***AVOID*** I wish I had read the reviews before booking a car through rentalcars.com through this Europcar location. They took complete advantage of the fact that I was extremely tired, unfamiliar with the local currency and gas prices, and lied through their teeth to tell me upgrading from our original car to a more fuel efficient car would be cheaper in the long run. I was slammed with hidden fees and rushed through the checkout processes so I would not notice just how much more I was being charged. There is a fine line between being a smooth salesperson and shady salesmanship, and the person who rented me this car definitely crossed that line. Please do yourself a favor and never give this company your money. read more

I expressly told the representative that I did not need collision damage insurance as my credit card covered it but he sneaked the charge onto the agreement and I received an additional charge of $205. Will never use the company again. read more

I was told by Faisal (one of the desk workers) that I would be reimbursed my initial car expenses for a manual car if I was to choose to do an automatic. I was told the same thing again by the gentleman who checked my car in. He said if I had any issues to contact customer service, who disconnected 2 of my calls and never responded to my email. I then went back into the facility and talked to a woman named Vemise, I believe. She filled out a "customer query request form" and said their rep would contact me within 48 hours. That never happened. I called 4 days later, they transferred my car which was soon after dropped (by them). I'm at a loss. I would be embarrassed to work for a company that has zero integrity. I will never rent from them again and will let all my Europe traveling friends to avoid them too. read more

Europcar - Car Rental Near Me - Middlesex, XGL

Looking at the previous reviews on this page, I should have checked Yelp before renting from Europcar (I actually used Keddy by Europcar). We were charged an additional $500 for "mandatory insurance" that was not listed ANYWHERE in any of the documents we received from the company. Trust me, we looked, both before and even more thoroughly after the fact. This was MORE than the price we paid to rent the car. I have entered a complaint through their website but have heard nothing - shocker. I even said "yes" to their question regarding whether or not I wanted an associate to follow up on my concerns. I did not want to go straight to writing a bad review - but when they are not making efforts to rectify the situation, I am happy to share my experience. This company is out to get your money through ANY means possible - STAY AWAY. The car rental business is very competitive - there is no need to put up with practices like this. read more

Cheap rates but a TON of hidden fees. Also they won't hesitate to report and try to heavily penalize you for any minor scratch or ding that they see. Look elsewhere read more

This car rental company is a bunch of thieves. From the moment we arrived with an Expedia reservation, they told us they did not have a reservation for me. I produced the confirmation # and that was of no help. They overcharged me for a larger vehicle than I wanted and ripped me off for insurance that I paid for online. To make matters worse, the city of London charges over $100 to have a car in the city. We were not told this. I received a fine from London which Europcar tacked on 50% surcharge for administrative fees. This company is absolutely awful to work with. DO NOT RENT FROM EUROPCAR. read more

These people suck!!! Avoid at all costs. Seriously, no matter how good the price, run, don't walk, away. If you rent from them you WILL get screwed. read more

Recently rented from Europ car in London Gatwick for 30 days and DO NOT recommend it: - Hidden fees; - Overcharged credit card; Service center didn't even know how much they actually charged. - Charged for tolls and penalties and "admin" fees without informing me in the least that such tolls and penalties existed. "Admin fees" are twice as high as the penalties Expected cost based on initial rental: £660. Final cost: £1118. Credit card overcharge was not recovered yet. read more

NEVER use this company. Their long wait times at pick up, undisclosed extra charges, unavailability of the car reserved, questionable upgrades, fees for road side assistance, and poor post return follow up make this experience truly terrible. If I could rate them a zero I would. It is shocking how a company this bad can continue in business. Avoid Avoid Avoid. read more

I had thought it was only the low cost rental companies that tried to make money by charging you for damage that did not occur. Europcar are doing the same to me, threatening to take me to court to pay 600 pounds for a 45 pound cargo tray that was not in the vehicle when I rented it. Just astonishingly bad, be warned, please don't rent from thesw people. EditDelete Share read more

