Stay away from Autovia / Ecovia !!!

pascalevers

Dear people,





Please be very, very careful choosing Autovia and/or Ecovia as your rental car partner/provider.


This unreliable company is claiming all kind of car damages after your rental period for which you are definitively not responsible. It occurred to me two weeks ago when I rented a Fiat 500 at the Bergamo Airport.


This is what happened to me:


The (many) existing damages are noted on the Check-Out form (“Riquadro Uscita”) with a cross and highlighted with a yellow marker at the location of the existing damage. After receipt of the keys I checked the car thoroughly and left the airport. So far nothing strange or uncommon. By coincidence I made a picture of the car a few hours after I left, I think we drove 80 km max without any problem.


At the end of our Holiday I returned the car and left the keys in the key drop box as there was nobody available to check the car. One day later I received an e-mail with a damage claim of almost 400,00 Euro’s. They send me pictures of the damage in question together with a copy of the Check-Out form (“Riquadro Uscita”). It is the same form I received but now there were no yellow highlighting showing the existing damage locations.


Of course I strongly refused to pay as I’m not responsible for the claimed damage which I could more or less proof. On the picture I made coincidently you can clearly see that the damage was already there and also highlighted in yellow on the original hardcopy I received when I left. The problem is that they have the right to charge your credit card so they are able to charge you afterwards no matter what reasons and arguments you bring up after you receive their claim.


Please don’t do any business with Autovia and/or Ecovia. They are cheating and lying towards innocent people. I have seen many similar reports on car rental review portals/websites related to this company. Unfortunately I’m not the only one. My strong advice is to choose another well-known car rental companies with a good reputation Herz or Sixt also if it costs you a little bit more. If you still decide to rent at Autovia and/or Ecovia please imidiately take some pictures before you touch the car and make sure you check the car together with an employee and have it signed off at return of the car.


What happened to me still makes me angry. I hate these kind of practices.


I hope you will take advantage of my report and I wish you a nice day!


Kind regards,


Pascal Evers

cubegame

All hire car companies are the same. They will rip you off if you're not savvy. Using a key drop box without excess insurance is asking for trouble.

Hertz (Iceland), Sixt (UK) and Avis (Thailand) have all tried it on with me in the past. Not with any success.

Gianfranc

Stay away from Autovia.
When I return the car nobody was there because of early morning departure. Then they claimed all kind of car not-existent damages for 370 euros.
Of course I refused to pay.
I asked to VISA to block the payment sending a very detailed dossier.
And in this way I did'nt pay
They are just thief
.

Mruwaska

Hey we are on exactly this same situation ! This same airport and even this same car. We left car in early morning , no one has been there and no one checked our car. Week after that they took 500 pounds (deposit) please can you contact with me ?

principlecounts

Car Hire Companies are all the same. They basically try it on if they see any scratches. They'll try making the situation more serious by "calling a manager" to instill fear into you, but do not budge.

EveryWhere

principlecounts wrote: »

Car Hire Companies are all the same. They basically try it on if they see any scratches. They'll try making the situation more serious by "calling a manager" to instill fear into you, but do not budge.

Why would you post such nonsense and still expect anyone reading anything further from you, to be taken seriously?
That's like stating that all women lie or all men cheat. A ridiculous generalisation.

dickydonkin

EveryWhere wrote: »

That's like stating that all women lie or all men cheat. A ridiculous generalisation.

So you don't sign all of your car rental agreements with 'declined all chargeable extras' ? - just the ones you trust?

EveryWhere

dickydonkin wrote: »

So you don't sign all of your car rental agreements with 'declined all chargeable extras' ? - just the ones you trust?

I don't sign any of them that way, as I use reputable car hire companies and I have comprehensive reimbursement insurance. I also scrutinise everything.

But there are many, perhaps not great at reading the small print or who book with second tier or worse car hire companies, who may need to protect themselves without having to scour contracts whilst their children are crying out in hunger.

Do you ever post anything of use or do you only attempt to Troll my replies?

Thus far, I have not had even a single car hire company try it on with existing scratches. That doesn't mean that I will drop my guard.

Simondecre

Awful company. On return to Fiumicino - on time, vehicle clean inside and out without a waste paper around - the operator passes the entire surface of the body to the comb and then disputes a scratch of one cm on the mirror. I deny in good faith that I was the one who provoked him, but I understand that the operator who was already keen on the previous customer was on the hunt for bonuses and therefore I find myself in front of the dispute sheet which I formally reject by filling in the relevant form. A few days later I was asked to pay 120 and broken euros for this ridiculous trifle to which I reply according to their protocol, kindly proposing to reconcile by paying half to close it there and stay on good terms. They ignore the email and a few days later they unilaterally issue an invoice for the entire amount without ever having established a cross-examination. I distrust them in writing from charging me the amount on the card, but once again they ignore me and they charge me the 120 euros. Chargeback with immediate Amex obviously and a disconcerting, depressing and even offensive customer experience in light of the overall work of these tourists of the principle of fairness and good faith. Hopelessly lost trust, avoid

alleycat85

Just had a similar experience with this company. They pointed out existing damage at the beginning of the rental and then charged us for exactly the same damage at the end, to the tune of 440 Euros. It's just such a cliche that you wouldn't think they'd be so obvious about it in this age of reviews making or breaking a company, but from many recent reviews it seems like it's something of a company policy. Have rented many cars before and never had any problems, this is the first and last time I will be using this company who are clearly just out for whatever they can get away with.
Please do avoid them at all costs. Otherwise you will be paying all costs.

dukke

My recent car rental with Autovia at Bergamo Airport was terrible and I would not advise anyone to be enticed by the low rental prices offered by this scammers!! 

 I found the attitude of the assistant at the Autovia desk rather unpleasant and unfriendly. He was very slow in serving customers waiting because he was very insistent on taking on extras such as a wash service (never been asked before in all the numerous times I rented a car in the past even only two months ago with Autovia at Malpensa airport) and full insurance threatening having to pay penalties. When questioned on whether the car wash was a new requirement he told me it was because of Covid!! Covid?? What is it got to do with the exterior of a car and why in july when Covid was already rampant I wasn't asked to pay for the car wash?? Clearly just way to get your money!

The major complaint though is about what seems to be a common (clearly showing in the many negative reviews on sites and in the legal case for which Autovia was fined very heavily in 2018. Please see agcm.it under Autovia ) dishonest practice of charging customers for damage already present on the rented car. 

The inaccurate document issued by Autovia at pick up only showed one recorded damage on the vehicle when infact there were several already present. I took several pictures as there was no assistant present at the car park but despite my photographic evidence the same unpleasant assistant was able to claim that I was responsible of a 'new' scratch on the rear bumper which was with all honesty and certainty already present. Of course two day after returning the car I get a request to pay €383 

for a light scratch I didnt even caused.

What's even worse while I'm still disputing the issue they have already charged my credit card. The replies I got so far from the complaint dept are ridiculous to say the least. I have now referred the issue to the European Consumer Centre in the hope they can put a stop to this unfair and dishonest practices. SO STAY WELL AWAY!!