Europcar Reviews 

Pity there's not a NO STARS button. I booked my vehicle, a hybrid, 2 months before my trip. On arrival at Auckland Int airport, no vehicle was ready for me. Clearly they had rented it to a walk up. We had to wait AN HOUR for a PETROL vehicle from the Domestic airport to be retrieved, washed and cleaned. Really? The staff behind the counter were speaking in another language to their counterparts, do they not realise that this is very rude. Plus the GUARANTEED PRICE was higher on arrival, not only the amount quoted, but also with additional fees for picking up at the airport added on. When we FINALLY got to the shed, which was a half day camel's ride away, the chap there walked so slowly towards us, of course after the relay in a foreign language of the hard time I gave the counter man. Then the idiot who drove the car up was going to back it into a park until I said oy, don't bother, we have to put bags in the trunk. If you use EUROPCAR, take pictures before and after of your hire vehicle, I wouldn't trust these clowns with a barge pole.

I would give it no star if it’s allowed. Be careful with the guys at Europcar as they tried to rip me off at Auckland airport. The guy there at the counter tried to sell me the comprehensive car protection even though I already purchased it through Expedia. He was telling me how bad it would be if I needed to make any claims through a third party partner and wanted to charge me 145 dollars to buy insurance straight from them. Then when I asked about changing the car I booked since I realized the car I booked was not suitable, the guy told me they only had one car which would cost me 350 dollars. I told him I would like to cancel it and pay for the cancellation fee, but he insisted letting me keep the booking and said he could reduce the price to 260 dollars. I said I didn’t want to rent a car anymore as it wouldn’t affect my trip at all. However he wouldn’t let me and started BS about how inconvenient it’d be if I didn’t have a car. I told him I wouldn’t pay for that much to upgrade a car and he said he could talk to his manager and reduced the price further. Finally he said he could give me the upgraded car with 180 dollars and I took the offer. It was a very frustrating experience.

If I could give NO stars I would. This company is absolutely disgraceful, dirty, rotten, foul. Do not use them. They will take money out of your card for no reason and send you an email 65 days later advising that it was us that scratched a car. Yuck of a company. Nothing we can do about it as they are based in AUZ and emails don’t seems to mean a thing to the pen pushers replying

Wish I’d looked here before renting with them. Car wasn’t ready at pickup time, additional charge for spouse driver, online customer service laughably incompetent . Just never again

Earlier this year I booked a 7-seater car and 3 car seats for my family of 5. We encountered many disappointments along the way, and I would be cautious to ever book with your company again.
- The car that we booked was completely different to the car allocated to our booking
- The car did not have the 3 car seats that we booked installed in the car. We were required to spend almost an hour fitting the restraints ourselves. Extremely stressful dealing with an unfamiliar car, unfamiliar car seats and with 3 kids, including a 1 year old in tow (at 8:30pm at night)
- Initially, we were unsure that the allocated car seats would even fit in the hire car (due to Europcar changing the booking).
- The car seats were absolutely putrid. Coming out of a pandemic, I would have expected to see the seats cleaned between families, sanitised and free from any obvious markings. This was not the case. The seats were covered in stains and marks of what looked like milk, yoghurt or even bodily fluids. I literally burst into tears when I saw the options and was absolutely sickened at the thought of putting any of my children into the seats. The lady at the desk literally said ‘Yes, I asked for them to be cleaned and I agree that I wouldn’t want to put my kids in those seats’. I cleaned the seats myself prior to use but I don't think that this was my responsibility.
We were at the Europcar office for over 3 hours and the experience was disorganised, unprofessional, stressful and not worth the trouble. Never again.

This was the worst car rental experience we have ever had! I will never recommend Europcar to anyone who is coming to New Zealand.

