Locauto Consumer Reviews

ITALY-ROME -- So on August this year (2015) I rented a car from Locauto. It all started when we picked up the car. We had booked an Opel Insignia with GPS. The car they gave us was a "Fiat 500 L living", a sort of a very very cheap smaller Chrysler Voyager... Obviously, still at the park, we complained and showed our reservation. The funny part is they said that reservation couldn't be right as they didn't even have Opels in that rental. All they had were Fiats, cheap Skodas and one or two VW Polos.

To make a bad situation even worse, the car had no GPS which we had explicitly paid for. As they said the only car with GPS at the moment was a small Skoda which didn't serve our space needs, nor was it ready to be taken. They said we probably would have to wait about 4 hours for it to be ready (but we didn't want it anyway as it wasn't large enough).

After all that hassle, we ended with the extremely crappy Fiat 500L, no GPS, and quite less space and car than we had paid for. Oh! I almost forgot, when they handed the car, it was a bit dirty. With that said, the following 2 weeks went fine. The car gave no trouble. So, on the return day, we gave the car back. I was very careful to check off the car with an employee (although it was hard to find one, I refused to leave without doing it) and all went well... apparently.

My problem, is that now, almost 3 months after, I find a 48.80€ debt on my credit card that I did not agree to nor was I informed of. 2 weeks ago I sent a fax to Locauto asking for clarification on the debt. They did not respond (and I was pretty generous in giving them a week to do so). As they didn't respond, nor did they inform me why I was charged with such amount, I've been illegally charged. I'm cancelling the credit card tomorrow so they don't get any other ideas...

With this said, they do not deserve to be trusted. The people on customer service are often rude, extremely incompetent and the company itself has many disloyal practices especially designed to trick the customer. For the time being I believe I'm lucky for having gone with full insurance, as I'm now reading many people were charged with damages they didn't do...

So, bottom line Locauto is NOT a good deal. It's a monumental hoax. They are absolutely dishonest and won't get back at you when you try to speak to them via email, phone or fax! Use a bigger international company, with a good reputation. Might look more expensive, but you won't have surprise expenses nor will you have to deal with all these issues everybody is reporting.

VENICE -- The title speaks for itself. If you are looking for a rental car facility that will falsely charge you for things that you did not do nor EVER answer their customer service telephone number than Locauto is the place to rent from. Two primary issues where I was falsely charged by Locauto.

1. We paid to have a TomTom GPS for our 2 week vacation. The TomTom only worked 20% of the time and we took a picture that showed that it hadn't been updated in 19 MONTHS! What would happen is that we would put an address in, the TomTom would search, and then provide us an error that the address couldn't be found and to update the TomTom. Or, for the hotel that we were staying in Venice -- the TomTom would select our hotel and guide us to Rome.

So, what we would have to do is go to a coffee shop, pay for a cup of coffee, use their wireless service and then enter where we would need to go via Google Maps on our cell phones. We had to do this nearly EVERY day on our vacation and wasted so much DAMN time in the process. We explained this horror story to Sara at the front desk, when we returned our rental car 3 days prior to when we were supposed to at the airport. We returned the rental car early, because the GPS wouldn't work and was such a waste of our time.

She advised us to call the customer service number provided on our invoice. Which is an absolute joke because NO ONE ever answered the phone. We even had the hotel staff, of where we were staying in Venice, contact the Locauto customer service number and they informed us that NO ONE would ever answer the phone.

2. I filled up the rental car to be full and took a picture of it with my cell phone. The reason being is that I have been burned in the past of being falsely charged for not returning the car to a full fuel status. Also, my picture accurately recorded my final mileage. When I got the bill -- lo and behold -- I was charged a fuel charge for not returning the car to full.

When I submitted the picture of it being full in my online appeal -- it was never regarded and I was informed that the car wasn't at full. This is an absolute lie, because the final mileage from my invoice is what is recorded in my picture. And, anyone with a 1st grade education would clearly see that the car was returned with a full fuel tank. If you want to pay for false charges, deal with lousy customer service, and to be completely ripped off -- then Locauto is your ideal business to deal with. Thanks.

TREVISO AIRPORT -- Handed mini bus back to guy who was running the front desk as well. He went around vehicle with my husband and said all is ok. He will close the contract and forward an email to my husband confirming no money would be taken from our credit card, which they had done a pre-authorization on for 2500 Euros! We didn't take any of their so-called additional insurance out which he looked very disappointed at! On him completing his check of the mini bus I turned and double checked with him that "Everything was ok?" He said "Yes everything is fine."

We went to the departure terminal. Sat having a coffee and my phone rang. You guessed it - it was the Locauto man. He said there was a chip on the windscreen and needed to see us. I told him that was already there, he said it wasn't as it wasn't noted down on his check list on his IPad. He said we should have made him aware of it, to which I replied "We didn't know it was there as you handed the vehicle to us in a filthy state. It wasn't until we used the window washers a lot that the chip was revealed!!"

I told my husband to walk off as he had already closed the contract. At this point the chap got really removed and said "You walk off and I will re-open the contract and charge your card with 2500 Euros." He was very aggressive. He also told us that we returned the vehicle to the wrong parking space inside a warehouse in the dark so he couldn't spot the chip. The thing is we returned the vehicle to the exact spot we picked it up from so I said "You obviously didn't want us to spot the chip either." We always got the upper hand of him and he knew that that's why he was getting aggressive with us.

