Auto Europe car rental- Beware!

Here we go again - there are about 10 or so of these same posts each year.

You did not rent a car FROM Auto Europe - you rented THROUGH Auto Europe. You probably rented a car FROM Avis, Hertz, EuropCar, etc. It was not AutoEurope that charged your CC - it was Hertz, Avis, EuropCar, or whoever you had the contract with. Contact customer service at AutoEurope by phone, and let them be your advocate to resolve this matter - you will probably get nowhere with your CC company (my wife works for Visa). It may take a few follow-ups on your part with Auto Europe to make sure they keep your claim 'active" until they get the supportive info from Avis, Hertz, etc. I have had similar problems with EuropCar & Hertz messing up on paperwork and charging me CDW, tank of gas, etc - but Auto Europe has always resolved things in my favor.

Your CDW with AutoEurope should cover the damamges, whether there were any or not.

I don't understand the registered letter part - I did not know that a registered letter to the US (if that's where you are from), could be initiated from Italy. I might be missing something here. Auto Europe does not charge anything in Euros.

Are you sure you are not confusing Auto Europe with EuropCar???

Stu Dudley

Did you rent from Auto Europe, or Auto Europa? The former is a US based agency that arranges rentals through Avis, Europcar, and others at excellent, negotiated rates. The latter is also know as SicilyByCar and is an Italian car rental agency.

I would be surprised if it was AutoEurope, as you don't actually pick up the car from them, but rather bring their pre-paid voucher to the rental car co.

It was definatly Auto Europe. They did charge in Euros. The letter did come registered from Italy.
I do not have the letter with me now I will post some info later. Thanks

Auto Europe is located in Protland, Maine - that's their only office.

Your letter probably came from the rental company (Hertz, Avis, etc). Which rental company office did your Auto Europe voucher instruct you to go to???

Stu Dudley

After you go home and get the letter, post the accurate info. I'd have done that before posting that AutoEurope scammed you . . . . . .

Based on post on October 17th..."I am renting in Florence for one day through Avis. It was the best price. Now I am a little woried. I am hoping my credit card will carry the insurance needed"...unless he changed the supplier after this post it was Avis.

Do not "hope" your credit card will cover damage to a rental...read the fine print, then call the company to find out exactly what the coverage is. I'll be very surprised if your company covers you in Italy, as most of the rental agencies require you to purchase insurance when you pick up the car in that country.

It is unfortunate that such posts continue to appear. Stu said it all. More holes than Swiss cheese...
You did not get a letter from AutoEurope from Italy.
If you did indeed "get all the necessary insurance" why are you worried?
I am anxious to read your reply when you get the facts.

OK - did you rent w/ Avis "through" AutoEurope - or did you rent "through" Avis?

If AutoEurope was involved - I'd assumem you got the CDW. If you are relying on your credit card - I'm pretty sure you are SOL. Visa/MC don't cover car insurance in Italy, Ireland and few other countries.

We need a LOT more information since the bits and pieces don't add up.

By guess is:
1. The OP rented a car from Avis through Auto Europe.
2. He didn't take nil-deductible coverage through Auto Europe, but just relied on Avis' CDW, which has a deductible of 600 euro.
3. When he returned the car, the staff receiving gave their OK. But on closer examination afterwards, they detected a damage and 600 euro deductible was charged to his credit card.

What the OP should do is to contact AE by phone (toll-free) and ask them to investigate. If there was a damage to license plate, ask Avis to produce a receipt for repair. If it's less than 600 euro, ask them to refund the difference.

I don't think Auto Europe will even offer you a car in Italy without their CDW. They will in France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, & other countries that do not require insurance.

Stu Dudley

I've rented through AutoEurope many times and have always been amazed at the high quality of their customer service. Most companies could learn a lot from these people relating to how to properly treat customers.

1) I have never received a "letter" from them in the mail. I have always received an email.

2) As stated above, they are located in the States and act as a broker for many companies.

3) AutoEurope would not be charging anything extra as they do not physically rent cars. The agency may. That said, did you receive a release from the actual rental company? If so, then it has to show damage. If not, then sorry.

4) You always have the option to purchase additional insurance. In fact, if memory serves me correctly, you are required to physically decline additional coverage in Italy.

5) There is a company called AutoEuropa which does get slammed alot and is not in any way connected with AutoEurope.

dave

We rented through Auto Europe in Italy last year and they did indeed force the extra insurance on us, as its a requirement in Italy. We have a CC with added insurance to cover CDW but in certain countries, Italy being one of them, CDW is mandatory and is included in the rate of the rental.

