Report Abuse

Report this review to the Review Centre Team

Here at Review Centre we work hard to make sure we are the best place on the internet for honest, unbiased consumer reviews - we are grateful for your help in keeping us that way!

6689341

Why are you reporting this review?

If you represent this business why not claim your page by creating a Free Business Account where you will receive improved review monitoring functionality.


★☆☆☆☆

“Europcar beware”

written by victorhugo on 08/02/2017

I rented a small Lancia from Europcar last September for 16 days while my wife and I were on holiday in Sicily. The rental was satisfactory and there were no incidents or problems. We returned the car to Palermo airport where it was inspected by a Europcar agent and the return acknowledgement form was signed without any problems being indicated.

Then in December I saw that I had had an extra 270 € debited by Europcar from my credit card. After a lengthy exchange of e-mails and telephone calls with the Customer Service department, I was told that I had been charged for the replacement of two tyres and I was sent photographs of two tyres, one totally burst and the other with minor damage. Despite my evident good faith, the Customer Service department stuck to the account given them by the Palermo branch and refused to reimburse me.

The burst tyre was so damaged that it would have been impossible to have driven with it, so supposedly it was the ‘spare’ tyre and the ‘damaged’ tyre was mounted on the vehicle. In any case, I had in no way interfered with the tyres during the rental.

This case raises several issues:

1) The signed return form at the end of the rental is worthless as Europcar permits itself to charge the client for any alleged damage or replacement when he or she is no longer there and able to verify the claim.
2) The damage to the tyres can only have occurred during a previous rental and so the car was initially handed over to me by Europcar without a serviceable spare tyre and with one damaged tyre installed. This is a serious safety concern and only shows that cars may not be properly inspected and checked between rentals.
3) The Customer Service department never took my version of events into account and just blindly followed the paperwork forwarded to them by the Palermo branch.

These are three extraordinary systemic failings in Europcar’s procedures.

Naturally, I will never be using Europcar as a rental provider again, but I would urge any of you who do to take the utmost precautions when taking possession of and returning a vehicle.

P. Shawcross

Was this review helpful? 0 0