Europcar Avis 

My rental experience was completely mishandled, and the follow-up service was even worse.
Upon arrival, I was downgraded from the vehicle I booked to a tiny Toyota Yaris — despite clearly explaining to the staff that it was only acceptable as a temporary one-day solution, given the long drives across mountainous terrain I had planned. The Europcar representative saw our luggage and agreed it was unsuitable for longer distances.
Despite this, Europcar falsely claimed I accepted the downgrade without conditions and then outrageously charged me NZD 617.93 for a single day's rental of the Yaris — nearly triple the agreed daily rate for my original, superior booking. The "refund" offered was a laughable NZD 35.34.
For context:
• My original booking rate was NZD 205.27/day.
• A better vehicle from another company (Avis) cost only NZD 208.03/day.
• A Yaris rental at Queenstown Airport is currently NZD 172.85/day.
The overcharging was blatant and unjustified. Customer service has been dismissive and unwilling to fairly resolve the issue, despite clear evidence and reasonable requests.
Extremely disappointed. Would never rent from Europcar again and strongly advise others to look elsewhere.

No wonder the rating is that low, I should have seen this before I rented with the Europcar.

Beware of Europcar’s Unfair Fuel Charges

I returned my Europcar rental in Auckland nearly full but was wrongly charged $82.46 for fuel. When I disputed it, they admitted having no proof of fuel added yet only partially refunded me.

🚨 Key Issues:
❌ Unverified fuel charges – No proof, just estimates.
❌ Lack of transparency – Customers can’t verify charges.
❌ Poor customer service – Ignored concerns, closed my case.

If I hadn’t questioned it, I would have been overcharged without justification. Europcar NZ has a serious flaw in its SOP.

The WORST COMPANY EVER - TOTAL CON ARTISTS.
A lorry threw up a stone and it hit our window screen in the car we had hired. It was no bigger than the size of my finger nail. We were honest and told the company. We had full insurance, but window screens are not covered.
To our amazement the company charged us 1,025 dollars (over £500 pounds) as they said the chip could not be repaired and a new window screen was needed. We could not believe this. We contacted a company in New Zealand and they said to repair a chip started from 90 dollars, and I new window screen was between 140-200 dollars. We asked Europcar why they were charging 1025 dollars and they said they had to import the glass, and it was in the customer interest to replace the window screen.
They are the most awful company and I URGE you not to deal with them.

When our vehicle broke down at 6pm on the last day of our holiday near Queenstown airport, we just needed a vehicle to get back to our hotel, pack and back to the airport early next morning. We had to liaise with the tow truck operator and then the vehicle got stuck on the tow truck. Despite having no vehicles available and our vehicle being stuck on the back of the truck, Priah used common sense to find solutions. She was pragmatic, friendly and professional. Assuming things do go wrong from time to time, it's how the issue is handled that makes the difference. Priah deserves to be called out for great customer service.

Honestly the Worst!
This car rental company is the absolute worst! We had to wait for over an hour to collect a pre-paid vehicle. The service was rubbish and only 2 staff to handle a long line of people. The process was inefficient and tedious. Thats not the worst part - we are now being stung for 'damage' to the vehicle which looks like minor scuffing and a possible stone chip - all very much what I would consider to be general wear and tear. Also not entirely sure that damage wasnt already there when we collected the car. We did a full walk around but only looked for scratches and dings not minute scuffs. Spend a bit extra and go with another rental firm. Stay away from this outfit.

Those people are crooks. I was clearly told when I picked up the car that I need to pay any highway toll online up to 5 days after travelling. This is exactly what I did. I sent them evidence from NZTA that the tolls had been paid but now they are pretending that the toll should be paid in advance ! So they want to charge me again although they have evidence the toll has been paid.