As mentioned above, Auto Europe is basically just a middle man, so you didn't actually rent an Auto Europe vehicle, you rented an Avis, Hertz, etc. vehicle through Auto Europe.

I have always been very impressed by AE's customer service. If you have any questions or doubts, call them. They should be able to offer you some advice or tell you where to go next.

Good luck,
Tracy

I had a quote and voucher from AutoEurope this past summer. The rental was through Avis.

The quote included mandatory CDW with a deductible (I forget the amount). I was invited to purchase super CDW at additional cost. The super-CDW lowers your deductible to $0 liability, but is not mandatory. Basic CDW is in Italy as others have mentioned.

In the end I switched to Thrifty - they had an internet special and AutoEurope would not match the quote (claiming the car was a different class vehicle).

Mike writes:
> I recently rented a car from Auto Europe in Florence, Italy for one day on November 1.

I didn't know that AE would rent a car for less than 3 days.

>I did get all the necessary insurance.

AE offers zero deductible. Did you get that?

Hi J,

>I switched to Thrifty - they had an internet special and AutoEurope would not match the quote (claiming the car was a different class vehicle).

Hmmmmm, I wonder if it is remotely possible that it was?

What were the 2 cars?

According to their (AE) website, you can rent a car for one day in Florence.

In my own experience, if damage is claimed by the vendor, AutoEurope is not much help. We were pretty much on our own when EuropCar charged us for damage to the clutch last year in France. And we had to pay!

Sorry, but what has happend to me and everyone else on thsi thread when WE/THEY rented through AutoEurope is irrelevant.

What IS relevant IMO is this statement from the OP: "The agent looked at the car and said eveything was fine."

IF that agent didn't say it IN WRITING you are toast, Mike.

Actually, the European headquaters of AutoEurope is:

AutoEurope Deutschland GmbH
Landsberger Strasse 155
80687 München
GERMANY

That's the place that has handled all of my customer service issues in France.

I think the point of many replies here is that Auto Europe is not the culprit. Anyone reading Mike's heading or original post would think Auto Europe is running a scam - which I doubt.

If Auto Europe is just an innocent bystander, then I think Mike should post some sort of apology to AE (new thread). If Auto Europe jumps in & resloves the problem for Mike, then an "atta-boy" for AE would be appropriate, IMO.

BTW, I rent about 3 cars per year in Europe. When I return the cars, only about 25% of the offices have even inspected the car for damages. Usually I just hand the office clerk the papers, make sure they document that the car was returned full of gas (they take my word for it), and that was it. In France where most of my rentals occur, they only immediatly process the paperwork at the return office IF I also rented the car from that same office. If I rented it from a different office, they mail the return papers to the originating office. Also, I have noticed an increae of paperwork "errors" in the last few years.

Stu Dudley

>According to their (AE) website, you can rent a car for one day in Florence. <

So, you can.

Thanks, ek.

I don't get all of this.... AutoEruope (based in the US) covers all of the insurance. We have never been asked if we wanted enhanced CDW. We brought back a dented car and told them at the desk. The agent said, "Don't worry, you're completely covered."

The original poster mentioned he rented a car from AutoEurope in Florence.....unless he made the reservation before, he couldn't have rented from AutoEurope. He said he did get all the necessary insurance. AutoEurope already comes with theft, fire, CDW, etc, ect. You don't have to purchase more.

The OP said he would post more info when he had a chance to look at the letter again. I personally think we should just wait til he does (or doesn't ) so we know what really happened.

I forgot to mention that when we called AutoEurope to tell them we had dented the car, they told us we had to deal with the rental company. Even though they cover you with all of the insurance, they purchase it through the rental company at a greatly discounted price. We never paid a penny for the dent and that was a year ago.

Ira: Just so you know for next time, you can rent a car from Auto Europe for less than 3 days in most locations. We have done it several times in different countries...

Now, back to the subject at hand....

Here are all the facts.
I rented through AutoEurope before I left the U.S. I was told to pick up the car in Florence at the Auto Europa office in downtown Florence.
The registered letter I recieved three weeks later was from a broker called ASC broker- Sicily by Car. I did have the CDW ins. I made sure of that. It was included in the quote I recieved. The letter stated that "the charges were due to damages occurred to the not insured parts of the rented vehicle". The box for vehicle plates was checked.

Ok, Got it. Good luck with your claim and let us know how it turns out so if it happens to us we know what to do.