Usually I book my hire cars direct with Enterprise but this trip I decided we'd have a change and I booked our hire car through rentalcars.com. There I found a Skoda Octavia for $345.00 for the period that we need a car, 10 days. The deal was with Europcar. On arrival at Heathrow airport we struggled onto the Europcar bus through a very narrow door in the front of the bus having put our bags into the back of the bus - no help from the driver! On arrival we struggled off the bus, offloaded our luggage again with no help from the driver and went into the Europcar reception to complete the paperwork, get our car and be underway. However, after a 10-hour flight and a total journey time of just over 15 hours the girl on reception told us that in order for them to release the car we would have to take out insurance which would cost an additional 20.00GBP for the cheapest option through 30.00GBP for complete cover. This additional cost was per day not for the duration of the hire. This would add an additional 200.00GBP to the cost of the hire or $290.00, almost double the cost we were expecting!! We were given no option, simply pay the extra or go without a car. I wonder how many people at this point would just pay the extortion, being too tired to find an alternative. Though we were very tired there was no way that I was going to pay this additional cost and I told the Europcar agent to cancel the reservation. However, the girl at Europcar told me that as we had booked the car online through a booking agent she could not process the cancellation, she contacted rentalcars.com and passed me the phone. The people at the web site told me that as we were cancelling our reservation at the time of collection we would have to pay a cancellation charge of $92.00! They were unmoved when I explained that we were cancelling the reservation because the actual cost of the rental was nearly twice the price that they had quoted and at no point in the reservation process had we been informed that we would have to pay additional insurance charges. I will be perusing a full refund when we return home. I consider this the worst type of business practice when a customer is effectively held for ransom at a time when they are tired and looking forward to completing their journey. Certainly, the experience has taught me never to use renatlcars.com or Europcar and I strongly recommend that you follow my example. Our experience ended happily as we struggled back on the Europcar bus, went back to the terminal and arranged a car from Enterprise at a price close to the original price quoted for the Europcar vehicle including full coverage insurance. read more

2013 Rented with Europcar. On return was told there was a tiny graze on the tire wall and thus I was charged 200 dollars. Complained, no satisfaction from cust service 2014 Having learned my lesson I rented with Alamo. Oops it is run in UK by Europcar! 2 HOUR wait for car. Charged me additional 65 pounds (90 bucks) per day for insurance. If you try and use Amex insurance they refuse to take it and make you sign a form saying you are liable for up to 18000 pounds. Then they try and upsell for Sat Nav. Declined this and then found car already had sat Nav included. They are like Ryanair on steroids, nickel and diming every single customer. No customer service, just carneys and hustlers. Horrible experience!! BEWARE US travellers!!! read more

OK, arrived at Heathrow with very little sleep. The EuropeCar bus was right there when I exited and the driver helped me with my bags. When we arrived at the rental location he helped me with my bags getting out. If there was any issue, it was a bit of a wait in the rental office which was a bit warm. Once I got to the counter the nice gentleman there gave me an upgrade to a larger car, a Volvo, for the same price as my economy. I found the GPS in the car a bit clunky (and it did not have my hotel which only opened last October) so I used my phone and there was no problem. Drove 978 miles in a week with no incidents. Everything worked well from the radio and cd player to the bluetooth phone connection. I returned the car and was off to my terminal in several minutes. I would happily rent from them again! read more

TERRIBLE SERVICE! RUDE MANAGER PUNCTURE WITHIN 5 MINUTES OF PICK UP = £90 CHARGE! APPALLING CUSTOMER CARE AND COMPLAINTS DEPARTMENT, COMPLAINT LODGED, OVER A MONTH AND A HALF, NO ANSWER TO MY QUERIES. RENTAL PRICE QUOTED £80 ACTUAL 3-DAY RENTAL COST WELL OVER £200 Don't use Europcar, I arrived at the rental agency to pick up my pre-booked car, I had phoned the day before to make sure the office takes debit cards, I had a passport, a rental agreement paper, my drivers license and the counterpart. I was told all these documents could not confirm my address, I needed a utility bill! (Not the sort of thing you carry around with you during a holiday) At this point I asked to talk to the manager as the polite gentlemen on the counter could help me no more, I thought the manager would explain its just a technical glitch on the computer and all would be settled as its pretty clear I live at the address that is on my rental agreement and both parts of my drivers license. Unfortunately this was not the case, common sense did not prevail. After a lengthy talk which got no where other than the manager retreating back to his office where he took up his position at his computer, where he would remain for the next hour. I managed to get my sister to take a picture of one of my bank statements and send it to my phone. I showed this to the nice man on the desk who then took it to his manager, without even a glance the manager dismissed it and continued at his computer, (playing his game of solitaire, I assume). After I made a fuss he looked at the picture and said it wasn't on paper, therefore it could not be used, end of! I asked what if I print it out? To which he replied "well that would be ok, I guess." I WAS THEN GIVEN THE CAR. I even upgraded the car at a cost of £15 a day. (I still cant work out why I did this!) After 5 minutes on the road I had a puncture, there was no spare tyre! I HAD TO WAIT ON THE SIDE OF A FREEZING MOTORWAY FOR AN HOUR!! Only to return to the office, to pay £90 for the puncture as it was not covered by the insurance! After my complaint I waited over 2 weeks for a reply, which came in a paragraph explaining that the tyre pressures are tested before every rental, also it is policy for a utility bill to be needed as proof of address. Nothing about how I was treated, I responded and a month and a half has passed and I am still waiting for a reply!!!! read more

