meant to say "hadn't"

I am sorry you had a bad experience, we rent in France with europcar every year (for at least 10 years) and have always had great service and very competitive pricing.....

"I have my pet peeve agencies as well, but they have nothing to do with the name of the company or the city -- but very specifically with the agency I dealt with"

I agree--and FYI, I've never had any other problem with EuropCar -- or any other car rental agency. But I certainly would not rent from them again in Ireland based on my experience there--and based on the responses I got from my emails.

To spin this on a positive note -- I couldn't have been happier with the way World Elite MasterCard handled this claim. I'd highly recommend that people who travel frequently sign up for a World Elite card that covers car rentals. That saved me a fortune.

We had similar problems as the OP, only in Shannon. It cost us about $300 more than their internet quote. Europcar, National, and Irish Car Rentals are all three in the same registration desk at Shannon. Has anyone in Ireland heard of "Boycot"?? We used the World Master Card from Citi, and it worked just fine to decline the rental car companies overpriced insurance! D.

Funny you should say that - Boycott was an English landlord in Ireland, that's where the word started :P