I know everyone says to take pictures of the car when they ok it. I have to say....I never do and I guess we should.

I like that..."oh, you wanted the licence plate insured? I'm sorry, that's XXX euro more". What nerve

I used AutoEurope last week to rent a car in Florida (provided through Dollar), and the license plate was so twisted I thought it would fall off the car.

Auto Europe contracting with Auto Europa is a new one on me.

I would call Auto Europe Customer Service and tell them your story. You may be getting scammed by Auto Europa, and I'm sure Auto Europe would be interested to hear about it. I would also write a letter to Customer Service and document the facts (no embellishments) and tell the CS person you will FAX it to him/her as a follow up. I had a similar problem this year, and a FAX seemed to break the "logjam".

Licence plates for 600E??? - wow - I would like to see that plate.

Stu Dudley

I did call Auto Europe in there U.S. office yesterday and they are going to investigate it. The agent I spoke to sounded amazed when I told him the letter said the damage was to the licence plate.
When I get an update I will post. Thanks

Call Auto Europe late next week to see if there is any "news" from Auto Europa. I would still FAX them an "information" document. My communication floundered a bit with them this year until I sent a FAX after one of my subsequent follow-up calls. On two occasions, Auto Europe did not receive any supportive info from the rental agency (Auto Europa in your case), so they refunded the money to me themselves.

Stu Dudley

The information on Auto Europa's website states:

CAR PROTECTION PLUS INCLUDES :
- total elimination of the damage penalty ;
- total elimination of the theft penalty ;
- accessory services include :
- exempts the customer of the payment of the cost to reinstatement of: windshield, glasses in general, tyres, parts beneath the vehicle, roof ;

CAR PROTECTION PLUS does NOT include:
- Loss and/or damages and/or theft of the car papers. In such cases, client will be charged for a supplement of 200,00 + 20% VAT;
- Loss and/or damages and/or theft of the car keys. In such cases, client will be charged for a supplement of 200,00 + 20% VAT;
- Loss and/or damages and/or theft of the registration plates (or even just one of them). In such cases, client will be charged for a supplement of 360,00 + 20% VAT.
-
- It is NEVER possible to eliminate the responsibility regarding damages to tapestry and interiors, to mechanical parts caused by negligence and /or carelessness of the driver.

- damages to the vehicle for violation of the Traffic Regulation Code.

According to this info even if you did damage them or they were stolen, the charge should be 360,00 Euros plus VAT...this information should also be in your rental contract. It seems to me like they are gouging you in excess of their written policy.

I've always had very good customer service with Auto Europe and I'm sure if they can help you solve the issue with Auto Europa they will do their best. They are however only a broker or middleman.

Good luck...I hope it gets resolved.

A slight update. After having two conversations with C.S. rep a couple of weeks ago I recieved an email from Auto Europe asking for copies of what I recieved from Auto- Europa. this is the email I recieved.

Your fax was received, and thanks for sending this to me. I will advise you as soon as the matter has been settled, and I deeply regret any inconvenience

..good news Mike.. As a suggestion, I am really quite neurotic about looking at any car I rent with a fine tooth comb when I pick it up. I make sure any little dings are noted by the agency. When I return, I insist on another walk around with the agency so no surprises...I even once took a picture of a rather odd scratch that had 2 components..and sure enough I had it on the camera when the agency walked around with me.

I am not as easily convinced about this whole thing.... and meanwhile we have a post that keeps popping up entitled "Auto Europe car rental- Beware!"
Has the OP admitted to:
the fact that the culprit is not Auto Europe? that if the letter came from Italy it was Sicily By Car (aka Auto Europa!!!)
A broker named ASC ??? more probably a reference to premium location drop-off (airport) and that broker paid it... that is usually what ASC means
that AutoEurope is fulfilling their obligation... they are investigating and apologized for the agency and said they have never heard of such a thing

...meanwhile the title of the post lives on

Travel Bunny: We also take pictures of before and after. Sometimes there isn't (as in Palermo airport) an agent in the lot where you drop the car off. So it is very important never to delete the before and after pictures for a very long time.

As I mentioned before, we rented through Auto Europe in Sicily and had an Avis car. We didn't buy the extra insurance. We told the agent inside the airport that we had a dent. He said it was ok because we were completely covered. That was over an year ago and I haven't heard another word. We have kept the pictures.

I agree with robjame.

mike, you should ask the editors to remove this thread because the title is clearly an unfair and misleading attack on Auto Europe.

