I used to be an Europcar customer. But a flat tyre led me into the depths of a customer-unfriendly system that, to this day, I still haven’t fully escaped. An experience report on Europcar UK.
Europcar and I had good times too: I kept booking with them for my research trips to Scotland, and towards the end I’d even stopped comparing them to other providers. I’ll admit part of the reason was the press discount I was entitled to, but overall I was satisfied: booking was simple, the cars were good, and the service on site was quick and friendly. The only thing that got a little annoying was the constant attempts to upsell me extra insurance. Little did I know what awaited me in the hotline hell that Europcar UK would drag me through over the following days.
A flat tyre: the start of a long story
One Sunday morning I stepped out of our bed and breakfast on the Isle of Skye and got a shock: the rented VW Passat had a flat tyre. As I said, everything had been fine with Europcar up to that point – but then I called their hotline for the first time, and a long ordeal began.
The first thing I noticed: the staff had neither geographical knowledge nor any room to manoeuvre. It was like talking to a wall. They offered me a replacement car. Fine so far. But I’d have to drive with the recovery service myself to the pickup point – in Inverness. (Note: all conversations were naturally conducted in English; I’ve translated them below to convey the gist)
Here’s the thing: Inverness sits on Scotland’s EAST coast, a four-hour drive from the WESTerly Isle of Skye. Four hours one way! There was no way to manage that today, and early the next morning we urgently needed to catch the ferry to the Outer Hebrides. If we missed it, we’d have nowhere to sleep.
But no matter how clearly I explained this, the man on the other end of the line kept coming back to the same offers.
Torn/Ripped: the tyre had pre-existing damage
Our B&B host gave me the crucial tip: I should call back and immediately ask for a “supervisor”, since only they were allowed to look for a real solution – every other hotline staff member simply followed the script. She also pointed out that our handover form for the car read: “Left Side: Front Tyre: Torn/Ripped.” She was genuinely horrified. I’d understood that as a small scratch, but “torn/ripped” apparently means something far more drastic – more like “shredded”.
It was clear: the fault lay with Europcar. This rental car should never have been handed over to us for a drive into the Highlands.
I called again, and this time, as soon as I asked for a supervisor, I was put through without hesitation. He first asked whether we had a spare wheel in the car.
Europcar’s magic trick: the spare wheel that appeared out of nowhere
At pickup, we’d been told MULTIPLE times and VERY INSISTENTLY that there was no spare tyre in the car. So, knowing this, I said: no, no spare tyre. The Europcar supervisor asked me to check the boot anyway. I did – and, lo and behold, there was a spare wheel sitting there (the reasoning behind this was later explained to me: they apparently don’t want renters changing wheels themselves in an emergency, so as a precaution they tell them there’s no spare – though I can’t confirm whether that’s actually true).
The Europcar employee then arranged a garage callout, who did in fact come and change our wheel. And that genuinely was an achievement on the hotline’s part – getting someone in the Scottish Highlands enthusiastic about that on a Sunday is no small feat. Well done, dear supervisor. But he also told me I should only drive on it as far as the ferry; the next day, someone would be waiting for me right at the pier in Lochmaddy on North Uist to fit a new wheel.
At first, I was relieved. The holiday could continue.
Europcar’s number games: why I had to call Europcar seven times
In Lochmaddy, over on the Outer Hebrides, I waited as agreed for the man with the new wheel. He never showed up. So I called Europcar again – this time on my mobile. There was a special number in the documents for foreign mobile phones, meant to save on costs.
First, an automated menu played: if it was about tyre damage, I should press three. I did. A woman’s voice greeted me and asked how she could help. I explained my situation. “Oh,” said the woman, “you need to press three for that. You pressed two, for glass damage. Please call back and press three.” Confused, I hung up – apparently I’d pressed the wrong key on my smartphone screen. It happens.
I called again. A different woman kindly asked how she could help. “It’s about my tyre…” She cut me off: “You need to press three for tyre damage, you pressed two, for glass damage – please call again and press three.”
Surely I wasn’t that stupid. Well, third time’s the charm, right? “Good afternoon, how can I help?” – “My tyre…” – “Oh, for tyre damage you need to press three, we’re…” I got brushed off again.
On the fourth attempt, I interrupted immediately and calmly explained, in a voice with just a hint of strain, that I was absolutely certain I’d pressed three. “Are you calling from a foreign mobile phone?” – What kind of question was that, given I’d specifically dialled the number for foreign mobiles – “Yes!” – “Ah, that number sometimes doesn’t work properly with the key codes, please call the regular hotline number instead.” I dialled for the fifth time. Hooray: this time, the next lady actually let me speak.
Unfortunately, she knew nothing about the arrangements made the day before.
Europcar’s memory loss: the lost case of Stephan G.
I was stunned. How could this be? Didn’t they have a system that kept track of open cases? The lady asked me where I currently was. “Lochmaddy, North Uist.” Her: “Could you come to Inverness?”
