I was hesitant to rent a car here after reading the reviews but we needed a vehicle for our trip. Booking was done through Expedia and check in was easy. We did add in insurance directly from Europcar just in case since we were in another country. The one provided through Expedia was not going to cover a lot of things even though we paid for it already. The coverage was more than the vehicle itself and they charge $100 for fuel and will refund once you bring the car back with a full tank. Very fun and interesting driving on the right side of the vehicle and on the opposite side of the road. Roundabouts are no joke in the UK lol. The car we was given was a hybrid and it was comfortable. The staff was very friendly here. I would rent again if needed. Returning was also painless. My main complaint was just the price of full coverage for the vehicle for two weeks was insane but peace of mind. read more

I booked a car with Europcar. Due to a flight delay, I contacted the agency to inform them that I would be picking up the car the next day. Unfortunately, there was no way to reason with them--they insisted I make a new booking for the following day. As a result, I ended up spending €100 for a car I never used, plus another €70 on a taxi and bus just to collect the new booking. On top of that, I had to pay an additional €104 for the new car reservation. When I arrived at the desk, they told me the car I had originally booked wasn't available. They offered me an upgrade for just £20. I refused, and they gave me an old car with a strong, unpleasant smell. I went back to the desk and only then was I finally given the car I had initially reserved. This company is a complete scam and has zero respect for its customers. I will never use Europcar again. read more

I wish I'd done more homework and read other reviews. My experience with Europcar was very disappointing. Pushed into an upgrade that I was told was an extra £5 per day that turned out to be £25 per day and was never told about the additional 19% "premium location" surcharge that would be tacked onto my bill. The insurance add-on fee was also insanely high, but I should have done my homework and tried to arrange alternative insurance. Complaining to their customer service team was pointless; they basically just said "you signed the agreement" - which of course, is true, but doesn't mean that the staff weren't deceptive in their approach or that the experience couldn't have been handled in a way that was more transparent. Key takeaways: 1) Don't rent from an airport car rental, especially Europcar. You will probably save a significant amount of money by renting elsewhere and using taxis to and from the airport. 2) Even if the rep is rushing you and you're jet-lagged, take the time to carefully review all of the charges and push back when they try to upgrade you 3) Just don't rent from Europcar. Look at the reviews. read more

We have had such a bad experiences with europcar in Edinburgh airport. They are charging us for a charging cable that they never provided us. They outright lied. Always take lots of photos on your phones of what the cars was like when you picked it up, including the contents of the boot. There are some good companies but not this one. read more

We arranged our rental through a third party that reached an agreement with Europcar in the UK. The sales associate took advantage of our family at the sales counter. She insinuated that they could upgrade to a bigger vehicle for no charge and did so. I agreed to the basic insurance. I failed to double-check all the numbers. Upon returning the car, there were so many additional charges that my rental went from $900 for 9 days to $1,800. Customer service was terrible and rude, and unwilling to even work with me. They are swindlers and crooks, and I will never do business with them again! read more

I have serious concerns about Europcar's business practices. It feels like you are in an upscale flee market. My story is similar to others. The car you reserved is not available, you have to pay for an upgrade. If you look closely at the paperwork that they don't show you to the end, it's an "optional" upgrade. At that point you've been there so long you just want to sign and leave, so you don't look closely. Then you see all the cars in the lot that look like the one you reserved. Either the employees are paid commissions to scam customers or the business instructs them to do it. In any event, they lost my business and anyone I talk to. read more

Scammers. We booked a car online for $190/7days came in and they wanted an extra $150/day! Then Carol told us we were getting a great deal when she marked it down to an extra $70/day instead of $150. Added 19% pick up fee. Then 39% tax on top of that. Our $190 car ended up being $1,100. Such a horrible experience. Never using again. read more

I would give it sub zero if I could. The car they rented to us (Citroen c4) went dead while in motion in the treacherous roads in Skye. No assistance was provided and we had to troubleshoot the car ourselves. The roadside (presumed assistance) never showed up the day of and not the next day neither. Ended up being a switch on the battery (not bolted) but clipped that went lose. So pay more and go with Hertz or Avis which I am doing for my second rental. The net result being that we were unable to do the hikes we wanted to do and the reason why we went to Scotland.... Crappy location and not friendly at all. read more

