Auto Europe car rental- Beware!
 

I recently rented a car from Auto Europe in Florence, Italy for one day on November 1. I did get all the necessary insurance. Returned the car the next day. The agent looked at the car and said eveything was fine. Three weeks later I get a registered letter form them saying they are charging my credit card 600 Euros for damage, damage to the license plate of all things! I have put in a dispute with my CC company and called Auto Eur. customer service. They are going to investigate this scam.
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 <u>before</u> posting that AutoEurope scammed you . . . . . .

Based on post on October 17th...&quot;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&quot;...unless he changed the supplier after this post it was Avis.

Do not &quot;hope&quot; 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 &quot;get all the necessary insurance&quot; why are you worried?
I am anxious to read your reply when you get the facts.

OK - did you rent w/ Avis &quot;through&quot; AutoEurope - or did you rent &quot;through&quot; 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, &amp; 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 &quot;letter&quot; 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:
&gt; 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.

&gt;I did get all the necessary insurance.

AE offers zero deductible. Did you get that?

Hi J,

&gt;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?

((I))

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: &quot;The agent looked at the car and said eveything was fine.&quot;

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 M&uuml;nchen
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 &amp; resloves the problem for Mike, then an &quot;atta-boy&quot; 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 &quot;errors&quot; in the last few years.

Stu Dudley