As per all other reviews. EUROPCAR DON'T CARE ABOUT CUSTOMERS. They know the arrival time of the ferry, they know the number of bookings and yet they still understaff. If you can, book with someone else

It took over an hour from the time I walked into the vehicle pickup for my prepaid Europcar car to be handed to me to drive away. I did not get the car I wanted however the one I was supplied with was OK, albeit the windows were very dirty on the inside. The person in front of me had also been waiting for an hour and had children so he was really frustrated as well - and as it transpired he got the car make and model that I ordered. If they are really struggling to get cars why on earth don't they tell people the truth about when the car will be ready - not it's 5 minutes away when they know full well it isn't. That response wore thin many times. Another family member in our group used Sixt and they had no problems

No wonder they have only 1 star. I wish I saw it earlier. Unfortunately this also proves that they're not interested at all in improving their services. On the morning of January 22nd we were assigned to an untrained employee whom took 1 hour to check us in. He didn't know even the basics of his job and had to ask for help every other second to his colleague. It is obviously not his fault: it just shows that Europcar does not invest in proper employee training before tossing them in front of the public. When we got our car we discovered that the trunk did not have any cover to it, so that all our belongings (3 week honey moon) would be visible to any passerby. When we got back inquiring about it, another employee told us that we would have to upgrade to another class in order to have a lid covering the trunk, which is the most basic equipment in any given car. Oh, and all this after paying 40 dollars (!) in credit card fees. The employee did not offer any apologies. Absolutely disgraceful corporate policy and one that will definitely make me stay away from Europcar in the future.

DO NOT USE!! Robbing company. Extremely rude staff
Taken funds off my credit card for no legal reason. Ignore you as a customer and ignore formal complaints. Staff of the customer service line argue back and talk over you. I have lost a sum of money and physically cannot get to anyone in the company via email or telephone.

Worst experience… over an hour waiting in queue, only one very slow operator, out of cars. Very quick to take my pre booking… no service or product. Disgraceful!

Diabolical service and two hour wait at europcar international Auckland today. Rude appalling ‘manager’ Mani and one may think they were in such a state because he kept giving attractive women upgrades. Upgraded one Yaris booking to a Subaru outback and rang for approval to do this when I exasperated said - I have wasted my whole afternoon here - just want the car I booked and you have been giving upgrades all over the place which may be why you don’t have the right cars, he simply lied and said ‘ma’am I’ve given no upgrades ’ when I saw him and heard him give four in my time there. Funny thing was the next customer was upgraded and laughed cause she heard him denying to me the situation. Most unhelpful and disorganised and untruthful service I have had in a long long time - I didn’t get an upgrade and got a ‘downgrade’ for my complaint but in the end was just happy to get out of there as the corridor was overflowing with poor customers waiting up to three hours for their car. Never used Europcar before and certainly never will again- horrible . Upon returning home realised I had also been scammed by some third party booking company in the booking and charged an additional $300 and felt it was another slap in the face for the car I ended up with.

Do not book through Europcar, they are thieves!
Rented a car from the Dunedin airport branch. On collection, I confirmed the agreed drop off time and had the signed contract emailed to me before I left with the car.

When I returned the car (an hour earlier than the agreed time) no one was at the desk so I just returned the keys to the drop box as instructed.
A few days later I received the invoice and see they've charged me an extra day rent and they've logged the car return as more than an hour later than the agreed time.

I dispute this with photographic evidence of the car being returned well before the due time and they still refuse to drop the charge.
I keep sending more evidence and show them each of the points they've raised are incorrect.

They come up with a completely fraudulent claim that as I collected the car a bit early, even though it was returned early it still counts as an extra day. Even though I had everything confirmed when I collected the car, and the signed contract emailed to me at pick up confirmed both the slightly earlier collection time and the same drop off time and yet no extra charge was mentioned then.
They have now stopped responding to me entirely.

Scammers. Do not rent from Europcar.

Worst customer service. Trying to help a client with their rental car after an accident over the Christmas Holidays. I spoke to multiple staff from different NZ branches and Aus and every single one gave a different answer with no idea and no clear instructions on the claims process - leaving tourists stranded and having to make other plans. Asked to place a complaint with management and was told they can't transfer to a manager.

We hired a Kia Sorrento car from Europcar for 1 day to get us from Greymouth to Christchurch. We were told there were scratches on it and they were itemised on the hire form.
I dropped the car off at Christchurch and was then accused of causing the scratches already present.
I think there is a scam going on and hope nobody else has been caught. Ruined the start of our holiday.