Terrible customer service. Arrived after a 24-hour flight with a pre-paid booking for a 7 day rental. Had my passport, licence and credit card as advised in the email they sent me two days before flying. They refused to give me a car on the grounds that I didn't have a return ticket. This despite the fact that they'd given me a car in identical circumstance three years earlier, no return ticket required. I think they just invented an excuse not to give me a car at the very attractive rate I had, and instead give it someone else at an inflated price. I ended going to the nearby Enterprise and Hertz offices, both of whom were happy to give me a car, although the rate wasn't as good. Avoid Europcar like the plague. read more

Dismal, frustrating experience. After waiting in queue for 35m I spent another 35m at the counter trying to understand why my confirmation number didn't appear in their system, why my National corporate account didn't qualify because technically Europcar is not National, etc, etc. An hour and fifteen minutes later (I write the numbers in long form to emphasize how very long it felt -- yes, that's also why I'm typing this parenthetical, to reiterate the experience's seemingly endless, pointless, and personally frustrating effect), I felt like I was trying to unwrap my brainstem from the grimy ballpoint pen that they made me initial everything with -- in duplicate. Oh, and my car was dirty. read more

Wishing for 0 stars. 2 hour wait for a car, total chaos reigns in the meantime. Saw a woman handing out Popsicles and water bottles as if that would make it all ok. Complete and utter nonsense. read more

Europcar - Car Rental Near Me - Middlesex, XGL

My experience with Europcar was absolutely terrible. My wife and I booked a trip through Expedia and rented a car from Europcar and was supposed to pick it up from Norwich airport in England on Saturday Nov 21st 2017. We paid for the rental car in full before our trip through Expedia. We landed at Norwich airport at 5:00pm to find the Europcar closed. Which they were expecting us to arrive, but instead closed at 4:00pm. While at the airport we tried calling the customer service number for the corp office which was also closed. We spoke to customer service at the airport which they were not able to help us except point us to a taxi. We ended up getting a taxi which costed us £60.00 to take us to where we were staying. On Sunday Nov 22nd 2017 morning we called Europecar at the Norwich airport which was open and requested they bring a car to us. The person on the phone said it is against their policy to deliver a vehicle and that we would have to pick it up. We had to get a taxi back up to the airport which was another £60.00. When we got to the checkout desk and explained how unhappy we were the employee behind the counter didn't offer any sort of apology or refund for being closed when we arrived. Instead he said the insurance that we purchased through Expedia wasn't sufficient and that we need to purchase the advance insurance plan directly through them which costed us an extra £34.00 a day. Total was about £230.00 after all said and done. When we got home we contacted the Europcar customer service line and explained the entire situation and requested a refund on the 1 day we weren't able to get the car as well as a full refund of the insurance we paid because that was an absolute lie the employee told us about the Expedia insurance. The customer service lady put in a case/ticket for us and sent us an email that she said we can reply to and send out taxi receipts to. I submitted the taxi receipt and have requested multiple times a status on our refund and have not heard a word from them since I submitted the case. I recommend no one use this company for anything. Every review site I have been to about Europcar shows nothing but very bad reviews. I wish I would have seen these review sites before I decided to rent a car from them because they are horrible. read more

