A CAR rental giant has apologised after telling a Scottish islander travelling with a young child that he could not hire a vehicle because they are “not resident in the United Kingdom”.
Europcar, a billion-pound firm which operates in 140 countries, had told a Shetland resident that they would not be allowed to rent a car in Glasgow as he was an “overseas customer” and had not brought his passport.
Alistair Carmichael, the MP for Orkney and Shetland, raised the “utterly bizarre policy” with the firm.
“My constituent’s husband travelled from Shetland to Glasgow with their one-year-old child in order to collect a hire car which had been booked in advance through Europcar for travel to a family wedding,” he wrote in a letter. “Before travel, he completed Europcar’s online check-in process and received confirmation that the vehicle was ready for collection.
“On arrival at the rental desk, however, he was informed that he would not be permitted to hire the vehicle because he did not have his passport with him. He was told that this was required because he was from a ‘British island’.
“This was not communicated during the booking process, online check-in, or in the confirmation emails received by my constituent. Indeed, my constituent advises that the booking confirmation stated that a passport was required only for non-UK residents.
“When my constituent subsequently contacted Europcar for an explanation, they received the following response: ‘An overseas customer is defined as one who, at the time of rental, is not resident in the United Kingdom or Northern Ireland. Included in this definition are residents of the Shetland, Orkneys, Hebrides, Isle of Man, Isle of Scilly, Channel Islands and the Isle of Wight.’”
Carmichael added: “There is no justification for islanders to be treated less favourably or subjected to unclear and unjustified requirements when accessing services on the mainland.
“I shall expect a clear explanation from Europcar on these points – and an apology to my constituents – in the coming days.”
In response, a Europcare spokesperson told The National that the firm “sincerely apologises to the customer involved for the inconvenience and distress caused by this experience, particularly given the impact it had on a family travelling with a young child”.
They went on: “The company fully recognises that residents of Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, the Isle of Wight and other UK island communities are part of the United Kingdom.
“The issue highlighted relates to the company’s customer verification process that is designed to support identity and fraud prevention requirements where qualification checks are processed through its electronic verification system which does not recognise postcodes from a number of UK off-mainland islands. The Europcar terms and conditions of hire state that the business will carry out an identity check and undertake checks for the purpose of preventing fraud and money laundering.
“Unfortunately, the wording within the company's internal guidance has led to an unintended and inaccurate classification of these communities as 'overseas' for administrative purposes. The company acknowledges that this terminology is inappropriate and does not reflect their constitutional status within the UK.”
Europcar said they were now in the process of reviewing the guidance as a “priority”, as well as how identity check requirements are communicated to customers.
The firm added: “In the case identified by Alistair Carmichael MP, Europcar has offered the customer a full refund, as well as refund for any additional costs associated with having to secure alternative rental. This is in recognition of the inconvenience and additional costs incurred.
“Europcar is committed to treating all customers fairly and we apologise again for the frustration and inconvenience this situation has caused.”
