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Car rental firms rated in customer service survey
Two car rental brands owned by Europcar have come bottom in a customer service survey.
One, Spanish car rental firm Goldcar, has been the worse performer in five out of the last six years of the survey by consumer magazine Which?.
The other, InterRent, was second to the bottom of the table of 15 companies included in the survey.
The results were based on the 2,178 car hire experiences by Which? members in the last 12 months.
Complaints about Goldcar ranged from pressure-selling and rude staff to ‘shockingly high charges’, with 38% of consumers saying they definitely would never consider using Goldcar again.
Releasing the results of the survey, Which? said Goldcar’s headline prices were low – on average £13 a day – but 40% of customers reported experiencing a problem, most often relating to bad customer service or ‘spurious’ credit card charges.
Parent Europcar was also the worst performing of the major brands, with an average rating of three stars across most categories.
A spokesman for Europcar said: "Feedback is vital to Europcar – it enables the company to evaluate its practices and deliver the best possible customer service. Whilst the number of respondents to the Which? survey is relatively small, the company takes on board the findings and will continue to strive to deliver a high quality, good value customer experience."
Top of the survey was Cicar (Canary Islands Car), knocking off local rival Auto Reisen, which had held the top spot for the last six years.
Both companies have offices in the main airports and resorts of the Canary Islands and offer an all-inclusive price with zero-excess insurance, no deposit, a free additional driver and a fair fuel policy.
Both received the full five stars for value for money but Cicar just nudged ahead with its free audio guide, map of the area and option to pay in cash. Auto Reisen accepts debit and credit cards only.
Of the larger car hire firms, Enterprise and sister firm Alamo were rated the most highly by car hire customers.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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