Europcar- not so privilege program

[TonyHancock]

Agree. While Avis don't have a scheme per se they do track frequent renters and I find myself informally upgraded 95% of the time.


Any avis insiders on this forum?

I'm beginning to regret my switch to Europcar. I was regularly upgraded with Avis. My problem with Avis was the infrequency of their bus service at LHR.

 

[Extasea33]

Agree. While Avis don't have a scheme per se they do track frequent renters and I find myself informally upgraded 95% of the time.


Any avis insiders on this forum?

Avis do have two levels of premium membership, Centurion gives you Presidents Club.

 

[Jama]

Has anyone tried RedSpot ? I know it is Australia only so that has its issues. Even as an Elite member with Europcar it makes no difference to the service quality, they are rubbish all round.

 

[markis10]

Red Spot was the baby of the current affairs shows for some time with their damage and repair rip offs, a quick check of the net for reviews which should be taken with a grain of salt indicates there might be issues still.

 

[Kolo]

Just an update to say that Nicole at Europcar has responded. She's obviously the go-to person when you need something!

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Has anyone tried RedSpot ? I know it is Australia only so that has its issues. Even as an Elite member with Europcar it makes no difference to the service quality, they are rubbish all round.

Tried Redspot once, about ten years ago and vowed never to have a bar of them EVER again.

Car was hired with a baby capsule.......capsule had no way of securing it in the vehicle. We eventually (out of desperation) tied it in with my pants belt. Red spot weren't even remotely interested in rectifying the problem nor refunding the capsule hire.

Returned the car about 2 hours before the expiration of the hire (SYD dom) to find the counter unattended. Rang the courtesy phone line and was advised to drop keys in counter slot which we did. Credit card was debited for a tank of fuel (we filled up imediately prior to dropping it off) and a half day late return charge despite us being 2 hours early. I copied the fuel receipt and got a statement from Ansett that we were on the flight to BNE when they said we dropped the car back. Followed up with phone calls and eventually Red Ripoff manager refused to refund anything stating there were staff at the SYD dom counter at the time (there wasn't) and the car was not there until hours later with no fuel............either their staff that were supposed to be at the counter were joyriding at my expense, or the staff were incompetent or Redspot is a MAJOR con. My money is on choice No.3.

If you like being ripped off.....use Redspot, otherwise steer well clear. There is a very good reason why A Current Affair loves them!

 

[Jama]

So at the end of the day there is no car rental company with any decent customer service.

Was notified by Europcar 2 months ago I was being upgraded to Elite. Two months later I am still being charged for extra drivers which is an inclusion for Elite. Europcar will not respond as usual.

 

[wadebosse]

Sadly I’ve found almost the same thing Jama. I have rented almost exclusively with Europcar for the past year (44 rental days so far). I should have been upgraded from Executive to Elite status like you two months ago (VA plat status match) and so far nothing has happened, in spite of several follow up phone calls etc.

I must say that, almost without exception, I’ve been upgraded every time I rent. However, I often have to go in the office and ask for the upgrade as my designated car displayed on the board is sometimes not that great. I pay for a Hyundai i20 and most times (circa 80%) will get an A3, A4 and one time a brand new A1.

I find the Europcar ground staff at SYD + MEL Dom to be very friendly and professional (given the resources) but the administration (head office privileges support staff) to be basically missing in action.

The 20% off international rentals is handy but you have to call to get a discount code before you book in my experience.

PS. The new Europcar Facebook page is a brilliant (yet tragic) example of what happens when a company with a lackluster/mixed service level, unwittingly leaps into the uncensored and sometimes brutal social media platform. Some scathing comments made by less than satisfied customers are cringe-worthy to say the least. I’m sure that the marketing team is currently examining the rationale and material value behind that idea very closely J

 

[wadebosse]

Just got upgraded to Elite today....finally

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I certainly can't say I've been overwhelmed by my latest Europcar upgrade. Booked a Passat class (hoping for perhaps an Audi A4 or 5) but got a Nissan X-Trail. I'm really not sure if that's an upgrade but to be honest, if I wanted a soft 4WD I'd have booked one. I really would have preferred a sedan but the X-Trail is OK just not something I'd smile about. Last MEL rental I got a coughpy car also but can't remember what it was. I was told something like it was a principals hire rather than Europcar or something equally as odd......I might have got the same thing this time. The X-Trail was delivered in a condition which I'd not describe as "pristine" in fact the valet at HSW wrote on the condition ticket "dirty"..........

 

[wadebosse]

Sadly Europcar have very inconsistant service. Very annoying for regular renters.