Signed up to Yelp while waiting for my waiting line ticket number ..25 minutes and 5 more people to go. This is after a 15 minute wait for the shuttle bus.. Being made to wait with two young kids for a pre-booked car is a special form of torture. If they know how many people are coming, on a Friday at 11am, you'd think they might put on a couple more staff ... read more

Europcar - 34 minutes plus 15 waiting for shuttle. . - Car Rental Near Me - Middlesex, XGL

Europcar New Zealand The car(s) provided were great but the rental was supposed to be for both islands with the car going across the strait on the ferry. We were not informed until arrival in Auckland that we would need to drop the car in Wellington and get another SUV in Picton. This unexpected switch was very inconvenient and inconsiderate of the company. And . . . we had to go to the other ferry terminal by bus to get the second SUV. While I understand what they were doing, there is no excuse for not informing us in advance. Had to change ferry reservations at the last minute and sacrifice cancellation fees for the car passage. Knowing this in advance would have let us change our trip to a more desirable plan. On the positive side, the GPS worked well and there was no problem checking the second car back in. I have rented from them in London and had good experiences before. read more

DO NOT RENT FROM THESE THIEVES I rented a car in Nice, France, for 3 days. I selected them instead of my regular rental car company because they were about 40% cheaper. I was curious. It started to look bad when I declined all the optional insurance (I'm covered with my personal insurance). They pulled a paper form, wrote my credit card number on it, with the CVV code (which is illegal) and asked me to sign the pre-approval charge for €25k (yes, this is 25,000). It really is the first time this happens to me. I generally have the look when I decline the insurances, but never had to go through this. Next the agent charges the rental cost + €400 for the "deposit". I ask why since I just signed a €25k form, being told this is what everyone does. FYI, it is NOT what everyone does, you get a pre-authorization for the "deposit" you are not being charged the actual amount. I'm then provided with the keys, told there is a damage to the front left wheel area. I check the car, see the damage and nothing else. It's a dark parking, a black car, and it is not very clean, but there is no visible damage. I drive the car to my destination, enjoy the beach for 3 days, and drive back to Marseilles to return the car. The parking agent comes to me, asks me the regular questions (was the car fine, did you fill-up the tank, etc). Then she shows me two minuscule scratches on the front left, something like 3cm each, vaguely visible under the dirt. I explain there is a reported damage to the front left, and this was not me, and it has been sunny for 3 days, and this is under the dirt that was there when I got the car. She says she has to report it anyway, but it is so small it all will be fine. Wear and tear. Three days later, I receive an invoice for exactly €400.50 for damages. This is the exact amount Europcar had a pre-authorization for. No warning, no notification, and customer service tells me I need to talk to the Marseilles location. The Marseilles location said I will be called back. Nothing of course. Thierry Dessertenne read more

They are fraudulent. They don't honor reservations. This really defies the purpose of reservations.

Hubby and I pre-booked car from website in USA. Arrived in LHR on a Thursday, before noon, got to the shuttle quickly and was immediately attended to in the car rental station. A very friendly customer rep from the Philippines chatted with us while we waited in queue for our turn. When we got our paperwork sorted out, we received our car which was what we reserved. Everything in the car worked, car was clean and no problem. We returned the car the following day in Europcar Leeds. Such wonderful ladies in Leeds! Anne and another lady (forgot her name, sorry, senior moment) are such a joy to deal with. They are efficient, friendly, helpful and make car leasing so stress-free!!! We used to be Enterprise clients. No more! Europcar is fairly priced and we have never had problems with their cars! read more

I had the most enjoyable experience at Zurich airport, until I got home and received the bill. Instead of being charged $31 total for an upgrade to a 4-wheel drive, I was charged over $300 on top of what I agreed to pay. The invoice was in German and I signed it at the airport without looking after I was assured by the clerk that $31 is the total amount that would be added to my bill. Instead, the clerk added some alleged winter features which anyone would suppose to be included as a standard, since I rented the car in January in Switzerland and being charged for some "special " winter package is ridiculous. The pickup was not in a tropical destination. I'm still trying to get my money back with the help of American Express. read more

