Sicily By Car
Reviews and Complaints

We received a bill from Sicilyby Car for Euro 1, 103.25 in damages . We dispute these charges in full on the grounds that the vehicle was damaged before we received it.
As outlined in our statement, the driver had extensive experience driving manual vehicles . On vehicle pick-up he expressed concerns to SicilybyCar staff that the clutch was not engaging properly. This was before even leaving the parking garage. The staff promptly dismissed these concerns and mocked the customer. All three passengers can attest to the driver expressing these concerns at that time.

On departing the parking garage at Fiumicino Airport, the vehicle was driven exclusively on highways en route to Florence. Approximately 200 km into the trip there was a traffic slowdown on a hill. Once traffic moved the driver noted that, as had been the case at the Fiumicino Airport parking garage, the 2nd gear would not engage properly. We were actually left in an extremely dangerous situation by this defect while attempting to merge into highspeed traffic. Therefore, we shortly pulled over and called for roadside assistance. (have to pay for taxi from own packet)
Any further damage which the driver may have caused was a direct results of this pre-existing damage and the extremely dangerous situation to which it exposed us.
This petition will help fight SBC, please sign
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https://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-ca/123/510/569/warning-sicily-by-car-fraudulent-company.-do-not-use/
Thank you

I rented a car at the Lamezia airport on July 15th 2017 and returned the car on July 22 as per the contract. I have the return document indicating that the car was returned with no damage or exceptions.
On the 25th of September I received a notice from my credit card company that I had a charge pending for $107.73 from Auto Europa mule-fine. This is a complete rip-off as I did not get any violations of any kind while in Italy. I have instructed my card company that I wish to contest this charge. Please forward me all information regarding my supposed violation, date, time, location, city etc. as I plan on contesting this rip-off of a tourist to your country.

Nick Martin

Contact information
Nick E. Martin
221 10th Street South
Cranbrook, British Columbia
Canada
email [protected]@hotmail.com

We recently (feb 16th to 22nd '16) rented a car from 'Sicily by car' (tel [protected]) which I believe is part of 'Auto Europa'. After the initial difficulty of finding the right location we were offered a citroen picasso (reg nº EZ850PY). The car was kept in a dark underground car park. The car was offered in perfect condition, but upon our inspection we noticed a couple of scratches. We had to then return to the rental desk to confirm this which the attendant reluctantly marked on the documents. When we returned the car 6 days later they pointed out a small (key - possibly) scratch on the drivers side door and passenger door behind. We have absolutely no memory of this occurring and wonder whether it may have been there all along but we were unable to see it in the dark car park. We have been charged €732 (£568) for the repair of these two scratches (which we have taken photos of). As we were then in a hurry to catch our plane (with our 3 small children, we had no opportunity to object to this charge. We feel this charge is completely unreasonable and wonder if others have paid for this same scratch before us. We hope you can help us.

hi, i am complaining about a handling fee i got, my account got debited on 29th november, 2 months after i got home, i got a letter from sicily by car on 22h december notifying me about handling costs.i have not got a fine yet in mail !.i would like a copy of fine within 14 days or i will put charges in dispute with my credit union & visa .RA [protected] regards russell jessop.[protected]@live.com.au

I rented a Fiat 500 from Sicily By Car/Auto Europa Rent A Car on 19 Jun, 2015 for 1 day. I got a quote through DoYouItaly for 23 euros, I opted for the additional insurance of 15 euros, and was not able to refuel before returning the car. We did 105 kilometers which I calculate fuel of about 6 litres at a cost of about 10 euros. I expected my bill to be about 48 euros, yet the amount on my credit card is about 95 euros. My DoYouItaly voucher number is DYI-[protected], the Sicily by Car documentation has numbers 156942 and 2481438.
I have emailed repeatedly to get a credit but I am being ignored.

Do not hire with sicily by car or auto europa:
I rented a car through holiday autos / car trawler and have had a fraudulent withdrawal from my credit card since returning from sardinia where I hired a car from alghero airport. the withdrawal totals almost €370 and was taken to cover the costs of 'damages' which have as yet not been specified. I collected a car with 3 points of damage which I signed for, and returned the car 3 days later in the same condition as I collected it. with the extra insurance sold by holiday autos, my rental cost under €100. I am furious!
All the companies involved are virtually ignoring all correspondance and sicily by car is totally ignoring this complaint. they are a fraudulent and unprofessional company that should be totally avoided.in order to avoid ending up unwillingly with this company, which is under the umbrella of auto europa, do not hire a car in italy with holiday autos / car trawler. book through a reputable company like hertz, even though it may cost more. I have been involved in this case since july and I would have willingly paid more to avoid all the inconvenience since.

