Have you experienced a car hire rip off?

I’ve hired a car on three occasions via an offer by EasyJet, each time leading to a booking with Europcar, with a problem every time. The first time was at Nantes Airport. I could not refill the petrol tank as agreed when returning the car because of a strike by tanker drivers. Europcar charged me twice the going rate to refill the tank. I complained to my credit card company who refunded half of what had been charged. The second time was at Funchal in Madeira. I arrived at the Europcar office and the clerk told me the car I had booked was unsuitable for the island’s mountain roads but he could offer a better one at a higher charge. I declined the offer and later found the car was perfectly suitable, so this was a deception. Having failed on this one, the clerk said the reason the hire-charge I had paid was so low was because the insurance cover included was insufficient, implying I would have to pay an extra amount. He proceeded to outline three alternatives, again implying I would have choose one of these. Again I declined and had to insist on being given the car without paying more, which the clerk did, reluctantly, commenting that I was very tight with my money. The third occasion was a year later at Funchal Airport. When I arrived at the Europcar desk to collect my car which had already been paid for, the clerk told me it was not available but could provide another at a higher price. Being tired after the flight I stupidly agreed. When the extra charge appeared on my credit card statement I discovered that it was in addition to what I had already paid, not instead of as I had been led to believe. My credit card company have refunded the difference, although the issue has not yet been finally resolved as Europcar are challenging the refund.

I used RecordGo at Malaga airport. Their pricing is not straightforward but the final price was reasonable. However, I did not opt for Priority Serbice and ended up waiting 2 hours.
The car broke down (Could not select any gear). When I phoned for assistance I discovered I only had emergency breakdown cover and I would be charged for recovery back to Malaga, about 2 hours away. Luckily the breakdown guy pumped the clutch and restored gear selection.
But when I received my next credit card statement there was an unexplained charge of £110.
After 3 months and 3 emails no response from RecordGo.
I then contacted my card issuer (Allied Irish Bank) who agreed to pursue on my behalf, but did say they had to give them 45 days to respond. After 45 days AIB refunded me in full

I took my car in to kwik fit garage for a mot . within 20mins of leaving the garage I was informed someone had come into the garage claiming to be sent by me …so the manager handed over the keys …hence the car was recovered 3yrs later in the river. Kwik fit have not been kwik to compensate me…it’s almost 5yrs! Still no apology or money

I have had an “Avis Club Senior “card for many years and renewed my subscription in September 2018 via the Avis web-site, using my Eurocard/MasterCard.
Over the years, I have hired cars from Avis in France (our home country), Italy, Germany, England, Canada and the USA, with no problem.
My wife and I hired a car from Avis in March this year, paid for in advance by American Express. Pickup at Edinburgh airport on March 26, return same place March 28.
We came to pick up the car. There was no check of the car’s condition. We asked about that and were waved through, assured by Avis staff that the car was in perfect condition. On finding the car, we found there were dried water marks on the body (it must have been in the rain and not washed since) but it seemed fine otherwise so we simply drove off.
On the 28th, we had barely stopped the engine before we were approached by a young man with a portable phone who told us he was going to check the state of the car and proceeded to do so with a fine-toothed comb. Within literally seconds, he had found damage on the passenger side, in the area under the door (inches from the ground) and farther up, in the back. None of the “damage” found seemed to exceed the bounds of normal wear and tear but we were presented with a form to sign and told it would cost us 403.99 £. (The total cost of the rental was only 290.39 £). We refused to sign the proffered form on the spot, and tried to argue at the main Avis office inside the terminal without any success. The only justification we were given was “It is our procedure!”
I suppose an elderly foreign couple with a flight to catch makes an easy mark for what was felt by us to be an extortion attempt.
Where it gets even more dubious is that, after we had refused the charge on American Express, I found the 403.99 £ debit on my Eurocard/MasterCard statement : I had NOT given my card number (or code or PIN) nor had I signed any authorization for that card, since the subscription fee in September 2018.
After consulting Que Choisir (I am a subscriber to the French equivalent to Which?), I wrote to my bank who refunded me, (they had to, given that the contested charge for “damages” was plainly illegal). I have therefore suffered no monetary loss but would like this incident to serve as a warning to other consumers.