Please see my full June 2015 experience in the Tourist Scam forum. They Scam for Insurance, the lowest thing any company can do!
Posted by
London, England.
661 posts
Sorry you feel cheated, i'm very proud of my city and want all tourists to have a fantastic time, and feel like London is their second home.
Its a shame that some people/businesses feel that obtaining extra revenue by deceptive or misleading means, is something they would even consider.
I'm confident that experiences such as yours are the exception rather than the rule, but that does little to reduce the embarrasement i feel, to have had this happen.
I do have to say, i am personally very reluctant to ever hire a car, as I can see there is a lot of scope for being ripped off, i never have been in the past, but i would never rent a car now.
This episode aside, i hope you enjoyed your trip.
Posted by
OP
Oregon
4 posts
Thank YOu, we feel very cheated by this company, and even after a concerted effort to establish our case with Europcar, they have refused to acknowledge a wrong doing. Bank of America Card services disputed this for me twice, and finally backed out solely on the grounds that i had used a 3rd party for the reservation and insurance.. To me, Priceline.com is an agent/broker for Europcar, and the agents should be honest and regard any demonstrated insurance as possible coverage; NOT claim no insurance is apparent. A tourist would NOT be aware of UK 3rd party requirements. As it turns out, rental companies (most) include PLPD insurance as part of the rental rate. The agent avoided this on purpose in order to cause me worry. I had all coverage and he would have know this. This is obviously Europcar policy to sell insurance. On my bill, the insurance was equal to the rental fee. $650 is a lot of profit by unscrupulous means. I think the UK ombudsman for finance and insurance should look into the scam. I am considering a complaint.
At our age, i take care to make as many precautions as possible prior to travel. This case in example. Europcar at Heathrow is not near any other rental agency, and one must bus to their office, which puts even more pressure on the client to yield to their tactics. I remain in firm opinion that this is NOT an isolated event, but a multi-million dollar scam business for Europcar. I would urge Rick Steves to warn people about this possibility.
Posted by
Hampshire, England.
1069 posts
Unfortunately it's nothing new, some car hire companies (including Europcar) have been doing this for a while, one of the many threads on TA:
The other way they generate more income is to charge the renter of the car for damage (which either doesn't exist or was already there) when they have returned to their home country, this seems to be a favourite of Green Motion.