Europcar delivered the goods in Madrid (Europcar)

Member Name: andymcf

Product:	Europcar
Date:	30/08/06 (109 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It was a nice car and absolutely perfect for our needs

Disadvantages: Understaffing and a lack of training conspired to create a later departure than planned.

On our recent trip to Spain, we realised that we would need to hire a car. We were due to land at 15:30 at Madrid airport and needed to travel south, covering about 2/3 of the length of the country, down to our rented villa on the Costa del Sol, via the Parador de Jaen, and walking was certainly not an option. Not in that heat, at any rate, and certainly not with 4-year-old Josh who, bless 'im, walks pretty slowly at the best of times.

And thus it was that I booked a rental car, on-line, through www.carrentals.co.uk, and ended up with a four-door economy, air-conditioned car through Europcar. The rental cost UKP 162.64 for eight days. There were mileage restrictions of, I think, 200km per day. These were stretched to the limit. It's supplied full of fuel, and you have to return it full of fuel, although I got the impression that this was fairly casually enforced - you could do your last refill within about 30km of the airport, I was told. I, however, stuck to the letter of the law. It was full to the brim on its return, and petrol is fairly cheap in Spain. Cheaper, at any rate, than in the UK by about 30%, at just marginally over a Euro per litre.

Renting a car can be quite a stressful experience, even before one collects the car. Damage waivers, excess damage waiver waivers, deposits, fuel deposits and child-seat hire (at 4.40 Euro per day) all conspire to administer a fairly hefty, if temporary, sting to one's credit card. As a careful driver, one's tempted to do without it all and be done with it. The Spanish, however, drive with a certain bravado and gay abandon and although I didn't do so much as scrape the car, there was certainly clear potential for serious damage on several occasions. I'd never, ever, go for the bare minimum of cover. Perchance, I'm over cautious, but I challenge the person who dares to call me sensible to a duel. At dawn!

Either that, or I'll buy them a drink, depending on my mood. Whatever.

Air Traffic delays at Heathrow meant that we left late, but arrival was not too late, all things considered. Madrid's Terminal Four is out of this world; not so much in that it's new, modern, clean and hi-tech, but in the sense that, after endless walks along moving walkways, three escalator trips into its very bowels, an underground train ride, a reciprocal escalator ride, one finally arrives at the baggage carousel. I had expected our baggage to win the race; it certainly should have done. Alas, it didn't. Half an hour or so later, it finally popped out onto the carousel and we were on our way to the Europcar desk. And this was, at least, easy to find.

Fortunately, the queue was not too long, and I was soon able to speak to the booking clerk.

The Spanish, I've learned, do tend to enjoy multi-tasking, if unsuccessfully. That's a polite way of saying that once I had finally connected with the guy behind the desk, he immediately decided to deal with some other client with a problem and also answered a 'phone call. Ho Hum!

The paperwork was finally sorted out and signed. We were asked if we preferred petrol or diesel. Speed got the better of me and I rejected the more economical diesel option. We were to spend the week in a beige Fiat Punto, and were pointed in the direction of the pick-up point in a large car park.

Understaffed? Poorly-trained? Willing to help? Yes, yes, yes. The guy sorting out the cars, all alone, was rushing about like a headless chicken, didn't know how to fit or operate the child seat but was keen to help out. Time was running out and as he rushed out to discover how to ensure that Josh (aka El Nino) would be safe in his seat ("It's 0% or 100% safety and I must get it right"), Amanda worked it out herself in the meantime (and I wouldn't describe the operation as either calm or collected) and we were off. In our Punto.

It was actually a very nice, comfortable car, and completely adequate for our needs. No complaints whatsoever; digitally-controlled air-conditioning was essential and the car ran very well until one met a hill. Spain is quite a hilly country, so lower gears got used quite often. By the end of the trip, I was quite used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road and dealing with a manual gearstick on the "wrong" side.

Take note, car-renters: Inspect the car thoroughly before you leave. I did, whilst Amanda was wrestling with the car seats and noticed a few minor scuffs. These were acknowledged by the agent so (a) we were not charged for them on our return and (b) I wasn't charged for reversing ever so slowly into a tree on one of the negotiated panels! Hush! Never said that - walls have ears, and Europcar have my credit card imprint!

On return, I re-read the contract. Return the keys to reception and on no account hand them over to the agent in the car park. I was instructed to hand them over to the agent in the car park. "Hey! I'm uniformed!" He was. I did. I checked at reception. It was fine. I breathed a sigh of relief.

All in all, I was really pleased with the rental. Having landed in Madrid at 15:30, though, it would have been nice to have been able to leave before 18:00. They were only partly to blame for that.

Andrew

Recommended:
Yes

Summary: Didn't go wrong - I'd rent with them again