I would put a negative rating but one is not available. I reserved a car through travelocity and for a guaranteed price. When I arrived at the car rental place aft 14 hours of traveling and flight delays, They kept trying to upswell me. Finally I told them to give me the car I rented. When I received my credit card statement, it was twice the price of what I was quoted. I tried to discuss the discrepancy with the rental car company and was only told they don't rent those cars and tried to belittle me on my knowledge of cars. My rental agreement was for a VW Passat and the car I rented was a VW Passat. Will never use them again. read more

WARNING!!!!!!!.......DESERVES ZERO STARS!......Reserved and prepaid rental as part of package with flight and hotel to Milan, Italy for 10 days. I paid for FULL COVERAGE INSURANCE, including collision and package protection through Expedia. This was all paid for MONTHS before we arrived in Milan. We rented an economy car for a lot of driving we planned for the trip. They gave us a Fiat Panda 4X4. I took pictures of the vehicle, before I ever even sat in it, all the way around. (I SUGGEST EVERYONE DOES THIS before leaving with your rental). We left for our hotel without any inspection by Europcar of the vehicle. We never signed anything, other than the rental agreement at the airport, and them taking credit card info. The car was surprisingly more powerful than I had anticipated, and I was very pleased with it. It was new and only had about 19k miles on it, so it could be the reason. On the 4th day in Milan, we parked the car in front of a very nice Hotel close to the central Cathedral and Galleria around 12:15pm, the middle of the day. Paid for parking with the kiosk for 2 hours. We returned to the car less than 1 hour later to discover that my large camera bag was missing out of the trunk of the car, and my wife's wallet was stolen out of her purse that was hidden under the front seat. Without going into too much detail, the loss of camera gear was around $3500. My wife's wallet had some cash and credit cards in it, which we cancelled immediately. We made a police report in the Milan Police station, telling them that the Hotel told us they have cameras that may identify the thieves. We still have heard nothing from the Milan Police department since. We had to leave the next morning to our next leg of our trip, so we could not remain in Milan. At the end of our trip, we returned to the Milan airport to return the vehicle and to catch our plane back. The agent came out to ask if car was ok, and I answered, "yes, but we did get robbed and have a police report. I'd like to make a claim for the losses". The agent's eyes lit up, and completely ignored what I said, immediately taking the key from me and going right to the door lock of the car, while saying,.."I'm so glad you told me that". He tried to put the key into the lock and it would not go in. He said nothing to me and asked me to sign the electronic block on a hand held machine he had in his hand. I assumed it was just the return receipt signature they would require. The man said absolutely nothing else to me and went into the office. I followed him in, assuming to get my receipt for the return. The woman at the counter asked me for the police report. I gave it to her and they made a copy of it. Then to my SHOCK, she said, "We will be charging your credit card for the damages to the vehicle lock at 400 EUROS". I said, "WHAT? I paid for full coverage insurance for damages, if any".....She replied, "No, you only paid for basic insurance", and showed me some policy that I never saw before, that had no signature of mine on it that stated I had "basic insurance". We then got into a heated argument, with other male agents just walking around as if this was business as usual. I told her I need to file a claim for the losses from the robbery, and she said, "You need to contact customer support". During this time, my wife got on the internet and began researching repair costs for the door lock, that looked normal to us to begin with. She discovered that it only costs about 30 EUROS to repair. I showed the woman at the counter the actual repair costs, and that theirs were outrageous! I then said, "How do I know this lock wasn't broken when I picked up the car"? She argumentatively replied, "Do you have proof of that,..do you have pictures"? I said, "I did take pictures when I picked up the car, but they are on my hard drive buried in my luggage". Then suddenly a man came from behind me into the office and told her to say nothing more. She immediately shut down conversation and said nothing at all afterwords. After arriving back in the US, I received an invoice demanding even more money from them with absolutely no explanation what so ever. Tried calling and e-mailing customer support for claim forms and NO RESPONSE! CONCLUSIONS: 1. How did the agent know about the door lock when I never even mentioned anything about the car being locked or unlocked? He never even asked me if the car was even locked before he immediately ran to the door lock. 2. We were never told the car had NO ALARM SYSTEM, or even offered a car that HAD ONE, considering the high crime in Milan that we discovered on our own later. 3. What happened to my "FULL COVERAGE INSURANCE" that I paid for and have receipts for? 4. This company needs to be investigated for FRAUD, and a class action lawsuit is in order. read more

