Auto Europe
Reviews and Complaints

I rented a car in September 2015 through Auto Europe Germany. I purchased in Auto Europe as well the insurance of excess refund program. Unfortunately Auto Europe did not meet its commitment. the accident happened in Norway in a reservation named Peer Gynt. A sheep was running toward the front of the car. The sheep remained unhurt but the car was damaged and I was charged by hertz Norway on the amount of 1100 $. Auto Europe gave me a negative answer to my request to get my money back. . Their excuse was that an accident with a wildlife need a formal report. A sheep to my knowledge is not a wildlife and this is to my opinion unintelligent way to avoid paying the money I deserve . Further more. It took them three month to give me a negative answer after mails and long distance call while all the information was stated in the basic request. I think this a good example of bad service and I would appreciate your help in this case .

I booked a car through autoeurope (Auto Europe voucher number UK3414138-1 EUROPCAR) to collect from Naples airport for our holiday. We paid upfront and flew from the UK to Naples but we were refused the car by europcar (which is where autoeurope were supposed to have arranged for us to collect) we left the airport with no car and had to pay over 200 euros to get a taxi to our hotel. We then phoned autoeurope from our hotel to try and resolve the situation and they offered no solutions, no help, refused a refund and the agent actually seemed to be gloating that they were going to keep our money. I have had exactly the same uncaring response via email from autoeurope since returning from holiday and still no solutions or refund has been offered. So basically they have got my money and gave me no car in return. I am now in the process of trying to get my money back via my credit card. Thank god I paid by credit card and have protection that way. Do not use this company under any circumstances ever.

Attention! Even if you have ordered a car with the refundable excess option for peace of mind, in the event of an accident, do not be sure that you are protected with autoeurope.eu. As long as the accident not happens it may seem that you are dealing with a sweet company, which will reimburse your money back, if needed. Unfortunately, it is not so. My experience has shown that they are happy to take your money for this extra service, which is not intending to provide, actually. We have suffered an accident with no injuries. Neither third party was involved, nor third party property was damaged. The rent terms, written in the voucher, indicated the have to inform the local car rental company about the incident. A local supplier told us that since there are no victims and the car is still on the run, no further action is necessary and we can continue our vacation, just to report the incident to the office of the supplier on car return and to fill out the necessary documents. Contacting police was uniquely required only and solely when third party involved, which not took place in our case. Nothing of the happened was not part of exclusions listed in the voucher. After checking all documents provided, a local car rental company (AVIS) has fully paid all expenses for the repair caused by the accident damage. The only thing left is to get the refund of excess from autoeurope.eu, paid by me to AVIS, according to the rental agreement. Imagine my disappointment when more than 2 months after the car return, our claim was refused. The reason for reject was absence of police report among our documents. All my attempts to point autoeurope.eu that their own rental terms and conditions do not require such a report, in this particular case, were in vain. All my reasoning mails answered by same answer: "You did not provide a police report, so, we have to deny your claim." All my arguments were simply ignored. It is obvious that the company is not going to refund nothing, under any ridiculous, and not a legitimate excuse, using the fact that the client, living in other country, can not do nothing. At the moment, I'm looking for an international lawyer who would help me get my money back. I hope my case will help you to avoid troubles. P.S.: It is important to clarify – later on, delving into their website, in the "help" section I found an indication that the police report is indeed required in any case. But, as I mentioned above, my rental voucher was definitely not consist such formulating.

I booked car through the website www.auto-europe.co.uk. I paid for the booking about $100, but these jerks haven’t warned me and charged for additional $50. I have no idea for what, as well as these scammers haven’t replied to my emails. I simply couldn’t reach these jerks. I wonder if there are people, who faced the same problem? I really need help or any useful advice. Please, post your comments and ideas. Thanks.

I have used this company in the past and purchased comprehensive insurance. The company has changed to a brokerage rental company that contracts with a number of rental car companies. I paid for extra insurance and the car was scratched somewhere in France while it was parked. When I returned the car to CITER (actually Enterprise) in Marseille, I was told that I did not have extra insurance on the car and that they would put a deposit charge of 850 Euros ($1143.00) on my charge card. They did this and I have complained to my credit card company who is investigating this charge. Don't use this company as they will rip you off. The information they give you is incomplete. You would be better off dealing with a rental car company directly and purchasing extra insurance from them.

