Arrived at Barcelona Airport to pick up car to be told the name on the account was incorrect and didn't match my husbands drivers licence. But his licence matched everything else including the card it was paid for on, the email address etc. It is clear there was some technical issue where the wrong surname for my husband had been picked up. 2 hours trying to sort it at the airport with 4 children in tow and still got nowhere. We were told its tough it's our mistake (yes because my husband doesn't know his own surname?!?!) It was clear it was a technical issue but instead of modifying or refunding they kept all the money and we had to book another car at the airport. Absolutely appalling customer service and I will be pursuing to the ombudsman. Stay well clear of these sham artists and don't waste your time speaking to the most unprofessional customer service workers I've ever come across.

- Rental location incorrectly listed as on airport site - Rental company had given my car to someone with similar name(!), after prolonged wrangling eventually given downgraded car - Auto Europe not interested at all, customer service non-existent - Took SIX WEEKS to respond when these issues were raised during which time they had done absolutely nothing, essentially saying I needed to pursue it myself - Stark contrast with competitors such as Holiday Autos whose customer care is excellent - A shameful display. I bitterly regret using Auto Europe and certainly won’t be making this mistake again

I booked a car from Autoeurope through Europcar's website in the UK (who are the brokers and who are actual hirers can be difficult to work out), prior to our week long holiday to Sicily. After spending time researching prices, insurance information and reviews, I paid £70 -£80 extra for the recommended full cover insurance to avoid potential issues. I read the extra detailed information for this add on and I was confident everything was fine. The total hire was around 100 more expensive than the cheapest available but I felt better having the peace of mind. On picking up the keys from Autoeurope at Palermo Airport I received a VERY aggressive sales push from the Autoeurope rep. He virtually demanded that I buy the extra top up insurance from him. He told me that the insurance i had bought through Europcar's website was the broker's insurance and didn't mean anything and was worthless stating that any scratches more than 20mm would be charged for and could work out very expensive for me. Sicily's roads in towns can be very narrow and driving is very difficult be stressed. I held my ground and refused which seemed to annoy him. We arrived quite late at night and were tired after our long journey. On inspecting our hire Fiat 500 we were amazed and disappointed to see there were dents and scratches everywhere! The car was so dented and marked it would be difficult to find a door, wing or bumper without a mark. I videoed the entire exterior of the car in case we had any problems when we returned it. The car was great inside though it hadn't been cleaned! It performed flawlessly during our stay and I really enjoyed driving it! I usually drive a much larger automatic car but this small manual car was fun to drive! However the insurance threat was always in the back of my mind throughout the holiday. Returning the car was easy and the gentleman who booked the car in on my return couldn't have been friendlier and made the process very easy. 5 stars to this gentleman and 1 star or actually zero to the guy in the desk who tried to force extra insurance on me and made me worry about this during our holiday!

Hired a car through AutoEurope for US holiday. When we arrived after 9 hour flight found that the partner we thought was providing the car rental in US was Advantage not Europcar as we were advised when we booked. Advantage staff were disinterested and misleading. The electronic device on which the rental agreement had to be signed showed only one line of text at a time and when I said repeatedly that I declined the option or it was already purchased the only reply was "It's Ok, its included just sign". The resulting invoice was in my view deliberately confusing and when charged on returning the vehicle at the end of the car hire my bill only arrived as I was sat in Departures lounge. On return to the UK I took up with AutoEurope but their customer service staff while superficially friendly and helpful did nothing substantive, merely relaying the Advantage line and trying to close the case at one point. In the end I got the response that there was nothing they could do. No recognition that they had changed partner from Europcar to Advantage and nothing to say what they were going to do to address the problems that one of their advisers freely admitted they were having with Advantage. I will NEVER use AutoEurope again.

Flight late, arrived and interrent car rental company closed [only 21:40]. Called Auto Europe who also were closed. Unable to collect car. Stuck at Gatwick airport! Next morning contacted Auto Europe who put me through to Interrent. Car had been released and NO CHARGES had been made. Back to Auto Europe. Despite extensive details and being unable to contact them they refused to countenance or consider my claim. Failed to follow their own Terms and Conditions. Terms and Conditions are very poorly written and deliberately vague on definitions.

