Excellent value for money, problem free car hire

Car was not what I paid for. I was given a compact car (VW golf) instead of the intermediate car I requested (was supposed to be something in the same class as an Audi A3). The counter staff (Locauto) argues with me at length about this, arguing they were of the same class and wanted me to pay more for a different car, which I refused. Further, the process took quite a bit of time, from the counter to actually picking up the car. The car also had significant damage, which the person who gave me the car assured me he noted on the ipad/tablet, but who apparently did not. Consequently, when I dropped off the car, the Locauto staff person gave me a hard time about the damage and said I would definitely have to pay for it. She then made me write a statement regarding the damage under penalty of perjury. This process held us up when we had a flight to catch. I then got an invoice for 400 Euro by the time I landed in the US, which clearly demonstrated that they did not perform any investigation. The email with this invoice only gave a total of 48 HOURS to contest the charge or my credit card would be charged, which is a ridiculously short window, especially for people with long flights. I did contest the charge and they did drop it, which also is evidence that they did not investigate the damage prior to charging me and caused me unnecessary delay and stress.

Upon arrival and pickup in the airport, the fellow at the desk really tried to push a lot of unnecessary extras such as fill up option, upgrade to larger car and extra insurance at us which we declined. The folks outside at the pickup and dropoff both were very kind and curtious.

Car exceeded expectations. Drop off and pick up location in Pisa Airport under-staffed; waiting times could be improved. Drop off - no problem as no staff at 4.00 am.

No problem with car hire - but no formal email confirmation of contract completion - with thanks for returning keys in box - with updated mileage.

Like: The service at the rental office was friendly and very good. We were a large group of 5 adults and 4 children, who had booked 2 station wagons. The lady at the pick-up office saw our luggage (which we considered typical for US / Canadian families) and pointed out, correctly, that it would not fit into the cars we had booked, along with the passengers. I guess North American ideas of "medium" sized cars is different from European ones. She offered 1 car as booked, and offered a 9 seater mini-van instead of the 2nd car. The additional charge was very reasonable (80 Euros for 5 days) and the swap made so much sense for us in the end. Very good service, and all was handled with the least amount of fuss or hassles.
Dislike: At the time of drop-off, I did pay a steep fee (45 Euros) for not refilling the gas to full. This fee was in addition to the cost of the fuel, which was also charged at a premium. I suggest that you should leave enough time to get a refill before returning the car to avoid this.

Like: Service good, without any hassles. Dropping also very easy.
Dislike: Vehicle was good.