i made that mistake once, and was lucky enough to recover its excess charges.
Huh. Had perfectly good experience with them in France recently, although I took pictures of every arguable scratch based on reports they tend to use that as a profit center.
Managed to rent a car for two days, one way (Reims to Beaune) for under $50, unlimited (or practically so) miles.
They are franchises. Don’t expect consistency.
2 Summers ago, I had the worst experience with Europcar in Montpellier, France. I had rented a Peugeot 3008 SUV for a month while living near the beach in Fabregues. We drove for a month on dirt roads, Autoroutes, and small roads all through Languedoc.
The day before our return, a Truck on the national road threw a rock right into the windshield and cracked it. I had paid for the car with my Amex Gold card. Please note I am a native speaker of French with a little American accent.
When I brought the car into Europcar at 7 am, the person on duty took one look at my dirty car and announced that I would have to pay for the car to be shipped to Marseille to be cleaned. He then noted all the dirt stains that could be scraped off with a fingernail.
Of course, I reported the windshield crack and he said I would have to pay for it despite my Amex card’s coverage.
Upon my return to the US, I received a $5000 bill from Europcar to pay for the cleaning and windshield replacement. I immediately contacted AMEX and the costs were removed. I did have to spend a minimum of 10 hrs sending documents and photos i took to argue my position.
This year, I leased a 2008 from Peugeot directly and had a much saner experience.
If an overseas rental, I always take videos or pictures of the car exterior and interior, at the return station. Then, I upload and e-mail them, to create GPS-marked, time-stamped records, in case of any dispute.
Sanity and 2008 do not associate in my crisis-scarred mind.
Sorry, Victor, the car was incredible and fun to drive.