I booked a car for two weeks in Marseille. It was a short notice rental but nowhere does it state they you need to book more than 48 hours in advance. The first reservation did not go through and no emails were answered so I called the support line. Spent an hour on the phone with a very helpful agent and supplied a lot of additional information. I was prepaying for an employee. Ended the conversation with everything is good to go, the car was prepaid and of they need to change to a different car they would take care of it. My employee lands at the airport, the reservation was cancelled and Eurocar forced him to pay upfront for a car at 3 times the negotiated price. I don't know if it is an Auto Europe thing or a Euro Car thing to increase booking revenue but I will not use either again

Auto Europe told me I had prepaid the full amount for the car hire at Fuerteventura Airport with InterRent. However there where loads of extra charges/taxes applied by InterRent and I ended up paying an extra £50 in charges. Auto Europe ignored my calls/emails and just said they were unable to help or refund me in any way for the excess charges they did not tell me about. Their Customer Service department was very bad and is only open from 9am-1pm on weekdays and closed on Saturday & Sunday. InterRent told me they had many problems with Auto Europe.

I booked a car with Autoeurope to pick up in France . I only had the car 1 day and returned the car with a full tank of fuel as requested but when I got home I found that I had been charged 5 euros for fuel and 29 euros admin charge .  Autoeurope refuse to acknowledge !!

One of the worst experiences ever in my life Car hired was 10 years old and in poor state with damages all over Kept waiting 1 hour as could not find a car, when arrive front light not working and then no fuel Needed to leave 1,350 deposit which was worth more than the value of the car Told I was lucky to get a car as its high season yet booked 3 months earlier On return tried to charge for damage lucky I had photos when I picked up. Never will use Auto Rental again as only a broker looking for income Don't care about the service offered. Fill in survet when returned but heard nothing

Arranged for a car to be collected in Bordeaux. We arrived and were told they did not have the car. They did not make any effort to find an alternative so we were forced to find a last minute alternative. This meant losing a few hours of our holiday and incurring additional expense. Did Auto Europe do the decent thing and cover our costs? Of course not!!! they could not have cared less. Please do not use this company. Yuliya G in their 'customer service' department is particularly unpleasant and seems to enjoy disappointing people.

After making a booking with Thrifty via Autoeurope and being unsure of what time my flight arrives at my destination I placed a random pickup time which I knew to be a bit earlier than I would actually arrive, thinking all would be OK because I was paying for a 12 day hire for an 11 day and 2 hour hire. Thank you to all who shared their similar, bad experiences on various forums because it scared the bejeesus out of me and prompted me to contact AutoEurope with my correct arrival time which is actually some 3 hours after my stated arrival time. Oh no sir, that won't be possible. We need to redo the booking at a much higher price. Didn't you read our terms and conditions? What a crock of bull. What would it matter to them or Thrifty if I turned up a bit late. They also gleefully informed me that the booking would be cancelled if I turned up late. They have my money for the hire period and aren't losing anything. I have been "lucky" and can cancel the booking but what about people who aren't aware of their onerous terms and conditions and what happens if your flight arrives late? My suggestion that they really should make this condition much clearer to their clients was met with scorn and disdain. I ended the conversation when the AutoEurope agent continuously spoke over me and started shouting at me. So petty and discourteous a company I have never come across before and I strongly recommend avoiding them at all costs

Quoted £147 for a weeks car hire, requested the quote to be e mailed to me. Could not book immediately due to an insecure internet connection. Got home two hours later and tried to book the quoted figure which had then increased to £247. Rang the call centre and was patronised to death by Lorenzo at the Lisbon call centre and was given the run of the mill excuses along the lines of "It's out of our control" If that really is the case, do not quote fictitious prices that are simply a ruse to get you onto their site.

landed at Barcelona airport after a TWO HOUR flight all exited about our hols, Interrent was where we were told to collect the car, WE THEN WAITED OVER THREE HOURS (LONGER THAN OUR FLIGHT)STOOD UP IN A LINE OF ANGRY PEOPLE ALSO WAITING FOR A CAR. Why the long wait,finally on getting the car it was not full of petrol, but by this time fed up and could not be bothered to find a rep from the company we departed. What a bad start to our holiday.