I have stopped using Europcar at Edinburgh airport. I have used this company for 40 day hires for tge last 12 years but never again. 1. At chech in they try pressure sales to ask you to taje out extra products, including insurance. This is oftenvdonexafter long flights with little sleep. They add stress to a situation tgat is already stressful. 2. They have a basty habit of overchargibg customers, including charging twice. It can take months to resolve these issues as customer srrvice is useless. 3. Tge staff are on a bonus system to find or create bogus damage. Tgey are paid 4GBP per vehicle if tgey find any damage. Onbthe last 3 occasions I knew there was no danage but they managed to find some. Choose Avis instead. They aren't bandits and are a good honest company. read more

First of all, the bad review is exclusively based on our experience with the on-site agent (Airport Edinburgh). All our previous Europcar bookings went smoothly. The rental itself was fine. We booked via ADAC and got the car type we'd chosen. Problems began with the paperwork. The clerk started out friendly, gave some recommendations for the area but would not stop talking about an additional page we must sign regarding roadside assistance. We asked over and over "Does this come with additional charges or is it a formality and everything is already covered with the ADAC booking?" He confirmed the latter and seemed unsatisfied due to our inquiries. This made us feel uneasy during our trip. Bottom line, we were right. Additional charges in the aftermath, being misdirected by the agent and a customer support that could not help. read more

I booked a car here months ago and it was a VW Tiguan for £950. When I got here on the 08/20/23, I was met by a lovely lady called Carol. She was very friendly and she asked how many bags I had and I said 4. She then said we would have to get something bigger even though I had managed fine previously with a Toyota RAV4 which are probably the same size. Anyhow, it transpired that all she had was either a Volvo XX90 for an extra £300 a day or a VW Passat estate for an extra £50. I chose the Passat and charges totaled £2250 which was over double I had booked for. Never again will I rent a car from Europcar at any location. read more

Do not under any circumstances rent from this company. They lied to us at check in and told us that we were signing a form for the insurance that we had already purchased when we booked the car. The man at the counter kept stating that we just didn't know how insurance worked there and that this is how it worked. After a long flight and we just were kind of like- ok, I guess. We get home from our trip and now see that they have charged us an additional $502 for premium insurance! On top of the original booking charge for premium insurance. They made me pay for it twice! They refuse to give me a refund and say that because we signed the form that we agreed to be charged for the same thing twice. Horrible! read more

Would give a negative rating if it was possible. Our party rented a car after our flights. First bad surprise was all the additional fees not disclosed on the reservation, making this a fairly pricey option compared to other providers. On the ride back from airport we started smelling something and the gear kept switching from third to first. Because at this point we were closer to our hotel than the airport we carefully went through with the plan. Next day the morning it would not go into first. We could barely start into second. We asked for a different car at their desk downtown and they assured they'd have one ready for us at the airport. Once at the airport no car for us and unwilling to get us a replacement car. The customer service was condescending trying to tell us manual and automatic aren't the same. Yes we're we are from there's manual transmission too. Blaming the customer to not come back right away at 9pm after a 20h flight is nonsense and a hurtful tactics to hide their poor fleet, and dreadful client service. Get any other renter for a better price with actual working cars. Avoid at all cost. read more

Watch put people. Wish I had read the reviews here beforehand. These people seem nice but they're absolute fraud. Read your contract before signing. They tell you something else but do the other. Added premium insurance to my rental that I declined buying and got the contract signed saying they were lowered the excess. Avoid at all costs. And then complained your card was declined that's why we lowered the excess but used the same card to charge me. Sales Manager and Afroaz are absolute frauds. The'll never accept their mistake. read more

If I could give zero stars I would. I had a reservation for a car that had been prepaid. I then paid another $250 for all their insurance. Picking up the car took 2 hours, the line was huge. They gave me a key and told me to go find the car. The car was damaged with scrapes all along the side. The cars are parked in a huge parking lot with all other car rental places. The parking spots and lanes in parking area were so close and narrow it was hard to maneuver. Well, while trying to get out of parking lot I dented the front bumper a bit. I went in and reported it and they came out and looked. They refused to give me another car, the staff was incredibly rude, and yet they charged me the full $700 for rental. The girl said they would not charge for a weeks rental when she refused to give me another car. The car hadn't even registered a mile and I was going 5 mph. I asked if they could call me a taxi to get to St Andrews but they would not. They basically stranded me in the parking lot with my luggage. I tried Uber, no rides available. It was 5 pm and there I was, sitting on my suitcase in tears. I will NEVER rent from them again. I will tell everyone I know to never rent from them. I've rented many cars and never had such a horrible experience. Rent from any company other than them if you have a choice. Once I got to St Andrews I rented from Enterprise. It was cheaper then Europcar. I proceeded to drive 1100 miles in Scotland with no incident. It was one of the ugliest travel experiences I have ever had. read more