I rented a car from Sicily by Car from Cagliari Airport in Sardinia for 2 days in June '14. I pre-payed for the car using the online service rentalcars.com and dropped the car back on time with full gas tank etc... The staff at the drop off office said that the car was fine an there were no issues.

The company charged my credit card for €674 10 days after I returned the car. I wanted an explanation of what this charge was for. I tried calling the customer service centre and they told me they do not deal with queries by phone. I sent several emails and got no reply.

There is really not much more I can do,
Terrible customer service and daylight robbery
Do not rent from auto europa!

I was charged insurance, for which I did not ask. I informed the member of staff at pick up that I had my own insurance. On returning to the UK, I discovered that my account had been debited. I have complained, but Auto Europe has ignored my complaint, saying Avis are sticking to the contract. I have received a copy, which I had to sign, in order to receive the car, but the box above my signature was not ticked. It is a wonder that someone did not tick it. However, it is a scam, as I informed the employee that I did not require insurance.

My name is Ka Lok NG, a tourist from Hong Kong. I travelled to Florence and hired a car from Auto Europa during 17 to 18 June 2010. I selected Auto Europa because I thought it is a renowned car rental company in Italy, however I have been extremely disappointed about the service provided by it.

My car rental contract ref is XRF612336/09 (RA n. 2314479). I was provided a Fiat Bravo 1.6L diesel engine car by your office at Firenze Airport on 17 June 2010 evening. The staff there was helpful and I could easily get the car.

On the next day, 18 June 2010, I drove the car to Pisa and then to The Mall to the east of Firenze. After that, at around 15:30pm, I started the car and headed towards Siena along the highway. On the way, the engine started to give some strange sound. Then I stopped the car at a gas station and with the help from the gas station attendant called Auto Europa's 24H clients assistance [protected])at around 16:00pm. A lady answered the call. I told her the car's problem and she said a tow will be arranged and she also told me a taxi will be called to take me back to Firenze Airport and Auto Europa will pay the first 100euro.

I waited for 45minutes for the tow to arrive (16:45pm). The tow driver and the gas station attendant both think the car might be fixed at the garage, as I understood although they spoke in Italian, so I went with the tow to the garage at Colle di Val d'Elsa, because I also hope the garage could fix the car so I could continue my travel to Siena. However, the technician at the garage found the car could not be fixed and he helped to contact the 24H assistance again since I don't had a mobile phone workable in Italy.

Then the most disappointed came to me. I was told by the lady of Auto Europa's 24H assistance that no taxi would be arranged for me and she asked me to take a bus back to Firenze. Could you please imagine me as a foreigner visiting Italy, left in a unknown place due to the broke down of the rental car, and the people around cannot speak English although they are kind enough to give help, and Auto Europa's assistant lady was so cruel to tell me to get back to Firenze by bus! Was that a reasonable and responsible assistance to tourist by a locally renowned company? Had Auto Europa's UNHELPFUL assistant lady considered my difficult situation? I lost my time to visit and I needed to go back to Firenze by myself even I paid for the full insurance. It was so fortunate that the garage technician was so kind to give me a lift to the nearby bus station and helped me to buy the bus ticket. I finally back to Firenze at 21:30pm.

I had paid for 1 full day's rent for the car with full insurance but in turn I had only used it for less than 20 hours and finally I need to go back to Firenze by bus. I don't think that's a good service from a renowned company. Anyone would expect when the rental car broke down, another car should be delivered for the continuous use by the client. I guess this is reasonable since my rental car broke down at a place within half hour drive from Firenze.

I had sent my complaint to Auto Europa by so far I haven't received any reply from it.

Moverover, I just found that Auto Europa charged my credit card 2 days ago (after 2 months of the rental) for another euro3921.5!

It is really ridiculous that Auto Europa hasn't informed me and carried out such charge on my credit card.

AUTO EUROPE:
I am so pissed off about this f****** company policy! No other major company do that! So abusive!
In my case I was supposed to return the car at other country (pick up at Italy and supposely drop-off at Spain) so they would charge 700 euros extra... fine, but sice I returned at the same place this fee shouldnt be aplied, right? WRONG! They want it all and they want it bad! ###!

