AutoEurope vs Novacarhire pros/cons?
Jan 5th, 2007, 08:12 AM
#21
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We were deciding between AutoEurope and Avis in Normandy quite recently, and I realized that one small but potential useful piece of information: You can reach an AutoEurope English-speaking customer service rep from France using a free access phone number, 24/7. I know this because I am in France, and I called them to check about matching rates, setting up the reservation, the types of cars, etc. If I wanted to call Avis from France, I would have had to be prepared to speak in French - which of course is to be expected, as I am in France! But still, for tourists and those who are more comfortable speaking English, it may be nice to know you can reach someone from AutoEurope in a pinch while out of the country.
Jan 5th, 2007, 08:31 AM
#22
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I agree with this last post, but let me tell you about my recent experience when we had a mishap with our Autoeurope car in France. You can reach Autoeurope any time and they are lovely to deal with and the call is free. All good. But if you have a problem with your car, they will refer you to the local agent who handled the actual car rental. In our case, Europcar. And they may not be so easy or pleasant to deal with, depending on the personnel at the local franchise. I actually was a bit diappointed with Autoeurope for this reason. They told me to call the local number for Europcar and really did nothing to intercede in having the car towed, etc. And when we were charged over $1000. US for a damaged clutch (how do we really know what repair charges were??) after we returned home, we were on our own to deal with the French rental car agent; Autoeurope secured a copy of the charges from Europcar (which were too blurred to read) but really did not, and probably could not, do much else. I would certainly consider using Autoeurope again but be aware that if you run into problems, there is a limit as to what they are able do for you, either at the time or once you return home to face cc charges.
Jan 5th, 2007, 09:22 AM
#23
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ekscrunchy,
your experience demonstrate that one must make careful choices when renting in most countries. I have always declined the CDW coverage offered by the local rental agency, or any coverage offered by Autoeurope, knowing that my credit card provided insurance. The only time it came into play was last summer, and while I carried the charge for a while, Visa reimbursed me the full costs of the repairs once all the paper work was filed. However, my card would not provide coverage for Ireland, Italy or Israel--it does not seem to like countries starting with "I".
your experience demonstrate that one must make careful choices when renting in most countries. I have always declined the CDW coverage offered by the local rental agency, or any coverage offered by Autoeurope, knowing that my credit card provided insurance. The only time it came into play was last summer, and while I carried the charge for a while, Visa reimbursed me the full costs of the repairs once all the paper work was filed. However, my card would not provide coverage for Ireland, Italy or Israel--it does not seem to like countries starting with "I".
Jan 5th, 2007, 12:24 PM
#25
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We too are renting a car for an Italy-France-Spain trip and after searching on the site, and comparing to Hertz, have decided to go with Auto Europe. We are concered about insurance however and I thought I could get it via my Amex card. HOWEVER the "I" concept Michael mentioned goes for Amex too. Apparently there are only 6 countries of origin where Amex DOES NOT cover rentals and wouldn't you know it, Italy is one of them. I'd love to be able to decrease what i'm assuming is going to be a whopping insurance charge on top of the rental any way possible. Any suggestions on other cards or is this pretty much industry standard?..... Much thanks in advance.
Jan 6th, 2007, 04:14 AM
#28
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Michael, I did decline the insurance because I have coverage through my Visa card, on which I charged the rental. But we made an important error. I paid for the car in advance but it was my friend who was to be the driver. So when we got to the rental office to pick up the car, it was she who gave her card for the damage deposit (which is mandatory and for about 800 Euro, which was blocked from her Mastercard).
I should have stated that in my earlier post. Because when I notified my card company of the problem, they told me they could do nothing since she was driving and she was being charged the 1200$US. And her card company would do nothing because THE FULL CAR PAYMENT was not on her card. That was our error and I certainly learned from this. This is kind of unusual because normally the one paying for the car would be the driver, but in our case it led to trouble. And we were left dealing with the repair people from Europcar and the Europcar personnel in Sarlat, who are not the friendliest bunch. They really could have made up any figure and had us pay it....who knows what the repair charge actually were on that Renault Scenic??....Well, we arrived home safe and sound, and wiser, if a bit poorer!
I should have stated that in my earlier post. Because when I notified my card company of the problem, they told me they could do nothing since she was driving and she was being charged the 1200$US. And her card company would do nothing because THE FULL CAR PAYMENT was not on her card. That was our error and I certainly learned from this. This is kind of unusual because normally the one paying for the car would be the driver, but in our case it led to trouble. And we were left dealing with the repair people from Europcar and the Europcar personnel in Sarlat, who are not the friendliest bunch. They really could have made up any figure and had us pay it....who knows what the repair charge actually were on that Renault Scenic??....Well, we arrived home safe and sound, and wiser, if a bit poorer!