Absolutely worst rental experience ever. They have seven stations/desks open. However, they have moved from queue 43 to 57 in one hour. Expecting another hour even though we registered online before arriving...and then the roving staff person says it will only be one hour wait. Sunday morning turned into Sunday afternoon.... read more

Used this car rental place back in May 2022 and was over charged due to some road side thing I didn't want. I dropped the car off in Glasgow to an empty office even though the location was supposed to open at 9am (we stayed till 945am). Begged for a final receipt for over a month with some back and forth but never received anything. Fast forward to Jan 2023 I received a collections letter for £1400 stating damage to the car. Do not rent from them under any circumstance. read more

If you went through rentalcars.com, they will try to tell you that their insurance is a scam and to buy theirs instead at 3X the cost. We know for a fact that the rentalcars.com insurance IS valid, as we've used it before. They do not like people going through rentalcars.com. A woman at the desk next to me was getting the very same spiel of garbage - heard her say, too - "But that's three times what I already paid!" They also tack on fees you will not know about until you get there - an extra "Airport Rental Fee"???? While many car companies try to upsell you, never had I had to deal with one that did it so aggressively. There are plenty of other companies at the Edinburgh airport - go to one of them, instead. read more

Long lines. Up sales. Accused me of damage I didn't cause (did let it go after I proved I hadn't, but if I didn't have the video evidence I would have been on the hook for $400). Charged me $50 to pay a $5 fee on my behalf, and just recently told me there's an outstanding balance on my account even though It's been several months since I was there. No explanation of why I owe $48. Just a bill. No information. No thanks. Don't know about the other guys, but these guys were a horrible experience. read more

EMPATHY - the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. My entire career was based in customer service and we used "empathy" when making customer service decisions. That is not the case with Europcar, they have none. Upon arriving in Scotland, we picked up our rental car at Europcar. We were not ten miles from the airport when a tire popped and we had to pull to the side of the road. I called the number as instructed by the service rep. A report was taken, a reference number given and I was told 1.5 to 2 hours wait time. At 2.5 hours I made my second call and spoke to Hailey, who said someone would call me back very soon. At 3.5 hours I made my third call and spoke to Gavin, who said it was sent for help, but no one was responding. He gave me another number, which I called four times and it rang 50 times before ending the call with no answer. At 5 hours I called the first number again and spoke to Steven, who told me I was calling the wrong number and that he showed no log of my calls, he could not find any report for me, and the reference number I gave him was not one for them, but he would look into it. By this time I was literally in tears. I asked what the police emergency number was, which Steven gave me, but he added that they wouldn't come out for a break down. We did not know what to do, we were stranded and no one was coming to help us. Finally, my husband flagged down a car and a kind man gave us a ride back to the airport. Wendy, the customer service manager, was kind and understanding. She apologized, upgraded our car, and said there would be no charge for fuel upon return or for the tire. She then asked us to stay and wait until someone could go with us to find the car we had left, which we did. Although it wasn't necessary as the repair truck was there when we arrived. The repair man said he had never received a call to come out. Both my husband and I had to relieve ourselves on the side of a busy highway. We had no food or drink since early that morning. We missed our first tour and did not arrive to our hotel until nearly midnight. I spent a total of 124 minutes, at $1 per minute, on the phone for a total of $124.00 in charges. That is how we spent our first six hours in Scotland, stranded on the road, no help in sight, hungry, afraid and helpless. Upon our return, I wrote to Europcar and reiterated the above. I expressed my thanks for Wendy's kind service. However, I wrote that given all of the circumstances, I was now requesting a full refund, which I still believe in my heart should have been given as a show of empathy for our harrowing experience. The reply from Europcar was they would be willing to reimburse for the phone calls, but since we kept and used the replacement car, they were "unable" to process a refund. As a customer service supervisor, I know that is not the case. Of course they could have given us a full refund. I had even held off my online reviews, truly believing my request would be granted. It was not unreasonable and it would have been a way to show that Europcar was a superior service company. I highly discourage anyone from using Europcar when traveling, all of the American companies are there too, which I will be sure to use in the future. read more