Jim

I agree with deleting this post because AutoEurope is an excellent company. The original poster mentions that they are trying to take care of it. If you search AutoEurope on this site you will see the vast majority of people swear by them. I wouldn't rent from anyone else.

Well, when this problem first occured I did not realize Auto Europe was just the broker. I was so angry to get a bill for over 900.00 dollars for something I did not do. I just new that is the company I made the reervation with. When this matter is resolved I will HAPPILY praise Auto Europe.

I am happy to hear of things that occur to travelers good or bad so that I can be prepared of what might happen to me. Isn't that what this post is all about?

While I am a big fan of AutoEurope and my own posts reflect this, I also feel that this thread is actually important and should not be deleted.

The OP has a legitimate complaint, granted not with the company listed in the title. However, it does allow others to see how strongly AutoEurope is defended by those of us that use them.

In a way, this actually increases AutoEurope's standing, having this many people coming to their defense, as we have done so on many occasions in the past.

Just my two cents, which devalues on a daily basis

dave

We finally got our major problem resolved with auto europe and auto europa/sicily by car after three long months.

The thing that we can say is that we were listened to by the customer representative of auto europe through many emails and phone calls.

Auto Europa was claiming there was not damage to the license plate but that the plate was missing, this was definately false. After two months Auto Europa then stated that they would refund $640 dollars for the missing plate.

Then Auto Europa stated (which was never on the registered letter that we received from them nor was it EVER mentioned BEFORE) that "we put the wrong type of fuel into the car and they had to flush the fuel out" which would cost us $270. This was also false.

Bottom line is that Auto Europe did assist us in resolving this matter and upon our persistance and another month Auto Europe agreed to refund the $270. Kudos to Auto Europe!

>>Auto Europe agreed to refund the $270. Kudos to Auto Europe!<<

Probably out of their own pockets too - even though they had nothing to do with mis-charging you for the gas/diesel.

This is why I continue to rent through AutoEurope.

Stu Dudley

Hi b12,

>When this matter is resolved I will HAPPILY praise Auto Europe.

I don't see your post of praise.

Nor do I see a post warning about AutoEuropA.

I live in Westbrook, ME, 15 minutes from Auto Europe's offices. As a travel agent for 10+ years, I constantly booked cars, air, and more, etc. through Auto Europe and never had any problems.

Last year I booked a car rental (and a cell phone) through Auto Europe for our family trip to France. After looking further on the internet I found a cheaper rate through another company, called Auto Europe to see if they were interested in matching it. After making sure the lower rate was valid, they matched it and even upgraded us to a nicer car.

The rental was through Europecarat Gare du Nord. They were extremely cordial and efficient. We declined the CDW, as we have coverage on our CC, and I took photos of some scratches on the bumper, too. Upon returning the car, the agent (at the Toulouse airport) checked the car quickly and we were on our way. Again the agent at Europecar was pleasant and efficient, and the return took just minutes.

When I picked up and returned my rental cell phone in person at Auto Europe's office, I took the opportunity to look around. Their operation takes up an entire big building, with several floors full of busy reservationists. This company does a lot of business, and I find them to be consistently professional and trustworthy, providing excellent value.

Good luck, Mike. I think they'll take care of your problem. What a pain, though.

We once returned a rental car in L.A., and the attendant pointed out a broken taillight (must have happened in a parking lot, and we weren't aware of it).

But, the attendant pointed it out to us on the spot, and we had to go into the office to sign papers acknowledging it. And I took a picture of it, too. It was all legit. I ended up paying $99 to repair, but luckily my Visa card insurance covered it.

If you don't sign an agreement at the time you return the car, can you be held responsible for anything wrong with the car afterwards? Couldn't the damage have easily happened (or been fabricated) AFTER you returned the car?

I'm glad to hear that Auto Europe took care of it for you.

I think you need to post again, and clear their name. We used them once and they were stellar at fixing a problem for us in Munich.

As stated above I think a new topic posting the praise of AutoEurope might be in order.

Have booked alot of cars through AutoEurope (usually pick up the car from Europcar at the airport). Never had a real problem with them and they've often gave me better cars for the same price.I'd always got to them first when looking for carhire
Now Alamo and Carhire3000--- they've a whole different attitude to customer service...

The same thing kinda happened to me once in Boston from dollar rent a car. About 2 weeks after we returned a Pontiac Grand Am to Logan. I got a charge of $250.00 on my Citi bank Visa from Dollar for a spare tire (the doughnut) I was lucky enough to have the copy of the full invintory of the car. I sent copies of the paper work I had to dollar, It showed when I rented there was no spare tire. The charge was reversed. janisj and others were very rude to the OP and I wonder why? Do they work for Auto Europe or were they just trying start an arguement?

