agreed to it. I found this assertion quite unbelievable. ECRCS could not find in my favour however because I had signed the contract and they could't rule on a dispute over a conversation that had happened between two parties at the counter. It goes without saying I would never ever recommend or use this company ever again. The only good thing to come out of this disgraceful affair is that Europcar were charged £50 for the investigation by ECRCS, which should have taken care of their commission earned from their unscrupulous behaviour.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I am appalled by the incompetence of the customer service team as I purchased a 28 day long term hire from Europcar at Birmingham airport and I was advised to purchase this hire with the proviso that I could return the car after a couple weeks if needed and then obtain a Pro-Rata refund on the days remaining. After calling and speaking with the customer service team yesterday to double check that I could bring the car in (yesterday) and obtain refund for the remaining day which they confirmed I could, I was then refused this on arrival with Chris (the person on the desk yesterday) also laughing and telling me that the customer services and the desk team don't have a clue... After all this arranging pick up, car wash, filling up the car - i now have to do all this again on Friday which is costing further money and more importantly inconvenience.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“restrictive mileage for a week long booking, charged extra for what turned to be 2 trips. Pay extra for everything. Will not use again. The people were helpful and the vehicle was good except the web booking was a bit of a joke. will not use again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Horrible experience with Europcar in South Africa in late 2019. After check-out of the car where the car was signed off on 2 minor damages (bush scratch + stone dent), employees later added extra bumper damage to this report: making it seem like I had signed off on this large damage post which I had not! And that was simply because I do not remember making this damage, nor did the Europcar employee receiving the car and I see it in a very thorough final inspection: we both signed off the car without this damage being there. I explained I wanted to pay for the damage that I had signed off on, plus any related fees, but could not pay for damage that I had not signed off on. Luckily, I could still provide my own copy of the original motor incidence report where I had clearly not signed for the bumper damage. Without prior warning or authorization Europcar took double the money out of my account claiming that I was responsible for this extra damage. For all I know they made the damage after I left. Initially I did not want to make a fuss about it, but the communication was so completely disrespectful, fishy and vague that I did fight the charges. The credit card company did some weeks of research and agreed that I had been right, depositing the costs related to that extra bumper damage back on my account. Story not over yet: When Europcar noticed they summoned me to pay more than the initial amount that they ever charged me (even though I had already paid for half!) and threaten to take legal steps against me and without further notice to add me to a list of bad creditors. Europcar seemed cheaper than others when I looked to rent a car, but it turns out much more pricey, costing me way too much time and headaches and I will never rent here again, nor can I recommend anyone else to do so.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Europcar is rated 1.2 based on 266 reviews