If it's possible to give 0 stars I would. My friends and I rented a car from this 'establishment' last summer and had an overall horrendous experience. First of all they did not have the car we originally reserved but they gave us a different one, which was fine. The issue came after we returned the car and the guy who checked us in told us everything was good. 2 months later we get a notice from europcar's law office starting that we owe them a bunch of money for damages to the car. We had no damages! We called the number on the notice a bunch of times but either no one picked up or we kept getting transferred/told to call a different number. We sent them a bunch of emails asking for a list/pictures of the supposed damages and finally they got back to us via post, but it was a vague letter about tires being damaged and then demanded we send them money or else we'd be sent to court in the UK. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT rent from them! I googled them and it seems they pull this crap a lot and have even gone to court for it in Europe. Pay a little more and rent from someone else. read more

The check in was quick and easy. We did upgrade there at a reduced amount once the clerk heard about our travel plans. We were doing the Scottish 500. Lots of miles where cell phone service is spotty at best. We upgraded to a diesel with satellite. Glad we took his advice. Probably saved us over$100 in gas and we may have been lost forever without sat guidance! Only problem was it was a newer diesel which requires an additive every 1000 miles and the additive was impossible to find in less than 5 gallon jugs. Finally found it after extensive internet search. Wish they had provided a list of where it was sold as internet was not always available. Bottom line..good service...good car...just need to adapt to new info. read more

My mom arrived during my semester abroad in Scotland planning on driving North and West through the highlands to Orkney and the Hebrides. When we got to the rental center, Europcar didn't have the car we had reserved. They tried to track it down, finding out the tired were being changed, but lacking any guess on how long it would be. The guy helping us was nice, but incompetent, a new hire who couldn't get anything done. Even the manager didn't do enough to ensure we were happy. It took two and a half hours to get out of there, in a different and smaller car than the one we had initially chosen. Just go to Hertz instead. read more

To keep it short, this office has provided the worst car rental experience of my life. My wife, baby daughter, and I rented a car for five days during our recent visit to Scotland. The problems began when the lady who helped us upgrade to a larger car to accommodate the baby and luggage was unable to understand that Europcar had pre-charged us for six days and couldn't help us rectify the discrepancy. I'm assuming she was a new hire and is still undergoing training. Regardless, we finally were able to pull out in the rental car, but were only able to make it 10 minutes down the road before the car caught on fire. Luckily, a patrolling police car came to our assistance and attempted to contact the rental office on our behalf. They ran the helpful officer around on the phone for nearly 45 minutes at which point we decided to catch a cab and have the rental agency deliver us a new car. Upon arriving at the hotel, I attempted to contact the rental office myself and was promised that a manager would contact me momentarily. Hours later, I was contacted by someone from a different office, I assume an incident mitigation manager, who promised to drop of the new car that night. When the new car came on time, we were disappointed to find that they had brought us a car from the smaller class from which we upgraded. We couldn't use the car and refused to accept the keys. The next morning, they brought us a replacement and we finished our trip without further incident. Without further incident, that is, until we dropped the car off and attempted to be reimbursed for the sixth day that we never had the car and the first day that we didn't have a car because it burned up. The employee we spoke to affected a extremely disinterested attitude and informed us that since no manager was on staff that day, there was nothing we could do. Frustrated and taken advantage of, we flew home, and I immediately called again the next day. The manager I spoke to seemed more understanding and promised to process our claim for reimbursement. We were supposed to receive the reimbursement in within 10 days, and have still not. I cannot recommend renting from this office. read more

We arrived off a flight, collected a car which was dirty, inside and out, also had a scrape on bumper took, photos but did not go back in to office (jet lag) big mistake, Now because we can prove the state of the car when we picked it up they are wanting money for a BUMP (On the same area as the scratch !!) which was not there before they collected it. They have produced altered rental documents. We cannot contact anybody, We are pursuing the issue but you can make up your own mind from here. read more