Customer service was horrible when I picked up .and than the over and even triple charged me through there fast talking. I booked online and told the agent that's all I wanted to pay he talked me into a upgrade but told me it was the same price or just a few dollars more a day so I did. They not only charged me for the original rental but triple charged me on top of that .I contacted them and can only do that through email. And than after 2 weeks pretty much said cause I signed at the end there not at fault at all. The agent gave me number and agreed it was a few dollars more than my original quote and charge so I expected just that amount more but than was charged 3 time the original amount plus the original amount so a 300 dollar car turned into a 1000 by the time they where done with me . Would never recommend to anyone . read more

We prepaid for a compact car with Europcar through Orbitz. When we went to pick it up, the sales agent said they didn't have any compact cars but could offer us a "free" upgrade to a Mercedes Benz. I insisted that I would not accept an upgrade unless it was free, and was assured multiple times that it was. I signed a form to authorize it that listed what the upgrade consisted of but showed no price. I believed all was well until I checked my credit card statement and found that they had charged £256 for the upgrade. When I complained to Europcar, they produced the document I signed with a now clearly indicated upgrade charge that was hastily scribbled onto the form, with the sales agent's signature at the bottom next to mine. They said the signed form was a legal document, and there's nothing they could do. I've filed a complaint with the UK Trading Standards Office and my credit card company. I have since learned that filling in forms after the customer has signed them is a frequent scam that Europcar uses to charge customers extra for upgrades, additional insurance, and damage to vehicles. A 2017 Telegraph newspaper article outlines how their corporate offices in Leicester were raided by the UK's Trading Standards Office over these practices. Europcar settled a class action lawsuit in 2018 and yet they continue in this behavior. Avoid them at all costs. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/advice/car-hire-scams-europcar-employee-reveals-all/ read more

A Rude woman from Europcar called 14 minutes before delivery of the car was expected, first saying they could not locate a vehicle for me and then saying (contrary to their Terms and Conditions) that they would need to do an a credit check from Equifax (despite everything paid up front - no credit, and despite me not living in the UK). She then claimed that this is why she needed to cancel (contrary to the first claim about trying to find a car) THEY INVOICED ME 50GBP CANCELLATION CHARGE FOR *THEM* CANCELLING WITH 14 MINS NOTICE. AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS. read more

I booked my car in the US on Expedia. I booked it because the car and insurance, of $11 per day made it a great deal. When I arrived after Europcar would not take the insurance and charged me $50 per day. $550 more on site. Neither Europcar of Expedia were willing to help or contribute to the cost. I definitely feel ripped off by Europcar with few choices after already travelling for 15 hours. I asked the rep directly to help but she declined. read more

We were driving through Bordeaux to Paris expecting to arrive at 9pm. We missed our reservation for the hotel, and now we can't make it to Lyon for the next hotel. The whole trip was ruined, we waited 7 hours for a taxi to bring us to the airport to get our new car, and the tow truck to pick up our car with the flat tire did not come until 12am. We were then told by Europcar that they arranged for a hotel stay. When we got to the hotel, no one was there to check us in, they did not have our name on the reservation when we called the number given, and the code to get the room key was incorrect. We were left hopeless and unable to solve this problem with Europcar or the hotel. We had been promised a taxi to the Bordeaux Merignac airport on at least 4 occasions from operators in Madrid, where we booked the car. The Europcar operators in Bordeaux instructed us to call Madrid instead, while the Madrid office told us to contact Bordeaux. The offices declined to send emails confirming the taxis, tow truck, or the hotel. Therefore we were left without any clear information, and were left stranded in Bordeaux when the tow truck came to take the car. We still haven't had the problem resolved, but we got to the airport by bus thanks to the help of some locals. Avoid this company at all costs! read more

Think Twice! I reserved a car thru rental cars.com for a reasonable fee of $300. When I got there they said they did not have my car - an automatic - and only had a manual. They tried to rent me an automatic upgraded car for about $100 a day plus ins plus this and that for a tune of $1500 for the week. Luckily I saw Hertz and Enterprise next door. I quickly left and went to Enterprise and got a reasonable deal. read more