Anyway we got back home to find a text message left on my husband's work phone from Barclaycard, thankfully they had declined a payment of 2500 Euros as they wanted to know from us whether it was a genuine transaction. We told them under no circumstances to release the payment and on telling the fraud team there what had happened they canceled our card so they cannot claim a penny. Thank goodness for Barclaycard.

NAPLES -- The worst mistake I have done while travelling in Italy; We received a car with multiple damages at night with no documentation of nicks and scratches as they saved all the damage details in their iPad supposedly, after leaving the car in Naples we received an email with charges o es $400 Euros for the damages caused. The car was deliver exactly as received. The issue here is that we trusted the fact that this company is affiliated with Enterprise and we have done multiple rentals in different countries, but this behaviour is clear sign of taking advantage of their clients and a bad business practise. We have sent a formal request to get a full investigation with their head office. Businesses like these shouldn't be allowed to operate in any country. Bad for Enterprise to be affiliated to Locauto.

Be aware, don't do go there!

MILAN -- Locauto have a well oiled process of going over your returned car with a special light to detect any scratches followed by a €300 charge which you can't avoid as they have your credit card details. In theory this practice was ruled out by law in the UK but clearly Locauto's margins are topped up by this unethical practice.

Unless you have the same detection light when you check the car on pick up there it is highly unlikely you would spot any prior hairline scratches. On returning the car within 2 minutes the Locauto attendant got out the light, spotted a hairline scratch (that would have polished out), had a photo against a magnetic ruler placed on the car and logged the event electronically literally within a minutes. This was clearly a well rehearsed routine.

On complaining I was asked to fill a form out stating that I was not at fault but on checking my bank records they had taken the €300 off my card even before registering the form. The only advice I have is DO NOT HIRE from them and let market forces put them out of business. BE WARNED!

MILAN -- They found a microscopic scratch on the car and also pretend that I was responsible for the key being forced. Asked for whether the key was like that at check in. The reply was, "Since you signed the checkout then you agreed it was not forced." It is impossible for someone to see it since everyone uses the remote key nowadays. Rude operator kept ignoring me and saying, "You have to follow my procedure." Will he taking them to the ombudsman? Also be careful if you think you are using Enterprise when the actual provider is Locauto. This is unacceptable and unethical.

ITALY -- Booked car for pick up in Florence and drop off in Pisa. Booking confirmed. Arrived to pick up car. Locauto had no cars available at all in Florence. Everybody in queue was vaguely pissed. Car rental company with no cars. Only got car when they realized that, I was not making idle threats about how rapidly legal action would ensue. Didn't get car I wanted. Car was not clean, fuel tank was half full, tyre pressure indicator was on all time. No pre-inspection of car or explanation of controls. Given key, get on with it.

Car was returned with more fuel than started off with. Car went nowhere near kerbs or other obstacles. On return they claim damage to wheels and demanded tank filled up, even though not full at start. This company has serious probity issues. AVOID DEALING WITH THIS OVERTLY DISHONEST COMPANY.

MILAN -- Locauto is a very bad car hire company. They try their very best to rip off their customers. I paid the balance in cash for insurance, roadside plus & GPS when I returned the car & they assured me that the credit card voucher I signed before would be void. I was given a receipt.

When returning home I found that the same amount was charged to my credit card. With the receipt & credit card statement, they still refused to refund the money. After the first correspondence via their online customer service, I can never get through again. 3 months after returning home, I received an e-mail from Locauto saying I had a traffic fine notification (which I never received from the traffic authority in Italy) & I would be charged a related administration fee of Euro 48.80. They won't let you reply the e-mail & no way you can reach them via their online service.

I believe this is one of the ways they use to take money from their customers. This is a very very bad experience & I am going to tell everyone I know about this. I wish I had read those bad reviews before I went to them. Stay away from this company - a crime organization.

BERGAMO -- Charged for the damage, that was already on the car. I showed this damage to the representative, and he marked it on his iPad (since he does not have a paper version), or at least he said he marked the damage. I was given to sign the acceptance of the car on his iPad, where only the place for signature is shown, but not the damage that he marked, so I was unable to verify. Name of the representative is Francesco.

Now, when I returned the car, I was charged for that particular damage, that he failed to mark, and I was shown an agreement, where my signature is on the old version of the damage report (without the additional one that I showed him and he said he marked "on the system").

So, one of the two things happened. He failed to mark this new damage, but I was unable to confirm, since they did not have a paper version of the report, and only showed me a place to sign on iPad, or he deleted the markings, since I signed not on paper form. In any case, this is a fraud.

PISA, ILLINOIS -- Fake Damage
To anyone that may choose to use this company, my advice is be very careful and ensure you check every inch of the car you hire. Take a full video and examine the car with microscopic detail and ensure that ANY damage no matter how small is logged and agreed BEFORE you sign it out. You run the risk of being charged a very large sum for any tiny dents or pay an extra £40 to insure against this risk or better still pay a little bit more and stick with one of the major brands