I now know what it feels like to be a girl

They don't return my phonecalls, they fob me off with silly excuses, don't reply to my emails. I've been fucked over then when I fell asleep, they fucked me up the arse.

Europcar - advice to b3tans: steer clear of this shower of smegma sucking dop-wads.

I've learnt my lesson - next time I'll take a taxi from York to Cambridge - it'll be cheaper in the long run and less stressful.

So, my question is: has anyone else, after 25 years of NEVER losing a car key, lost the key of a hired car on the very first time they have hired a car? And yes, I've ordered a tattoo for my forehead that says: "TWAT - feel free to kick viciously in the nads"

-sob-
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:10, 19 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

I agree, avoid europcar
Handed the car back with a full tank. Got charged £55 for fuel. Took literally a month of phone calls with no comeback from the monkeys at Edinburgh airport and the head office were forced into refunding me.
( djtrialprice, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:13, Reply)

THEY SUCK
(Sorry for yelling). They look good when you make the reservation but no matter how carfully you read all of the fine print, they always seem to find lots of extra things to charge you for. It might be cheaper to buy a used car and then sell it instead of renting for a week.
(MichaelS wasn't picked again, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 17:03, Reply)

I'm not entirely sure how any of this would make you feel like a girl.
But no, in fact, I've hired plenty of cars and trucks, and never had any issues.

Okay, once I thought someone had stolen a truck I rented but it turned out I was pressing the key fob from my other car and not for the truck. I really was fucking bricking it.
( Lisette von Falcon, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:18, Reply)

Nope
but I once had to call out the RAC cos I locked them in the boot

*edit* I also once came out to see a massive scratch down the side of a rental car. After hours of filling in forms they looked at the docs and it said "Large Scratch down right hand side" I just hadn't noticed. These days they do a walk around with you.
( Peej, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:18, Reply)

I did that too
and the AA man sucked through his teeth and informed me that my car was very hard to break into without doing some damage to it.

Which is reassuring, in the right circumstances. But not when you're trying to catch a flight.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:22, Reply)

The RAC Man did the same to me and said
"pick a window then mate"

Whilst I was think about which one he should break he got a slim jim and opened the door and laughed at me.
( Peej, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:29, Reply)

They're bastards aren't they!
I think they're required to produce evidence of a sick, sick sense of humour as a requisite for the job.
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 17:50, Reply)

I've never lost a key to anything
*Smug look*

Shit, i bet I've jinxed myself now! *pats self down to make sure keys are still there* Phew, they are :)
(wehttamman via B3ta for microwave, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:19, Reply)

My current car has four keys
one for the passenger door, one for the boot, one for the petrol cap and one for the ignition. I don't have one for the drivers side door but that doesn't matter because the locks fucked and you can open it with a coin.
( Peej, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:21, Reply)

My old Cavalier
had one key for the driver's door, one for the tailgate and none for the passenger door, because the lock barrel fell out and I glued a penny over the hole with Araldite and painted it silver. Any of the keys (or a screwdriver) would turn the ignition, and I could remove the key while the engine was running.

It was a great old heap of shite!
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:26, Reply)

No better car exists
than an old Cavalier banger.

I once owned one with such a noisy engine that my brother could hear me driving towards his house from half a mile away. Said it sounded like two skeletons fighting with lengths of copper piping.
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 17:54, Reply)

I once hired a car through work
to go down south.

We got as far as Keele services and stopped to have lunch. On getting back to the car, I noticed the bumper hanging off at one side. Evidently the previous renter had just shoved it back on and not mentioned it. So I shoved it back on and continued on my way.

On returning the car a week later, I mentioned the fact that the bumper was loose on one side, but that it had been like that since I got it. My work got a bill for about £200 to fix it. Wish I'd just said nothing.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:24, Reply)

The Keele service station bridge is very orange
This pointless bit of information was brought to you by Colonel_Dracula
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:32, Reply)

and fanta

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:48, Reply)

and Tango

(wehttamman via B3ta for microwave, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:51, Reply)

and Dale Winton

(TheColonel, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 16:56, Reply)

Avoid Europcar
have had some very difficult experiences with them - their underhanded 'up-selling' policy is contemptible.

rafter
baz
(bazmorningstar efil4nat3b, Tue 15 Dec 2009, 17:03, Reply)

very little experience of hiring cars except one time in spain Mike and I hired a 4x4 panda soft-top.
made sure it was unlimited mileage and did a mental anti-clockwise tour of spain starting and finishing in Barcelona.
i think we clocked up about 6,000km in a fortnight.
fantastic wee car for the mountains, not so good for the motorway!
one time though i borrowed an old tranny off a guy i worked for to move some furniture from my sister's place to my folk's place. 160 miles from home i parked the van, got out and immediately after locking the door promptly dropped the (only) key down the grating in the road upon which rested the front wheel of said van.
Bugger!
( blaireau69 , the Cumbrian Travis Bickle., Tue 15 Dec 2009, 18:31, Reply)

I worked for them
as a driver for a whole day and it quite possibly the most mind-numbingly boring thing I have ever wasted seven hours on.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 16 Dec 2009, 0:15, Reply)