Europcar rental in France

I too have rented frequently with Europcar in France, but the last 2 trips I switched to Hertz because of some bad experiences with Europcar. In one case maybe it was just the agent or that particular office, but in the other case in was a post-rental financial issue that never got resolved; my bank said one thing and Europcar said another about the transaction. But I wouldn't let that stop you from renting with Europcar; it has just stopped me. You can always take a look at what a search on AutoEurope turns up for options. I almost always rent through them. For my upcoming trip, with a pickup and return in Lyon, the rate through Hertz was far less than what they were showing for Europcar.

I last rented from Europcar in France and Switzerland in 2016. I've been renting with them for 12 years. I've never had a bad situation, and have had plenty of times when I was thankful I was with them (overlooking body damage I put on the car, not pursuing me for accidental toll no-pays).

I had the same situation in the same city with the same clerk as Robert—we messaged privately to establish that. It was in 2016. We also had an extra charge but AutoEurope got ours reversed immediately. We’ve continued with EuropCar last year and this but have noticed a definite increase in upsell pressure. We expect it now. It is different from before. We have used EuropCar via AutoEurope for 20 years.

Our two rentals in France were with Europcar (EC) via the Autoeurope (AE) site. And we are looking at renting again in July in Marseille...via AE...and Europcar is the cheapest option - a couple hundred cheaper than the others shown - $240 at Europcar vs the next best deal, which was $425 with Hertz.

Never had anyone try to upsell on the insurance. Nice car both times (VW and Citroen) - the 2nd rental only had 10K on it. Our only issue was we did some damage on our 2nd rental, and I kept trying to get the info from EC to pass along to Amex to no avail. What I did learn was I should have just contacted AE about it, as I had the info within a few days once I contacted them.

I do find people are quicker to lodge complaints than to praise, so I think that's why we end up seeing more bad reviews of things - I'm sure 90% of the people are happy. People being people, we LOVE talking about our bad experiences rather than our good ones.

My experience with Europcar in 2016 was excellent. Picked up the vehicle in Brive and dropped it off in Arles. The Brive clerk set the car's GPS to speak in English for me. I would not hesitate to rent from them again.

Our only issue was we did some damage on our 2nd rental, and I kept trying to get the info from EC to pass along to Amex to no avail. What I did learn was I should have just contacted AE about it, as I had the info within a few days once I contacted them.

I had the same issue several years ago, but even AE wasn't able to get what I needed from Europcar. Fortunately it wasn't a huge amount of money that I had to eat.
I'd probably rent from Europcar again, although I'm still concerned that my the dispute with them has me on their "Do not rent" list. My bank says Europcar was paid the disputed money, Europcar says they weren't.

I had a fine a fine experience renting from them outside Tours. Would recommend.

Robert - I was pleasantly surprised at how fast AE got the info we needed...it was 2015, so I can't quite recall whether it was photos of the damage, or the bill showing how much the repairs cost/cost breakdown. In our case, it was $500-ish, so no little amount. We put a huge scrape down the side of the car in a parking garage - needless to say, we aren't going into ANY indoor parking garages this time! But I'm looking at the no deductible insurance - adds about another $100, which isn't bad over 10 days.)

the bill showing how much the repairs cost/cost breakdown.

Nicole - That's what I never got from Europocar. AE did try though, and they've helped with other aspects of rentals.