Auto Europe Car Hire - www.auto-europe.co.uk

Arrived at Barcelona Airport to pick up car to be told the name on the account was incorrect and didn't match my husbands drivers licence. But his licence matched everything else including the card it was paid for on, the email address etc. It is clear there was some technical issue where the wrong surname for my husband had been picked up. 2 hours trying to sort it at the airport with 4 children in tow and still got nowhere. We were told its tough it's our mistake (yes because my husband doesn't know his own surname?!?!) It was clear it was a technical issue but instead of modifying or refunding they kept all the money and we had to book another car at the airport. Absolutely appalling customer service and I will be pursuing to the ombudsman. Stay well clear of these sham artists and don't waste your time speaking to the most unprofessional customer service workers I've ever come across.

- Rental location incorrectly listed as on airport site

- Rental company had given my car to someone with similar name(!), after prolonged wrangling eventually given downgraded car

- Auto Europe not interested at all, customer service non-existent

- Took SIX WEEKS to respond when these issues were raised during which time they had done absolutely nothing, essentially saying I needed to pursue it myself

- Stark contrast with competitors such as Holiday Autos whose customer care is excellent

- A shameful display. I bitterly regret using Auto Europe and certainly won’t be making this mistake again

I booked a car from Autoeurope through Europcar's website in the UK (who are the brokers and who are actual hirers can be difficult to work out), prior to our week long holiday to Sicily. After spending time researching prices, insurance information and reviews, I paid £70 -£80 extra for the recommended full cover insurance to avoid potential issues. I read the extra detailed information for this add on and I was confident everything was fine. The total hire was around 100 more expensive than the cheapest available but I felt better having the peace of mind. On picking up the keys from Autoeurope at Palermo Airport I received a VERY aggressive sales push from the Autoeurope rep. He virtually demanded that I buy the extra top up insurance from him. He told me that the insurance i had bought through Europcar's website was the broker's insurance and didn't mean anything and was worthless stating that any scratches more than 20mm would be charged for and could work out very expensive for me. Sicily's roads in towns can be very narrow and driving is very difficult be stressed. I held my ground and refused which seemed to annoy him. We arrived quite late at night and were tired after our long journey. On inspecting our hire Fiat 500 we were amazed and disappointed to see there were dents and scratches everywhere! The car was so dented and marked it would be difficult to find a door, wing or bumper without a mark. I videoed the entire exterior of the car in case we had any problems when we returned it. The car was great inside though it hadn't been cleaned! It performed flawlessly during our stay and I really enjoyed driving it! I usually drive a much larger automatic car but this small manual car was fun to drive! However the insurance threat was always in the back of my mind throughout the holiday. Returning the car was easy and the gentleman who booked the car in on my return couldn't have been friendlier and made the process very easy. 5 stars to this gentleman and 1 star or actually zero to the guy in the desk who tried to force extra insurance on me and made me worry about this during our holiday!

Hired a car through AutoEurope for US holiday. When we arrived after 9 hour flight found that the partner we thought was providing the car rental in US was Advantage not Europcar as we were advised when we booked.

Advantage staff were disinterested and misleading. The electronic device on which the rental agreement had to be signed showed only one line of text at a time and when I said repeatedly that I declined the option or it was already purchased the only reply was "It's Ok, its included just sign".

The resulting invoice was in my view deliberately confusing and when charged on returning the vehicle at the end of the car hire my bill only arrived as I was sat in Departures lounge.

On return to the UK I took up with AutoEurope but their customer service staff while superficially friendly and helpful did nothing substantive, merely relaying the Advantage line and trying to close the case at one point. In the end I got the response that there was nothing they could do. No recognition that they had changed partner from Europcar to Advantage and nothing to say what they were going to do to address the problems that one of their advisers freely admitted they were having with Advantage. I will NEVER use AutoEurope again.

Flight late, arrived and interrent car rental company closed [only 21:40]. Called Auto Europe who also were closed. Unable to collect car.

Stuck at Gatwick airport! Next morning contacted Auto Europe who put me through to Interrent. Car had been released and NO CHARGES had been made.

Back to Auto Europe. Despite extensive details and being unable to contact them they refused to countenance or consider my claim. Failed to follow their own Terms and Conditions.

Terms and Conditions are very poorly written and deliberately vague on definitions.

I booked a car for two weeks in Marseille. It was a short notice rental but nowhere does it state they you need to book more than 48 hours in advance. The first reservation did not go through and no emails were answered so I called the support line. Spent an hour on the phone with a very helpful agent and supplied a lot of additional information. I was prepaying for an employee. Ended the conversation with everything is good to go, the car was prepaid and of they need to change to a different car they would take care of it. My employee lands at the airport, the reservation was cancelled and Eurocar forced him to pay upfront for a car at 3 times the negotiated price. I don't know if it is an Auto Europe thing or a Euro Car thing to increase booking revenue but I will not use either again

Auto Europe told me I had prepaid the full amount for the car hire at Fuerteventura Airport with InterRent. However there where loads of extra charges/taxes applied by InterRent and I ended up paying an extra £50 in charges. Auto Europe ignored my calls/emails and just said they were unable to help or refund me in any way for the excess charges they did not tell me about. Their Customer Service department was very bad and is only open from 9am-1pm on weekdays and closed on Saturday & Sunday. InterRent told me they had many problems with Auto Europe.

I booked a car with Autoeurope to pick up in France . I only had the car 1 day and returned the car with a full tank of fuel as requested but when I got home I found that I had been charged 5 euros for fuel and 29 euros admin charge . 

Autoeurope refuse to acknowledge !!

One of the worst experiences ever in my life

Car hired was 10 years old and in poor state with damages all over

Kept waiting 1 hour as could not find a car, when arrive front light not working and then no fuel

Needed to leave 1,350 deposit which was worth more than the value of the car

Told I was lucky to get a car as its high season yet booked 3 months earlier

On return tried to charge for damage lucky I had photos when I picked up.

Never will use Auto Rental again as only a broker looking for income

Don't care about the service offered. Fill in survet when returned but heard nothing

Arranged for a car to be collected in Bordeaux. We arrived and were told they did not have the car. They did not make any effort to find an alternative so we were forced to find a last minute alternative. This meant losing a few hours of our holiday and incurring additional expense. Did Auto Europe do the decent thing and cover our costs? Of course not!!! they could not have cared less. Please do not use this company. Yuliya G in their 'customer service' department is particularly unpleasant and seems to enjoy disappointing people.