Europcar México Reviews 

We told the lady at our pick-up at Europcar Playa del Carmen that we need a car with a tarjeta de circulation 2024 (our touroperator told us to ask for it). She said it wasnt nececarry and a tarjeta from 2023 was fine, this was a big misstake! We were stopped by police and held for 1,5 hours and had to pay a bribe to proceed our trip. We tried the emergency number of Europcar but no answer. Our touroperator helped us and next day we got a call from Europcar Villahermosa that they need to change our car, because we needed the right tarjeta 2024. We had to wait the whole afternoon to change the car, so it costs us half a day and 1,5 hours by police of our vacation time. And the first car we got in Playa del Carmen the gasoline tank was half full. When we had to change the car our gasoline tank was almost full, because we just tanked before we got the message that they needed to change our car. The new car we got the gasoline tank was half full, so we got half of a tank less of gasoline. We asked if we could drop off the car with less gasoline but they told us no. We didnt want any problems at drop off at the airport in Cancun, because we needed to catch our plane. The whole experience was awful.... It costs us more then a half day of our vacation time and half tank of gasoline.

Europcar Cabo airport / Deceptive business pratices/ abusive staff
April 2024
Upon arriving at the location, the branch refused to honor my rental reservation which I was supposed to pay for at the counter. I had booked online for $180 for the rental period.

The rental agent said they only had cars available for prepaid reservations unless we were willing to pay over $800. In other words if we were willing to pay $800 they would in fact have a car for me.

I said this was unacceptable and that I wanted to pay the price that was booked of $180 for the week.

I asked to speak to the General Manager, I have a medical condition that causes me to shake when nervous and it seemed like the employees were making fun of my condition. 45 minutes later while I was calling other rental agencies to find a car, the manager finally agreed to rent at that price.

I reluctantly took out CDW at $30+ per day (I wanted to use my credit card) after he uses scared tactics to get me to buy their CDW. Basically, he showed me multiple screens on his computer associated with the dangers of not taking out his insurance.

Based on the behavior of him and his staff, I was concerned about what would happen when the car was returned and if they would falsely claim there was damage that wasn't there.

The car that was offered was not what I booked. I had booked a full size and they provided a Toyota Corolla. I was told in Mexico car sizes are different and this was a full size. I saw from the Europcar Mexico website the car they provided was midsize and we had a lot of luggage.

Also, I noticed that there was some damage to the car that had not been properly repaired which held the front wing on with bolts. I have no idea who they were using to do their repair and if it was caused by a renter they would have received a considerable sum to fix it.

Upon returning the car, the agent spent several minutes taking a lot of photos including the mats of the car! The agent thought this was quite funny as he laughed about it with his manager.

I contacted the CEO in their corporate office by email and his assistant said he wanted to personally look into it. I got a response from their executive customer service team failing to take responsibility for the actions of their staff and then telling me they wouldn’t give me a refund. I never asked for a refund in my email just an apology, which led me to believe along with typos that they hadn’t read the email properly.

Along with many other reviews, don’t rent with Europcar even if they are last resort.

If you do need to contact Europcar, here is contact info that I found on the internet which is publicly available.

CEO - alain.faveyateuropcar.com
Director Customer service - nathalie.guinoiseauateuropcar.com
Customer service representative - Gina Hines, Executive Relations Officer
executive.relationsateuropcar.com

DO NOT USE
I rented with Europcar in Mexico because I thought it was a reputable company. I paid about twice to Europcar than I could have paid to some of the shady local rental companies and My rental INCLUDED $750,000 pesos of liability insurance (about $45k USD ...Many , Many times what is required by the Mexican Gov't. )
When I arrived, instead of filling out the contract at the desk in the airport, the desk in the airport sent me offsite to a small cramped office where I waited quite a while, only to have the agent "review my paper work " for another 5 minutes, and then declare that the MX gov't requires 3,000,000 pesos liability (after he read that I had 750,000 pesos included) and that the required insurance would cost me another $400 US (the stated rental cost on my reservation was $178, including the $750,000 peso liability) for a total of $578 USD. I got back on the bus and went back to the airport and rented from someone else, a local rental company that was at least honest about their rental cost of $375, so as far as I'm concerned Europcar owes me the $197 premium plus hassle factor and time spent going to out to the extorsion office. Their extortion scam is not what I would expect from a major company and I am inclined to post this story on every single website I can find. I'm sure no one at Europcar will ever even read this, but if they respond, don't believe them, they are scammers

