Centauro Rent a Car Reviews 

If I could leave zero stars, I would The company took 1150 euros deposit ( charged and taken form our account in 5 minutes), we returned the vehicle June 20th, no damage, were given receipt for refund, and were told it would be refunded within 10 business days max...it had been 25 days, and no money had been refunded. No one answers the phone (which we have to call international), and every attempt to get an answer on their help center page, we gate AI response that it takes up to 15 days (which had past days ago). Now, we are forced to start legal actions and do the change back with our bank. The staff is very rude, when we arrived there, the male employee was screaming at a olde lady across the counter. HORRIBLE STAY away from this company and save your self a headache. . Also BE AWARE, they will try to scam you for some additional insurance for 300 euros. TRUST me , you do NOT need it.

DO NOT TRUST CENTAURO! THEY TRAP YOUR MONEY!I cancelled my booking within the free cancellation window, but instead of a refund to my card, they forced a voucher on me. Their automated system instantly closed my support ticket as "resolved" and blocked any contact with a human or links for complaints. They completely hide from customers to avoid paying back cash. I am now forced to start a Chargeback dispute through my bank . Terrible customer service and scam tactics. Avoid this company!

Centauro Alicante Airport – fuel deposit not refunded and extra charge made.
I rented a car from Centauro at Alicante Airport. I paid for full coverage insurance. At pickup, I paid a fuel deposit of €88.40 and was informed that it would be refunded if I returned the car with a full tank.
I returned the vehicle on time with a full tank of fuel and I have proof of refuelling. However, Centauro did not refund the €88.40 deposit and later charged my card another €88.40.
The total incorrect charge is €176.80.
I request an immediate investigation and a full refund of the incorrectly charged amount. If this issue is not resolved within 7 days, I will take further legal action and submit complaints to the relevant consumer protection authorities.

You will be charged €75 for cleaning even though you return the car after normal use. Avoid if you can.

We rented a car from centauro at Lisbon airport on 7th May 2026 and returned the car in perfect condition on 16th May 2026. They have still not returned our 100 euro deposit as agreed. I have contacted them numerous times and they admit they owe us the money but never pay it back despite admitting it is their error. I do not trust this company and would never use them again. We will have to follow a long legal route to try and get our deposit back. Dont use this company.

It's a scam of a company!! Flight was delayed and tried to contact the company but no answer, went out to collect car and the place is closed!! All other car hire companies are open 24hrs but not them! We were stranded, had to pay an expensive taxi to accommodation. Rang them the next morning eventually got through to somebody and they said you need to pick ip car within 12hours or the booking is cancelled and they charge the full price!! We were not going to make it in time and they said its in the small print!!! Its a total scam they were closed for 8 of those 12 hours! They would not do anything for us coz it's "the system" and so rude!! We have a baby and have to try and pay for another hired car which is so expensive that we can't afford!! Do not use this company!!!

This is by far the worst car rental company I have ever dealt with.

I travel frequently and rent cars wherever I go, so I have used many different rental companies over the years. This one is a complete SCAM.

They attract customers with very cheap prices, but the cars are in terrible condition, covered in scratches and damage. The biggest problem is that they don’t keep, or simply refuse to provide, an accurate record of the vehicle’s existing damage.

When you arrive, they pressure you into buying their insurance for almost €200, which ends up costing nearly four times what you originally paid to rent the car. If you refuse to buy it, they will try to charge you for scratches and damage that were already on the vehicle when you collected it.

Fortunately, I took detailed photos and videos of the entire car before leaving the rental lot. When I returned it, they tried to charge me for several pre-existing scratches. I had clear evidence proving they were already there. The only mark they kept insisting on was one on the wheel rim that wasn’t clearly visible in my video. However, after I started recording and made it clear I was documenting everything because I intended to expose this scam, they suddenly decided not to charge me for the damage.

Instead, they took €120 from my deposit, claiming the fuel tank wasn’t full, even though we had returned the car with a full tank.

This business relies on charging customers for things they shouldn’t have to pay for. Be extremely careful, document absolutely everything with photos and videos before driving away, or better yet, avoid this company altogether.

My experience with this company has been extremely disappointing.

When I collected the vehicle in Lisbon (Parque da Saúde), despite having already purchased full insurance coverage, I was still required to have the following amounts blocked: €1,400 for the excess/security deposit, €118.80 for the fuel deposit, and €100 for tolls.

I returned the vehicle on time, in perfect condition, and with a full tank of fuel. I have photographs proving that the fuel tank was completely full upon return and the car in perfect conditions.

After returning the vehicle, I was informed that the €1,400 excess deposit could not be released due to an alleged system error within the company's system. I find it unacceptable that an internal technical issue is being used as a reason to withhold a customer's money.

