hmmmm , I should have read the reviews first !!!
Written: Mar 26 '09 (Updated Apr 17 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: easy booking the car
Cons: not so easy getting an explanation as to why they took so much money ...
The Bottom Line: Never again, I will go somewhere else next time
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| hollynz's Full Review: Europcar |
Okay, another bad experience with this firm to add to the list. Not looking too good for Europcar I'm afraid.
I booked the car with www.expedia.co.nz and as per usual, went with the cheapest deal offered. Pre paid with the credit card and printed off all the confirmations so all was in order.
When we arrived in Cape Town airport we discovered that Europcar trades as Imperial cars as well but we had no problems sorting out the booking. it was all plain sailing and when we dropped the car off a guy checked it over and I was expecting to sign something but no, they said everything was okay and that was that. We flew on to Johannesburg and picked up our second car with them and headed off to Kruger National Park for a few days. We were happy with the car we recieved in Cape Town and it was obviously a recent model and very clean and tidy. The car we had in Johannesburg was a bit older but was still clean on presentation. There was an issue with a piece of plastic falling off the drivers door handle but we just had to keep clipping it back in from time to time. again, on returning the car at Johannesburg we walked around the car with the guy and he gave us the all clear, once again nothing to sign off on so off we went.
The company took a ' hold ' of NZ$600 on our credit card, this was pretty much the cost we had pre-paid for the whole two week rental and we were surprised that they took so much but we were aware this was normal practice. The surprise came when they actually took a payment of NZ$300 which we thought rather excessive. We had returned the car at Johannesburg airport with 1/2 a tank of gas as we couldn't see a gas station near the airport and we were not in the mood to drive around getting lost looking for gas. We expected to be charged for the gas but not the exorbitant price they took from the credit card.
What surprised me the most was that the company did not inform us of the payment and when we sent an enquiry, did not receive a reply. My beef with the company is not that they took the payment, but the fact that they have made no attempt to reply to our emails asking for a breakdown of the charges they have taken.I don't have a problem paying them if there is a fair reason given we could easily have racked up a few speeding fines as there were always signs advising of Speed Cameras and hubby does tend to drive with a lead foot. He seems to think the speed is reliant on what everyone else is doing, not what the listed speed limit sign is saying. I am damned sure a tank of gas wouldn't cost more than NZ$50 so am a bit confused as to the reason for the other $250 ..... and no, I won't be using them again !
I'm just sorry I didn't check out the reviews beforehand, for some reason I had assumed they were a reputable company.
UPDATE
We have finally had an email reply from the Customer Services advising us that the only outstanding debit on our account was for the fuel and a contract fee ( totaling about R200 ~ about NZ$20). We have tried emailing countless time asking for them to look into the extra money they took but no replies from their end. We have handed the matter over to the credit card company so hopefully VISA can sort it out for us.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
hollynz
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 in Hotels & Travel |
 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Christine
Location: New Zealand
Reviews written: 144
Trusted by: 191 members
About Me:
~ In memory of Barbara ~
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