Europcar - credit card question
 

I made a car reservation for our upcoming trip to Germany from Europcar. The notice I got back states that the original credit card used for the reservation needs to be presented at pick-up.
As that card was compromised a few months later, I had to cancel it. There is no way on the existing reservation to update the credit card info, and I tried emailing Europcar about it (3 times). No response, although an automated email I got back promised a response in 4 hours. I also tried messaging them on their Facebook page...no response either.
I could cancel the original reservation and make a new one, but the price wen up, of course :(

I'm sure others had the same problem, how did you handle it? Thanks

Is there a number you can call?

I've rented many times from the major companies here in Germany, and so far no one asked for the specific credit card I used when I made the reservation with the company or via consolidator websites like Auto Europe.
Though it probably won't hurt to get some confirmation from Europcar..

Even if the original card is no longer usable because you canceled it, do you have the physical credit card (in one piece) you can still take with you to pick up the car? I don't think they care once you arrive which card you actually use for the deposit, etc.

I don't think they'll care much, either. I just had the same situation, not with a car rental but with a ferry reservation. The card I used to buy the tickets was lost and canceled and replaced. Nobody cared when I presented the new card. I didn't have the old card (because it was lost). They just wanted payment, which was no problem with the new card.

I agree there should be no problem using any card you choose to when you pick up the car.

I do find it strange that you cannot get any response from them however. As always when dealing with any company, my go to is the phone. Not e-mail and certainly not Facebook.

Pick up the phone (use Skype) and TALK to a real live person.

I would have kept the card to show them myself. Otherwise, the credit card company transfers charges automatically from the old to new number and hopefully Europcar could figure that out. Maybe not, but I would have taken the old card, they just want to see it is you who made the reservation.

I suppose you cut it up and threw it away, right? I never do that when I have made reservations with one.

Online in your CC acct info, it should show the cancellation of one CC number and the start of a new one, maybe you can print that page to show them.

I actually kept my old card for a few weeks and didn't cut it up and throw it away, but it got to be a real PITA because I kept pulling it out of my wallet and trying to use it places it wasn't going to be accepted. OK, stupid of me, I could have stored it somewhere different, but there you have it. Anyway, was not a problem having a new card.

Thank you all, great suggestions. I finally managed to update the credit card on the reservation - it was not obvious how to do it, but playing with the "modify" option a little bit got me in the right place to do it.

We've rented before in Europe form various companies, and I don't remember ever having the credit card check done. But maybe we always used the same one as on the reservation? Who knows...

I'll never know if the old credit card info would've been ok, but now I have one less thing to worry for this trip :)

Sixt requires the credit card used for the reservation be shown for pickups in the US.

Tom_mn, what that indicates to me is a problem that people encounter more and more frequently since the advent of the computer.

An inability of employees to make common sense decisions based on the circumstances. Instead, they are confined to the 'system' and what IT will allow and not allow them to do. How many times have you heard someone say, 'the system won't allow me to make that change' etc.

Put what you say about Sixt insisting on the same card into simple terms. You reserve a car using a credit card. On arrival, you realize you left that card at home. Now what? They refuse to rent you a car? That to me is hilarious. They are in the business of renting cars, they are not in the business of refusing to do so because a computer system insists on something.

More than once I have changed cards when I pick up a car at Europcar. However, what applies to one agency does not necessarily apply to other agencies, not to mention the fact that the big agencies are company owned and in most of the medium sized or small cities, they are franchises that apply their own rules, no matter what the corporate rules are. A couple agencies have asked for a second ID in addition to my driver's licence.

One reason that I prefer to get my cars from the big agencies whenever possible is that they don't care about minor scratches or nicks (I repeat: <b>minor</b>) while the little agencies seem to have a personal sentimental attachment to each and every car they own. The contract in these provincial agencies almost always has a list of pre-existing scratches or dents which in most cases I couldn't even see with a magnifying glass.

Something that I try to do as often as possible is to take a train to my 'small' destination but arrange to return the car to Paris. Basically franchise agencies have two weeks to return company-owned cars to one of the big cities, so I am almost always upgraded to whatever car they need to get rid of.

I just checked Sixt's T&Cs for rentals in Germany.

Only for pre-paid rentals, the customer must present at the pick-up location the credit card used for that purchase.

For regular reservations, it can be any credit card with the customer's name on it or that of any other person in the same party who must be registered as the driver (or additional driver).

Cowboy: could be the same in US, the reservation I made was prepaid. The savings was $60 for prepaying so I thought it was worth it.

I always prepay. I think the "same credit card" rule would only be enforced if there was a doubt about the identity of the customer. But as I wrote above, each agency basically plays by its own rules. Nevertheless, I very much doubt that many agencies follow every aspect of the T&C to the letter. For example, in the last 50 or so rentals, I have only been asked to show my receipt for having just filled the tank upon return once, and yet that is marked on the contracts.