Avoid Europcar at all costs because of hidden insurance costs and dishonesty when picking car

Europcar option came out cheapest for renting Alfa Romeo Giulietta “or similar”. However 1. When went to pick the car our chosen car was not provided and was referred to the clause on advert which says "or similar". However the car provided (cannot remember its name but some sort of Opel) was/and is in no way similar to Alfa Romeo. Looked around at Europcar car park both when picking the car and when dropping it but could not see Alfa Romeo at all so I am sure they lied on advert about having Alfa Romeo in stock at all and were always going to rely on clause "or similar". Extremely dishonest 2. When I arrived at counter with my booking Europcar guy tried very hard to rent me an expensive luxury car instead. The price quoted was 8 times of what I had booked for. (Common sense that I would have booked an expensive car in the first place if I wanted). Pressure tactics like this are very stressful when you have come off a long flight with children early in the early morning. 3. When Europcar were unable to convince me with renting their expensive car, an expensive additional fully comprehensive insurance of nearly double that of the price of rent was charged). I had no option but to accept as excess premium was £1500 without this additional insurance. I had similar experience in the past when you pick the car they find faults with your online comprehensive insurance so I never get a fully comp insurance online and rely on buying it on the day. However the price charged by Europcar was 3 times of what was quoted in the online offer. 4. The car provided consumed much more fuel than a normal compact car and certainly more than Alfa Romeo. Although I had told Europcar beforehand that I will be going lots of miles. 5. As per the contract I was forced to use Fuel type E5 which is more expensive that Fuel type E10. Later on I found out that manufacturer recommends any of E5 or E10 fuels for that car. Again this was dishonest.

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