Been waiting for over an hour in car park for gold car. So badly organised no one has told anyone even which queue to be in. Still waiting in this heat... Don't understand why picking up keys has to take so long

I booked a car through Autoeurope for Avis a BMW 218 paid more for the BMW than other cars form Auto Europe/Avis web site and also paid the Collision Waiver Damage (CWD) insurance when booking. This insurance is with Auto Europe and not with Avis. When i arrived at the airport to collect the car i was informed by the Avis staff that the CWD does NOT cover the full value of the excess for the insurance if you involved in an accident. If you read the T&C's they say it covered for the full amount. So, needing to leave the airport i asked how much to more do you need to cover the excess they replied nothing will take a pre authorization on your credit card for 1,600 euros. i needed to go so handed over my card and awaited my keys. Oh...keys for a Ford Focus that's the only car we have in the same class well i booked a BMW and called Auto Europe yesterday to confirm, "that's all we have" came the reply..."take it or we will cancel your booking" i expected better from Avis an international company, in the end they gave me a Fiat 500 L which was a lot cheaper on the Auto Europe web site. With the bad experience i would will not use them again....its shame that companies behave in this manner.

I have rented from Auto europe a car in Palma de Mallorca. Their local partner, recordGo, is the worst rent a car company in the world. They have a horrible service, a two hour wait to get the car and a one hour wait to bring back the car. After we changed our booking, Auto Europe said they would pay us back 150 GBP but they never did and when I tried to reach them on the phone, I was kept on hold for two hours before they hung up on me. One month after the rental, I still have not received my money back. These guys should be avoided at any price

I hired a car through autoeurope and paid for the car - what I did not realise was that I had merely paid a brokerage fee. My flight was delayed and I was therefore late picking up the car, but, because the car firm ( Firefly) had not received my money, they had given my car to someone else. Phone calls to autoeurope were useless - they offered me a £90 booking fee and a two hour delay whilst they fixed me up with something different. In the end, I just took the hit financially and booked my own car at the airport . I now have to try and get my money back from auto-Europe. So far , I have heard nothing from them - they are so not interested. Possibly the worst company I have ever used - DO NOT TRUST THEM

First off all nowhere do they tell you that the price they quote you and have you pay for your supposed car, and for which they send you a voucher for the car at the car company desk is in fact a brokerage fee and not for the car rental as you believe. On returning the car deposits ect that should have been reimbursed to my credit card where In fact not returned and they have actually taken more money from my card! I wouldn't touch this lot if they were the only car hire firm in the world which they aren't! DO NOT USE

We used this company in December on our holiday in dubai worst experience of my life we arrived at airports and expected a car ready waiting for us but the man at the desk start demanding more money like double the price we already paid. start ringing back auto Europe in UK made huge phone bills ( £ 150 ) on the end we have to go to company next door and got car Since then till today didn't get my money back and different excuses every time I ring.They are liar.Dont trust them.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Booked a car online for a week for €15 (Goldcar). When I arrived at Goldcar counter in Seville, they had me pay a mandatory 'service fee' of €27. Nowhere in my booking or on their site did Auto Europe mention this fee. Second, I booked the car with the full-empty fuel option, but nevertheless I had to return the car with a full fuel tank, otherwise Goldcar would charge me €80. Third, I wanted to extend my reservation and contrary to what Auto Europe states on their website, this CANNOT BE DONE BY PHONE. Fourth, their partner Goldcar who supplies the cars is an absolute disaster. They deliberately don't mention damage on their report of damage so they can AND WILL charge you afterwards for this damage that was already there. Same for (over)charging for supposed overdue return of car et cetera. Summarized, the deals from Auto Europe look great on the internet but end up a major disappointment in the end. Bait & switch with quite some hidden, mandatory fees.