Furthermore, when I tried to warn other customers by posting a comment on the company's Instagram page, my comment was deleted instead of receiving a response or a solution. Instead of deleting customers' feedback, the company should focus on resolving their legitimate concerns.

I am still waiting for the return of the funds that belong to me and for this matter to be resolved. I sincerely hope the company addresses this situation as soon as possible.

Reservation PR26089685

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A minha experiência com esta empresa foi extremamente dececionante.

No levantamento da viatura em Lisboa, no Parque da Saúde, apesar de já ter contratado um seguro com cobertura total, fui obrigado a deixar bloqueados os seguintes valores: 1.400 € de franquia, 118,80 € de depósito de combustível e 100 € para portagens.

Devolvi o veículo dentro do prazo, em perfeitas condições e com o depósito de combustível completamente cheio, tendo fotografias que comprovam esse facto.

Após a devolução, fui informado de que a franquia de 1.400 € não poderia ser desbloqueada devido a um alegado erro do sistema da empresa. Considero inaceitável que um problema interno seja utilizado como justificação para reter o dinheiro de um cliente.

Além disso, ao tentar alertar outros clientes através da página da empresa no Instagram, o meu comentário foi apagado em vez de receber uma resposta ou uma solução para o problema. Em vez de apagarem as críticas dos clientes, deveriam concentrar-se em resolver os problemas.

Continuo a aguardar a devolução dos valores que me pertencem e uma resolução definitiva desta situação. Espero que a empresa regularize este caso o mais rapidamente possível.

Reserva PR26089685

im 20 and had no credit card, but i booked premium so thats no problem, also i had a lot of fear that i might be charged more or need to pay for damages and stuff (which i didnt make) but everything went perfect, i paid 150€ for 3 days (as a 20 year old and with premium) which is very cheap in my opinion and the car was very good. if you have fear to book because of the bad review , i tell you they all are about employes trying to sell you more than u need , but if you alreaey booked a premium you are 100% safe and its important that you book directly about centauro and not a thrid party. I was afraid to because of the bad reviews but it the end they all just got them self into more extra stuff cause they couldnt say no, so if you just say no everything is perfect!

I have never experienced such shocking and unprofessional customer care in my life. We booked a car through the intermediary CarJet to pick up at the Centauro Thessaloniki branch. Upon arrival, we realized the credit card was in my name (the passenger) rather than the driver’s name. The employee on duty offered us a standard workaround: we could purchase Centauro's "Smart Insurance" for an additional €145 to entirely waive the deposit requirement. We explicitly accepted this solution.However, when I calmly mentioned that this specific deposit rule was only in the attached voucher and not clear in the main body of the email, the employee instantly became angry, pushed our documents aside, and refused to continue processing the payment we had just agreed to. When we insisted on proceeding with the payment she had just offered us, she became so aggressive that she literally threw my credit card across the counter onto the floor, forcing us to pick it up.When we asked for a manager, he refused to listen to our side of the story, stated "I believe my employee blindly," and told us we were blacklisted. Centauro refused to provide the car we already paid for. The manager explicitly told us that he would inform CarJet that they were denying us the car and that we would be refunded.To date, we have not received a single cent back. When we filed a claim with CarJet, their system issued a heartless automated reply within seconds, refusing to even consider our case. To me, this appears to be absolute collusion between Centauro and CarJet. Centauro knew exactly that they were going to get our money even if they denied us the vehicle, while CarJet uses automated bots to block complaints and protect their supplier's abusive behavior. No rental contract was signed, and no vehicle was received. Avoid Centauro Thessaloniki and CarJet at all costs.

After 7 years loyal years of renting with Centauro, multiple times per year using their premium service, on our last rental in June we were charged 75€ for “cleaning”. This was to remove some sand from the boot. As we always visit the beach, some sand is always left in the car. Now they are charging 75€ to vacuum the boot. This is an extremely high charge. I will not be using or recommending in future.
I have contacted customer services 6 days ago about this issue and had no response.

IT’S A SCAM DO NOT RENT FROM THEM!!
Cheap with a bitter taste at the end!!!
I rent a car through a Planet Cars in Naples, they direct me to Centauro Cars
They will try to convince you to get an extra insurance!!
They tell you it’s a deposit!!
They will never refund you the money back!!

STAY AWAY !!!!!! RIP OFF !!!
we arrived at Thessaloniki airport at 11pm with 3 small kids and they left us waiting for 30 for pick up, and our calls where answered in a very unfriendly way. The desk person was very unfriendly and refused to accept any of my credit cards for the deposit , arguing that it doesn't work with american credit cards . They also refused to accept my sons european credit card and forced me to buy an additional and very expensie insurance from them as the only possibility to give me my prepaid car .
Returning the car took a long time , the person in charge was very unfriendly and part of our 6 person party had to wait a long time to be droven back to the airport .
NEVER AGAIN !!!

