Avoid Alicante Gold Car - Liars & Scammers!!
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katiegeary19760
Posts: 1 Newbie
I am writing with reference to my recent Goldcar hire in Alicante, Spain.
When I arrived to pick up the car I was told that the car that I had hired was not a Ford Fiesta or similar, with room for 5 passengers as clearly we had booked. I was told what we had booked was a Fiat 500 that seated 4, at a push. I am not sure how a Fiat 500 is comparable in size to a Ford Fiesta, as having owned both of these cars I know for a fact that there is huge difference in size.
I was then told I had 2 options with the car insurance.
I could either pay £175.63 non refundable insurance fee & would be covered if we were hit, or if we didn't take this option we would have 1100EUR held on my credit card. As I had taken out excess insurance with AXA through yourselves, I showed the Goldcar rep this but was told that as it was not taken out with them it was not valid, & if we had an accident & we didn't pay the £175.63 insurance we would be charged 1100 EUR for any damage.
Being under the impression by Goldcar that our excess insurance was not valid, & that any damage done by either myself or as quoted by Goldcar sales rep "the car doors could be damaged in car park & you are responsible & will have to pay 1100 EUR", I felt I had no other option but to pay the extortionate sum of £175.63 for insurance.
Having now returned from holiday & looked into our excess insurance, I can see that I was falsely informed & lied to by the Goldcar sales rep. In actual fact our excess insurance was valid & would have covered the 1100 EUR in the event of an accident.
When getting to the car itself it was rather dirty inside with tobacco/cigarettes in the door pockets & handle & showed previous occupants had clearly been smoking in it.
My whole experience of hiring from Goldcar has been the worst hire car experience ever. I am furious that I have been lied to & scammed out of money for an unnecessary insurance package, on a car that clearly shows in my booking was not what I was expecting.
I have written to Ryanair who I booked with & this is their reply.
"I am sorry to learn that you were disappointed with the level of service you received from Goldcar. Antony, we do treat this kind of feedback very seriously, as we expect all our car rental partners to offer the best level of service to our customers.
Having checked the details of your rental, I can confirm that the car you booked and the car that was offered at the rental counter are comparable as they belong to the same group and can be offered as equivalents. As Ryanair Car Hire is a multi-national rental company operating with over 1,600 car rental agents, unfortunately, we cannot guarantee a specific make or model within your selected car category. This is why we always specify that the car displayed is the most common example of the car group and that you will receive a similar car within the category.
In relation to the Damage Refund Insurance, an excess must be left at the rental counter in order for the rental car to be released. In the event of any accident/damage to the rental vehicle, you will lose your excess to cover the cost of repair. After your rental has ended, you can claim this back from AXA. Purchasing this insurance does not reduce the excess amount payable at the rental desk – it means you are insured against losing it.
Please note that the above information is stated within the Terms and Conditions of your insurance policy. You are required to agree to them prior to completing your booking.
AXA also advises that you refuse any additional insurance that is offered to you at the rental desk. This is because once you have the excess deposit amount required, no further insurance is necessary. As you know, there is no account of verbal discussions that occur on the day of pick up so we must rely on signed documentation only. Unfortunately, as you agreed to, and signed for, additional insurance at the rental desk, I am unable to refund you for this.
I am sorry that we are unable to provide the solution you were hoping for on this occasion and I apologise for any inconvenience caused by this matter."
What a crock of s@#t.........I'm not letting them get away with this, but not sure who I should now write to. Any advise??
When I arrived to pick up the car I was told that the car that I had hired was not a Ford Fiesta or similar, with room for 5 passengers as clearly we had booked. I was told what we had booked was a Fiat 500 that seated 4, at a push. I am not sure how a Fiat 500 is comparable in size to a Ford Fiesta, as having owned both of these cars I know for a fact that there is huge difference in size.
I was then told I had 2 options with the car insurance.
I could either pay £175.63 non refundable insurance fee & would be covered if we were hit, or if we didn't take this option we would have 1100EUR held on my credit card. As I had taken out excess insurance with AXA through yourselves, I showed the Goldcar rep this but was told that as it was not taken out with them it was not valid, & if we had an accident & we didn't pay the £175.63 insurance we would be charged 1100 EUR for any damage.
Being under the impression by Goldcar that our excess insurance was not valid, & that any damage done by either myself or as quoted by Goldcar sales rep "the car doors could be damaged in car park & you are responsible & will have to pay 1100 EUR", I felt I had no other option but to pay the extortionate sum of £175.63 for insurance.
Having now returned from holiday & looked into our excess insurance, I can see that I was falsely informed & lied to by the Goldcar sales rep. In actual fact our excess insurance was valid & would have covered the 1100 EUR in the event of an accident.
When getting to the car itself it was rather dirty inside with tobacco/cigarettes in the door pockets & handle & showed previous occupants had clearly been smoking in it.
My whole experience of hiring from Goldcar has been the worst hire car experience ever. I am furious that I have been lied to & scammed out of money for an unnecessary insurance package, on a car that clearly shows in my booking was not what I was expecting.
I have written to Ryanair who I booked with & this is their reply.
"I am sorry to learn that you were disappointed with the level of service you received from Goldcar. Antony, we do treat this kind of feedback very seriously, as we expect all our car rental partners to offer the best level of service to our customers.
Having checked the details of your rental, I can confirm that the car you booked and the car that was offered at the rental counter are comparable as they belong to the same group and can be offered as equivalents. As Ryanair Car Hire is a multi-national rental company operating with over 1,600 car rental agents, unfortunately, we cannot guarantee a specific make or model within your selected car category. This is why we always specify that the car displayed is the most common example of the car group and that you will receive a similar car within the category.
