autovia.it - Pisa Aeroporto Reviews 

Summary:
Terrible service and snide remarks from the check-in desk and dismissive attendant has left a sour taste.

Longer Version:
Unfortunately a poor experience overall.

Picked up the car from Pisa airport and at first everything was good. Staff were helpful and polite to start... then they tried to upsell me insurance and that is when the experience went downhill...

I politely declined having already purchased insurance in the UK and immediately the whole attitude changed. Complete loss of interest, surliness and snide remarks. Two examples: "No protection? In Italy?" and as we left: "Good luck with your car and NO protection! (haha)" I mean, even as a sales tactic, it makes no sense to try and belittle?/scare?/worry? the customer.

The car itself was fine -- not exactly the quality I'd usually expect from a hire car but I suppose it is on the cheap side. There were quite a large number of scratches to start with and its not easy on the diagram to locate individual blemishes. There wasn't enough room in the car park between the cars to examine that closely and the attendant didn't really want to know when I tried to discuss it and distinguish between which of the marks were recorded and weren't. In hindsight, I should have been more forceful but with two young kids who had been up since 3am just off a flight in the scorching sun it wasn't an ideal situation -- anyway, that was my mistake.

Long story long -- returned the car and the attendant found a speck on the windscreen the size of a grain of sand and a scratch on the hubcap. No discussion, no question - just this and this, sign here. I didn't really have time to argue as I had plane to catch so signed the thing and left.

The charge when it came was for a significant amount which I assume is a new windscreen which is firstly disproportionate to the blemish and I'm 95% certain that car will NOT be getting a new windscreen! I'd love to go back and see...

Anyway currently claiming on the insurance in the UK and hopefully it will be OK so I'm not that bothered about the damage side of things; but unfortunately I still cannot get over the general attitude at the desk and in the car park.

My advice -- move the car so you can examine it in detail and force the attendant to show each individual dent and scratch that exists and make sure that anything, no matter how small or inconsequential, is recorded.

Quick check in and friendly service

Good customer service, great cars

Great communication!!
I received better car than expected!
Great service!!

I hired a car from Autovia in Pisa airport. Stood in the qeue for nearly 2 hours before I managed to speak to someone. There was only one Autovia customer advisor available during the rush hours. Read some reviews earlier and decided to take some photos of the car before I left the rental company car park. It was a good decision because they tried to charge me for wheel scratch that I never did. Sent them an email with complain and photos attached and problem resolved. I do not reccomend to hire a car from Autovia and will never do this again.

I would give zero stars if I could. I hired a car from Autovia and was charged for bumper damage I did not cause – damage that was already there when I picked the car up. I noted it at the time, yet they still billed me after the rental.

To make matters worse, they slapped on a “late return” fee because I used their key box service instead of handing the keys directly to the desk – even though I was specifically told that either method was fine. This is pure money-grabbing behaviour.

Autovia clearly has no integrity, ignores its own policies, and treats customers as easy targets for bogus charges. I will never rent from them again and strongly urge anyone considering them to look elsewhere unless you want to risk being scammed.

The staff was friendly, check in/out was easy & smooth and the car, though it was a little bigger than I was hoping for, was AMAZING!

Dear Autovia Team,

Herewith we would like to officially state, that we are not accepting your claim regarding the car's back bumper theoretical damage, as being not founded.
We returned the car without any damages caused by us on 21.07.2025, dropping the key in the box you told us to, as your office was closed at that time. During our rental period we didn't have any accident, crash, or damage, and we didn't notice any other damage, than the 12 minor and more serious ones it already had on the enclosed doccument since 2023 and 2024, but caused by others. So if you originally gave us the car with several similar damages without repairing them since 2023, shows that your company tolerates smaller esthetical damages, and these are not authomatically basis of a claim.
We would like to highlight that because you didn't take back the car in person, and you didn't immediately check the car after return, as we left it there at about 6:00 am, while you opened the checkpoint at 8:00 am, and sent us an intitial report only on that day at 20:10 pm, you cannot proove that this minor damage hapenned before we left the car at the checkpoint, but maybe after. Based on the photos one neither can say without doubt, that this is a true damage, as it seems more like dirt.
Based on the above we refuse your claim, and ask you to cancel this, and release the 500€ deposit fully.

Waiting for your confirmation,
Best regards
OLAHNE GALOVICZ TIMEA,

Untrustworthy car rental company. We left the car in pristine condition at Pisa airport and the company are now trying to charge us €300 for a barely visible scratch on the body work. We have clear evidence with a time stamped picture which shows the car was not scratched when we left it. The company are refusing to accept this evidence. We will be challenging their claim via our credit card company but save yourself the hassle and DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

Poor pick up, staff not helpful. Worst was that they are now trying to charge €280 for a tiny scratch that we didnt cause. Have to use a magnifying glass to see the scratch. Absolute scam.

Good company, helpful service.

I recently rented a car from Autovia / Optimorent and was very disappointed with the overall experience. The vehicle I received was not properly cleaned and the interior had a bad odor. The car's chassis was not in good condition. On top of that, the car had several scratches and dents that weren’t documented.
Additionally, the pickup process was incredibly slow, even though I had made a reservation in advance. I waited over 1hour and 20 minutes to get the keys. The staff seemed disorganized and unhelpful when I asked about the delays.
To make matters worse, I was charged €292.00 at the end of the rental for damages that were already present when I picked up the car. The breakdown of the charges was as follows:
€210.00 for repair or replacement of supposedly damaged parts
€80.00 administration fee
€2.00 stamp duty

I feel this charge was completely unfair and dishonest, as I was not responsible for the damage.

