EUROPCAR - A LESSON IN APPALLING SERVICE & HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CONSUMERS

Unfortunately I was forced to use Europcar again recently as they are the only car rental partners that SAA Voyager use. Birds of a feather flock together. On sign out checks the vehicle was filthy on the inside. I pointed this out to Carmelita from Europcar and she was completely unmoved by the situation. There was ash around the gear stick, the vehicle had a bad smoke smell and had not been wiped down or de-sanitized. This is against COVID protocols and Europcar is clearly in contravention of these. It was the second time that I rented a car from them in less than a month and the second time that the vehicle was not clean. Regardless I took the vehicle as there was a short supply and retuned the vehicle this morning after a 4 day rental where I used the car maybe 4 times. Carmelita, who also checks the vehicles in, told me that the vehicle would need to go for a full valet because there was dog hair. A simple vacuum could remedy the situation yet she requested that the manager come speak to me. I said to Carmelita that the vehicle was dirty on handover and I had made a note on the paperwork. She was dismissive and insisted on the valet. The manager said he had yet to decide whether he would charge or not. I told him to do whatever he thought was right and that Europcar was disgusting and took money from people that they had no right to do. This was my previous experience. I received an SMS this afternoon stating that Europcar was generating a damage / loss claim. This is for a valet. I find it interesting that this company owned by Motus / Imperial / Tempest Car Hire continues to operate as they fleece customers and operate without any sort of integrity. I have been in their offices on a few occasions now. Their service is cringe worthy. I have read through all the Europcar reviews and this company has made no headway into improving their operations. Goes to show they just don't give a damn. I also called their custom care line and Emma Mahlangu said she couldn't help. Then why have a customer care line?