Auto Europe UK Reviews 

Have used Auto Europe a few times without issues but after a recent trip noticed a charge from the car hire company without any notice or explanation. The rental was made by way of a prepaid voucher with Auto Europe. When contacted via Auto Europe reservations was told that their customer services no longer answer their phones and for me to pursue this matter myself via car hire company in France i.e. not remotely interested...

Booked a car via Auto Europe with RentalPlus in Olbia, Sardinia. My flight was delayed, so I called both companies in advance. Auto Europe promised to arrange an alternative but did nothing. When I landed after 22:00 the desk was closed, no email, no car. Next morning the booking had auto-cancelled and Auto Europe could only offer a far more expensive new booking.

I had to hire two cars, spend extra on fuel and food, and lost a whole morning of our holiday.
Lesson learned: in Sardinia it’s far safer to book directly with a local rental company and avoid brokers like Auto Europe.

Don’t use them. Rented a car in August with free driver included. When we collected the car we were made to pay for the additional driver. Before we paid we called AutoEurope who confirmed we would receive a refund after the rental finished upon submission of the receipt. This wasn’t ideal as we would be out of pocket for at least 10 days, or so we thought. Here we are one month later, several emails & an online form later & still no sign of a refund.

Truly awful. Auto Europe took my money, I turned up at the airport & the rental company wouldn't to take the booking & (after 2 months of emailing Auto Europe & being told by them I'd be refunded) they have refused to refund me.
If you like being a victim of daylight robbery please use this company.

Hired a car in Italy the car rental company had no cars Auto europe would not respond had to hire another car with another company, we where left all alone with no help from autoeurop, tried to speak to them on return and they are not interested dont touch them with a bargepole, cheap for a reason

I have had many dodgy experiences with car hire and had every problem possible under the sun. Auto Europe were brilliant - like a breath of fresh air. I hired a car in Kefalonia, starting 5th September. There was an issue - my fault, not theirs - and they sorted it completely. I was very pleased with how they reacted. Excellent customer service and will definitely use them again.

I have used this company for several years and have always praised them. One of the bookings two months ago has been totally messed up and there was no available car despite email confirmation from the branch in question. It was an absolute chaos as with two disabled family members and two small children and no car. This was reported immediately and all the written evidence has been provided from the branch itself who were very helpful and from
Us - to Autoeurope. This wa almost two months ago. Still no refund. Despicable process and total disregard for the loyal customer. And to add insult to injury many emails just copied and pasted without even being addressed to me. Shocking. DO NOT RECOMMEND.

Terrible experience with Auto Europe. I booked a car from Malaga airport the day before arriving but when I arrived at the car hire desk they had no record of my reservation. Auto Europe had not sent me a confirmation email so I had to pay 200 euros for a two day car hire on top of the 50 euros they had already taken from my account. Disputing this after the event is proving very difficult.

Impossible to talk to a real person. Phone lines always closed. No email address available, no reply to messages through the form.

I hired a car and payed in full in advance. I took out extra cover which basically made me liable for no damages or excess. Also covers the like of windscreen and tows, loss of keys ect. However I was charged £300 extra at the Thrifty rental desk. They claimed as the insurance is by a 3 party and not valid here. Auto Europe was quick enough to take my money and now when I’ve questioned them they are not interested. I’ve payed double the amount I should have payed.

Easy to use and navigate, chose SIXT at Orlando, no issues, would definatley use again

Avoid Auto Europe UK, totally appalling way to treat a customer. Major detail hidden in the small print forced us to pay an extra 400 Euro when picking up our hire car. Avoid like the plague and do not pay towards this company's profits.

The car itself was fine, but the booking process with Auto Europe was misleading. Payment card requirements were hidden in small print at the very bottom of the contract, rather than highlighted upfront as they should be. Because my AMEX card wasn’t accepted (even though it was in my name as required), I was forced to pay an additional €392 at the desk.

Auto Europe refused a refund, saying the information was “on the voucher.” Technically true, but not transparent. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, terms must be both transparent (plain, clear language) and prominent (clearly brought to the customer’s attention). This experience fell short of that standard. I expect better from an international company.

You will not get your money back if things go wrong.

We have used Auto Europe now for about 20 years and never had a problem. i notice that their recent reviews are quite scathing, is something going on with the firm?

We arrived at Perpignan airport and Alamo messed the care rental up and did not have a car for us. They were poor. But that is another story. Read my Alamo review for that.

In any case, we had to book through SIXT who were pretty helpful.

