Car hire......be very very careful

I recently booked a flight to Nice, France on the Easyjet website and the following caught my eye on their Europcar page.

As I needed to hire a car in France for 4 days and the deal looked decent, I paid Easyjet an extra £82 for the hire

Why you get the best deal all

round when you rent with us

easyJet passengers always save more

You will always get exclusive savings on our competitive direct prices, whenever you book. We’ll even give you 14 business days to change your mind after booking FREE of charge.
The earlier you book, the more you save and If you find the same rental cheaper, we’ll refund double the difference. That's our Lowest Price Guarantee (see terms and conditions below).

Europcar goes the extra mile with service guarantees

We're there for you 24/7 to meet all easyJet flights - if you are delayed we will wait for you for up to two hours even if we should be closed We also provide you with the added reassurance of 24-hour roadside assistance included in our service.
Plus, we’ll always have a car available for you – even with short notice.

The price you see is the price you pay

Collision, Damage and Theft Waivers are included in the price you see and we will never ask for additional airport charges, taxes or fees when you arrive - they too are already included.
We even confirm your car rental extras at the time of booking Including items like child seats - leaving nothing to chance.

We’ll never hit you with unexpected extra charges when you arrive

                                        *********************

 Upon arrival at Nice airport, I was incensed to be told by the Europcar agent that the excess on the insurance was 850 Euro.

That is not insurance as every car in France has a dent or a scrape.  I did not want to be exposed to a massive accident claim.

The agent told me that I could have full cover for about an extra 23 Euro per day. This I reluctantly agreed to do.

I was also told I had to leave a credit card deposit of 250 Euro - this I did

The car was returned to Nice Airport at about 3.19pm on 16th October with a full petrol tank refueled at 2.39pm at a nearby Total station. Cost 31.83 Euro - receipt is available.

The car was inspected upon arrival and  the operative confirmed that there was no damage and all was in order. I was told that there was nothing to pay and I would get a final invoice by email in due course.

On 26th October I was horrified to receive a final invoice from Europcar UK for 357.86 Euro showing refuelling charges, damage claim and other incidentals which I had not agreed to.

My credit card was hit by an unauthorized charges of £29.26 and £180.43.

I have therefore been overcharged by at least £209.69 for my 4 days hire

There is a mountain of evidence on the Internet that Europcar have done this hundreds if not of thousands of times - If this is true, what they are doing is FRAUD.

I have reported the matter to:-

Leicester Police, The Advertising Standards Authority, Trading Standards

If you are thinking of renting a hire car, be careful, be very very careful!

UPDATE 12th January 2016

Good news - my credit card company has acknowledged the fraud and has refunded me the charges....

Even better news - Europcar in Nice, France has just written to me saying that unless I settle their charges they will take further action and warn all Europcar depots not to rent to me....

They must be having a laugh...never in a million years will I ever rent from them again.......

I am in contact with my MP to see what can be done to close this outfit down.....I have also written to EasyJet management - I am surprised that they associate their airline with such crooks.....!!

I think we see just the tip of the iceberg as most folk do not realize they have been defrauded until they are back in their home country - very often the other side of the world