Warning!!! Europcar car rental in Ljubljana town
 

Warning!!! Do not rent a car here!
We rented a car from europcar in Ljubljana town for 2 days in August 2013, and payed for the full insurance coverage. We returned it safe and sound and in perfect condition, only to discover 2 months later that our credit card has been charged 930€, under the ridiculous pretext that we had broken the car's clutch, and that it had to be replaced.
We have been renting cars all over Europe for more than 20 years, and have never had any trouble.
Do not repeat our mistake! Avoid this europcar agency at all costs!

Have you contested the charges with your credit card company?

What did you do with the documentation from the agency that certified you returned it in good shape? Of course it probably had some clause which essentially said, "But we can change our mind if we decide we need more of your money."

probably, but I am in no danger of renting there, that's for sure.

It isn't really that easy to get documentation from an agency certifying that you returned it in good shape. You have to insist on them signing something, usually, they always want you to just drop it off and then leave. This is true in the US, also, of course, in places that don't have attendants where you drive in, and even then, they probaby have some clause about how they can charge you for things they can't see visually. No company ever drives a car to test it when you return it.

It's nice that the OP signed up apparently today to share this story with us.

The story doesn't even make sense. A "broken clutch" would be considered a mechanical failure that should not require insurance coverage in any case. I'm sure this isn't a disgruntled former employee or anything...

Plus it would likely be quite hard to drive a rental car back to drop off if it had a broken clutch.

StCirq - LOL!

Andrew: it seems legit, since another member of 5 years' standing - with several old threads on his/her Slovenia trip planning - has just reported the very same scam.

Ted, you'd think one call to the credit card company to dispute the charge would have cleared this up. I still wonder how a rental car company could legitimately expect a customer to pay for mechanical repairs. Suppose the clutch really did fail. How do you know it wasn't the driver right before me who damaged it? Impossible!

I wonder if Europcar is double charging for the same non-existent clutch repair.

This is an update: we have, of course, contacted our credit card company. Apparently, you are charged first, and than post a complain. 930€ were charged and we posted a complaint.
Even though we asked the europcar agency in ljubljana numerous times to send us their proof- nothing has been sent to us yet. We hope to get our money back from the credit card company in ten days or so. We promise to update!
Tamar& Eitan

Have you tried to made a chargeback on your credit card?

Ditto that. I rented a car in Italy in late September. The agent “found” damage to the car that had not been reported by us when picking up the car. There were three small scratches to the bumper. Could have been there when we picked it up but I wouldn’t think of bumper scratches as damage so wouldn’t have reported it anyway…not then. The agent told me we would be notified by email if we were to be charged for damage.
When we received our charge statement in November there was a charge for over 500 Euros on the statement. We found they charged an extra day for turning the car in late, (we did not), and most of it for “damage!” We did get the extra day removed.
Never got an email about damage. Many folks don’t check their charge statements and just pay them. Check them closely if you deal with Europcar. All the insurance I paid for and they sting me within the deductible.
Document your car with photos and video before you leave their lot, although I saw another post on Fodor’s where they did just that and still got tagged for 900 Euros, with no way out! Frankly I would exhaust all other options before using Europcar. I think they use very shoddy tactics to increase their bottom line. They know what they are doing.

Always, always, always take a picture of your rental and take the time to carefully note things..Often we are in a hurry to get going and take honesty for granted. Got dinged for a broken side mirror (not us), then got billed for a windshield instead and let the cc company handle it..S#*t happens but don't let yourself get suckered. All was handled locally but when travelling you are often victims of scams. Many people just don't take the time to check things carefully!! and IndianaDon you are right "they know what they are doing"!!

I just read in my local newspaper about someone who returned a rental car where he and the manager examined the car and manager said it was fine. Four hours later he received a call saying that there was "hidden damage". The manager said there were scratches to the underside of the car! He was charged $186 for scratches and $106 for "administrative charges". So in addition to a visual confirmation of car, you must shimmy under it to see there is anything wrong and document with a camera.