Rented a car through economy bookings with Europcar in cancun Mexico, had paid the rental.
Said no to insurance as my platinum master card has full cover. At Yucatán airport they would not hand over the car to me without me paying US dollars 1490 for the three weeks' insurance. I needed the car, so I was forced to pay the amount - other wise the rental amount paid for the Economy booking would also be lost.
I feel really cheated - never use Europcar for car hire
I even had to pay a deposit of US dollars .700
The lowest car rental in the world

I arrived at Cancun airport on 7 February after a 10 hour flight from Birmingham. No staff were at the Europcar desk in the airport so I had to wander around the airport parking area and only by chance met someone from Europcar. They took me to their office on the outskirts of the airport and eventually I was seen by a customer service assistant.

I booked Europcar through an agent in the U.K. and I understood I had purchased insurance to cover any damage. The C.S.A. told me that was not the case and I was not covered for damage incurred which cost less than $2500. I was surprised about this but felt no option but purchase additional insurance (which cost US$484!

Next day I contacted the organisation in the U.K. who arranged the car hire and they stated I was fully covered for any damage. I believe I have been mis-sold insurance by Europcar. I wanted to cancel the additional insurance I purchased (I was even prepared to forgo the first couple of days insurance money).

Since then I have taken the following action:
1. Telephoned Europcar at Cancun Airport - no-one answered the phone.
2. Visited a Europcar office in Tulum. They can’t help because I hired the car at Cancun Airport.
3. Emailed Europcar, London customer services. They say they can’t help and advised me to contact Europcar, Mexico.
4. I’ve emailed Europcar, Mexico customer services, detailing the above issues. I’ve received no response.

The level of customer service from an international high profile organisation is absolutely dreadful.

We picked up a dated cheverolet from Cancun Airport for a couple of days rental, our suitcases where stolen from the boot after being left for just half an hour.
The police advised it was a common problem with such vehicles - they should come with a warning ⚠️
And of course Eueopcar's premium insurance does not cover personal theft.....

Like all of you, I got scammed by these criminals. Got charged over $1000 for the insurance and then they add $485 for a "missing tire" when I had pictures of the trunk without a tire.

I found the ceo's email: peter gowers at europcar com
Sent him a piece of my mind.
I agree with someone else - class action needs to start against these criminals

They only deserve negative stars. I got robbed by Europcar $850 for 5 days' rental for their insurance scam. They also refused to cancel my reservation with any refund. I ended up giving up wasting more time arguing with them because my little kids were too tired. Europcar, your customers wish you a successful worldwide closure in 2024 repaying endless times of what you scammed.

They didn't respect the conditions of the original booking, and instead charged me an extra usd534 for insurance, which was already included in the original booking (£602). The 534usd was their cheapest option. So all the searches you do to find the best deal are a waste of time. Car was fine, Toyota Corolla, but they sent an inaccurate photo after pick up showing the petrol tank as full - it was only a quarter full. As a result I had to return it full to avoid expensive filling up fees. Charged me 88usd for a chipped windscreen, which I think was expensive given the fact I had insurance for 80pc of glass damage. Probably the overall price was the same as with more respected agencies like Hertz but I hate to feel ripped off by Europcar Mx's hidden fees.

SCAM ALERT!

I would have given a negative star rating if possible! Europcar is a scam!!!!

I used the Europcar online reservation and payment system. Arrived at the Tuxtla Gutierrez airport to pick-up the car I paid for (9-day rental). The female at the rental agency had no problem finding my reservation and payment in her system. Then it turned very bad... She demanded that I pay almost $14,000 US dollars "for insurance." (The car did not even cost $14,000 new.) When I showed her that I had already paid for the car, et cetera online at the Europcar website she claimed the site was a third-party fraud site and I needed to pay her again plus the excessive amount if I wanted the car.

When I checked my credit card charges it clearly indicated the money went to Europcar Mexico. When I called the telephone number on the invoice the female I was dealing with answered the phone. When I called Europcar Customer Service, the same female again answered the phone...laughed at me and hung up.

Simply the worst experience. The company charges cheap on the car to attract customer. Then it hit the costumers with a "required" insurance fee. The insurance fee is about $75 (us dollars) a day. This is close to $500 for 7 days. Then they acuse you of not reading a fine print in the rental contract.

Do not rent from this company!