I will be posting a separate comment to praise auto europe for their assistantance. I do want to make one final comment here though, after months of sticking up for my rights: "it was not until I told auto europe that the fuel issue was totally wrong and NEVER on any paperwork/letter received, and that I would fight the $270 remaining fee, and in addition I would tell everyone I know about this ridiculous charge" that this charge was then REMOVED the following day. Coinsidence, maybe?

pinchme: I was NOT rude to the OP. I, and most of the others, simply challenged him re the facts. AutoEurope - whom he slammed in his title and in his post, was not the culprit and we were just trying to get him to be fair. He was very confused about who he rented from and who charged him - and now he isn't.

He is now all over AutoEurope saying how hunky-dory, wonderful they are - but the title is still out there saying "Auto Europe car rental- Beware!"

mike - you need to remember who the culprit was - not AutoEurope.

If you had rented it directly from Auto Europa, you would probably have been stuck with BOTH the bogus collision cost AND the tank flushing.

Thank your stars that you rented through AutoEurope.

My wife works for Visa. She says that the most disputed claims are on Automobile rentals. AutoEurope probably gets lots of claims from customers that are not valid. It often takes them awhile to do the research.

Stu Dudley

I think that this website is an incredible resource for travel and I truly appreciate everyone's wisdom. This website is here to gain knowlege and I did learn something and I hope that everyone else did too.

If auto europe were to be searched both this and my thank you would come up. I hope that a person researching their next trip would read both because they're both useful.

I had this happen in the U.S. with Alamo. I wrote back and told them that the car was fine when I dropped it off and that the attendant did not point out any problems to me. I went on the explain that since they did not claim any damages when I returned the car, it is reasonable to assume that any damage incurred happened after I dropped it off. I told them I would not be held responsible for anything that happened once the car was no longer in my possession. Never heard from them again.

Hey M,

>"it was not until I told auto europe that the fuel issue was totally wrong and NEVER on any paperwork/letter received, and that I would fight the $270 remaining fee, and in addition I would tell everyone I know about this ridiculous charge" that this charge was then REMOVED the following day. Coinsidence, maybe?<

Why are you complaining about motives?

You were reimbursed. Be happy.

I think in fairness to Auto Europe, this thread should be deleted. They don't deserve the bad press.

Mike, why don't you ask editors to do that?

Ira,
I am not complaining.
I am very happy that this matter is finally over with.

"it was not until I told auto europe that the fuel issue was totally wrong and NEVER on any paperwork/letter received, and that I would fight the $270 remaining fee, and in addition I would tell everyone I know about this ridiculous charge" that this charge was then REMOVED the following day. Coinsidence, maybe?"

It definitely does sound like you are still complaining . . . . . .

Coinsidence, maybe?"
Who can tell?
matter closed.
Just the facts!!

Thank you all for the discussions and not removing this topic, otherwise I wouldn't be here to see the whole true story. I am planning to rent a car in Paris next month, and I have been horrified by different stories about people got ripped-off by car rental companies. This thread just confirmed my decision to rent from Auto Europe.

You see, if I search by "the best car rentals in europe europcar avis autoeurope", I get millions of useless info. But instead I search by "europe car rental rip-off europcar avis autoeurope", I get this thread only at the 2nd line. It is actually helping Auto Europe.

I have the same problem. I was in Milan in October 2010. I got a car from Auto Europa Silicy by car company. It was Nissan Micra 1.2. 7 days car havent got any damages and problems. We was in many cities in Italy, about 2000 km was done for 1 week. After we gave car back (i gave keys in office to a man, he said nothing needed more, we dont checked car, it was 2 hours on parking when we waited for office opening) and when we arrive to out home country i checked internet bank and saw that there were charged 860 EUR more (first 1200 eur charging was still there, not unblocked). I called to Auto Europe and they said that car was damaged and this 860 EUR deposit is for repairing. After 2 weeks they unblocked money but not all, minus 380 eur for mirror repair.

Also i find real prices for repair. They prices are fake. Mirror cost is only 80 eur in Italy not 180 Eur like they send me some fake papers. You can see them in attachment.

So i recommend to all people, if you get car in this company you need full insurance + photo car when you gave it back + check car with office man so they can`t charge you more and damage car after you gave it back like it was with my car.

http://www.darkman.lv/autoeuropa.jpg