United Kingdom car hire assists you with all your car hire needs. We work with major car rental companies to help you get the lowest deals. Make reservations today for a fun filled and joyous holiday. http://www.entirecarhire.co.uk/united-kingdom/heathrow-airport_car_hire.htm read more

shame on me for not checking yelp. this is a scam. you have been warned. i talked to multiple people at the car return. all were scammed in one way or another!! read more

Deceptive salesmanship at Heathrow Airport. Rented a car through the portal of rentalcars.com. Requested an appropriate car to drive in England - stick shift for approximately 250 pounds for 4 days. Reasonable. When at the Heathrow desk to pick up our car we asked for a GPS add on and were told that none were available for our model. With great fanfare the agent went to his manager and said that he had gotten a great deal on another car with a GPS. He had us sign a new contract for approximately 290 pounds - written on the top of the contract with many zero charges below. The car was fine, but the 290 pounds was a surcharge for the upgrade more than doubling the price. If explained as a surcharge we certainly would not have signed. read more

DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY!!! Terrible experience from start to finish. We arrived to pick up our reserved vehicle at the London Heathrow location . It was complete mayhem, there were plenty of agents available, but they were too busy chatting with each other and preening themselves. After waiting for 30 minutes or more, we finally were summoned to the desk. The agent went over everything, then tried to sell me an upgrade several times, I refused. I informed him that I had insurance through Allianz, he then told me I HAD to purchase additional insurance, I tried to explain that the insurance I had purchased covered everything and presented him with the policy. Again, he insisted I had to purchase additional insurance. At this point I had been travelling and awake for 23 hours so I just agreed so I could get on my way. I felt like I was being held at gunpoint, not a pleasant feeling when you are forced to buy something you don't need. Finally, we were assigned a vehicle, off we went to load our luggage into the car. We got in the vehicle, it was dirty, switched on the ignition and there were 2 warning lights on the dashboard. Went back inside to the agent and informed him about the issues, another vehicle was assigned. Went to that vehicle, starting to reload the luggage and realized it was only a 3 door not a 5 door that we had reserved. Back to the agent yet again, at this point we are extremely frustrated and very tired. We were then told that he was going to upgrade us, hmmm. Out we go again, load the luggage yet again!! Yet another dirty vehicle but at least no warning lights and it had 5 doors. The car which supposedly was an upgrade was a 1 litre VW which barely fit our luggage and couldn't even get up a slight incline unless you drove in 2nd gear, it wasn't equipped with floor mats, it had pre-existing damage to the front passenger bumper too. By the way, NO-ONE performed a walk round or pre check of the vehicle in our presence. It WAS not an enjoyable experience to drive it. There seemed to be plenty of other vehicles available but I assume it was too much bother for the agent after keeping us there for nearly 2 hours. We felt like we were being punished for the problems we encountered although the problems were Europcars, not ours!! My sister rented a vehicle from Alamo, which was next door. She paid the same price as me, had the same insurance as me. She wasn't forced to purchase additional insurance, she was upgraded to a much nicer vehicle. We got a VW Polo and she got a Mercedes. Upon returning the vehicle, we noticed that every other car turned in was far superior to the one we had, which is another reason why we felt we were punished for complaining at pick-up. We are thoroughly disgusted with Europcar. Under no circumstances will I ever use this company again. read more

Do not use Europcar!! I booked a car with their St Pancras office and when I arrived I had to wait an hour to be seen. When I got to the front of the queue I was told they did not have a car for me even though I had a reservation (to pick up an hours earlier). Apparently they were expecting two cars of the type I ordered back from customers but they hadn't arrived. The response from the rather useless attendant was "there is nothing I can do - my hands are tied". When I got annoyed I was told that she was not going to deal with me and she shuttered up the office and left. Other car rental companies told me this was common for Europcar. I waited over 1.5 hours before being driven (by a rather helpful Europcar car washer) to another location to get my ordered car - over 2.5 hrs in total wasted. And what sort of discount would they offer - zero, zip, nothing - never again. read more