Please, dont you ever consider to rent a car from the ABUSIVE
AutoEurope! Stay away from them for your own good!

The whole chat with them goes as follow:

###############
###############
Dear Mr Halmenschlager,

As stated in our previous email we are not in the position to refund the unused days. As we are a
tour opperator we are billed by the supplier for the full rental period and this is why this
condition is clearly stated in our voucher at the time of booking.

We regret that we cannot provide you with a more positive answer, however in this case we suggest
that you contact your travel insurance provider.

We thank you for your understanding.

Kind regards,

Arron Estes
Auto Europe Deutschland GmbH
Customer Service Department
Landsberger Strasse 155,
D - 80687 Munich
Registered in Munich, Germany: HRB 149828
Directors: Niall McDevitt, Detlef Hoffmann
Tel.: +49 89 [protected]
Fax: +49 89-[protected]
[protected]@autoeurope.de
http://www.autoeurope.com/choosehome.cfm?homecountry=US
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: "[protected]@autoeurope.de" ,
[protected]@autoeurope.ie
From: [protected]@procob.com
Subject: Re: {2011/01/20-[protected]} autoeuroep 3750201
Dear Mr Estes,

Thats unacceptable. Nobody told me that I could not return the car
earlier, not even at EuropCar. This kind of procedure ( the event of
return the car earlier) is widely used by all major car rental companies.
Please I ask you to look after the best interest of both of us, customer
and provider. Right now I feel very disappointed about this (unfair) rule.
I gently request for an exception on this matter since its the first
(and not only) time I will rent a car using your valuable services.

Hope you understand my situation and looking forward hearing from you
again.