Firstly the service we received at the airport was nothing short of abysmal. The lady serving us called Monisha was aggressive and untoward. We turned up at 11.30 to find that there were no car seats available even though we had pre-ordered 2. She told us she didn't know when they would be available but said we should go get some lunch at the airport and come back in half an hour which we did. When we returned 1 car seat had been located but she started shouting at us and said it wasn't her job to find the other car seat. After speaking to a manager we finally agreed that I would go to a local warehouse store and buy one with my own money and then provide the receipt for it to be reimbursed. 2 and a half hours later we were able to take the vehicle. I would also like to add that in this time my 3 year old daughter wet herself as she was deeply distressed and my 8 month old baby was woken up from her nap twice by all the back and forth with Monisha who I would say was the worst customer service I have ever received. 
When we returned the vehicle we spoke to someone much more polite and capable who apologised profusely for Monisha's behaviour and took a copy of the car seat receipt and said this would be processed imminently.
One week later I have not received the refund so I have contacted customer services. I have been asked to provide the receipt again and had over 15 emails back and forth chasing the refund. 
I have been told that it will be processed and paid into my account on 3 occasions but I still have not received it. The latest email asked me to provide a full bank statement to show I haven't received it. I feel this is totally unacceptable. It is now 10 weeks later and still no refund
Further to note we have received a separate email asking to pay a fine for a toll road which we have proof of having paid at the time. I don't understand why this was not checked before sending us an email. 
All in all I am absolutely astonished at the dismal customer service and overall experience I have received with Europcar. I still have not received the refund and would greatly appreciate someone senior looking into this as the amount of time I have spent chasing is getting ridiculous. 

DO NOT use this company!!!!!
Having lovingly booked our activities, trains and ferries for our 3 week road trip around New Zealand, we booked a rental car from Europcar.
THIS WAS A MASSIVE MISTAKE.
We arrived at Auckland Airport and headed for the Europcar desk where we were greeted by a young woman wearing her best “I really don’t care” face. She informed us that, not only did they not have the make and model of the car that we had booked, but they didn’t have that class of vehicle either. Then came the killer; *YOU CAN’T TAKE THEIR CARS ON THE INTER-ISLAND FERRY* REALLY. All of our hotel bookings, activity bookings and rail bookings were suddenly thrown up in the air. We went to find the car that they had available for us (just having a quick wash because we had forgotten that we were coming) and that’s when we discovered that not only did the luggage not fit in the boot but there was no satnav and Car Play didn’t work - For our 3 week road trip around both islands.
At this point, I complained loudly. We were eventually told that we could have a 4x4 as we’d booked and that we could take the car on the ferry - At our own risk!!!!
There are so many terrible complications to this story-not least that the office in Picton is not open when the ferry arrives and so we would have to wait for another day in order to pick up a different car. We have booked accommodation and the Trans Alpine rail journey all of which is in jeopardy.
We resigned ourselves to having to book a different car, but in the meantime the only alternative ferry crossing was full, leaving us to cancel activities and accommodation. We had effectively lost 2 days of our holiday.
In addition, we received three contradictory emails from the so-called “customer service department”, saying we could perhaps take the car on the ferry or then again perhaps we couldn’t, and refusing to understand that we had already booked to drop off at a different location and had paid a premium to do so. Unbelievably bad service in every possible way AND IT’S COST US $400 NZ DOLLARS AND COUNTING, not to mention the activities that we cannot take part in or all the places that we will never now be able to visit. We travelled for 30+ hours to reach New Zealand and then we met Europcar. Utter disaster and a dream holiday in tatters.

Car pickup from europcar Queenstown my first impression unfortunately was the extremely pungent body odour of the receptionist. Then found our car with a boot full of mud. More mud in front and crumbs etc through centre and half a tank of fuel. unpleasant experience all round

Run . Scam . Over charged . Lies . Makes NZ look like a 3rd world scamy hole . DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THESE THEIFS !

Do not book with this company, charged us for full insurance even though we had it already through a broker. The guy who served us said we will hold a certain amount from our credit card (not charge us) he said it was for e.g if we racked up speeding fines or any other fines, do not fall for it, it is a scam. When we were back home on the other side of the planet it was charged on our credit card. 3 months of emails and non stop hassle we got our bank involved and thankfully they managed to charge back what they took from us unlawfully. DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY!!!!