From beginning to end we had issues with the car or personnel we were dealing with. We had reserved a gas car to be picked up at 8 AM on Wednesday, Sep. 20th at Auckland Airport and to be dropped off on Sep. 27th in Queenstown, and at pick up we were told that they had no gas cars available, only electric cars. After reassurance from the front desk that we would have no problem with the electric car and finding charging stations, we decided to go ahead with the electric.

Our experience with this car (Kia Niro) was the complete opposite of smooth. The car refused to charge above 50% and continued to have electric issues where we would be stuck on neutral not allowing us to get the car to drive or reverse. We had a long drive ahead of us so these issues already had and would have caused a lot more headache. We called and were told to go to the Rotorua airport to get a replacement vehicle and that the team there would be given notice and have a gas car ready for us.

We show up and no one was working the Europcar desk in Rotorua airport and no one had told the associate we were coming. Emma from the Rotorua airport was not supposed to work that day and had to come in on her day off to help us. (Emma thank you!) We waited for an hour to get our new car which was not clean, just newly returned from a previous renter.

Our issues continued as we had to get a new car after taking the ferry from Wellington to Picton. We were reassured multiple times that a car would be ready for us in Picton. We verified the day and time of our ferry at pick up in Auckland then again with Emma in Rotorua so it came as a surprise when we arrived in Picton, there was no document that stated that we were to supposed to pick up a car that day. After all that we had to deal with already, this was just another frustration we should not have had to deal with.

After explaining our situation to Ian from the Picton location, we are again grateful that he was able to get us a car to use. ALSO, we were told that in our reservation, there were notes for the team that explains the awful experience we have had so far and that compensation should be provided.

Oh and we were being quoted a much higher price than what we had reserved the car at, so we were told all the fixes on the billing would be done once we returned the car. Ian caught a few pricing issues but we needed a final invoice that showed the exact amount we would be charged. We returned the car early because we no longer wanted to deal with Europcar and at drop off the team working the desk told us that us that someone will be reaching out to us about our issues. We didn’t get the final invoice until DAYS later and surprise surprise we did get charged fees we should not have been charged for and no one had reached out to us to talk through the problems we had to deal with.

Finally we reached out, and again, played a game of phone tag being passed around multiple people who “could not help us, not their job” and ended with an associate who spoke to us without respect, completely condescending and told us that there was nothing in our notes about our situation.

We have never been more disrespected as customers and Europcar needs to do better with their processes and how their customer service team speaks to customers.

Recently hired a car with them. Relocation car. Had to wait to pick up my car as there was only 1 staff member one, so I sympathized with the dude, he was good. Returned the car the next day on time. When I got to the Domestic Rental Office, to hand in the keys I had to stand there for a while the agent served and argued with a customer over road tolls. Return time 10.30am and was invoiced that I returned the car at 12.30pm. Because of this they have charged me an additional day. Very disappointed no longer using them for anything.

