Europcar Reviews 

I am extremely disappointed with my experience with Europcar.

I had booked a rental car well in advance at the Düsseldorf Airport location. After contacting customer service to change only the pick-up time, the representative cancelled my original reservation and created a completely new one. I was assured that this would not be a problem and that any remaining issues could simply be handled at the Europcar desk in Düsseldorf.

When we arrived at Düsseldorf Airport, we had to wait for more than two hours before we were finally assisted. In the end, we were told that we could not receive a car. The reason given was that we are from the Netherlands. This was completely unacceptable, especially since our reservation had been accepted and we were never informed beforehand that this could be an issue.

Because of this, we lost a significant amount of time, our travel plans were seriously disrupted, and we were left without any meaningful assistance. The communication between customer service and the local branch was clearly inadequate, and no reasonable solution was offered.

This has been, without question, the worst experience I have ever had with a car rental company. I will never use Europcar again and cannot recommend them to anyone.

We rented a car from the Europcar branch in Vila Nova de Gaia. About a week after returning the vehicle, we were shocked to discover that €755 had been charged to our credit card based on an allegation that we had refuelled the vehicle with the wrong fuel.

We strongly dispute this allegation. We provided Europcar with an original BP receipt showing that we refuelled the vehicle with Unleaded 95 immediately before returning it. Despite this evidence, the charge has not been reversed.

We are currently pursuing this matter through the appropriate consumer protection authorities in Portugal.

If anyone has experienced a similar situation with this branch or with Europcar Portugal, we would appreciate hearing about your experience.

Before renting from Europcar, I read reviews that noted their aggressive campaign to charge customers for body damage to vehicles, even to the point of charging multiple customers for the same damage. I thought this wasn't much different than other car companies so I rented from them anyway. What I found was actually an organized scam to extort significant penalties from customers. When I received the car, there was a small smudge on one door that I thought was just dirt, but I always take pictures just in case (which ended up saving me about 1000 euro). After I returned the car, I took pictures again. Before I even arrived home, there was an email from Europcar noting damage to the vehicle, with a picture showing three apparent scratches on the door. They followed up with an estimate from their body shop vendor estimating 1000 euro for the "repair." Funny thing was, the photo I had taken three hours before their photo still only showed the single smudge, which was greatly enhanced in their photo along with two new "scratches." I disputed the charge and sent my pictures. After a two week struggle to get a response, they acknowledged that the photos had proved my case and they would not charge for the apparent damage. DO NOT RENT FROM THESE SCAM ARTISTS!

Don’t use Europcar! Gave us a car which was dangerous, tyre blew on way to airport leaving us stranded on busy highway. Help was terrible, we made plane with minute to spare. They then charged us for repairs, recovery and taxi plus surcharge for not refuelling. After I complained they said their mechanic’s assessment was that it was our fault not a defective tyre. Thanks to ECRCS Europcar refunded monies apart from refuelling surcharge. No apologies or compensation.

In all services, the first impression is the one that lasts, right?
When selecting the vehicle from the rental company, I had in mind the vehicle that was pictured and described on the contract page. I understand that between the lines there is "or similar";
This is the problem, if you put what the similar vehicles are next to the photo of the vehicle that is on the website pages, the consumer would have the chance to be sure of what they are choosing, they would know what other options are available.

Due to this "appearance error" I ended up renting from a place far from my residence, it was a mistake I will not make again. There was a rental company very close to my house, and I didn't choose it because of the types of vehicles they were describing on the pages. If I had known that "the similar" would be like the one described here nearby, I wouldn't have wasted so much time.

Regarding the vehicle, I rented a Peugeot 2008 electric, a really bad car, very cramped for 4 large people. As the driver, I couldn't stretch my legs without inconveniencing the person in the back seat. A vehicle without many attractive interior features.

This cramped situation was very difficult; I took a long trip and it wore me out a lot.