I had a prepaid manual car rental agreement for the duration of my honeymoon. Upon arrival I've been told to pay insurance (full for around 1000USD or medium 600USD) + provide a 700 USD deposit. They originally provided me with an automatic, when I pointed it out they gave me an old (no sat nav, no working radio, no parking detectors, etc.) Chevrolet. I returned the car with some scratches which got valued at just over 500 USD. They informed me this would be taken out of the deposit I paid and the rest refunded. 2 days later I check my account to see if the refund was done only to see they have not only not refunded anything but charged the 500 USD EXTRA! I've had a back and forth exchange with them and they either purposefully ignore what you are explaining (even when trying to explain like to a 10-year old) or they have serious lacks in maths. Eventually I ended up reporting the charge to my bank and cancelling my card for a new one so that they do not try charging again. But I am still at a loss of almost 200 USD which they have not refunded. Scammers and double dippers. Avoid at all cost. Definitely do not pay anything in cash and do not buy the "return the tank empty" option - they will charge you regardless!!!

Car pickup at SJD is a scam. Claimed they needed a USD$14,000 (correct number of zeroes) hold on my credit card for the car …

Experience Cancun airport:
Long check-in, and wrong information about gas fill up (made me pay for a full tank when leaving and said to return it “empty” which isn’t possible, so they save money by using the rest of your tank for the next client; the employe told me I MUST pay for the gas even tho I questioned it and it doesn’t make sense. After completing the transaction he gave me a paper that it’s not obligatory but advised. Usually you get a car with a full tank when picking it up and return it full)
Also car was a bit dirty.

If I could give a 0 star I would. They are scammers. I rented a car on line through KAYAK, to be picked up in Durango Mexico. When we got there they told me I need to buy insurance through them, then I explained I have my insurance through my credit card then they told me I had to give them a deposit. They asked me for $16,000.00 USD deposit!!! Or else I had to pay for insurance through them and pay $500 USD DEPOSIT… outrageous!!

El coche estaba bien, pero tuvimos problemas con el seguro previamente contratado y pagado. Al llegar alli, nos exigieron contratar otro seguro, pese haber contratado uno a todo riesgo antes. Nos hicieron pagar 1.600€ o no podiamos coger el coche. Nadie nos avisó de esto. No lo recomendaria a nadie.

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The car was fine, but we had problems with the insurance previously contracted and paid for. When we got there, they required us to take out another insurance, despite having taken out a comprehensive one before. They made us pay €1,600 or we couldn't take the car. Nobody warned us about this. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Criminals. Despite the bad reviews, I thought I could deal with the scams. I was naive in that I underestimated the ability of Europcar Mexico at the Cancun airport to run a scam - my mistake - please don't repeat my mistake. I got a good deal online and purchased insurance to supplement my Amex insurance. I checked in at Europcar and provided my insurance information and clearly told the agent that I required no additional insurance, and the agent informed me I would not be charged for insurance, but would be charged a deposit that would be refunded upon return of the car, which seemed reasonable and for which I provided a digital signature. When I received a copy of the contract via email, they applied my digital signature to an insurance charge in a contract that I had never seen. I tried to contact them dozens of times via email, phone, Twitter, Facebook, etc - radio silence. I also tried to contact Europcar in Europe at HQ, but no response. Tried to appeal via my credit card, but the digital signature killed me. Thieves and liars. If you have no other choice than to rent from these guys (or probably any car agency in Mexico), USE YOUR SMART PHONE TO MAKE A VIDEO RECORD OF YOUR INTERACTION WITH THE AGENT WHEN YOU PICK UP THE CAR. I will do so in the future after an expensive lesson that showed that I am no match for experienced scam artists.

WARNING *** DO NOT RENT FROM EUROPCAR CANCUN AIRPORT **** worst experience ever! When you first book online it seems like a great deal. When you arrive you will be charged “at minimum” quadruple the price in taxes and fees. In addition, despite the fact you can prove you are covered for collision and liability by your insurance provider or credit card company, they WILL NOT accept. You will be forced to pay these extra charges or they will not honour your reservation. BEWARE!!!

Worst service and staff is trained I'm to tell a fallacy

The office at the Mexico City airport is to be avoided at all costs. Very similar experiences to other reviewers. I had a letter from my insurance company saying that the collision insurance would be covered but they wouldn't accept this, or if they did they would have to take a deposit equal to the value of the car (!). Was forced to take very expensive insurance in order to have a car to continue my vacation and was told it would cover everything. I had a minor accident and on return was told I would have to pay for it and the insurance would only cover $500 of damage (but cost me more than that!). It looks like they charged an upgrade fee to another car which I didn't agree to. The ad on Expedia (where I booked) showed a car completely different from the one I was shown when I arrived which would have been completely inadequate.