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Feeling conned by Europcar
IhateEuropcar
Posts: 14 Forumite
I have been so angered by my recent treatment at the hands of what I had thought to be a reputable company that I felt compelled to join this site and share my experience.
I booked a rental car through Europcar in Nice, after receiving a link to their site where I made the booking through a rental car price comparison site. On the price comparison site (I forget which one I used) there was a list of vehicles and the rental cost for the period I had specified. I chose a Mercedes C-Class, a link took me through to the Europcar page and I booked the car, receiving a confirmation email with a Mercedes C-Class on it. In the small print it said I would receive this car “or similar”.
When I arrived at the Europcar desk at Nice airport (which took nearly an hour on the circular bus from Terminal 1) they tried to give me a Citroen C5. Having had one of these before (which I had consciously ordered) I said I did not want it, if I did I would have paid much less on the car comparison site (Citroen C5s were available to be booked for much less money due to the fact they're less desirable). When I drove one before I found it in my opinion to be heavy, underpowered and with a cheap interior. I said this was not a comparable car to a Mercedes C-Class, although an Audi A4, A BMW 3-series would have been. I also said that in nobody's perception except theirs, or perhaps Citroen’s is a Citroen C5 comparable to a Mercedes C-Class.
I ended up refusing the car and took a taxi into Nice, because the prices for car rental on the day were much in excess of what could have been booked in advance. I eventually received a partial refund, (and was made to feel I was very lucky to be receiving it), but minus a "no show fee" of £45.
I kept saying this was ridiculous as I did "show" and I had the right to refuse what I did not feel to be an acceptable service when being presented with a different option to the one I had paid for. I talked to three Europcar customer service agents on the phone and had an e-mail dialogue of nearly 10 emails before they eventually decided to return my £45. Prior to that they kept on replying telling me I would receive no refund because a Citroen C5 is just like a Mercedes C-Class.
Here is an example:
"Thank you for your further query to Europcar Customer Services, received on 21st March 2014.
All vehicles are indicated on the website to be an example model from that category. There is a picture of a model of a vehicle, the name of the model, and the words “or similar”. The Citroen C5 is of a similar size and specification to the Mercedes C Class and so is one of the vehicles available in the group booked.
There will be no refund in this instance.
I trust this email now clarifies our position on this matter."
If a Citroen C5 is so similar to a Mercedes C-Class, why does Europcar not include the vehicle in its luxury car range promotions where they feature Audi A4s, the BMW 3-series and the Mercedes C-Class?
I feel this is a con by Europcar to lure customers with the promise of a more expensive car that won't actually be available. Instead the customer is given a cheaper option that Europcar has (I have no doubt) paid much less for. I would be very interested to know how many Citroen C5s Europcar has in comparison to Mercedes C-Class vehicles.
What was most utterly frustrating about my experience was having already wasted an hour of my time, facing the disappointment of not having a car during my time in France due to not wanting to accept what I felt was a con, I then had to waste at least 2-3 hours arguing for a refund that was my legal right under the sale and supply of goods act. Instead all I got was Europcar bureaucratic waffle. It was only when I said I'd take them to court under a small claims procedure that I finally got a full refund.
Europcar have, in my opinion, behaved like a bunch of shysters and I will never, ever use them again.
I booked a rental car through Europcar in Nice, after receiving a link to their site where I made the booking through a rental car price comparison site. On the price comparison site (I forget which one I used) there was a list of vehicles and the rental cost for the period I had specified. I chose a Mercedes C-Class, a link took me through to the Europcar page and I booked the car, receiving a confirmation email with a Mercedes C-Class on it. In the small print it said I would receive this car “or similar”.
When I arrived at the Europcar desk at Nice airport (which took nearly an hour on the circular bus from Terminal 1) they tried to give me a Citroen C5. Having had one of these before (which I had consciously ordered) I said I did not want it, if I did I would have paid much less on the car comparison site (Citroen C5s were available to be booked for much less money due to the fact they're less desirable). When I drove one before I found it in my opinion to be heavy, underpowered and with a cheap interior. I said this was not a comparable car to a Mercedes C-Class, although an Audi A4, A BMW 3-series would have been. I also said that in nobody's perception except theirs, or perhaps Citroen’s is a Citroen C5 comparable to a Mercedes C-Class.
I ended up refusing the car and took a taxi into Nice, because the prices for car rental on the day were much in excess of what could have been booked in advance. I eventually received a partial refund, (and was made to feel I was very lucky to be receiving it), but minus a "no show fee" of £45.
