Europcar Oxford

Terrible place. We booked a car and got a booking confirmation for it, but by the next day they had cancelled it and sent us a mail at 7 am in the morning. No proper reason was given in the mail. It had happened to another set of customers on the same day, who left when we got there. So it seems like they do it regularly to their customers. Basically when they get a better price for the car, they give it to the new customer and cancel the old one. No rocket science in this.

When we asked why the cancellation happened, the answer was "The manager cancelled the booking." Such an amazing reason.

There were 2 boys in the front desk who were behaving like 'they literally owned the world' with their smug faces and their cocky nature. Zero skills to actually even communicate sensibly to their customers.

All in all, a terrible experience. There is a Hertz car rental right behind this outlet. Do yourself a favour and go there. For your own sanity.

They were so helpful. The staff really helped me out to fix and extend my car rental even though I booked through an external car rental company. It was much appreciated after a family emergency that meant I had to re arrange my travel plans last minute.

Beware of these folks throwing in extra charges--like premium insurance package--without discussing it or making you aware that you don't need it.
Follow up: Customer service resolved this issue after I posted my review here. And I'm very happy with the result.

This rental car company is appalling; we have tried to use them three times and had a terrible experience each time. The last two times they accepted our booking (even taking a pre-payment in the second case) only to later cancel due to 'lack of availability' of cars within 24 hours of the booking.

The most recent case I actually rang them directly as the website apparently does not reflect the actual availability. They told me on the phone they had a car and that it was confirmed. We walked to the car hire place (a 45 min walk across town) and then were told that our booking had been cancelled. They claimed that an e-mail was sent within two hours of the booking saying that no cars were available - lies!!! - I never received any cancellation e-mail. I also gave my phone number to the operator when I booked the car, they claimed that they did not have it on file.

If you actually call the company directly they should be able to tell you if they actually have the b*oody car in stock!!!! ***No other car hire company we have used is this incompetent*** when we call directly we have never ever had an issue with the car we reserved not being available, if you make a reservation with Euorpcar it means nothing(!) There were multiple customers in the same situation as us when we went to pick up our car in Oxford only to be told the reservation had been cancelled. When you book with Europcar your reservation can be randomly cancelled anytime within 24hrs (as was our experience the previous time), this is a disaster when travelling.

This company has caused our family so many headaches with terrible customer service, pointless website that does not actually reserve the car yet will still take your money and make you wait while the refund is processed, or even if you call them directly you have no idea if you actually have a car.

If you read this review and still make the mistake of booking with Europcar then it is at your own peril. We have used dozens of car hire companies over the years and Europcar is by far the worst (the prices are not even the most competitive based on our experience). Never, ever, ever again... just awful... :(

USES PREMIUM NUMBER SO YOU WILL BE CHARGED, PLUS WHEN YOU GET THROUGH THEY’RE SO RUDE!
GENUINELY THE WORST COMPANY I’VE EVER DEALT WITH!
I tried to book a van which all went through and payment was taken.
I then received an email to say my van isn’t available so I’ll have to call to speak to an advisor. I waited on hold for over 10 minutes then when the woman answered she took my booking number and then said they don’t have that van (which I already knew) I politely asked if I can have another van in a different size. She replied “they don’t have vans”. I said “oh, don’t they have any vans” she went silent and hung up on me.
Why are they adverting vans and taking money if they don’t have them at that location. The woman couldn’t be bothered to / was too incompetent to answer one question about the service they offer. Terrible company. Guess where I won’t ever be hiring from now on.
***Edit*** I’ve just received my phone bill for the month and I’ve been charged £5 for the phone call I made to European. So not only did I have to wait on the phone and then get hung up on, then not get a van because they let me book something they don’t have but they use a premium number that has charged me. Absolutely disgusting company!!!

Hired a van, and the van I was given had no working headlights and a loud vibration coming from the rear right wheel. They took it back but couldn’t give me a replacement as they had 11 vans waiting for Service/Repair.

Had to hunt for a van urgently as was due to leave on a job.
Hertz finally sorted me out.

The guys in Europcar were nice enough, but the outcome was a joke.

The member of staff was great, very helpful. My only concern is the car that I have booked for more than a week before wasn't available and the waiting time was long. I asked for another option as I also was in a rush, and the member of staff rapidly gave me options. I will give more punctuation but it was disappointing don't have what I booked. I completely understand that those things can happen, but that member of staff has sorted me out without stress as he understood my situation as well. He has been great!

Hired from Reading and had a flat tyre. The cars have no spares. Lovely man from Eastern Europe in returns sorted out a replacement car in minutes. Transferred docs and on had me back on the road. Really switched on guy and turned a bad situation around. Fantastic.