Economycarrentals.com Review

Overall Rating

DANGEROUS AND UNHELPFUL - DONT EVEN GO THERE!ONLY ONE STAR BECAUSE I CANT GIVE A ZERO!

After eventually finding where we needed to collect the car (Auriga Crown at Faro Airport - agents for Economy Car Rentals)they tried to give us a Skoda Fabia that was badly scratched. Their explanation for the scratches was that it was a rental car (we have never been given a car in such a condition before) They also marked every single scratch on the car on their paperwork - and made clear that we would be liable for any further scratches. There were so many scratches on the car it was worrying to know if all of them had been captured - if not we would then be liable.


As every single panel on the car already needed a respray it would appear unfair to be charged for this.

As the agent was taking an inordinate amount of time checking the car over we also took the opportunity to inspect the car closely and discovered that the car had two front bald tyres. We refused this car on safety grounds given the condition of the tyres - if we had needed to have braked hard we would have been certain to be involved in an accident as there was no grip on the tyres and then been liable to pay for this - seems like a money making exercise and I think customers need to be aware of this and the safety issues. For an agent to send out cars that are not roadworthy is an absolute disgrace.

We were then given a Skoda Roomster which looks like a cross between the Pope Mobile and a car with disabled access. Given that we are neither papal or have mobility requirements we were disappointed with this. It also had 2 hub caps missing and some scratches ('it is a rental car' phrase heard for 45th time). The agent also alleged that this was an upgrade to the Skoda Fabia that we had been allocated initially. It was also alleged that the Fabia was an upgrade to the car that we had booked which I disagreed with.

We asked for another car but were told that we would have to pay 50 euros to 'upgrade' to a Megane - allegedly the only other car available. Given that we had booked a Peugeot 306/VW Polo or equivalent we deemed this to be unreasonable (there werent even any of these cars at Auriga Crown). We did offer to pay 30 euros as a compromise but after the agent phoned his boss this was refused. Given the appalling service and condition of the cars we were then reluctant to pass another euro to this company. We then said that we take the Fabia with the tyre changed but they were unwilling to do this for us. The bald tyres had been discussed between the agent and the boss during their phone call - apparently the boss had said that the tyres were legal! I can tell you that one was definitely not legal (down to the mark on the central tyre area and completely shiny on the edge of the tyre) and the other was absolutley borderline in the central tyre area and very very worn at the outer edges.

As a result we were stuck with the Roadster which the rental guy was trying to tell us was an upgrade. We couldnt even fit the golf clubs into the boot of it during the holiday (without suitcases) without dropping the back seats so not sure where Roomster name comes from either.

Collecting the car took about 45 minutes which is a joke.

When returning the car to the airport, Auriga Crown were unable to credit the 750 euro deposit they had taken to the card due to 'technical difficulties'. This took another 7 days for this to be refunded - another money making exercise whilst our money sits in Auriga Crown's bank. The handover of the car also took a ridiculously lengthy period of time as a result of this.

I contacted Economy Car Rentals on my return home and despite several follow up emails have received only holding emails - it is now 4 months later - what on earth can take that long?????

I wanted to let potential customers know of our experiences - it would be remiss of me not to make people aware of my concerns regarding safety issues not to mention the shocking customer service