Locauto Consumer Reviews - Page 2

MILAN -- Just noticed that Locauto have collected 1090 euro on my Mastercard. Placed a car in their garage Saturday morning 5 am. Only drove on highway and parked in a closed garage. Called them. They said Scratch and hung up.
Why are they still in business. They are criminals and should be locked up. Why are they allowed to administrate credit cards. Doesn't credit card providers demands some sort of audits? DON'T USE LOCAUTO.

MILAN ITALY -- Avoid at any cost. They will harass you into buying insurance. Any hairline scratch will cost you $$$$.

Six months after the rental they charged me $57 claiming admin fee for a traffic ticket that never happened. AVOID! Poor customer service. Unethical practices.

BERGAMO -- Never ever, ever ever rent a car from Locauto.

They send you fake bills for traffic fines, and letters saying you owe them money when in fact they never received any letters to fine you with

VENICE -- Locauto rental which was "Enterprise" online in Venice, Italy would not allow me to rent a car without buying more insurance and stated it was "Italian law" and if I didn't sign I couldn't have a car. $200 later… I got a car and am still fighting (and losing) for a refund. Avoid at all costs. I have rented cars all over Europe for the last 3 years and this is the only company I have had issues with and the only one that has no integrity.

We have always rented cars for our holidays, and we never had any problems, but deciding to rent from this company (Locauto) has effectively ruined our last holiday in Italy, and I would like this to at least be a warning to other people considering this company. Unfortunately, as usually happens, I only now - when it is too late - realize what a huge dissatisfaction rate this company has with its customers, as can be easily seen by doing a search with their name.

Our car had been pre-paid in full over the Internet, yet because we arrived a few hours later than the time I indicated in the booking, they said they cancelled our booking and have no car for us. All of that was said in a very rude and completely unapologetic way, and we were left both without a car for our holiday and with no refund whatsoever.

No one from Locauto had called to warn us that if we don't show up in the next X hours or so we'd lose the car, and a subsequent careful inspection of the Contract revealed that there was no mention of how long the "tolerance interval" around the indicated pick-up time ("no-show") is. It therefore seems reasonable to assume that if you showed up on that day later than time specified, it would only be your loss because you will have the car for less time. Since I had already paid for it, the car should have been put aside for us in the parking lot, rather than being rented again to someone else, as it has been!

Had the people behind the desk been at least a bit friendly and understanding at the huge inconvenience they had caused us, I would have probably just left it there. In the meantime, however, I have sought legal advice and I will be going after them for every penny they took from us, including compensation for our ruined holiday plans.

I rented a car from the Auto-Europe website and thought I was getting a good deal. We flew into Venice Marco Polo and the agreement I had printed off from Auto-Europe said to pick up the car from Locauto. We were trying to keep costs down so said no to any extra things like extra insurance and collision damage waiver to the lady working behind the counter.

I specifically asked how much the excess would be if we had an accident. The lady said it would be around 750 Euros without collision damage waiver. I turned to check with my travelling companion and we both agreed not to take the CDW. Since we were going skiing we decided to get chains for the car and that was the only extra we agreed to. Stupidly, I signed the agreement trusting that it was filled out as discussed. What an idiot I feel like now.

Upon my return to home, my credit card was charged an extra 189 Euros for collision damage waiver and for snow tyres. The snow tyres were laughable as I had never rented a car that slipped around so badly in my life. We'd agreed to chains which the agreement clearly states but the invoice they sent us specifically says “Snow Tyres”. I realize there is a language difference but if a car rental company can't tell the difference between chains and tyres then they are most definitely in the wrong line of work.

When I checked my receipt, I noticed that underneath the areas that say “Collision Damage Waiver” and “Collision Damage Waiver Plus” there is a place that actually has the word “Signature” which did not have my signature but the word “Accetto” which apparently means ”Accept”, printed where it clearly states the need for a signature.

According to Auto-Europe that means I accepted it and that I have no actual claim for a refund. When they can't tell the difference between a signature from the customer and a printed word (which clearly is not a signature) let alone chains and tyres, the all I can say is avoid using them at all costs... because IF YOU THINK YOU'RE GETTING A GOOD DEAL THEN YOU BETTER THINK AGAIN. What a load of bollocks! Please remember to never use Auto-Europe or Locauto. They are a pack of scam artists. If you have no choice but to use them then do not trust them and check the finest print before signing anything.

BERGAMO - ORIO AL SERIO SIRPORT -- I think that it is fair to advice everybody not to hire anything from Locauto. I anticipate that, due to job reasons, I regularly hire cars and I know perfectly the contract terms under which the vehicles have to be taken in charge and given back.

I hired my car, a FIAT PANDA, at the Locauto desk, in Bergamo, Orio Al Serio Airport (Italy). After three days, I gave the car back, without damages and fully tanked. When I arrived, nobody of the Locauto staff was waiting for me. I highlight that for car rental companies it is the normal procedure to check the damages and the fuel levels together with the customer. After this check the customer signs a for acceptance.

Since nobody was there, no evidence of the inspection was submitted to my signature. Since I travel frequently I knew that this evidence is important and I asked for it at the desk in airport. Here they explained me that the immediate check was not possible due to the lack of staff, but that "I had no reason to be worried".

Some days after, my credit card was debited with the amount of EUR 48,8, partly justified with 5 liters of missing fuel and partly with a tanking fee of EUR 25+. I protested with the customer service, specifying that I insisted with the staff at the desk to obtain the evidence of inspection, but without success. With such evidence, it would have been clear that the car was fully tanked. However, Locauto refused to credit back the amount unlegitimately debited.

Since I was unsuccessful in my complaints, I also involved the agency which booked the car with Locauto on my behalf. However, not even the agency could obtain the money back. The agency itself must have been disappointed of the behaviour of Locauto, since they gave me a "present voucher" as partial compensation.

I think that the very dissatisfactory commercial approach of Locauto (I repeat: nobody was there to inspect the vehicle ​together with me when I gave it back), exposes the customers to the unjustified ​risk of being debited undue "tanking fees" or even not existing damages. Since many more car rental companies exist, I would suggest to avoid Locauto at all costs.

When in Italy I frequently used Locauto in the past, and had always had positive experiences. That is, until January 2009. I hired a car at the Treviso airport. Everything went as usual, just to discover a charge of EUR 570 after more than 20 days after the rental (the guarantee deposit had been unblocked from my credit card in the meanwhile, meaning that everything had gone fine).

I contacted their customer service, and discovered, to my surprise, that they charged me with damages not caused by me, and the customer service woman (not lady) was extremely rude and not at all professional (her literacy competencies in Italian were appalling). Their proof were photos of the damaged car, taken 10 days after I had returned it, and half of the documents were not in proper order - the little yellow paper with the state of the car had a different number plate written on it, it had not been signed by their front desk person, and so on... I therefore contacted my bank to dispute the charge. After exactly one month my bank credited me again with the full amount!

I will never ever use Locauto again! What a pity, I had used them quite a few times in the past, but after this experience, and especially after encountering the rudest customer service woman in the world I have totally changed my mind, and will never ever use Locauto again. I don'€™t have enough words to describe the trickster approach of the front office man at Treviso airport, or the rudeness and illiterate emails from the woman in customer service. Use the major brands, not these ones, pay the extra Euro and you won't get tricked!

MILAN, ITALY -- We made a mistake of hiring the car from Locauto in Milan. If you had a traffic violation in Italy, this company will charge you 48.40 Euros just for their writing of the report, apart from violation charges. They did charge us 48.40 Euros - 15 (fifteen) times!!! On two different credit cards before we managed to close them down.