Took my money and then said couldn't hire me a car cause I had been a victim of identity fraud. Not sure how that works when you have to provide photographic identification when collecting

We landed in Puerto Rico on a Sunday at 4pm, waited 30 mins for a shuttle to Europcar. Called 4 times, no one answered. We ended up hailing a taxi to take us to the europcar location. When we arrived we saw the shuttle bus parked outside the mobile trailer, walked into the trailer and saw 4 employees laughing and chatting it up. I told them we called 4 times, no answer and the shuttle is parked outside so how do you expect customers to pickup their rental. Another couple had to pay for a taxi as well because the shuttle was not running. The taxi driver told us europcar is the worst, they strand customers because they stop running the shuttle 2 to 3hrs before closing time. I will never rent from europcar again, I also received the rental will a quarter less than a full tank. Inspect the vehicle well, the employees didn’t mark down major scratches and dents on the car, when I went back in to update the paperwork they gave me a crazy look. Overall the customer service is pathetic and the employees are lazy and unprofessional.

It was a terrible experience.

At the return, they claimed there was a 2–3 cm paint damage on the wheel arch and charged my credit card €222. I disputed the charge because we kept the car in secure indoor parking for almost the entire rental and barely drove it.

It has now been 13 days since I contacted customer service, and they have provided no explanation at all. To make matters worse, they even tried to charge my credit card again last night without any explanation!

Stay away from these scammers!!

Very rare for me to write a review. Do not use Europcar in Scotland.

I recently hired a vehicle from Edinburgh Airport to Glasgow Airport. Although expensive, I knew it would be and that was fine.

The woman at the desk was very nice but didn’t really say much or give me much information. Upon paying and grabbing the keys she told me to take photos of anything I notice wrong with the car and keep them. So I did just that. The car was disgusting, had not been cleaned since it had been last returned so I took a fair few photos just to keep myself safe as I’d heard (although never experienced have used Enterprise a lot previously) that rental companies find ways to charge you extra. There were a few scuffs and a lot of dirt. I had the car from around 4.55pm-5.55pm (non-stop, motorway).

Upon returning the car to Glasgow, I gave the key to a person at the desk. Who asked me, “was there no one in the cabin?” I said, no and he took the keys from me and that was it. No walk around, no joint inspection or anytning. He said, “if you have used credit card your deposit won’t even be taken from your account by the time you’ve returned it but we usually say 3-5 days”. So I left the car.

I then got my statement of return which detailed the WRONG return time and “new” damage. I have disputed this due to the sheer impossibility of it happening under my watch. Europcar have lied about the information I was given, have lied about the pre-checks that took place, have taken money from my deposit and are looking for me to pay for the damage which could not possibly have been caused by me.

Pay slightly more and use Enterprise! The whole experience from start to finish was 1000x better each time.

The counter staff at London Gatwick South Terminal gave us a "free" upgrade, which we never asked for — then charged us for it. Sold as ‘it is your lucky day’. No real explanation. When I called it out, I was told the fee would go back to my bank account. It never did.

I'd already paid in full online when I booked. Then got charged again at the counter. And when I tried to dispute it, Europcar refused to accept anything but written proof — witnesses mean nothing to them. So that extra 80% is just gone. No refund, no recourse, nothing.

This is a scam dressed up as a legit company. Don't fall for it. Get everything in writing before you sign a single thing and please read everything carefully.

I booked through Ryanair the cheapest car possible. Arriving at 11pm at night they sneakily upgraded the car. Why would I want to double my rental price ok a whim at 11pm at night?
I complained to Europcar and they have no recourse for their despicable and shady upgrades

Figari airport Corsica - Extremely rude staff at pickup plus had to wait for over an hour in the baking heat as you can’t queue in the office. Then on getting to the pickup desk the staff member was more interested in making sarcastic jokes about the people her colleague was serving than actually doing the job. Also tried to scam people into buying a 45 euro internal cleaning package - who ever heard of having to hoover out your rental car before returning it? Threatened with a 100 euro cleaning fee if declined - disgraceful behaviour. Made worse when they were offering same package to native French people at a much lower price - as if we can’t understand French and hear them trying to rip us off. You lot should be ashamed.

Charged me £550 for damages I did not make on the vehicle!!!!