* february 7th 2014 *
* this is a fraud car company - stay away *

Unfortunately, I have to submit to the rest of the comments and complaints in regards to this
Company in italy. I rented a car in august 2013 and as of this date february-14
8 months later, I am still getting claims for unlicensed traffic tickets that
The italian police can not confirm I have made with the rented car.

As of today, I have received 4 claims of €60 each (total €240) charged to my credit
Card, for traffic tickets that I can not get verification on.

Sicily by car will not listen to my complaint, I have spoken to 3 different
"managers" at both the milan airport rental shop and their headoffice
- all are skipping my complaints and will not help me. as a last resort, I have
Had to get my credit card cancelled and got a new one which they can not charge.

* stay away from sicily by car at all cost for your own sale, please! *

Our Rental was originally with Thrifty but when we arrived at the airport, the agent said there was no record of our reservation. Auto Europa could offer as the same car at 11 Euros more. Since we had no options we took it. Everything was fine until we got a flat tire in Sorrento. After finding a pay phone, we called the emergency line to get assistance. We were informed that a tow truck was on the way to attempt to fix the tire. The tire repair kit did not function as the sealant and the air compressor were not compatible which was verified by the people at Auto Europa when we returned the car. The car was then towed and it left us stranded in Sorrento with no means of getting to our car at 11 p.m. when this had occurred. The emergency hot line which we called again said that we would be reimbursed 100 euros for a hotel. We wandered from hotel to hotel looking for a room however, now being midnight there were no rooms available. Due to the lack of help in a foreign country, where we did not speak to language, we were forced to sleep on the street. In the morning, we once again called the emergency hotline and Auto Europa, we were informed that a taxi to get us to our car was coming and that the emergency company would reimburse 100 euros for the taxi fare(I was told this by AutoEuropa). I was also informed that because it was not covered under my insurance (which nobody at the desk in Rome told us we could get) I would have to pay for the tire(Also told by AutoEuropa). Of course this was now well after 10:00 am in the morning. Finally arriving at the garage, I had to pay 110 Euros for the tire and 110 euros for the taxi. All this aggravation, upset and stress, cost us a lot of money and wasted a day of our vacation. Our trip was Jun30-July 14th. It is now August 10th and I have been emailing Autoeuropa since July 17th with no response until today when I received a registered letter informing me that I had to pay for the tire and that they have billed my credit card company!Needles to say this is a TERRIBLE COMPANY TO DEAL WITH!

Insurance Scam. Stay away.
Picked up the car in an unlit parking lot after a 30 minute wait at the desk in Fiumicino Airport, Rome. They never went over the car with us for damage as they said they had already done so and marked it on the rental agreement. I noticed more damage that wasn't on the agreement and insisted they mark it on. They were reluclant to do so but eventually did. After returning the car, they pointed out more damage that was intitailly on the car when I picked it up but failed to notice. It was suspicious, because in order to see the damage, you had to get down on your hands and knees and while the attendant never did this, he still noticed the damage.
When I complained, he said "don't worry, you have full coverage". I had no recourse and I'm sure that this damage was being repeatedly charged to each customer without being repaired.
Very disappointed to be used in a scam that costs everyone.

