Europcar - WTF? Damage?

[munitalP]

I have been trying to use Europcar recently when Avis isn't an option. An example is an early pick-up at AVV, I fly into MEL the night before then get Mrs M to drive me to AVV in the morning as it is reasonably close, and I head off south for meetins/site visits. Importantly it saves the company some rental, but more importantly, means I can have a drink or two at the J lounge prior to flying.

I like the Subaru outback cars, they are nice to drive and are well fitted out, complete with iPod bluetooth connectivity (music streaming) - better than any Avis option in the full size car range IMHO.

I am not any status with Europcar, and don't intend to be - ever.

My most recent rental from AVV, I went out to the car and inspected it for damage - all OK. I got in the car and it was an effin mess. There were smudges on the windows, dust in the car, spilt something on the floor - this car had the most minor of a clean and if I had not had been running late for a meeting 4 hours drive away, I would have gone back inside the airport and cracked the sh!ts. As it was, I snapped a couple of pics on the iPhone and left.

Next thing was, before hitting the freeway approx 500 meters from the carpark I had just left, the fuel gauge was already under the full line.

The comedy of errors carried on with the window washer emptying after the first wash and the car pulling to the left.

Disappointed - yes.

I returned the car to MEL 2 days later, dirty from road works, but none the worst for wear. On parking at 0430, I walked around the car inspecting it for damage - I cleaned the dust off at one spot but it turned out to be a false alarm. Happy the car was intact, I went off to hand the keys in. There were at that stage no vehicles either side of the Subaru.

There was no pick up person in the car park unlike AVIS who I could see were quite busy.

I entered Europcar office at MEL and spoke with the very pleasant lass behind the counter explaining that the car was filthy when I picked it up, and offered some pics to which they declined. I left and caught my flight to Sydney.

On arrival, I had a message from Europcar informing me that the passenger front guard was dented quite substantially and I would be getting charged - WTF! I rang back and was told there was a 10cm dent in the top of the front guard and they would be charging me. I asked for a photo or two which I was promised would be emailed to me and I left it at that, because no amount of arguing would fix the situation till I saw the images hopefully whisking through cyberspace on their way to my email address.

I saw nothing.

My AMEX was due the other day, and the first thing I noticed - two charges from Europcar. This triggered my memory as to the events a few weeks prior, and I got straight on the phone to customer services who then sent me the damage report and a heap of photos. They, without offering any information, charged my AMEX for a portion of the damage to the car - a 10mm dent (not cm) at exactly the height the door from the car parked next to the Subaru would have hit the guard.

Come on Europcar - use some common sense. It was obvious from the damage what had caused it, it wasn't my fault, you didn't contact me as promised, you supplied me a dirty car to begin with, then on top of it all, I had to chase you for ages today to get the new credit card invoice!

Europcar - not for me...

 

[Princess Fiona]

Yep, pretty much sums up my one and only experience with Europcar where I was charged 500 GBP upon return at GLA for a stone chip on the car bonnet after initially picking up the car in the dark, cold horizontal rain that GLA likes to turn on frequently.
I'm sure most if not all rental companies have inflicted similar dodgy excesses but its very annoying when it happens to you :evil:

 

[elbarto]

Had a similar experience with Europcar in TSV late last year. I chased and chased them for an explanation about the charges they made on my card without consulting me, only to claim that there was a chip on the windscreen. I did drive through some roadworks and do recall something hitting the windscreen, but didn't immediately notice any chips or dints on the car. So I still have some doubts as to wether or not there as a chip. But my main gripe is that I wasn't consulted before having my card charged, so I doubt I will use Europcar again.

 

[AVC]

Makes a good argument to take photos (or a walk around video) with the mobile phone when you get back, unless you do a walk around with one of the staff, (but that normally only happens at pick up IME).

 

[Simo]

I have only ever heard bad stories about Europcar and unknown damage after the car was returned.

 

[kpc]

It's anecdotes like these that make me hesitate to rent fromn Europcar, and using my DJ Plat Europcar upgrade. I only rent from AViS and Hertz now and never had any issues. Touch wood...

 

[jukebox333]

I used Europcar in Denmark last April for a one-way rental across the country and didn't have any dramas. Would gladly use them again.