I should have trusted my instincts and run! I booked this car a month in advance. The 'office' was more like a dodgy mechanic shop with a couple of messy desks. I arrived at 10 (an hour early) in the hope it might be waiting. I was told not only was it not waiting, but that they wouldn't have a car ready for me at the scheduled time. When I got upset and insisted (as by then I'd been awake then for more than 20 hours) they said they'd work something out. I went for a coffee and returned to a locked office at 10.55 but thankfully someone turned up soon after. He asked if an electric car would do - to which I said no, as I'd never driven one and had no idea about charging them. He then said I could have the car he'd turned up in (not sure how long I would have had to wait had I agreed to have an electric car, as there were no other cars in the office at all).The car was quite nice, but not as clean and sparkly as hire cars usually are, so i just figured they'd had to do some reshuffling or hire one from someone else (this was not the type of car I'd booked) and that there wasn't time for a full detail. I didn't mind too much, as at least I was on my way. Terrible steering issues (they claimed later it was the lane assist, which may be true - but if so, shouldn't I have been told about this before I drove off, and also told how to turn it off because it made driving terrifying, feeling like the car was in control, not me). But to put the icing on the cake, fraudulent petrol charges were added to my invoice a week after I'd returned. The way this was done was very sneaky and probably of even more concern than the fact that they would cheat people in the first place. The day after I got back home, I checked the Europcar charge and it was $435 ($200 deposit and then the hire charge). A few days later an email arrived, asking me to do a review. I decided I wouldn't do it until I saw that the security deposit had been returned in full. A couple of days later I checked, and it had - so I did the review confident they had not added any fraudulent charges. Then by chance a few days after that I was checking something else on my statement and noticed the Europcar charge was now higher than what it had been previously. I thought there'd been some admin error, but when I rang I was told the additional charge was for a shortfall in petrol. I was ropable! Not only did I KNOW I had filled the car until the pump clicked off at a station only 3 blocks from the depot, I also KNOW that the car was showing full when I got out of the driver's seat because I looked at it when I pulled in. I was also ropable that I had been told it was all good (by the attendant on duty), only to have sneaky charges added to the bill in what was clearly an attempt to slide a charge onto an unsuspecting customer's account days after they would have finished checking their invoice/charges. I was horrified at the level of deception. No email. No notification. Just cunningly changing the amount charged after time had passed, and clever enough to not make it a massive amount that would jump out ... clearly a strategy to scam those few extra dollars out of trusting clients. Even more concerning was that Eurpocar’s customer service staff were no help whatsoever, despite me providing them with my receipt. I topped this car up with petrol 3 blocks from the depot and returned the car showing full. There is no doubt about that. I was also told by the man who checked it over in the depot [AT MY OWN INSISTENCE] that it was all good. Then I get a $30 additional petrol charge about a week later. If that is not fraud and theft, I don’t know what is.
Why would I fill the car 3 blocks from the depot and not FILL it, knowing full well that any shortfall would be charged at highly inflated prices. The pump definitely clicked off and that car was full - but obviously this is a regular scam these people use. Also, if the petrol was supposedly short, why wasn't I told when the man checked it?To add to my frustration, Europcar customer service has been NO HELP AT ALL even though I have provided them with the receipt for the fuel from just around the corner (they insisted they could not launch an 'investigation' without this proof, and it was just lucky I had paid by card because I'd thrown the actual receipt away when the attendant checked over the car and told me all was good). Europcar had actually given me a loyal customer discount to take this hire, but I will now never rent from them again. In the 6hrs I have wasted dealing with the inept customer service team and writing emails explaining what happened, plus this review, I could have earned more than 13 times what the petrol charge was, so why would I have wasted this time if I wasn't telling the truth?
I am doing this on principle because Europcar shouldn't be allowed to get away with doing this stuff to innocent people. I advise run as far as you can from them.

The Belfast branch are very dishonest! They claim that the car was "filthy" however, the car was returned cleaner than when received! We took photos of how the car was delivered with 3/4 tank full but was returned over filled. They still tried to charge me fuel fees. On another occasion they never even showed up for a planned rental! Never in my 60 years have I encountered a more diabolical, scheming and dishonest company as this one. STAY WELL AWAY!

Five years ago (2017) I booked a rental from Europcar at Heathrow. The car I booked wasn't available and I was forced into paying for an upgrade to one that suited. I suspected a scam at the time.

In December 2022 I booked and paid for a car for collection in May 2023. When I got to Europcar Heathrow they refused to let me have a car and could not explain why (their admin and security departments don't work weekends and public holidays). So I was stuck at Heathrow with no transport having paid 2,500 pounds five months previously. Several months later I finally found the refusal to provide a car was because the money I had paid for the upgrade five years previously, had not been credited to my account ( I still have the receipt) Europcar apologised and gave me 20 pounds compensation - not enough to cover the cost of a taxi back to my hotel. I was left with the problem of organising a rental car on the spot at Heathrow Airport on a public holiday after a 24 hour flight.
The inconvenience, embarrassment, and out of pocket expense this episode cost me was substantial and to offer 20 pounds compensation was a further insult.
I have communicated with Europcar several times since and although they keep telling me they apologise and that customer satisfaction is important to them, they consider the 20 pounds appropriate and the matter is closed.
I would recommend everyone to avoid dealing with Europcar at all costs.