I kept saying this was ridiculous as I did "show" and I had the right to refuse what I did not feel to be an acceptable service when being presented with a different option to the one I had paid for. I talked to three Europcar customer service agents on the phone and had an e-mail dialogue of nearly 10 emails before they eventually decided to return my £45. Prior to that they kept on replying telling me I would receive no refund because a Citroen C5 is just like a Mercedes C-Class.
Here is an example:
"Thank you for your further query to Europcar Customer Services, received on 21st March 2014.
All vehicles are indicated on the website to be an example model from that category. There is a picture of a model of a vehicle, the name of the model, and the words “or similar”. The Citroen C5 is of a similar size and specification to the Mercedes C Class and so is one of the vehicles available in the group booked.
There will be no refund in this instance.
I trust this email now clarifies our position on this matter."
If a Citroen C5 is so similar to a Mercedes C-Class, why does Europcar not include the vehicle in its luxury car range promotions where they feature Audi A4s, the BMW 3-series and the Mercedes C-Class?
I feel this is a con by Europcar to lure customers with the promise of a more expensive car that won't actually be available. Instead the customer is given a cheaper option that Europcar has (I have no doubt) paid much less for. I would be very interested to know how many Citroen C5s Europcar has in comparison to Mercedes C-Class vehicles.
What was most utterly frustrating about my experience was having already wasted an hour of my time, facing the disappointment of not having a car during my time in France due to not wanting to accept what I felt was a con, I then had to waste at least 2-3 hours arguing for a refund that was my legal right under the sale and supply of goods act. Instead all I got was Europcar bureaucratic waffle. It was only when I said I'd take them to court under a small claims procedure that I finally got a full refund.
Europcar have, in my opinion, behaved like a bunch of shysters and I will never, ever use them again.
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Comments
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Similar happened to me last week with europcar in Cyprus.
Also the receive full tank take back empty is a further con.
I was charged 120 euros for a full tank. when I refilled during hire period it only cost 70 euros locally.
Also its a real pain trying to take a car back with an empty tank.
glad you got your refund.
I am going to be more careful next time.0 -
On their website, when you click on Mercedes Classe C it says "Similar Cars MERCEDES CLASSE C AUDI A4 AUDI A4 BERLINE VOLVO V60 DRIVE STOP AND START" This is for premium cars.
When you click on standard, it shows a Renault Laguna and says "Similar Cars RENAULT LAGUNA FORD MONDEO CITROEN C5 SW PEUGEOT 508"
So according to them, they are different classes of car!
http://www.europcar.co.uk/DotcarClient/step2.action (just click on more details for the cars and it tells you what similar ones are).
What a pain in the bum for you!0 -
Thanks Rosipossum for pointing out the contradiction in the standard company gibberish they were sending me.
It's just so aggravating that a company behaves like this towards consumers. I guess the manner in which I was treated is simply the standard hostile defensive reaction to what is a dodgy practice. When companies are in the wrong like that, they get defensive, insist they are right and deny any wrongdoing or responsibility.
Like ivavoucher I definitely will be far more careful when choosing a car provider in future and it definitely will not be Europcar, who have proved themselves to me to be total shysters.0 -
And what car were you fobbed off with ivavaocher and what had you initially booked?0
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I owuld respond to them with screen grabs of what Rosipossum highlights and see what they say, if not then i would do a LBA and then poss MCOLIhateEuropcar wrote: »Thanks Rosipossum for pointing out the contradiction in the standard company gibberish they were sending me.
It's just so aggravating that a company behaves like this towards consumers. I guess the manner in which I was treated is simply the standard hostile defensive reaction to what is a dodgy practice. When companies are in the wrong like that, they get defensive, insist they are right and deny any wrongdoing or responsibility.
Like ivavoucher I definitely will be far more careful when choosing a car provider in future and it definitely will not be Europcar, who have proved themselves to me to be total shysters.0 -
This happened to me on several occasions, I just give up when it happens nowadays0
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Europcar in my experience are a rubbish company. I'd never deal with them again.Feudal Britain needs land reform. 70% of the land is "owned" by 1 % of the population and at least 50% is unregistered (inherited by landed gentry). Thats why your slave box costs so much..0
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RosiPossum wrote: »Good point. I'm happy to screenshot them for you if you want, OP?
That would be great if you could, I clicked on the link you sent but got an error message.
They didn't ruin my time in Nice, but they made it a lot more difficult and costly simply because I didn't want to accept what I felt was a con and I'd very much like to hold Europcar to account for this sort of swindling behaviour, which I firmly believe cannot be described as anything other than a scam.0 -
I owuld respond to them with screen grabs of what Rosipossum highlights and see what they say, if not then i would do a LBA and then poss MCOL
What is an LBA please keyser666? I've googled it and am assuming you're not suggesting I get the Louisiana Banker's Association or the Lepidoptera Breeders Association involved?
Thanks0
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