Stranded in Italy: My Europcar Experience

Traveling through Italy is often a dream come true. The stunning landscapes, rich history, and delicious cuisine make it a top destination for many. However, my recent experience with Europcar turned into an unexpected adventure that I will never forget.

I had planned to explore the beautiful regions of Northern Italy and Switzerland with my family of four. I was excited to drive through the rolling hills, visit charming villages, and take in the local experience. Unfortunately, Europcar had different ideas.

The Booking Process

We booked the cheapest rental car Expedia had. It turned out to be Europcar. I wish I had read the reviews, because it looks like they tend to be the cheapest because of all the surprise charges they charge everyone.

Europcar confirmed my reservation at a very small airport in a secluded part of Italy, without many other options. We wanted to make sure everything was ok so we contacted Europcar customer service and AGAIN they confirmed our reservation.

Everything seemed great. However, I did not anticipate the hiccups that awaited me upon arrival.

Arrival in Italy

We we arrived in Italy, our mission was to get to the rental car. We had to take a train, then do two bus transfers to get to Europcar's rental location. The whole trip took us about two hours to get to this small city.

Europcar Rental Counter

The first troubles started at the Europcar rental counter, when nobody was present. We waited and waited, and finally a representative showed up with another customer. Accustomed to better customer service, we assumed it would just be a few more minutes but it wasn't. Europcar was so inefficient, had things only written on scraps of paper, and everything had to be done by calling someone else. It felt like we had not just stepped into another country, but another century.

After close to an hour of waiting, we finally got a chance to talk to the Europcar representative. We had our confirmation number ready, a printout of the confirmation, and all of our identification ready to go (what else were we going to do during the wait!).

We smiled and handed the Europcar represented our printed confirmation from them.

The Rude Awakening

After fumbling around with papers, several calls, and some indeterminate waits, the representative just handed back out paper and said a compassionless "no".

What? "no"?

"No. The system says you are blocked" came the reply. We were panicked at this point. Why were we "blocked" and what did that mean. We asked why and the person had no idea. We called and escalated and no one could tell me why we were "blocked". I think the more appropriate term would have been "screwed".

Why Did they take our reservation?

We still don't know why we were "blocked", but questions remain: why would they have taken our reservation in the first place? Why would they have confirmed our reservation when we called again?

Reality Hits

After at least 30 minutes of pleading Europcar offered no help, no information, and no empathy. We were stranded in a small Italian town with no options, all because we didn't bother searching for all the negative reviews and horror stories of Europcar.

Please don't repeat our mistake. Do your research and rent with ANYONE else!