I would strongly advise others to avoid this company. My experience was stressful, costly, and unprofessional.

Ever wondered why the Autovia hire car desks are busier than all the others ?
Do they have fewer staff ? No
Do they get more complaints ? No
In my experience it’s because they have the most competitive prices, and have great staff !
I use Autovia whenever I’m in Italy, from the lovely ladies in Bari who couldn’t be more helpful, to my latest visit where the lady at Pisa airport faced with a big queue was “grace under pressure” smiled at everyone and sorted everyone’s issues.
I had on this occasion a brand new VW Golf, which was perfect from my use. However Italian roads can be poorly maintained, so when I had a puncture and switched over to the spare tyre, it meant I was late returning the car as per my booking time. The guy at the kiosk was great, fully understood what had happened, and no penalty fee was charged. Now that is good service ! A word to the wise, I always take out their insurance policy (which covers tyres) so no extra fees were payable.
This is why there will be probably be a queue at the desk when you arrive, it’s first class service from start to finish !

The company is a complete joke. Their customer service is non-existent and their lack of staff clearly shows how poorly the company is run. I would suggest not to rent a car through them, unless you enjoy waiting in queues for 2 hours to pick up keys. We also received a charge for €280 despite having no one on our arrival to review the car and there not being a mark in sight. We will be strongly disputing this and would suggest that others find another car rental company.

Our holiday booking had this car rental service apparently included in it. We arrived at Pisa airport, joined a queue for nearly 2 hours. Initially there was just one staff member a female. The slowest service from her for ages, then a male colleague joined her. Every single customer seemed to spend at least 20-30minutes with these “assistants” We finally made it to the counter, not a single apology from the male staff member about the long wait in the heat. He found my booking and asked for a credit card. My booking said Mastercard as far as I was aware but on handing the Mastercard over, the rude male assistant informed me it wasn’t a credit card so he couldn’t give us a car, unless we paid €2000 or €700!!!!! He then started making some ridiculous looking calculations when we offered the use of my travel companions credit card, which he refused even though she was named as a second driver on the booking. He asked us to move to the side, no apologies for leaving us stranded. We the called our travel company in UK. This took nearly 3 hours, our travel company spoke to him to no avail. We decided to forget this booking in the end and went to the less busy counter next to AutoVia and got impeccable service for a fraction of the ridiculous quotes the rude man from AutoVia quoted. I went to his counter and told him I will be reviewing the diabolical lack of service from him and his colleague. His answer was it’s not my fault all of you customers had problems with your bookings. There were at least 20 people from all over the world but it was all our fault their service was lacking! Shame I didn’t get his name! Never USE this car hire service. So much choice at Pisa airport for car rentals, that will appreciate your business and give you due regard!

Autovia need to have a more honest process. I received a slightly battered and bruised car at Pisa airport. The damage was not noted on the paperwork, after I highlighted it to the team and had it added to the paperwork it made no difference as they tried to charge me for the damage on my return. Autovia refused to acknowledge their mistake and threatened me with their claims team and the penalty increasing. I will never use again and suggest nobody does either.

Luckely we were first in line by picking up the car.

The office were very helpful. The car park was not that close to the office, however they gave me clear instructions to locate the car and it was a gorgeous car. They also checked my directions to our hotel which as reassuring … Really happy with their service.

If you’re looking to ruin the start of your holiday, this is the place to go. Otherwise, do yourself a favour and spend a little more for a much better experience elsewhere.

We provided our flight details well in advance. Due to a delay, we arrived slightly later than planned — still within the 2-hour window clearly stated in their own policy. Yet, the employee at the desk didn’t even bother to look up from his screen. He literally said, “It’s not my problem your flight is delayed, figure it out yourself.”

After multiple phone calls with no useful help and returning to the airport desk, not a single staff member was willing to assist us. The staff were unprofessional, disrespectful, and blatantly lazy.

We will never book here again and strongly advise everyone to avoid wasting their money with this company. They kept part of our payment, treated us like dirt, and completely ruined the start of our trip.

We had a very disappointing experience with this company (AutoVia/EcoVia/FurgoVia). Our flight was delayed — something completely out of our control — and although we had provided our flight number during the booking process (as requested), no one made any effort to monitor the situation or assist us upon arrival.

According to the company’s own policy, the car should be held for up to 2 hours after the flight lands if a flight number is provided. We arrived within this window, yet were met by an employee who was clearly in a hurry to leave. When we politely asked what we could do given the situation, his response was: “I don’t care, it’s not my problem.” — a shockingly rude and unprofessional way to treat customers.

The next day, we called multiple times (over 10 calls) before someone finally answered, only to speak with another staff member who couldn’t offer any real help. Out of desperation, we took a taxi back to the airport to try and sort things out in person. After standing in line for over an hour, we were told they were too busy to assist us.

As a result, we had to book a new rental car from another company, spent unnecessary money on taxis, and lost an entire day we could have spent exploring beautiful Pisa.

Overall, this was one of the worst customer service experiences we’ve had while traveling. The staff were unhelpful, unfriendly, and even dismissive. Save yourself the frustration — pay a little more and go with a company that respects its customers and honors its own policies.

Never again!