I mentally counted to ten, slowly. Then, in a firm voice, I demanded a supervisor.
I explained my case to him. Yes, indeed, my new contact confirmed after some digging – unfortunately they hadn’t managed to find anyone with a replacement wheel, which was why nobody had shown up. Ah. I’d have liked that information about an hour earlier.
While I was on the phone with the Europcar hotline, it kept raining – typical Scottish weather. The annoying part: every time a shower passed over me, the connection would weaken, sometimes dropping altogether. By the time I finally called Europcar for the seventh time, I politely mentioned my call charges. The staff member then promised to call me straight back. Naturally, another rain shower rolled in right at that moment. I could see on my display, a few minutes later, that she had indeed tried.
I assumed she’d try again – but I never heard from Europcar for the rest of the holiday.
Fortunately, the replacement wheel was a full-sized wheel, not just a smaller space-saver spare. I decided to simply carry on driving with it. With a rather uneasy feeling.
Europcar’s promise: everything will be fine?
We spent the rest of the holiday wonderfully. Only before returning the car did I feel a bit tense. In Edinburgh, I went into the booth and explained my situation. The staff member was very friendly, looked into the system, and raised her eyebrows in surprise. This car, she told me, should never have been handed out at all – it had instead been logged for repair, because of the tyre. A serious error on their part.
I made it clear that I wasn’t going to cover any charges in this case. She said that wasn’t a problem, and that she’d note clearly in the system that the fault lay with Europcar and nothing should be billed. I was relieved, and we flew home.
On the plane, though, I was still a little annoyed: Europcar had cost me a whole day of our trip, numerous phone calls, and quite a few nerves. The least they could have done was offer me a voucher or a discount.
But surely everything would work out fine now, right?
Europcar’s charge: a nasty surprise on the credit card
A few days later, while checking my online banking, a charge on my credit card caught my eye and struck me as odd: £103 to Europcar? For what? Surely they’d at least send me a receipt?
I called Europcar in Germany. At the billing department – which, mind you, can supposedly see all payment data across Europe – the helpful gentleman couldn’t find the charge at all. He told me I’d have to handle it directly myself, and that I should send an email to the following address requesting all documentation relating to the payment. They were obliged, he said, to provide it. I sent the email. The reply came instantly – and automatically. It mentioned a processing time of ten days.
Ten days? I could get an answer faster by post!
But after just seven days, a reply arrived: the case wasn’t a Europcar matter at all – I should instead contact Europcar’s insurance department, since they were the ones who’d taken the money. So I called.
The answer: I’d apparently already received the paperwork. By email. Right. I always check my spam folder as a rule, so I searched again, and this time I did find, under the sender “claimsadmin”, an email with no personal greeting and the subject line “Urgent correspondence attached”. Inside was an attached TIF image, along with the note: “To open this attachment you may need to install Kodak Image Server from your Microsoft Windows Installation CD.” Erm – I have an iMac with no CD drive?! And it was no wonder at all that Google had filed it straight under spam.
It turned out to be a tiny, barely legible scan, but it did contain a demand for payment for the garage work on the Isle of Skye. In my view, an extremely unprofessional way to conduct business correspondence when it concerns an unexpected credit card charge. I was apparently supposed to pay for the wheel change on the Isle of Skye.
I got in touch with them again. I made my position clear: no charges, that’s what I’d been told in Edinburgh. Correct! confirmed the staff member. So I’d get the money refunded, he said. Weeks went by, nothing happened. I wrote again, and got a scanned letter as a TIF attachment in reply. It noted that the money had already been transferred, but that he’d check again. That was on 29 August.
Now three months have passed since the tyre incident, and my money is still with Europcar. I sent another email – no reply. On Monday I tried calling to reach someone. Nobody picks up.
Not only did I lose a whole day and plenty of patience, and had to pay phone charges – no, on top of that, I’m still missing money, and I was even charged the currency conversion fee.
I’m simply deeply disappointed.
Europcar’s customer satisfaction management: nonexistent
I think I’ve given Europcar plenty of chances to turn a frustrated customer back into a satisfied one. I wrote to their Facebook page and expressed my displeasure. No response. Some time ago, a satisfaction survey arrived from Europcar by email, in which I expressed my dissatisfaction with the treatment I’d received. There was a box to tick if you’d welcome being contacted by a customer manager. I ticked it. Nobody ever got in touch. Even though I clearly and repeatedly expressed my dissatisfaction with how I’d been treated, both in emails to Europcar UK and to the insurance department, no one ever made a proper effort to sort things out with me. A handful of boilerplate apology phrases were all I got for the hassle, the lost time, and the missing money.
Instead, I now had to file a chargeback dispute with my credit card provider. That really frustrates me.
It frustrates me enough that I’m drawing my own conclusions for future trips to Scotland, and will be doing without Europcar from now on.
Update, 7 October 2014: the money has finally been credited back to my card. I suspect it’s thanks to the dispute claim. I’ll be curious to see whether that’s really the end of the story.