Europcar car hire in Santa Maria Huatulco

BEWARE…. Avoid at all costs! My wife is 5 months pregnant with our first child, so we decided to take one last trip before the baby is born. We arrived in Huatulco Saturday afternoon and went to pick up our car which we had rented from Europcar through Kayak.com. We have used Kayak.com in many countries around the world and never had any issues. We also purchased their third-party car insurance to go along with the insurance we already have with our credit card just to be safe. When we arrived at the Europcar rental booth, the associate there told us the third-party insurance we purchased was not valid in Mexico, and that we would need to purchase “minimum” insurance from Europcar at a rate of $80 USD/Day for two weeks, which would end up being more than twice the price of the rental car itself when converted to CAD. I pointed out that the Europcar website mentioned $15/day for minimum insurance, $25/day for full insurance, but he told me these rates did not apply to us because we did not book directly with Europcar, but instead used a third party (Kayak). He then mentioned the only way around this was to get a confirmation letter from our credit card provider that stated they would cover any additional third-party liability. As we started to contact our bank to produce the letter he requested, he began to speak to the other agents representing the other various rental car agencies to ensure that they would not provide us with a better deal so we didn’t cancel our car with Europcar. Because it was Saturday, he thought we would not be able to produce such a letter, but after 30 minutes, the bank sent us a standard form that they use around the world, including Mexico, stating that they would indeed cover us for the rental. To his surprise, we presented this letter, but he said he would have to “check with head office” to see if it was valid – he came back five minutes later to confirm it was not. We were then told to contact Europcar Mexico to see if they would accept the letter from our Credit Card company. We waited on hold for over an hour only to be disconnected…. twice. It was now 6pm and the airport was going to close in an hour. It was getting dark outside and my wife needed to get off her feet after a long day of travel. So, I pleaded with him to allow us to pay $25 a day for basic insurance (the cost of full insurance) to which he replied he would have to ask his manager. He came back and said he would agree, but only if he was able to apply a 30% tax on top. I had no other options at this point, and I needed to get my wife out of this place, so we paid for the insurance - which was more than the rental car and the insurance we already had combined…..great way to start the trip! This place is predatory at best, and illegal at worst. I hope this helps other travelers in the future.

I provided the letter regarding the CDW from my TD bank credit card up to 65000 Canadian dollars and Europcar would not accept it. Their contract states when provided CDW insurance is not necessary. They handed back my passport and consequently I rented from the competition using the letter. I have yet to receive my 615 dollar refund from Qeeq and Europcar. I am a well seasoned traveller. I do not recommend Qeeq as a middle provider given it coming on three weeks now and still no refund as they challenge Europcar’s policy.

To arrive at the airport, preparing to take a car, and using the Collision Damage Waiver protection inherent to my credit card, only to be refused the car unless I purchase their in-house insurance, was a huge irritant. Their price on the insurance per day was greater than the price of the rental car per day. We went next door to a competitor and got a car right away for slightly more than the Europcar, all inclusive. We have subsequently extend our rental period from one week to seven weeks. Also, Kayak directed the prepayment to Queeq. Queeq has our money, and Europcar does not. The only company that can refund our money is Queeq, and they seem to be very reluctant to do so.