Europcar - Fraudulent and Dishonest practices (this company is currently in litigation over its dishonest and fraudlent practices.). NO NOT USE THIS COMPNAY On November 7, 2018, I arrived in Scotland and proceeded to the Europcar kiosk to pick up a rental car I'd prepaid for through Expedia.com for eight days. As part of my rental, I'd requested (but not prepaid for) a GPS unit. As the male service agent at Europcar checked me in, he informed me that for £1.50 per day, he could upgrade my rental to a better car with had a built in GPS unit. I declined, indicating that a handheld GPS unit would be fine. For a good 10 minutes he continued to insist that I needed the upgrade; however, I stood firm. Finally he relented, but then said, "Oh, it looks like while we've been discussing this, that my last handheld GPS unit was rented by another customer." Since we were the only people at the counter this seemed unlikely. Discouraged, and knowing he was lying, I said I would just forgo renting any GPS unit; however, this restarted the agent insisting I needed to upgrade my vehicle with a built in GPS unit for an extra £1.50 per day. Just wanting to get my rental and proceed with my trip, I said, "Fine, I'll take the £1.50 per day upgrade with the built in GPS." He said "great," and finally proceeded to process my paperwork. He next tried to get me to upgrade to Eurocar's insurance coverage which I declined. Finally he presented me my paperwork, telling me to quickly "Just sign here, here, and here, and you're all set!" Unfortunately for the service agent, I'm an attorney and I always ready from start to finish everything I'm asked to sign, which I did, and I immediately noticed an additional (to what I'd already prepaid) £120 per day charge. I asked what the charge was for, and he said, for the built in GPS unit. I told him that he'd said it was only £1.50 per day (which is what he had said--many times; my wife who was with me verified that this is what he'd said.). The service agent responded, "No, I said an extra £15 per day." This was a bold-faced lie. I told him that if it was £15 per day extra, I didn't want the upgrade. The agent, now upset, cancelled the transaction, and finally gave me the keys for the vehicle I'd originally asked for. I wish the story ended here, but it does not. I drove the car, a Kia with approximately 10,000 miles, for the next eight days without issue or incident. On the ninth day I returned the vehicle and was astounded when the Europcar service agent said the left front tire was damaged. I was shocked; there was no damage to the tire--zero. I said, "What? Where is there damage?" He pointed to the top side of the left front tire and said, "There's a budge here; it's damaged." I looked at the tire; it looked totally normal to me (and certainly was in the exact same condition it was when I rented it). I tell the service agent first that I see no damage, and second that I have no idea how it could have sustained any damage because I had no accidents or incidents while driving the vehicle. He says to me, "It became damaged through use; simply driving on it can damage it." This ridiculous nonsensical explanation makes no sense (and even if it did make sense a tire with 10,000 miles on it that had spontaneously become damaged through the act of driving would be covered under warranty as it would be a manufacturing defect.). Next the service agent hands me his handheld and tells me to sign. I ask him, what am I signing for? He says, "You're agreeing that this is the only damage to the vehicle--once you sign this you'll only have to pay to repair the tire." I can already see where this is going; if I sign, I'm committed to only paying for a new tire; if I don't sign I'm open to paying for any other bogus damage Europcar dreams up between now and the time they send me a bill. Outrageous. Naturally any consumer in this situation is in a tough position; like me, I have a flight to catch; hence, I cannot spend all day arguing with an intransigent service agent about nonexistent damage he's fabricated. I refuse to sign, as I absolutely do not agree that there is damage (because there is none), and the service agent says I will hear from Europcar in the next 7 days to negotiate settlement. It has now been three days since I returned my vehicle and I await a bill for Europcar for non-existent tire damage and (since I didn't sign agreeing to limit the damage to the tire) I fully expect them to tack on additional non-existent damage. This is the first and last time I will ever rent a car from Europcar. I returned a car to them, unscathed, and they are now fraudulently claiming the vehicle returned to them was damaged--it was not. I chose Europcar because they were the lowest cost option; however, I now understand that they are anything but the low-cost option as their business model seems to revolve around fraudulently charging consumers for damage. read more

This place is a disgrace. Huge wait times and half the desks unmanned. Avoid this at all costs. Sixt seems to be a better bet.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE RENT FROM THIS COMPANY!!! This is by far the worst company I have ever rented from. I am still dealing with extra charges they are trying to bill me and false claims. They will take advantage of you in any way possible to make extra money. I have never seen another rental car company as dishonest as this company has been to me. Not to mention on the day of my rental it took 2 hours waiting just to pick up my rental car which was absolutely ridiculous. The customer service is absolutely horrendous and they will take weeks or longer to respond and then do NOTHING to help you. This company is very unprofessional and needs to be avoided at all costs. Even if it looks like they offer a cheaper price when you book, do not fall for it. After all the extra fees they charged me (which should have not been charged at all and I am still dealing with) my rental car cost 3 TIMES MORE THAN WHEN I BOOKED IT AND WHAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO COST FOR MY TRIP. read more