>>>but unless she called Maine, she did NOT call AutoEurope <<<

Not quite accurate. There is an office in Germany.
http://www.autoeurope.it/contact.cfm
http://www.autoeurope.fr/contact.cfm

Slightly off topic but why use AutoEurope at all? Why not just check what the car hire companies can offer you and choose directly? One less link in the chain to go wrong and an obvious place to complain should something happen.
Are AutoEurope really so much cheaper than dealing direct with a car hire company?

hetismij,

AutoEurope often is less expensive. They are brokers who account for thousands of rentals a year... I might do 2. Who will get the better price?

They also say they will match any lower price... so if true, even if you do find a lower rate elsewhere you won't pay more with AE.

In my case Europcar in Nice tried to foist a Fiat Sedici on me instead of the reserved Passat (or similar) as per the rental agreement. Sorry, but a rebadged Suzuki SX4 ain't in the same class as a Passat. I know a bit about cars.

The only Passat in stock was an automatic and I'd reserved a standard. The clerk wanted an extra 1,000 euros! A call to Maine and AE straightened things out in my favour in minutes... I put it down to the fact that AutoEurope has a lot more clout than I do.

Finally, because of their leverage, AE sometimes can offer deals. In my case it was free zero deductible insurance for the term of the rental. It came in very handy. I've been driving for nearly 40 years and have never so much as scratched a car but in Carcassonne I backeed into a wall in a dim underground garage and put a couple thousand euros of damage on the car. Didn't cost me a dime.

So all things considered... I'm glad to have been dealing with AutoEurope.

Rob

Thanks for the explanation Rob.
I'm always suspicious of middlemen - they have to be making money too after all.
Being in Europe I just look for the best deal online. I've never had a problem with a rental car yet. Touch wood.

As I've stated many times on this forum, when I've had a problem with the final billing, it has been much easier & I've found it to be a lot more productive to work things out through AutoEurope than to deal with the car rental office in Europe (who often don't speak English). When doing the latter I have been stonewalled, lied to, and have NEVER had my problem resloved (about 3 instances). With AutoEurope about 6 "problems" (which were all not the fault of AutoEurope - they were the rental company's problem like charging me for insurance or refueling costs when I didn' do either) were resolved in may favor - sometimes with a lot of communication with AutoEurope to provide proof when the rental company stonewalled them too. About half of those instances, AutoEurope paid me out of their pocket when the claim dragged on & on.

hetismij AutoEurope has contracts to rent tens of thousands of cars per year from a specific rental coompany. Their volume discount might be more than you can get just renting 1 car.

In my experience (well over 70 rentals) the final AutoEurope price is always at least 10% less than their on-line system displays (like a AAA or AARP discount). This year my flight to Europe was cancelled and I had to leave the next day. I called AutoEurope & they changed my reservation for 1 day later & e-mailed me a new voucher.

Remember - if you have a problem with Hertz, Avis, EuropCar - you'll likely have to negotiate with the company in Europe - not the US.

Stu Dudley

we hired a car from auto Europe for our holiday in Florida. We needed a six seater and received confirmation.  When we got to the airport the car we had hired was not large enough. It was a car we were unfamiliar with so we had assumed it was large enough.  The rental company hertz didn't have any cars large enough so we cancelled and rented elsewhere. Neither auto Europe or hertz will refund us and to add insult to injury they gave just charged us for a tankful of fuel they are refusing to refund.

2 year old thread?

I didn't see this thread originally, but it's funny that I also rented via Auto Europe and Sixt from Zagreb to Dubrovnik, perhaps around the same time the OP did. When I arrived, there was only one car left (and fortunately it had papers to drive through BiH!). But, now I must wonder if I wound up renting the OP's car, due to some mix-up? Multiple reservations via Auto Europe - who knows? Perhaps had I shown up later than first thing, the OP might have snagged my car and I would have started this thread?

I'm renting from Sixt in Slovenia in a couple of weeks - skipping Auto Europe as the middle man this time (Sixt directly was cheaper). My experience last time with Sixt was fine (car was a tad dirty and reeked of smoke), but the car ran fine and did the job. I guess I'd rent from Auto Europe again if the price was right, but if I can do it directly with Sixt for near the same price, why bother with Auto Europe?

Hey Ry,

> When we got to the airport the car we had hired was not large enough. It was a car we were unfamiliar with so we had assumed it was large enough.<

Did you call autoeurope and ask for a six-seater or did you <i>assume</i> that the car was appropriate?

If the latter, it was entirely your fault.

((I))

We rented from Sixt through www.carrentals.com our last trip to Germany. We wanted an economy car, standard shift. We ended up with a BMW 535, automatic with GPS. No extra charge.

Hey Iris,

You poor thing.

Boy, what a rip off.

The cost of gasoline must have been outrageous. :)

((I))

Hey Ira; Actually we could have had a large Mercedes, but wife chose the BMW. Tough decision. I did have a little scratch on the front left fender. Two thousand euros and AX premium insurance paid everything. Cost for the insurance was $19.95.

I rented a car with Sixt through the Hotwire website while i was in Vienna. Upon returning the car and checking out at the front desk, the agency informed us of "scratches under the bumper," which obviously were not visible. But since we were covered by the Hotwire insurance, the agent told us it was fine and sent us off after acquiring my signature on an electronic platform. Months later, after returning back to the states, I got the notice in the mail to fill out an accident report. Since I had been away, it took time before I was able to return the accident report. After which, a bill requesting to pay for the damages of EUR 622 came, which is now escalated to EUR 1,010, and threatened to take further by legal actions. We never saw the alleged damage. If I have not seen picture or any evidence that the car was damaged right after the return, then how could it be possible that someone else did not inflict the alleged damages?

I have had numerous contacts with agents from sixt, but they were not able to articulate or explain why it is the insurance we purchased through Hotwire was not taking care of the alleged damage. Nor proof that i had inflicted the damages. They have one document in german with my signature, which was lifted from the electronic version. i have not signed anything that i did not understand, particularly in german. i have contacted Hotwire about this issue, but due to the fact it was booked outside of the states, they were not able to help me other than rerouting me to their contractor, car crawler in europe, which said that they were not set up to follow up and dispute claims.

I've found numerous accounts of customers with similar experiences of being charged fraudulent damages from Sixt: http://www.complaintsboard.com/?search sixt

This thread is very old and not relevant to your concern. If you have an issue with your rental, your credit card company will handle it for you.

Hi nu,

I think that you will have a wider audience if you repost on your own thread.

Did you contact your CC?

Has Sixt actually charged your CC?

((I))

PS,

How does AutoEurope fit into your problem?