Regards,

Gustavo

Em 11/02/2011 08:45, [protected]@autoeurope.de escreveu:
> Dear Mr Halmenschlager,
>
> Thank you for contacting Auto Europe.
>
> We are very sorry to inform you that based on our terms& conditions none used days are none
> refundable as we are a tour opperator we are billed by the supplier for the full rental period.
>
> The terms& conditions are clearly stated on the rental voucher. We have also added the
> corresponding excerpt to this correspondence.
>
> [GENERAL TERMS]
> * Auto Europe has no cancellation fee when Auto Europe is advised 48 hours prior to the reserved
> rental start date. Auto Europe does not charge any
> amendment fee up to 48 hours prior to rental start date however should a reservation be amended
the
> client will have to pay the rate available at the time of
> change. Should the customer cancel less than 48 hours prior to the reserved rental start date a
> cancellation fee equal to the first 3 days of the rental will be
> charged. In case of a cancellation due to officially acknowledged Force Majeure Auto Europe will
> waive the cancellation fee and charge an administration fee of
> €30/GBP25 only. Auto Europe does not refund any unused days if the customer does not show up, shows up late or returns the vehicle early. Regarding all of
> the above, the customer is always free to prove lesser cost.
>
> We’re sorry that we are unable to give you a positive reply.
>
> If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us
>
> Kind regards
>
> Arron Estes
> Auto Europe Deutschland GmbH
> Customer Service Department
> Landsberger Strasse 155,
> D - 80687 Munich
> Registered in Munich, Germany: HRB 149828
> Directors: Niall McDevitt, Detlef Hoffmann
> Tel.: +49 89 [protected]
> Fax: +49 89-[protected]
> [protected]@autoeurope.de
> http://www.autoeurope.com/choosehome.cfm?homecountry=US
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> To: "[protected]@autoeurope.com", [protected]@autoeurope.de
> From: [protected]@procob.com
> Subject: Re: {2011/01/20-[protected]} autoeuroep 3750201
> Hello!
>
> Attached to this message goes the receipt of the return of the car in
> Rome Fiumicino Airport (EuropCar) at 29.02.2011 - 14:51 which means that
> I used the car for only 4 days.
> My booking was for 11 days plus the drop-off at Barcelona's Airport but
> I had to change that and return the car earlier.
>
> The thing is: AutoEurope charged in my credit card the total amount of
> the booking ( $1.854, 86 euros in 21/01/2011), but since I have changed
> the returned date and place I request that AutoEurope issue a credit to
> me for the difference between the original cost and the real cost.
>
> Please let me know about this OK? Hope to hear from you soon.
> Thanks!
>
> -
>
> Atenciosamente,
>
> *Gustavo Halmenschlager | *Procob – Soluções para Crédito, Cobrança e
> Proteção a Fraude
>
> Av. Pres. Kennedy, 2498 - Água Verde - CEP 80.610-010 - Curitiba – Paraná
>
> 55 (*41*) *3270.5555* | *Nextel* 55**84***11135* - www.procob.com
> - [protected]@procob.com_
>
>
>
>
>
> Em 25/01/2011 04:31, [protected]@autoeurope.com escreveu:
>> Dear valuable Customer,
>>
>> please call us back to changed your booking!
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Alessandra Munno
>> Auto Europe Deutschland GmbH
>> Landsberger Strasse 155,
>> D - 80687 Munich
>> Registered in Munich, Germany: HRB 149828
>> Directors: Niall McDevitt, Detlef Hoffmann
>> Tel: +[protected]
>> Fax: + [protected]
>> http://www.autoeurope.com/choosehome.cfm?homecountry=US
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> To: "[protected]@autoeurope.com"
>> From: [protected]@procob.com
>> Subject: Re: {2011/01/20-[protected]} autoeuroep 3750201
>> Hello
>>
>> We are supposed to pick-up the car at 01/24/2011 12:00h but unfortunatelly our Flight company
>> reschedule our flight to tomorrow due to meteorological problems (heavy rain).
>>
>> Is it fine to pick-up the car at 01/25/2011 15:30h ?
>>
>> Please let me know as soon as possible.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Atenciosamente,
>> Gustavo Halmenschlager
>> PROCOB - Gestão Inteligente de Informações
>> [protected]
>> [protected]@procob.com - www.procob.com
>>
>> Em 20/01/2011, às 09:56, "[protected]@autoeurope.com" escreveu:
>>
>>> Dear Valued Customer,
>>>
>>> Thank you to have chosen Auto Europe.
>>>
>>> All details of your booking are included on your voucher sent to you in a separate e-mail. You
> can
>>> also retrieve this voucher on our website: https://www.autoeurope.com/reslookup.cfm
>>>
>>> Please print it then and present it to our Partner with your driving license (same name as the
>>> voucher) and credit card.
>>>
>>> **It is very important that you read all of the "Terms and Conditions" on your voucher.**
>>>
>>> Please reply or call us toll free if you have any questions.
>>>
>>> Best Regards,
>>>
>>> Alessandra Munno
>>> Auto Europe Deutschland GmbH
>>> Landsberger Strasse 155,
>>> D - 80687 Munich
>>> Registered in Munich, Germany: HRB 149828
>>> Directors: Niall McDevitt, Detlef Hoffmann
>>> Tel: +[protected]
>>> Fax: + [protected]
>>> http://www.autoeurope.com/choosehome.cfm?homecountry=US
>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> To: [protected]@fctexel.com, [protected]@autoeurope.com
>>> From: [protected]@procob.com
>>> Subject: NEW XML BOOKING 3750201
>>> Please check Voucher # 3750201 SYSTEM:EURO EUR
>>> USER: FCTEXEL
>>> ATTENTION:
>>>
>>> Agency:[protected]
>>> [Car]
>>> PWARZD Mercedes C Class wagon
>>> INCLUSIVE : Y
>>> TRAVEL EAST :
>>>
>>> [Pickup]
>>> EUROPCAR ROME FIUMICINO AIRPORT
>>> IT ROME 24-Jan-2011 12:00
>>>
>>> [Dropoff]
>>> ROME FIUMICINO AIRPORT
>>> IT ROME 04-Feb-2011 12:00
>>>
>>> [FLIGHT]
>>> AZ 00
>>>
>>> [DRIVER]
>>> Name :GUSTAVO HALMENSCHLAGER
>>> AGE : 31
>>> PHONE:+55 41 9684-
>>> EMAIL:[protected]@procob.com
>>> FAX :
>>>
>>> [PAYMENT]
>>> AMOUNT PD: 1364.67 EUR
>>>
>>> [SPECIAL REQUESTS]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> QuoteID:[protected]
>>>
>>>
>>>
###############
###############