I am 60 years old, when I booked I told staff I had difficulty with documentation, so it needed to be explained, I told them I wanted a small automatic. I collected the car round 1am on arrival at Christchurch airport, the young man did not tell me it was electric. I actually did not realise they were a common thing. Got to the car, and saw it had no key, I managed to open it. Then could not figure out how to start it, I waited til 2am until a nice young man helped me. I did not realise it was electric at this stage. My daughter has a push button car that takes unleaded. I found out two days later: I phoned Europcar, a young girl told me to bring it back to the airport. I told her it was over my car came up for the first time with 7% charge. It had shown me no charge before, and I had no idea how to work it.
It was my sisters surprise 75th and I was the surprise, I was going to arrive at the start of her party as a waitress.
I had phoned Europcar and the young girl could not help me with finding charging stations. I phoned my niece who told me to drive down the road where they had them. By this time I was so panicked and crying. I got there and a lovely young man helped me. My phone could not download the app as it was an Australian Apple phone. The young man put it on his mobile, waited a hour, bought me tissues and coffee, he also asked the servo station to send off a complaint to head office. I was late for my sisters surprise, the stress bought on a migraine. It ruined my short stay in NZ Europcar took no responsibility at all. I definitely will not be using them again and would. it recommend them. An expensive sentimental trip ruined, $1000 for a hire car, with no customer service, or the correct information given to me on pick up. I’m too old for this technical stuff, the young girl on dropping the car back, said she didn’t know why he did not
offer me an automatic unleaded as they had them at the airport. Trip ruined and $1000 out of pocket. Shame on you Europcar

Booked online with Europcar specifically because they are one of the companies that has an office and pickup at Auckland domestic airport terminal. (My wife's health makes it difficult for her to walk far.)
However, because of building work at the airport the offices for Hertz, Europcar etc were closed. But the other hire companies had boothes inside the car pickup building. Not Europcar. Through ill-placed notices, we discovered that we had to go to the international terminal. The Europcar phone number stated 4 times on our booking info was out of service. We could find no other means of contacting Europcar on their website. After a 20 min wait for the transfer bus, when we finally got to the international terminal, we then had to walk over 1km to the Europcar booth which was closed. Fortunately, the phone number on the door did work and somebody duly appeared. After that, plain sailing. In total it took us over 90 mins to get the car and the experience was more like hiring from a fly-by-night dodgy co than an international company.

We picked up a car from Broadbeach on the Gold Coast. The state of the car was filthy and clearly hadn't been cleaned. There was spills and dirt everywhere, the car stunk of vinegar, and the inside windscreen was so dirty it became dangerous to drive until we found something to wipe it with. We contacted the company that day, and are still waiting to hear from the branch (2 weeks later).

Terrible Customer Service in Auckland. Staff unprofessional and unhelpful- unable to explain fees, signed up for accounts without our permission, smoking in the car park.

Fee for one way car hire applied that is ridiculous. Somehow accidentally released credit card charge and now emailing asking for payment. Avoid.

Allegedly returned the car too late. At the time of delivery standing on the bill, however, I was on the plane to Australia. Money was simply debited and not refunded. Be careful, these are scammers.

Booked a Suzuki Vitara 1.4L Turbo “or similar”. When I arrived to collect it at Auckland Airport, I was told that Europcar has switched to only offering electric cars. No use at all when our plan was to tour rural parts of New Zealand. Luckily Budget were able to offer a suitable car.