On February 17, 2011 we rented a car from Thrifty (USA) on the InterNet on-line for our trip to Italy, commencing on Jun 02, 2011 at the Fiumicino Airport in Rome for 19 days. The total rent was Euro 635.76, plus the price of the gas (we could not find a gasoline station nearby), plus a penalty of Euro 14.62, total Euro 730.28. I paid this amount with my AMEX on June 21, 2011. Thrifty has had subcontracted the rental to Auto Europa, who made up their rental contract on site, with different break-down, but amounting to the same. The Rental Agreement # 0001695, dated June 02, 2011.
In Europe, and so in Italy too, the AMEX Gold Card guarantee for car rental insurance (CDW) is not accepted, you cannot decline it! So Hertz and Avis simply include the full insurance in the cost of the car rental, which makes it very expensive. Auto Europa advertises itself as "The Low Cost car rental", and as such they did not charge the Collision & Damage insurance right in the rental cost, but they took a security deposit on my AMEX card in the amount of Euro 1485.76. Upon returning the car without any damage, this deposit is returned to the Renter, as it happened last year also in Italy.
The car we got was a Peugeot 206 with 1.1l gasoline engine. The odometer reading at the commencement of the rental was 18098 km, i.e. the car was definitely not a new car. As a matter of fact, it had small dents and scratches all around the body at least in 15 different places. The rental agent told us not to worry, everything were marked on the Inspection sheet. When we went to the garage to pick up the car, upon noticing the scratches, we inspected the car ourselves and found another 10-15 scratches, which were not even marked on the inspection sheet. We marked these also on the inspection sheet, but since we could not find a single attendant around, it was around 7 o'clock at night, we drove off.
Upon returning the car, the inspection noted a small stone chipping on the windshield at the center of the driver side. I know, it happened, but it was so small, they would not have noticed it, if the rain downpour a day before had not cleaned the windshield. There was no crack around the chipping, just a tiny dent. They also noted another scratch at the rear of the driver side, which was allegedly not marked on the inspection sheet, I repeat, the inspection sheet had about 25-30 dents and scratches marked already all around the car, so I really do not know, how they could tell, if it was new scratch! Nevertheless, they refused to return my security deposit. A month later they charged me Euro 712.79. A detailed repair bill followed a month later by registered mail. Instead of repairing the stone chipping, thay replaced the entire windshield at a cost of Eu. 556.99. A small stone chip damage like this costs $45.00 to repair in Toronto. For the allegedly new scratch on the body, they resurfaced the body with 4 hours work, which was another Eu. 148.80, very probably fixing all the other 29 or so scratches that were already there before I picked up the car, using my safety deposit. Strangely, they did not do this before they rented the car out., but now it was I who paid for it. I belived that since my Gold AMEX card has car rental insurance coverage and will take care of the justified repair bill. Never believe it! AMEX refused my request to block the payment of this repair bill, until their Insurance company investigates it, so I had to pay it. So much about the AMEX Gold card car Theft and Damage Insurance guarantee.

My name is Ka Lok NG, a tourist from Hong Kong. I travelled to Florence and hired a car from Auto Europa during 17 to 18 June 2010. I selected Auto Europa because I thought it is a renowned car rental company in Italy, however I have been extremely disappointed about the service provided by it.

My car rental contract ref is XRF612336/09 (RA n. 2314479). I was provided a Fiat Bravo 1.6L diesel engine car by your office at Firenze Airport on 17 June 2010 evening. The staff there was helpful and I could easily get the car.

On the next day, 18 June 2010, I drove the car to Pisa and then to The Mall to the east of Firenze. After that, at around 15:30pm, I started the car and headed towards Siena along the highway. On the way, the engine started to give some strange sound. Then I stopped the car at a gas station and with the help from the gas station attendant called Auto Europa's 24H clients assistance [protected])at around 16:00pm. A lady answered the call. I told her the car's problem and she said a tow will be arranged and she also told me a taxi will be called to take me back to Firenze Airport and Auto Europa will pay the first 100euro.

I waited for 45minutes for the tow to arrive (16:45pm). The tow driver and the gas station attendant both think the car might be fixed at the garage, as I understood although they spoke in Italian, so I went with the tow to the garage at Colle di Val d'Elsa, because I also hope the garage could fix the car so I could continue my travel to Siena. However, the technician at the garage found the car could not be fixed and he helped to contact the 24H assistance again since I don't had a mobile phone workable in Italy.

Then the most disappointed came to me. I was told by the lady of Auto Europa's 24H assistance that no taxi would be arranged for me and she asked me to take a bus back to Firenze. Could you please imagine me as a foreigner visiting Italy, left in a unknown place due to the broke down of the rental car, and the people around cannot speak English although they are kind enough to give help, and Auto Europa's assistant lady was so cruel to tell me to get back to Firenze by bus! Was that a reasonable and responsible assistance to tourist by a locally renowned company? Had Auto Europa's UNHELPFUL assistant lady considered my difficult situation? I lost my time to visit and I needed to go back to Firenze by myself even I paid for the full insurance. It was so fortunate that the garage technician was so kind to give me a lift to the nearby bus station and helped me to buy the bus ticket. I finally back to Firenze at 21:30pm.

I had paid for 1 full day's rent for the car with full insurance but in turn I had only used it for less than 20 hours and finally I need to go back to Firenze by bus. I don't think that's a good service from a renowned company. Anyone would expect when the rental car broke down, another car should be delivered for the continuous use by the client. I guess this is reasonable since my rental car broke down at a place within half hour drive from Firenze.

I had sent my complaint to Auto Europa by so far I haven't received any reply from it.

Moverover, I just found that Auto Europa charged my credit card 2 days ago (after 2 months of the rental) for another euro3921.5!

It is really ridiculous that Auto Europa hasn't informed me and carried out such charge on my credit card.