Auto europe is the biggest consumer rip off of all time. Most people can get a better deal by dealing directly with a rental car company here. They will do it for you at a double the price fee. They will also get you a cell phone?. But you could do all this on your own cheaper". The headache of having to spend all that money could be better used for an extended stay at your hotel or vacation;. Be smart stop dealing with them'. A friend of minds found out it cost him double what he could of paid for|. Not only that but when I mentioned that I speak latin they tended to add charges!. Like I am some ***?. RIP RIP OFF OFF

Never rent with autoeurope in your life ..
I paid the voucher to rent a car with AutoEurope. The, I pick up the car at Dollar Los Angeles.
They took my credit card, according to them, to place a hold on it, in case we do not return the car. Then, they try to convince you to upgrade your car and rent a GPS. We decline everything.
When we returned the car and came back home, I noticed we have been charge twice for the same rental car. Once from Auto Europe and once from Dollar. I contact auto europe and Dollar to solve the misunderstanding.

To my surprise, auto europe reply a couple of weeks later saying that Dollar has billed as for the following:
$55.92 USD -- Personal protection plan
$47.92 USD -- Roadsafe
$36.77 USD -- Prepaid fuel
--------------
$9.78 USD -- State tax billed on above items
$15.62 USD -- Airport surcharge billed on above items
$1.19 USD -- Tourism surcharge billed on above items

We already had an insurace with auto europe and we never agree or talk about any other insurance with Dollar. As far as I understood, everything, including the fuel, was already paid with the Auto Europe voucher. No extra charges are mentioned anywhere.

Auto Eruope fail to take any responsibility for the service they provide, or at
least, clearly inform the customer of extra expensive charges, like taxes. As a
reservation company, they do not protect the costumer and they deal with
dishonest companies like Dollar, and agree to support this kind of frauds .
There was not any misunderstanding when renting the car,

I just regret I did not have a look at the forums before to check the reviews from Dollar and AutoEurope, as I now see there are much worse cases that mine. It is not fair, that the customer does not know in advance how much he is going to have to pay for what it should be a straight forward car rental. It is pathetic how little protected the customer is in this kind of situations.

Van.

We rented a car in Ireland through Auto Europe based in NY. I had gone over the fee structure very carefully with two representatives because of a prior exerience with them and having an 'airport pick up fee' charged in Madrid. At the Dublin Airport I decline all additonal coverages. The clerk told me to inital all the fees I declined (like in the US), which I did. When we arrived home, I had a voucher which included additional insurance coverage and other fees that I had declined! When I contacted the company to sort our these charges I was told that I had initialed ACCEPTANCE of the added fees! To top it all off, the car we were rented looked like it had been squashed between a wall and a truck on an Irish country road.

Be aware that AutoEurope discriminates against US residents (none US citizen living in USA)! If you are looking for a car rental deal in Europe don’t use AutoEurope because you will not qualify for rates that are offered to US citizen. AutoEurope management is apparently confused not realizing that US citizen and US residents should qualify for equal conditions.

I ordered tickets to fly to Europe from St. Thomas in August. I arrived at the airport in the morning, and my itinerary didn't match the flight schedule. I called "Discover Europe" aka "Fly Europe" aka "Auto Europe" and got a recording that said they didn't open until 9 am EST. The airline insisted that if I wanted to leave I would purchase another ticket for the first leg until they could contact "Discover Europe" aka "Fly Europe" aka "Auto Europe", so I paid to fly to a hub so that they could be contacted when they opened.

When I spoke to them they admitted making an error, but said that I couldn't prove it. They explained they had parted ways with an employee they didn't get along with. They said there were no damages in their having not registered my order as my card had not been charged. (Indeed my card had not been charged.)

I argued that there was a problem that needed to be solved. After many hours and missing the connecting flight, they offered to sell me tickets for the same price that could be gotten on the discount market that day -- much much more than the original price. Plus they would not cover the first leg ticket. They said it was my fault. The rep explained that they were a discount company _for Europe_ not the US where I was, and that they didn't do tickets from where I was at.

I couldn't afford to spend yet more and I was left stranded. THEY LEFT ME STRANDED because they made a mistake and I couldn't prove it. My European accommodations charged me. I got a hotel, but hotels are expensive. If I can't get a local job that makes cash soon I may be left on the streets.

All due to the Discover Europe, aka Fly Europe, aka Auto Europe