Used Thrifty for a weekend rental from Adelaide and had a run in with the most obnoxious, offensive counter clerk I have ever met. Never again. Ever.

My point being, I think these things are pot luck sometimes, but yes, a walk around video or photos seems mandatory these days.

 

[AdMEL]

I have only ever heard bad stories about Europcar and unknown damage after the car was returned.

Agreed! Very rarely do you hear about Hertz and Avis, or even Budget and Thrifty, in this regard.

It's anecdotes like these that make me hesitate to rent fromn Europcar, and using my DJ Plat Europcar upgrade. I only rent from AViS and Hertz now and never had any issues. Touch wood...

Agreed! Having said that, I do occasionally rent from Europcar, as I occasionally like driving an Audi A6 or A5 convertible. To date, other than atrocious customer service I have posted about in other threads, I haven't been charged for any damage ... yet! Hopefully this continues when I rent an A6 from Europcar in a couple of weeks from OOL.

Mr, a couple of questions:

How deep was the dent? Europcar t&c's allow dents up to 20mm in diameter and 1mm deep as fair wear and tear! I have had issues with their staff not knowing what their own fair and tear rules are previously, although it was me arguing that several deep 100mm long scratches in the bonnet of an A5 convertible should be noted as damage as they were not fair wear and tear!

You mentioned Avis don't have anything in the large car class you like, but the only thing you really mention is bluetooth streaming, which many cars have now. Care to elaborate?

 

[munitalP]

...

Mr, a couple of questions:

How deep was the dent? Europcar t&c's allow dents up to 20mm in diameter and 1mm deep as fair wear and tear! I have had issues with their staff not knowing what their own fair and tear rules are previously, although it was me arguing that several deep 100mm long scratches in the bonnet of an A5 convertible should be noted as damage as they were not fair wear and tear!

You mentioned Avis don't have anything in the large car class you like, but the only thing you really mention is bluetooth streaming, which many cars have now. Care to elaborate?

Hey

The damage was minimal. in the pic, the "streaks are from dust being wiped away - exactly where the rear door from the car next to the Subaru (parked after I parked) was parked (I was reverse parked & car next forward from what I can see in the actual report)

I didn't mean there was nothing at all in the Avis fleet I don't like, my minimum is a XR6 and frequently upgraded to the GE or whatever it is, it's just that having driven the Subaru a few times now, I particularly like it.



If your dent statement is true, I shouldn't have been charged...

 

[Stephen65]

I have used Europcar without incident but I strongly advise a very careful walkaround with your iphone (or equivalent) in hand before you take any rental car these days. I make sure all damage is noted on the hire documents and take photos from every angle and a video as well. I then repeat the process of photography and videoing when I return the car and if possible when the staffer goes to check the car I go with them. Taking a photo inside showing mileage and fuel level when returned is good too.

Europcar does have a very well defined policy concerning fair wear and tear (there's a leaflet with illustrations in the rental materials) and this is worth understanding. The other thing I would advise the OP to do is to check the EXIF data on the pics to see just when they were taken.

 

[AdMEL]

Hey

The damage was minimal. in the pic, the "streaks are from dust being wiped away - exactly where the rear door from the car next to the Subaru (parked after I parked) was parked (I was reverse parked & car next forward from what I can see in the actual report)

I didn't mean there was nothing at all in the Avis fleet I don't like, my minimum is a XR6 and frequently upgraded to the GE or whatever it is, it's just that having driven the Subaru a few times now, I particularly like it.

View attachment 5971

If your dent statement is true, I shouldn't have been charged...

My quote comes from the fair wear and tear guide provided in addition to your rental agreement, every time you rent (I checked a recent one last night). It's a bit hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like it may be deeper than 1mm and may have broken the paint, both of which would mean it's not fair wear and tear according to Europcar.

If it was Hertz or Avis (or Budget), it's almost guaranteed you wouldn't have been charged.

Out of interest, how much did they charge you?

 

[markis10]

If its got a visible crease or paintwork has been damaged then it's not fair wear and tear.

 

[1022]

I've rented from Europcar 5 or 6 times over the last 3 years or so..

