Europcar Portugal Reviews 

Awful experience, bad service!

I booked a rental car through the Europcar app for five days at the end of July. Before making the booking, I specifically confirmed with Europcar Portugal that a debit card could be used to provide the required deposit, and I received confirmation by email.

However, when I arrived at the airport to collect the car, I was met by an extremely unhelpful member of staff who told me that I could not use my Revolut debit card. I explained that I had specifically confirmed this with Europcar Portugal and had the email confirmation to prove it, but this did not resolve the issue.

As a result, I asked for the booking to be cancelled. Both the member of staff and his manager assured me that I would receive a full refund, and I was provided with a printed document confirming the cancellation.

When I returned home and realised that I had not received my refund, I contacted Europcar customer service. Over the following month, I received three emails informing me that they were still working on my case and would respond in due course.

I finally received a response stating that the booking had been cancelled, but that my refund should be issued through my “travel agent”. This is incorrect, as I made the booking directly through the Europcar app. I immediately contacted them again to clarify this, only to receive yet another response stating that they were “working on it”.

I am now well over a month into trying to resolve what should be a very straightforward refund, with no resolution in sight.

The entire experience has been extremely disappointing — from the initial miscommunication regarding which debit cards were accepted, to the unhelpful and rude service at the airport, followed by the frustrating, time-consuming and seemingly endless correspondence required simply to obtain a refund that I was assured I would receive.

This has been, without doubt, the worst customer experience I have ever had with a car rental company. I would like Europcar to resolve this matter immediately, issue the refund owed to me, and provide an explanation as to why it has taken more than a month to resolve such a straightforward issue.

Tatiana was as complete a customer service professional as you could wish for. The proof was in not having any questions - she covered everything.

They literally just steal money from you following the rental.

Customer services are so burnt out from dissatisfied customers they will just end the call when you try to query it.

Use another rental company or expect to have to spend time after your holiday retrieving stolen funds.

Horrible service and deceiving fees all around.
Go offered an upgrade and was told the price without VAT.
All kinds of fees were added to invoice after trying to return the car.
No representative from Europcar was present at the return point (11 am) and all other providers had representatives on site.

Had to deliver keys at rental counter to the one guy apparently working that day and he was getting swamped with clients trying to get cars.

Received invoice with fees that was supposed to be included and a list of scratched that weren’t there and I couldn’t have contested since no one was around when we returned the car.

Fortunately I had full coverage so they couldn’t cheat me out of they.

So I “only” lost 150 euro.

Will never rent from this company again anywhere in the world.

I am deeply disappointed by Keddy (Europcar). I booked a car via Booking.com including full insurance. Due to a theft right before my trip, I did not have my physical credit card on me but offered my debit card for the €800 deposit. The staff completely blocked this and showed zero flexibility or customer service.Instead, they used this stressful situation to push their own counter insurance for €30 a day—three times more expensive than the online insurance. Ironically, my debit card was accepted instantly for this expensive purchase. This is a systematic, aggressive sales trap. They lure you in with cheap online prices and force expensive, redundant products on you at the airport. I will never book with Europcar or Keddy again and highly advise everyone to avoid them.

we had to queue to register for nearly an hour another 45 minutes to receive keys and no idea how long to return the car. I gave up waiting and left the key in the car. a complete shambles avoid if possible

yes, what went wrong this time ... Everything. No car, nearest car 2 hours away. I even came back the next day to fetch a car. Anywhere you go in Portugal. Avoid Europcar !!! I didn't pick it , insurance companies do

I rented a car online at Funchal airport they charged me and held the money on my card. I thought I had a confirmed car, but when I arrived, there was no car available for me.
Absolutely disgraceful. Stay away from Europcar at Funchal Airport. Their service simply does not work.

Quick warning - if you're using this service you will be asked to leave *another deposit* for fuel. I returned the vehicle with a full tank and received my deposit back MINUS £35. I suspect they get away with this a lot and the daylight robbery adds up to a nice bonus. Shocking to take advantage of customers like this. Very poor but hardly surprising based on the reviews and service.