 

[1022]

A bit of hit and miss for me last weekend with Europcar. Wanted to book a VW Golf for Fri pm - Sun pm from Sydney downtown. Website quoted around $45 a day which was very decent. Went to rummage for my privilege card, got distracted and didn't book right away. When I came back to the computer 20 mins later, card in hand, I logged into my account and re-entered the same details. The quote mysteriously jumped to $67 a day! Having just read a comment from Sandliands in Crikey about airlines sometimes quoting ff members higher prices, I decided to experiment by logging out and trying again as "Joe Public" instead of a Privilege member. Sure enough, the Golf was back down to $45 a day. Good job Europcar!! That's a great way to encourage loyalty!

Anyway, booked it at the lower price. They redeemed themselves by handing me the keys of a factory fresh A4 AND now, a few days later, still no suspicious charges for non-existant dammage have shown up on my credit card. Possibly a first for Europcar?!?! *wink*

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Wanted to book a VW Golf ...... handing me the keys of a factory fresh A4

OT but I'd feel gyped with that upgrade. I had a Golf for a rtn Rocky/Gladstone trip and it was a real buzz. It was fun, responsive and power packed. On that other hand, I had an A4 for a rtn Gold Coast Yamba trip and it was comfy on the hwy but a slug at the lights.

Was your Europcar elite membership number added at all? It's normally unusual to get the upgrade without status (I thought) and was the disc applied on the receipt.............if not, ask for it!

 

[markis10]

Got upgraded from an i20 to a five door A1 sport back with 7 speed, what a fun car to drive.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Got upgraded from an i20 to a five door A1 sport back with 7 speed, what a fun car to drive.

I concur with that. Got the same upgrade in MEL a number of months ago and I thought the A1 was more fun than the A4.

 

[TonyHancock]

My last rental in Sydney was scheduled to be a "Commodore" and turned out to be an "upgrade" to a Skoda Station Wagon. At the counter it was explained to me that the commodore was not available so I was being upgraded to a Skoda wagon. I also needed an additional driver...and this was charged on the tax invoice, but is in the process of being refunded. So my track record now is 2 from 11 on upgrades. (I have clocked up 55 days this year)

I have emailed the loyalty program person and explained my disappointment, but I think I might have to make the switch back to Avis and try to make up for lost ground this year. (Next year could be a long slog of getting back some Avis status, if such a thing exists. )

A grass is not always greener lesson for me!

 

[markis10]

I have emailed the loyalty program person and explained my disappointment, but I think I might have to make the switch back to Avis and try to make up for lost ground this year. (Next year could be a long slog of getting back some Avis status, if such a thing exists. )

A grass is not always greener lesson for me!

Locally there is no Avis status as such!

 

[TonyHancock]

Locally there is no Avis status as such!

Yeah I know, but the bulk of my rental days are overseas....and I have to say that I was upgraded regularly at LHR with Avis. The only problem was the pretty poor bus service. I figured the upgrades were down to some sort of rental history or status.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

my track record now is 2 from 11 on upgrades. (I have clocked up 55 days this year) I think I might have to make the switch back to Avis

That's annoying. I've had 10 rentals this year (17 or so days) and only two have not had upgrades. A couple of the upgrades would not have been my preference (X-Trail over Passat for example) and the two non-upgrades were both at one regional office (Surfers Paradise) where fewer cars are held, as oppossed to airport offices.

Were your rentals domestic or international. Perhaps there's an issue with a particular location.

PS....Avis is also my favourite but Europcar has been pretty good for me this year.

 

[DaleS]

So far with over 5 years of renting with Europcar I have never had an issue. I'm in their privilege program and also Velocity Gold. Admittedly I only rent about 12 times a year both local and O/S but so far they've always been good to me. Last rental in Sydney in May booked an I20 and got one with apologies that they didn't have an upgrade vehicle available. I wasn't worried as I only needed it for the day plus I didn't land until after 10am. Will be renting from Dusseldorf and Milan next month so it will be interesting to see what I get. On my last trip to Europe I landed in Frankfurt, went straight to the counter, paperwork was all ready so in less than a minute I was on my way out to the car park. As I left the guy said we've upgraded you. Arrived at my bay to an Audi A6 diesel with sports pack, 6 speed, integrated navigation etc. As you can imagine my 3 days on the German Autobahn's were fantastic fun. And I did get it up to 200kph on the quiet 52 which leads to The Netherlands. However I always inspect the car carefully and take photos of my car with my phone when renting O/S before I drive off.