They hold your pre-authorised security deposit for a month for no reason. With other retanl companies, I get refund straight away upon car return.

Very agressive employee Europcar Calvi Corsica. I have rented several times a rental car from Europcar in different countries. Never had a problem and always very friendly people. Till we brought our rental car back in Calvi Corsica at the airport. Out of the blue a very agressive employee came and complained that our car was not clean according to him. According to me it was very clean, there was no trash and it was not dirty. Only a little bit sand in the trunk from the beach. He was so agressive that when I was filming the car to prove later that it was clean if they would charge us for this and hit my phone out of my hands. I told him I am his customer and do not want to be treated like this. He continued and calling us names. Unbelieveable. We will never rent a car from Europcar anymore, this person treated us a like shit and we got a bad feeling at the end of our holiday.

Theft!!! I rented a car and left my bag inside. I realized this only after I had already dropped the keys in the drop-off box. Since there were no staff members on site, I wrote to the lost property department. I received no response, no matter how hard I tried to get in touch. Then, someone I know in Rome went to the drop-off point and personally asked about the bag left in the car two hours earlier—I had been in a rush to catch a flight. The employee claimed there hadn't been any bag! Yet I know 100% that the bag was left in the trunk. The contents were worth 600 euros. Clearly, the employee simply stole the bag. I am very disappointed.

I checked in and uploaded my driver license. I received an approval; there was no mentioning of International Driving Permit (IDP). I had many communications with Europcar, especially at check-in you should have alerted me that a NY driver license is not enough.
However

They should not approve me if they ask for all the documents during check in and not everything is submitted. Why would they approve a rental and my license if IDP is required. When I get an approval in check in with no mentioning of IDP I assume I’m approved. A bit deceiving and unprofessional to do so. I will assume that something so critical, and that can really screw up a client, will be very clearly mentioned. At a minimum during check in you should inform your client that the driver license (that was approved) is not enough and IDP is needed.

I do know of at least one other person who rented from them WITHOUT IDP that day.

Rented a car for one week in Madrid. Upon return I was charged €120 cleaning cost (the car was dusty), a minuscule scratch was detected and I was charged a penalty fee for not submitting a Damage Report. After many, many complaints, the penalty fee was waived. On top of all these additional costs the Airport Surcharge percentage was added. Then all costs were subtracted from my credit card, including the “waived” penalty fee. I have protested many times, but get no response whatsoever. Europcar is a criminal organisation. Their management belongs in jail

I was disappointed not only by the way my rental was handled, but by Europcar’s complaint process afterwards.

I booked my car through CarFlexi and selected the highest level of protection available. Based on my booking confirmation, I expected to pay a total of EUR 150.48 (EUR 40.95 to CarFlexi and EUR 109.53 at the Europcar desk).

Instead, Europcar took EUR 159.70 from my card, meaning I paid EUR 191.66 in total. To make matters even more confusing, the invoice Europcar later sent me was for EUR 175.50, which doesn’t even match the amount they actually charged.

I submitted a detailed complaint with copies of my booking confirmation, invoice and bank statement, setting out all of the figures and asking for an explanation of why:

* I was charged more than the agreed booking price.
* The amount taken from my bank didn’t match the invoice.
* I had overpaid by EUR 41.18.

Unfortunately, Europcar’s response failed to address any of these points. The complaint was effectively dismissed without explaining the discrepancies or investigating the payment mismatch.

I’m not simply looking for a refund—I wanted a proper explanation backed up by the payment records I provided. After spending considerable time documenting everything, I expected a much more thorough investigation and customer service than I received.

I booked the hire car from Munich airport through CarFlexi with reference number CF027ADF. I then raised the complaint with Europcar with a case number of #26888236.

Chris Pippard

Absolutely terrible- very bad experience and not recommend in USA. Its 3rd party company with no live representative and email response delay by 48 hours or none response ( office in europe) you cant cancel with the direct local company they use in my case FOX you have to contact them which is impossible. USA number no answer no messages response. Stay away pay little more and book direct company.