I am a regular client of Centauro Pisa Airport - I rent with them many times a year. I always pay for premium, full-full = you take full and return full. This time when we first took the car it was 3/4 instead of full, but since it wasn't the first time, we assumed they have some flexibility on the meaning of "full" so we didn't report it (big mistake). We brought it back with 95% instead of full, they didn't want to hear it and kept part of the deposit. That's how they treat they long standing and loyal customers. Well done team!

When I picked up the car, nobody told me there was supposed to be a GPS tracker in the glove compartment. Yet, when I returned the vehicle, the very first thing the staff did was check the glove compartment for it.

There was no GPS tracker there—and there never had been during the entire time we had the car.

The staff claimed they had installed a new GPS tracker in the car two weeks earlier, which was obviously impossible for me to verify. They then demanded that I pay €50, saying that if I refused, they would keep my entire security deposit.

No matter what I said, they simply pointed to the rental agreement and insisted that I should have reported the missing GPS tracker when I collected the car—even though nobody had ever told me that one was supposed to be there in the first place.

The €50 isn't the issue. What really frustrates me is the feeling that I was deliberately misled and pressured into paying a charge that I had no reasonable way of preventing. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this company.

This has been the worst car rental pickup experience I’ve ever had. I booked the rental through Booking.com weeks in advance and arrived at the pickup location on time at 3:30 p.m. I’ve now been waiting for over an hour, and I still don’t have a car. This place is even slower than the DMV.

To make matters worse, it’s over 30°C (86°F) outside, and there’s no air conditioning.

No sure what the point to reserved a car ???

Car with 75% fuel, although contract said 100%
Car had a heavy cigarette smell
Although online support proposed to change the car, when we got to the proposed office (after 1h drive), they didn't have replacement cars available.
Avoid renting with this company to have a good vacation experience.

Centauro staff receive a commission for selling as many extras as possible when customers pick up their cars. This leads them to pressure customers into buying extras. That’s exactly what happened to me: I was forced to purchase the "Smart Cover," or else I wouldn't get the rental car I had already reserved and paid for! There I was, stuck at the airport. I immediately filed a complaint stating that I had been forced to buy the Smart Cover and asked them to cancel it, as I had already taken out insurance through Ryanair. Centauro’s customer service considers it normal to force you to pay extra—otherwise, you can just continue on foot. Truly rude; a terrible company to book a rental car with. Don't do it!!!

I rented a car through Rentalcars from Centauro from the 23rd of June 2026 10:00AM to the 24th of June 10:00AM.

When I picked up the car they said that they would send a contract to my e-mail, which they never did. I signed for the lease online, on a phone/ipad in the office in Bilbao city center. Then we picked up the car in a parking garage that was located some hundred meters from the office.

The car was returned in the same state with no damages made by us, with full tank, in the evening of the 23rd of June.

On the 24th they charged an amount of SEK 2037, 68 (app 182 euros) to my account without any documentation about what the debited amount is for.

Thereafter I sent them two e-mails asking what the debited amount is for. They have not yet responded to any of the e-mails.

Then I called them and their handler said that the charged amount is for “minor damage”. He could not specify what damage that the charge was for. He said he would send me an e-mail with contact details to Centauro, that I could use to get more info about it. I have still not received the e-mail.

In addition my brother in law rented a car as well and they did the exact same thing to him. No contract and they charged an amount on his account as well. It was slightly lower. The details on his booking was otherwise the same as on mine and we had the same car make and model.

Then I called them again and spoke to another one of their handlers. He said they had a different e-mail adress than the one that i registered when i booked the car through Rentalcars and that this was the reason why i never received a lease, an invoice and documentation of the damages that they claimed were made by us.

By this time I had also started an inquiry with rentalcars since i bought their insurance. The matter was also settled by rentalcars who reimbursed me for the debited amounts.

This is ok for me since i get my money back but it annoys me that Centauro gets away with this. I believe they use this method to make unathorized charges for damages that they never have to account for to their customers. Especially since the exact same thing happened to both cars of which none were damaged.

In addition they never returned the fuel deposit and they said it was kept to cover the damage we didn't cause. So in total they falsely charged app 270 euros.

So, choose a different company even if the rates are cheap or make sure that you get full insurance cover and take photos of the entire car so that you can contest additional charges.
Looking at other reviews the behaviour i experienced is pretty much standard...

Very disappointing customer service.

I have been waiting for a refund that should have been processed, but despite repeated attempts to contact the company, I have received neither the refund nor a single meaningful reply.

The most frustrating part is not just the missing refund, but the complete lack of communication. My messages have effectively been ignored.