Europcar Ireland - faulty car on pick-up!

FeelingLighterAlready

Hi all,

I arrived at Knock airport in Ireland on Fri 20th Oct and picked up a car from Europcar. My Aer Lingus flight was an hour and a half late but the Europcar office was still open, however they charged me €40 for 'late pick up' of the car. I laughed and said why not charge Aer Lingus as its hardly my fault that the flight was delayed. I was driving to a location from the airport which was a good 2 hours away, in the dark (around 10pm) and on my own.

I had only driven out of the small airport, couldnt have been more than 5 mins and was sat at a junction waiting to turn left onto the main motorway road, when I went to put the vehicle into first gear and it just wouldnt move! My foot was fully down on the clutch and the handbrake was completely off as well, yet it just wouldnt move. I was sat there trying to get it into gear for around 5/10 mins before turning around to return it back to the Europcar office. Once I got there, the office was in darkness and the door locked. We were obviously the last flight into the airport that night. The lady who had given me the keys to the car had written down the 'out of hours' number so I tried ringing that many times and was placed on hold & an automated message that just seemed to keep asking me on a loop, to select the airport that I had picked up from. I kept selecting no.6 for Knock airport but no response.

I didnt have proper reception on my phone for the sat nav either so had to drive and find a lit up petrol station to ask for some help. As I drove to the nearest petrol station that I could find, the gear stick got stuck again as I was driving! Which was very dangerous so I had to pull over before setting off again. I then made the decision that I couldnt drive this all the way to my destination on my own and on a busy fast main road. The gear stick/clutch was unreliable and having been a driver for almost 5 years, I was not willing to take that risks on roads that I did not know in the middle of the dark.

I was sat there for the best part of an hour as I tried to get through to the out of hours helpline @ Europcar Ireland. No one picked up. It was now 11pm and I was very tired. I decided to get a taxi from the petrol station and the kind staff called me one, however I did not get the name of the taxi company or the person who called for me. I chose to leave the car at the petrol station was only around the corner from the airport where I had picked it up and to call Europcar Ireland again in the morning. I had at this point, been travelling for 10 hours and needed to reach my destination as my cousin was getting married the next day.

The taxi cost me €140 but I completely forgot to get a receipt when I arrived at the hotel I was staying at from sheer tiredness.

I rang Europcar the next morning who said they would send a new car out to me that afternoon and I could leave the keys of the other faulty car at the hotel reception and their driver would leave the keys of the new car at reception in exchange. I collected the keys later that day and upon returning this new car on my return to Knock airport to fly home last Wed night, I was greeted by an unfriendly and quite rude member of staff who me that 'there was nothing wrong with the car' I said there definitely was something wrong with it and started to get annoyed as I felt i was being to as no paperwork was given to me to show evidence of what was wrong with the car. The staff member then said 'if you let me tell you what was wrong with the car' I said but you just said there was nothing wrong with it? She said (quite aggressively) 'it was only the wheels that were out balance which only cost €10' and I said so there was something wrong with it then?! She was most unhelpful and handed me an envelope from her manager which was a handwritten note saying that I was entitled to 1 upgrade on another car hire in compensation for this rental (and my order no).

I was disgusted. I had paid for a car for 5 days, yet only had one for 4 days and had to pay €40 because my flight was delayed and then have received no apology from the staff or team at Europcar Ireland and not in a position to receive any kind of refund or compensation for the stress and upset this 'broken' car had caused me. Apparently they would have paid for my taxi fare had I given them the taxi receipt, but because I didnt have it I am now seriously out of pocket.

Does anybody know where i can complain to or what my rights might be here? I have video of the gear stick not working. I am reluctant to contact this Knock branch of Europcar as they were so unhelpful and unfriendly. I feel like I have been treated as though I know nothing about cars when I am smart enough to know when a clutch/gear stick is not in full safe working order.

The staff member told me that their cars are serviced at a certain mileage point and that this particular car wasnt due for a service yet. I said well that isnt really my problem is it? When I receive a car that I have paid to hire I expect it to be in full working order. It is not my responsibility to ensure it is fully serviced, that is Europcar's responsibility surely?

I am considering legal action but not sure I will get anywhere with this.

I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks in advance.

FeelingLighterAlready

There was also a warning flashing light that was coming up on the dash just before the gear stick would get stick, so this showed me there was definitely some kind of problem there.

novelty-socks

Decide what you want from Europcar, put your demands into a polite-but-firm letter, and send it by registered post to the company's head office in Ireland. Set a (reasonable) deadline for them to reply, and state this in your letter.

If I were you I would be seeking out of pocket expenses (taxi, etc), the €40 back (you could ask for this as a goodwill gesture as you probably agreed to this condition on booking) and perhaps 30% of the booking fee back to compensate for losing the car for a day. But it's up to you.

mattyprice4004

I’d say you’re stuffed with regards to the taxi - you have no proof you took one.
The rest I would pursue them for, but the taxi is your own doing.