A few years ago I was given a loan car by my dealer that came from Europcar. The loan car was delivered to the dealer by Europcar and I was to collect it from there after dropping my car off.
We noticed all the plastics inside the boot were damaged; however, it wasn’t noted on the paperwork. When we asked the Europcar rep who delivered the car if the damage could be added, we were told no, but not to worry it wouldn’t be an issue. So we took photos, had the service manager of the dealership look inside the boot, and away we went. As a belt and braces approach, I took it to the local Europcar office that morning and they looked it over and noted down all the damage on the paperwork. The guy even said it knew the damage was there because the previous hirer caused it and paid for it !
Two weeks after the car was returned, I received a very large bill for damage to the inside of the boot from Europcar head office. I had email exchanges, photos, witness comments from the dealer and the local Europcar office. But still they insisted the damage was caused by me. In the end the CEO of the dealership told Europcar that if they pursued this issue, they would loose their business. Eventually, Europcar backed down, but they still refused to apologise.
If Motability use Europcar, and I ever have the need to use one, I would never, ever take the car unless all the paperwork noted all the damage at the point of collection.