1: On my first rental with Europcar I managed to scratch a Peugeot in a car park in Hobart. Counter staff at HBA upon return were professional and gave an accurate assessment of the cost. I'd taken out excess reduction, so I was only charged the first $400 or so. All good.

2: I then had a few uneventful Audi rentals from Sydney William St.

3: A week or so after returning a Mondeo to DRW a an extra charge showed up on my card. I was expecting to be hit for excess km (DRW rentals only get 100km a day) but the charge was double what I'd estimated based on the km I'd driven. Can't remember exactly. $70 instead of $35 maybe. I called to query it. It took a while to get a response. They initially came back to say is was a refueling charge. I insisted I returned the car full and would happily send the fuel receipt showing how many litres I'd put in. Another few days later they said the refueling charge was a mistake and I'd be refunded $25, but they were hitting me with a small charge for extra cleaning. (I had admittedly been on a dirt road, but nothing that wouldn't cme off in a normal carwash).

4: Another one or two event-free Audi Rentals from Sydney Downtown.

5: My most recent (and probably last) Europcar rental. Again in HBA. Audi for a few days. Hi KM, base model A3, but ok condition apart from luggage scratches around the boot. Returned to HBA. All good. When I got off the plane in SYD I had two voicemails. 1st call I must have just missed during boarding. "Mr Chai_1022, this is [some bloke] from Europcar. We found a gravel chip on the vehicle you rented. It'll be sent to our repairers for quote and assessment and your credit card will be charged for the damage." I thought Bugger. Oh well, not much I can do about it. If there's a chip there's a chip. If it's only one or two hundred I'll just pay. If it's any more I'll call on the platinum card insurance. Second message which was left an hour or so later was from the same bloke. He said "Because you're a 'premium' customer and you rent from us regularly [5 time in 2 years = regular?!?!] my supervisor has agreed to waive the charge, but please be more careful in future." The whole episode was just a bit bizarre really and came at the time that Europcar Tasmania was being accused of exactly that sort of behaviour by certain lowbrow media outlets....just saying....

Sorry Europcar, but a 30% hit rate for spurious charges is pretty poor performance. In contrast I had 12 rentals with Avis last year and 10 with Hertz and not a single problem with either of them.

 

[awilcockson]

There's a reason I turned down the free Europcar status offer from Virgin. I've just heard too many stories like this from Europcar. Never had an issue with Hertz (like this anyway, don't get me started on being given uncleaned cars and not getting upgrades, but that's a completely different story).

 

[Stephen65]

@chai

Re number 5: Aren't you supposed to keep the Europcar Audis on sealed roads? Maybe that's what was exciting them about your gravel chip?

 

[JohnK]

Sorry to hear you have had issues but luckily it has been plain sailing for me so far and no reason to change.

For someone who does not hire cars very often it it hard to knock back the points so far which have resulted in a one-way in business class to BKK!

 

[Stephen65]

I've never had a problem with them. I just did a 21 day rental of an A4 station wagon from BNE that was all good.

I'm renting the same model car for 23 days in Europe in June. Europcar had by far the lowest one-way fee (collecting at FRA and dropping off at MXP) and no problems about me taking the car into neighbouring countries including Slovenia and Hungary.

Here's hoping my positive impressions continue.

 

[markis10]

I have had thirty rentals now with them since the Virgin offer, not had an issue (although I do a thorough walk around). Must admit I am hesitant to drop back a car to a non attended location for any company. At the moment the love is shared with Avis although Europcar are proving to be often a lot cheaper, Hertz systems have driven me mad.

 

[1022]

Re number 5: Aren't you supposed to keep the Europcar Audis on sealed roads? Maybe that's what was exciting them about your gravel chip?

@Stephen, after the Darwin incident (non Audi btw) I've been careful not to take Europcar vehicles off sealed roads. So unless the alleged chip came from the manicured gravel of either the Islington Hotel or Mona Pavilions carparks, it was a rogue stone on the rough streets of Hobart town or chucked at me by some Taswegian convict urchin child with two heads. (Or maybe there wasn't a chip at all - I certainly didn't see anything when I did my final walkaround the car upon returning it - as i always do).

 

[munitalP]

[LIKE]

........chucked at me by some Taswegian convict urchin child with two heads. .....

[/LIKE]





hahahahaha