Europcar Car Rental - London Gatwick Airport - LGW - England - UK

Absolutely disgusted by the 'service' we have received from Europcar. We waited over an hour to pick up our car which made us late for our destination, and we were then charged a £250 'deposit' (a hold was put on our card until after the car was returned - we're still waiting for it to be returned a week later) of which there was no mention when we booked. I must note that the car itself was in perfect condition and practically brand new, but that is where the good news ends. We deliberately booked to return the car to the Finchley office as it is just up the road from where we live and I've recently had major hip surgery so we wanted to make it as simple as possible. We were due to return the car at 5pm and as we were coming from outside of London I checked the Europcar website to find the branch phone number in case we were delayed by traffic, only to find out that it is closed on a Sunday - a rather vital point that was not mentioned at the time of booking, in our booking confirmation or when we picked up the car. I called their 'customer service' department (which appears to be based in the US meaning they had no real understanding of the geography of London and how much of an inconvenience it would be for us to return it elsewhere) and they had very little sympathy. They told us we had 2 options - 1. Take it right into central London at our own expense and then travel back home again by public transport (a return journey that would take us a minimum of an hour and a half and would be a nightmare with me on crutches and in pain) or 2. Return it on the Monday (not an option as my fiancée works the hours Europcar is open and I obviously cannot drive!). We drove to the branch in the hope that they might have an after hours drop off system (something all other car hire companies we have used in the past have offered) and were thrilled to see a note in the window saying they did and listing a number to call. Finally thinking we'd run into some luck we called the number...only to be met with an automated message that told us the number didn't exist! Our experience with Europcar has been appalling and has meant that something that is meant to be simple and make a journey easier has put us out and cost us in terms of expense (over £175 for two and a half days after all the extra charges when our original booking was £97), time (both in waiting for the car in the first place and the hours spent trying to get a straight answer on how to return it as booked, and then me to make my way there on crutches the next day to return the keys) and our sanity! Really, truly disappointing, we will not be using Europcar again and will be warning everyone we know to follow our lead!