What ever you do, avoid this car rental at all cost. Horrible service and they just lie flat out! No way you can go in there and not pay extra if they see an opportunity. Will avoid Europcar in the future. The worst experience I have ever had at a car rental. Manager on duty 13.04.2019 at noon: Lying through his teeth. Kept looking in the same drawer at the same 4 keys saying first there were no such cars available. When I pointed out that there were a few dozens in the car park, he claimed they were all manual. When I showed him they were all automatic he claimed they must be employee owned. Right all marked Europcar and lined the first few rows of cars going out. Out of probably 200 cars in the lot he kept opening a drawer with the same four keys which were all to the same type of car which I did not want and did not order. A scam that ruined our first day of travel. And to add the car I got broke down and I had to drive 200 km in a broken down car to get it replaced. And don't get me started on the back pay they drew from my card months later. P.s. Since I cannot reply to Europcar reply. Then yes I have gone through all the process of claiming justice. To you that are thinking of doing so.... don't waste your time, just do not do business with them. read more

We went to Italy for 2 weeks for our honeymoon and we had this dream of zipping round the Tuscan towns and hills in a little Fiat 500. As a result I looked online to find somewhere that would guarantee this model of vehicle. The only one I could find was Europcar. It was a lot more than we have ever paid for a hire car but, as it was our honeymoon, we wanted it to be right. To hire the car class I think was around £350 but it cost another £200 to guarantee that particular model, like a fool I paid it because as I've said, I wanted our honeymoon to be perfect! We arrived to collect our car in Florence and were shattered having travelled from Rome and knowing we had another 2 hour drive to the hotel from here, I was also desperate for the loo. When we got to the shop I produced my printed confirmation which the advisor kept and took us to our car . . . a very old, very dirty, Fiat Panda. This was in no way what we had ordered and I was extremely disappointed. I raised the issue and all of a sudden the advisor no longer understood English (very convenient). I tried for a while and got 3 distinct broken English excuses which were "your suitcases are too big for the 500", "this is an upgrade" and "you haven't guaranteed the model". I had a quick look round the tiny garage and confirmed they didn't have a Fiat 500 and as they refused to let me use their toilet I decided to just take the car and deal with it via customer services from the hotel. This is exactly what I did, as soon as we got to the hotel I emailed with my complaint and suggested they either refund me the £200 extra or replace the car with the requested Fiat 500 . . . I never got a response. When we returned the car to Pisa Airport we were asked to sign a form to say we had returned the car. This is now exactly 1 month ago and today I have finally woken to a response RE my complaint . . . so here goes: "After looking into your case and speaking with the rental station they have confirmed that, the car was returned with damage and this is why you have been charged a higher amount for the rental. I have looked into this for you and can confirm the all rental agents are required to offer additional options to all customers when arriving at the rental station. It is then the customer's decision to accept or decline the options offered. I have reviewed the paperwork provided by the rental station which has been signed to accept the charges applied. Whilst I appreciate there may have been some form of misunderstanding at the rental station, I would be unable to comment further as I was not part of this rental process. When two parties are providing conflicting information I can only go by the information I have in front of me; which in this instance is a signed statement of return. Please be advised all customers can query any charges on the rental agreement before signing to accept. In light of the information above I can confirm no refund is due as all charges have been applied correctly. I can understand this is not the resolution you were seeking however I hope you can see our position on this." I can confirm we absolutely did NOT cause any damage to the vehicle or sign anything to say so or to accept any charges. Also, the comment of "this is why you were charged the extra amount" is laughable . . . we were charged the extra amount prior to even being in Italy to guarantee a particular model of car, so they're telling me there they pre-emptively charged me for damage they knew I would definitely cause . . . suspicious!! I have never been so shocked, disappointed and outraged by a company and cannot comprehend how they are permitted to continue operating with such legally questionable practices. Upon my return to the UK I have learned I am most definitely not alone in my exploits and so please, don't make the same mistake I did . . . read the reviews and AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!! read more

Very nice, friendly guys at the drop off point. The car was the one I picked on the web, new, very good (unlike the US you don't always get the Kia). I reserved well before the travel date and forgot I had payed for the full insurance package (which was a good deal). Got the small rear door glass shattered by some thief and was worried about the costs (which were covered). But I was worried. In short: please, can you remind travellers, when they pick up the car, what coverage they have? The paperwork showed zero coverage because it had been paid in advance, not at the counter. The reservation confirmation prints gave no info either. CrisM read more