As this was a failed booking we are expecting a refund from Auto Europe. I have telephoned them twice from France where they kept saying wait until the end of the booking! I have not even got a booking or the car.
I have now telephoned them twice from the UK and completed their refund paperwork.

They seem to be making it really difficult and have not even confirmed that they have my refund paperwork.

They have lost a client of over 20 years, that probably books hire cars three times a year.

There is something wrong with the admin on this company at the moment and I would urge you to steer clear.

What they are good at is, go on their website, find out who has the cheapest car hire for the category you wish and then go direct to that company and cut the middle man out. It is a lot safer and at least if things go wrong you will get a quick refund. Alamo were useless, but they refunded my additional insurance that I took out within a few days.

Well done Auto Europe there is another client you have lost. Keep going, you will be out of business soon.

We had pre booked a car with auto Europe to collect at Florence airport to take 4adults and a considerable amount of luggage. We had seen a promotion offering an Audi A6 estate which was perfect for our needs, or at least a station wagon equivalent. When we arrived at the car hire desk (after a long queue) we were offered a Ford Kuga which didn’t have the boot capacity for our luggage - 30% less luggage capacity that the Audi would have provided. Autoeurope offered us other vehicles at double what we had paid but none of them had sufficient luggage capacity even if we had paid more! We were stuck in the uncomfortable waiting area for two and a half hours, holding multiple phone calls with auto Europe customer services. The only solution eventually offered was for us to see if one of the other hire companies had a suitable vehicle and they would refund our original payment and for us to then write and seek some form of compensation on our return. Thankfully Europcar had a Ford Focus station wagon which had sufficient capacity for adults and luggage so we hired that as we had no other option. As a last minute booking it was almost twice the price originally paid but at least we could get on with our holiday plans (my brothers wedding in Tuscany)
However on our return and trying to deal with Auto Europe car rentals customer services is not proving as easy as they had led us to believe. We were not the only ones that experienced the same issue, a family from America had the same problem and my nephew who flew into Rome had to pack suitcases around his 3 children in the back seat to fit into the small car he’d been given instead of the elusive Audi A6 he had booked online. Absolutely ridiculous to tell us a Ford Kuga is a suitable replacement for an Audi A6 estate.

Have used them a few times now and always delivered much cheaper than going directly to the car hire company. Last hire I had from Click rent in Menorca, I had a basic Auto selected and got a 4 group bump up rental car, as all the small autos were already rented. RESULT. Just a quick note, I recommend getting an excess hire insurance yearly as a fraction of the price of what the car hire companies will charge you as an example, I just paid £29.49 for £10,000 excess cover for the full year. I have just used them for next month's holiday. Keep up the good work, and a big Thank you. Derek and family.

Used twice before not had a problem

Now Thirfty have ripped me off have emailed customer services and now told 8 weeks I May I may not get a reply at all

I booked with them without insurance thrifty added insurance I’m stuck between two companies who can’t be bothered to reply to me

Seeking legal action for monies back plus compensation

Ps need to update the phone system as OPTION 2 for completed rentals says ALWAYS CLOSED !!!

Avoid using the company - misleading information between booking voucher and the local pick up team. Higher cost and more administrative work if you would like to claim money back

Misleading information from the booking voucher
1. Fully Flexible Cancellation: it is not the case. We were informed by the pick up team that it can only be cancelled 48 hours before.
2. Additional driver fee: it is stated in the booking “ Additional Driver Fee: Each additional driver is GBP 16.00, per day, paid locally.” but when we request it on site, we were told it is GBP 18 per day.

When we called the help line, the member from auto trader said the cancellation actually can be done before the vehicle is being picked up. But as we have taken the vehicle (mislead by the wrong information by the pick up team), it cannot be cancelled now.
For the additional fee being charged for the additional driver, it can be claimed - but a written request with receipt and proof of payment are required.

Additional admin work to the customer for the error that is made by the company - it is unacceptable and unprofessional

I have removed my reviews as you are a waste of time Auto Europe UK.
Have not the decency to reply to my email.
Do not use this company in UK

Total rip off. We booked and paid for car hire in Portugal. When we booked we paid extra for Full damage and theft protection.
On arrival at the hire car company (Auto Europe are only agents) we were told the full protection was nothing of the sorts and we would have to pay €290 for proper protection which covered all types of accidental damage. The alternative was to place a €4000 hold on a credit card and hope our car went undamaged.
So basically the extra insurance we paid for when we booked was worthless.
My advice - find a car hire company that doesn’t rip you off.