In relation to the Damage Refund Insurance, an excess must be left at the rental counter in order for the rental car to be released. In the event of any accident/damage to the rental vehicle, you will lose your excess to cover the cost of repair. After your rental has ended, you can claim this back from AXA. Purchasing this insurance does not reduce the excess amount payable at the rental desk – it means you are insured against losing it.
Please note that the above information is stated within the Terms and Conditions of your insurance policy. You are required to agree to them prior to completing your booking.
AXA also advises that you refuse any additional insurance that is offered to you at the rental desk. This is because once you have the excess deposit amount required, no further insurance is necessary. As you know, there is no account of verbal discussions that occur on the day of pick up so we must rely on signed documentation only. Unfortunately, as you agreed to, and signed for, additional insurance at the rental desk, I am unable to refund you for this.
I am sorry that we are unable to provide the solution you were hoping for on this occasion and I apologise for any inconvenience caused by this matter."
What a crock of s@#t.........I'm not letting them get away with this, but not sure who I should now write to. Any advise??
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Comments
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See previous threads here on Goldcar.
But virtually all car hire companies do the excess waiver rip-off. If you get an excess insurance from a third party then the car hire company will almost always block the excess on your card, and they'll charge you if there's any damage. You then claim it from the excess insurer.
The third party excess insurance covers you, not the car hire company, so what they say about it is irrelavent. You don't even need to tell them you have it - there's no point - in fact it's often better not to since they might be more inclined to "invent" damage if they think you're insured elsewhere.0 -
As above re Goldcar and the general 'scam' of excess waiver.
On this specific case what made you think you were getting a Fiesta for 5 people ? Which group does your confirmation say ?
I ask as I'd been looking at Goldcar for a trip later in the year (before reading all the -ve reviews) but they have no mention of any Fiestas on the Alicante page0 -
katiegeary19760 wrote: »I was then told I had 2 options with the car insurance.
I could either pay £175.63 non refundable insurance fee & would be covered if we were hit, or if we didn't take this option we would have 1100EUR held on my credit card. As I had taken out excess insurance with AXA through yourselves, I showed the Goldcar rep this but was told that as it was not taken out with them it was not valid, & if we had an accident & we didn't pay the £175.63 insurance we would be charged 1100 EUR for any damage.
that is correct and is explained in the article here in section 6
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire
If you have an accident, they'll take the money off your card. That's the point of the deposit, it gives them the ability to protect themselves in case of damage to the car.
You then claim back the cost off your own excess insurance. Keep all the documentation to help your claim.0 -
Indeed they are and having seen the lot at Alicante with my own eyes they certainly look the part. AVOID!Posts are not advice and must not be relied upon.0
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katiegeary19760 wrote: »I was then told I had 2 options with the car insurance.
I could either pay £175.63 non refundable insurance fee & would be covered if we were hit, or if we didn't take this option we would have 1100EUR held on my credit card.
So you should have chosen option 2 and had €1100 held on your credit card. Did you actually read the policy you bought from AXA and understand how it works?
Having said that, I don't think I'd touch Goldcar with a bargepole after all the feedback I've read about them.
As for the size of car you received - what category of car did you reserve? You can rarely choose a specific model, but your reservation should specify the category.Let's settle this like gentlemen: armed with heavy sticks
On a rotating plate, with spikes like Flash Gordon
And you're Peter Duncan; I gave you fair warning0 -
I hired a group CC car with Goldcar and got a Fiesta 1.25 Trend from 14/6/17 to 7/7/17 at a cost of £57.31 (62.20E) returned full. The Fiat 500 is group BB.
This was my 3rd booking this year, booked direct with Goldcar. I have an annual car hire excess reimbursement insurance with Bettersafe at a cost of £40. Goldcar took a charge of 1212E on my credit card and if I had an accident I would loose all or part of that then reclaim it from Bettersafe, thats how it works.
Yes they will say they dont accept my insurance and try to sell their insurance and if you pay them for petrol it will be costly, but if you read the hire terms and understand how it works you can get very cheap car hire.
This was also at Alicante airport.0 -
If they didn't have the class of car you booked you shouldn't have accepted it.travelover0
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Goldcar have low headline prices to attract the unsuspecting punters knowing full well that their hard sell once you queue to collect your car will have you paying anything just to get you on your way. If you compare the queues at Goldcar compared to Hertz/Dollar etc you will see a marked difference, Hertz/Dollar are more expensive initially but overall offer a better experience, however, they will all try to make a quick buck if you are not savvy enough when it comes to pick the car up. Make sure that all visible marks are documented before taking the car, take photographs of all marks to back up your documentation. On return of the car make sure that you are present when it's checked over and if all ok get them to sign as all ok before leaving, always go for full/full fuel and make sure that you top up at the service station just before you get into Alicante Airport. I have used Hertz/Dollar on my last 2 hires from Alicante and even despite collecting the car in the dark on the last occasion the staff told me to check the car the next morning and ring the office to tell them of any additional marks which I did and my hire contract was updated. So the moral is do not take the cheapest deal, check out who will be supplying the car and if necessary cancel and minimise your exposure to any rip-offs.0
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Read the small print
I've used Gold Car at various locations including Alicante and never had a problem....the odd pushy person trying to sell add-ons but normally a firm NO and 1000 Euro charged on cc and off we go
Most car hire companies will tell you your £20 ish policy is worthless and push the expensive option they sell but normally a firm thanks but no thanks is enough0 -
The main problem here is your complete lack of understanding of the Excess insurance you purchased.
You did read the ts and cs before purchase didn't you?0
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