Administrative nightmare, overcharge 8 times ! the fee agreed upon. We were reassured per email twice they would not overcharge. And still, they overcharge your account without prior notice or even an invoice.
This happened: we rented a car directly with Europcar NZ with pick-up in Christchurch and returning it in Auckland with a agreed upon fee of 1.678 NZD. Due to their change in policy we could not take the car on the ferry, so they split the car rental in two separate rentals (one four South Island the other for North Island). In the Europcar app however we saw the rental fee also being changed from 1.668 NZD to an extremely ridiculous amount of 15.566 NZD. Weeks before the pick-up we emailed their NZD customer service and they reassured us in two emails (I wanted 100% guarantee and I sure got the guarantee per email statement) that nothing to the rental has changed, and a note would be added to our rental so the agreed fee of 1.677 NZD would be respected. Bur then it started when picking up the car: the guy at the office wanted to charge our creditcard for 16.000 NZD. No I said, not gonna happen, see these emails of your own company and my booking. Then he charged the correct amount and we drove away. The manager of the office in Christchurch airport and the guys in the parking lot are very friendly and helpful though. We then had a smooth change over in Picton and pick-up in Wellington, also very friendly and helpful staff. And that was the only plus of this administrative fraudulent company! Why I say this without any hesitation? After the rental they charged our creditcard TWICE without any prior notice or invoice whatsoever for 15.566 NZD. What is going on with their administration? Luckily these fraudulent charges were immediately reversed (since I do not even have that much space on the creditcard) and until this day I have not received any message from Europcar whatsoever. Sidenote: the hardcopy invoices I received twice when picking up the first car and the change over card DID mention the right amount I was owed. Why they try to charge me an amount 8 times the amount agreed and verified upon, I don’t know. Their fault and even fraudulent one I believe. So my advice: Best to avoid this company at all costs unless you have no interisland travel in New Zealand (only 1 car per hire should be fine). Better though to rent free from any stress somewhere else.

We hired a car from Europcar, Wellington airport Nov 2022. We thought it had been a good experience, the car was good and we received our deposit back. Now May 2023, we have received an email that we owe over £600 dollars and are on a ‘Do not rent’ list. When we emailed to query it, they said their system had a fault and they hadn’t charged. Why would your first contact be a threat Europcar when it is your fault. We checked out the bank details they’ve asked us to send the money to and it’s 81 Riccarton Road, Christchurch which when we’ve looked on Google maps is a gym. They have said that they tried to take the money from our bank account but haven’t been able to, they’re asking us to screen shot the payment once we have made it, which obviously is a security risk. We offered to go to Europcar UK, but they advised us not to. We are really concerned and wondered if anyone else has experienced this.

We rented a car for 3 days, on the 2nd day the original hire started having engine trouble so I called customer service number and they said take it to the depot and get the staff to have it checked. The staff were really helpful and did a direct swap for another vehicle with a free upgrade because of the original car being faulty.

I then had NZ$117 visa hold on my card after return. Then a week later I received an invoice for a full 3 day rental on the alternative car for the same date which Europcar promptly took yet another $338 payment on my debit card for the invoice.
Rather than deal with the incompetent customer services call centre staff I decided I would go promptly to the Christchurch Airport office where the staff were really confused as to what had happened and went out of their way to look into everything and they have sent an email with all the information and the confusion about what's happened to the Christchurch manager. While the staff are great at the Christchurch Airport branch and they have my full support, the customer services centre which is based in Australia is completely hopeless and had no knowledge of anything to do with their rental service or why the computer system suddenly created an entire new 3 day hire invoice for exact same days I had had the original car and the replacement car. I wouldn't trust them to do everything right but didnt expect them to try ripping me off.

On a side note the entire hire was fully booked and paid in advance so there was no reason to charge a second time.

Booked car through webjet. Paid for deposit and insurance through them. Picked up car and mistakenly paid for insurance again. Europcar had our booking but not info of any payments made. They are reluctant to credit us insurance even when provided with email proof of payment. It put a real downer on our holiday. Also, Noone on desk when we went to explain problem and no real help via email. A very badly run business and an expensive mistake for us. Never again!!