Autounion Reviews 4

We arranged a car hire in Funchal, Madeira for last week through Zest. AutoUnion were the company Zest arranged the hire with. We paid for the additional top-up insurance to cover the issues not covered in the standard insurance.
We waited at the airport for over an hour without seeing the AutoUnion collection vehicle. Other people were there longer than this, whilst all the time other hire companies' collection vehicles came past every 20 minutes. AutoUnion did not answer our calls. When we spoke with Zest, the Zest operator allegedly did speak with AutoUnion and said the collection vehicle had been past every 20 minutes. Given the number of people waiting at the Airport for AutoUnion, this was clearly not true, AutoUnion had not been anywhere near the collection zone in over 2 hours. No apology was made or acknowledgement of the number of people waiting for AutoUnion at Funchal airport.
When we reached the AutoUnion reception, we were unable to pay the deposit for the car because AutoUnion would not recognise our John Lewis Partnership Credit Card or Amex. They demanded another €202 for insurance to cover the clutch, damage and recovery assistance because AutoUnion did not recognise the additional insurance we had paid for with Zest. Madeiran roads are hilly and tight and allegedly many drivers are not capable of using a manual car in the hills leading to a lot of clutch burn out, which we would have been responsible for. Given we were not able to ascertain the condition of the clutch prior to accepting the car, we agreed to pay another €70 for an automatic car. As it was, we couldn't pay the deposit anyway so had to leave AutoUnion without a car.
Angry does not cover our emotions at the time. Our comment on Zest is that they arranged a hire with a substandard company so buyer beware. Zest are cheap for a reason. Our comment on AutoUnion in Madeira is don't use them.
There are issues renting cars in Portugal that Zest are clearly aware of but do not mention, like needing to use a credit card supplied by a high street bank and insurance for clutch wear and tear.
As it was, we then used transport arranged through our hotel including a hire car, Uber, guided tours and minibus. These were much better solutions for Madeira than using a hire car.

I booked a car through Booking.com and paid in advance for both the rental and full protection insurance. However, upon arriving in Porto to collect the vehicle, Auto Union refused to accept my card for the mandatory €1500 deposit. As a result, they didn't allow me to pick up the car.

Auto Union stated that this was my fault for not carefully reading the terms and conditions which specify that only physical Visa or Mastercard credit cards are accepted. We live in times when we can’t trust anyone anymore, and unfortunately it is necessary to read everything line by line; otherwise, corporations will somehow take advantage.
Additionally, I was informed that the deposit requirement could be waived if I purchased Auto Union’s own insurance instead of using the coverage I had already paid for through Booking.com. However, their insurance was nearly four times more expensive than what I had already purchased, and approximately three times the cost of the rental itself. This felt highly misleading and placed me in a difficult position at the counter.
When I asked a refund for Auto Union, I was directed to Booking.com. Booking.com, in turn, refused to issue a refund as well. This lack of accountability between the two companies left me without a car and without reimbursement. I lost all the money.
Overall, this was a very frustrating and disappointing experience that felt deceptive and unfair. I would strongly advise others to exercise caution, carefully verify deposit requirements and accepted payment methods, and consider alternative rental providers.