Customer Exploitation

After spending only a few minutes on hellopeter I realized that what happened to me is in no way an isolated incident and that other individuals had very similar experiences. In my opinion it seems that Europcar exploits their customers.

On 16 Nov'17 I hired a vehicle from Europcar George Airport, received the key from the offices and was told that the vehicle had already been inspected. When I reached the vehicle there was nobody there to inspect the vehicle with me. On return of the vehicle on 19 Nov'17, there was again nobody to inspect the vehicle with me.

I later received an email that a driver has identified scratches on the bottom of the front bumper. I was the only person who drove this vehicle, during the period that it was rented, and I am very certain that during this time no incidents occurred in which any scratches to the car could possibly have occurred.

The invoice was sent to me on 24 Nov'17 where it was indicated that almost R2800 of the deposit would not be paid back into my account due to claim costs regarding the scratches at the bottom of the front bumper.

This is very frustrating, since I don't know how long it will take to get the rest of my deposit back. I queried the invoice on 24 Nov'17 after receiving it and saw on 27 Nov'17 that it was forwarded to the claims department, but have since heard nothing. Judging from the other complaints and my own experience, apparently when a person rents a vehicle from Europcar, being told that the vehicle has been inspected actually means very little. You have to intensely inspect it yourself (which includes getting on your hand and knees and inspecting the bottom of the front bumper) to make sure you don't have to deal with this kind of issues for weeks after.