Previously, including right after arriving in Australia, I rented a car from Europcar. They usually have European cars, and the quality is quite good. I never had any issues before, so I only checked the car body before renting and overlooked the rims. When returning the car, they claimed there were scratches on the rims that I caused. It was obvious that the marks were old damage, as even the tires had no scratches. Trusting them turned out to be a trap. The same thing happened again. The rental checklist only showed four damages, but upon inspection, I found damages on the rims and glass.

The car rental and related insurance fees were fully paid on the Zuzuche website. However, at the local store, I was required to pay an additional 100 AUD deposit...

Onboarding and Guidance was on point - they had made sure that I understood the rules before handover. The car was fresh and clean as I was given the keys for a brand new car which had only driven 17 kms.

10/10 for the customer support an booking experience

The pick up process was disgusting. 45 minutes in line after having booked is a disgrace and meant we had to cancel booked activities in Melbourne City. Why I had to stand in line while people who had not booked ummed and ahhed over choices or had to have every said twice due to language barriers is beyond me. Why I had to write on scrap pieces of paper which were then scanned or give details that I had entered under my booking was also staggering. My past rental experiences at all other large airports in Australia have taken 10 to 15 minutes. It was unbelievable. I happened to see the manager in the car park and asked her how this could be, she suggested I join the loyalty programme, nothing about how they can sort the issue inside that was going on. When I suggested having a separate desk for people who had not booked she said this had been tried and did not work as they got served faster thasn those who had booked in the end. How the hell does that happen. There were 5 staff working, if you make just 1 line for those who have not booked then it must become faster for the people who have booked with four people serving them. If there is no one in the non-booked line then that person can also serve a booked person. Where is the reward for booking ahead. This was a monumental clusterfuck that affected the whole day for a group of visitors who had one day to spend in Melbourne. One of the group had to cancel seeing his sister for lunch who he had not seen in 5 years as we had other booked activities to get to. I would not be writing this if this was the way it is in Australia but past experience means I know it isn't and something was wrong with this company office. Further we did not get a Nissan X Trail as requested, we have had the X Trail twice before, and I am aware how that is never guaranteed the Subaru Forrester was nothing on the X Trail. A real disappointment and will not be using Europcar again.

All good

Station manager at Alexandria station was very kind, and tried to help us as much as he could.