We rented from Europcar Portugal, from the downtown Porto branch. When we arrived they would not accept the third-party insurance we purchased from Expedia as we booked the rental through Expedia. That insurance would have cost us $58 dollars for three days of rental. When we got to the Porto branch to pick up the vehicle they would not rent us the car without an insurance coverage, they raped us for $118 Euros per day, about $359 Euros for three days, almost as much as the rental itself. We were robbed, because they knew we were tourists from Canada. If we were from Portugal they would not have raped us as they did. The driver was our cousin and he was Portuguese, but we were Canadian, and he was told that we would have been given a much better insurance cost if we weren't foreigners. The outright robbed us. We were looking forward to the rental with our entire family and relatives (seven passenger van) that we had booked for 8 months prior, we had no choice but to continue with the rental. I have complained to Europcar about our terrible experience but not a single reply, despite me using their complaint process, what a joke, why bother having a complaint process if you don't even have the courtesy to reply. This company is a joke, it would never last in any other country or location and would be run out of business with their horrible practices. When we got the vehicle it had about 50 dents and scratches all over the vehicle, just plastered with damage. The insurance they sold us was 100% coverage and they still tried to scam us for a "new" scratch they found on the car. When we dropped off the car on return the guy who accepted the vehicle wanted to charge us for a scratch, I mean are you seriously kidding us , the vehicle had more dents and scratches on it than clear paint, we paid $359 euros for insurance and he wanted to charge us for one new scratch. What a bunch of scammers , we told him that we paid full pop for insurance we don't give a damn what he finds on the car it is his problem to deal with it, screw off and leave us alone you damn crooks and scammers ! We said it is his problem not ours and we walked away. The minivan was a piece of junk and they wanted to charge us more money ! Stay away from this car rental location, it is just a few minutes walk from the downtown subway station. Rent at any other car company but not this one, they are rip-off artists. If they had any decency they would have replied to our on-line complaint submission through their own service. We travelled July 10th to 12th, 2026. We have rented cars all over the world, we have never been treated so poorly as this time with Europcar Porto Portugal. Stay away from this company and location, they can't make enough money from their rentals so they have to rip-off customers for more money. Despicable and disgusting ways of running a business, horrible customer service and zero follow-up to complaints. Bad business practices, don't reward them for their bad behaviour. A One-star review is too high of a rating for them, they deserve less than one-star ! What a bunch of merde from them, that is all you get.

Queued for 90minites to collect car after arriving for exact pickup time. Walked to car park to be told car isn't ready yet because it wasn't clean. We drove it away dirty because we didn't want to waste more time
Lady on desk never warned us about fuel charges. She also said that the insurance we bought through booking.com wasn't accepted by them and that our excess would be €2000 regardless of how much we had already paid
Car was ok, sounded like it had no oil in it to be honest. But at least we finally got it and only wasted 2 pointless hours of our lives that we will never get back

Car pickup in Faro was a disaster. Despite „guaranteed premium brand“ we received an old and dirty/scratched Audi A3. Priority line not working, long wait. On return in OPO, the same experience. Incompetent staff, finding some <1mm dents in windshield (of 40k km car) and wanting to charge this. We were held hostage at the station for this absolute nonsense. Beware of Europcar if you do not want to spoil your vacation.
PS: 3d later, they even sent a phony invoice for a replacement of the windshield (no joke). The attempt is more than frivolous, but apparently it's their standard practice. Really sad.

The pickup and drop all went well. We had to basically beg them for our deposit back. It took over 3 months and 15 different phone calls. Now they are disputing the chargeback. Totally useless and the biggest pain in the arse ever.

We rented a car from the Faro airport. We were helped by 2 very friendly men. They were kind and very helpful from the start to finish. We are very grateful for the assistance from João and Marlon!! Would recommend anybody to go there. Much appreciated!

Terrible service hidden fees charges for extra insurance con artists big scammers 😡😡😡

Arrived at the hire car area in Lisbon Airport. All the companies had a handful of people waiting at their desks, except EuropCar who had 75 people. Waited over an hour and a half to collect my car. A terrible experience with a very complicated queueing system and lots of people hanging around.

specifically chose Europcar for my rental in Porto over cheaper local alternatives because I trusted their international reputation. I wanted a straightforward experience and expected to avoid the deceptive, hidden charges that budget agencies are known for. Unfortunately, Europcar did exactly what I was trying to avoid.

I booked my car in advance via Europcar.com and deliberately selected the Basic Protection Package, as my travel insurance from Denmark already covers the rental deductible. When I picked up the car at Porto Airport, the desk agent pushed extra insurance. I clearly and explicitly declined, stating again that I was already covered.

Imagine my surprise when I received my final invoice and saw I had been billed for the "Premium Protection Package." The agent had quietly added this expensive upgrade to my paperwork without my consent. Yes, I signed the rental agreement, but I did so trusting that the agent had accurately reflected the Basic package I had just confirmed with them verbally.

You might as well save your money and go with a cheaper local company. I paid a premium to rent with Europcar to avoid this exact situation, but they clearly do not provide the safety, transparency, or trust that their brand promises.

Very poor customer service answering just one question and ignoring the other important questions, not paying attention to the contents of the questions and thus incorrectly addressing the request.

João M. made our experience exceptional from the moment we arrived. He was incredibly friendly, welcoming, funny and professional, making us feel at ease straight away. He took the time to clearly explain everything about our car rental and all the available options with patience and a smile. His hospitality and excellent customer service really set the tone for a fantastic start to our trip. We left feeling confident, well looked after, and genuinely happy with the whole experience. João is a real credit to Europcar and we would 100% recommend him to anyone renting a car in Portugal. Thank you for making the process so smooth and enjoyable!