Beware - Goldcar Car Rentals Spain

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Comments

  • I only wish I had checked them out before booking. You assume that most of these companies are much the same and shopping around is penny pinching. I agree with the other contributions re over aggressive additional charges. Customers being charged for damage is interesting. My car had lots of minor damage to the bodywork. I wonder how many people without excess waver have paid for this.........
  • flinko
    flinko Posts: 9 Forumite
    Beware indeed....

    We hired a car recently from Goldcar via rentalcars.com

    All seemed fine (reasonable price, decent cover incl CDW, theft & 3rd party liability etc) and we paid for excess insurance on top to be safe.

    Upon arrival to the Goldcar desk in the airport in Spain we were told that we had 2 options. Pay €850 as a returnable deposit (to cover any damage) and have NO insurance barring in the event of theft. i.e. different to my original terms.
    The 2nd option was to pay €128 and have the Goldcar "comfort" cover which was pretty much fully comprehensive.

    Having argued the point (along with many others) with the customer service rep on the desk (clearly to no avail) - we felt obliged to pay the extra, we certainly werent prepared to drive around uninsured with our 2 year old daughter in the back!

    Upon return to the UK I took this up with rentalcars.com and Goldcar themselves. Both upheld the story that I was indeed insured for 3rd party and had been misinformed by the sales desk in the airport....I say misinformed, I mean scammed.

    I then decided to email the actual desk in the airport asking ..
    When we arrived we were informed that we had the option of paying €128 to be insured or had to leave a deposit of €850 and also we would not be insured on the car (except in the event of theft). Can you confirm that this is indeed the policy please?
    and got the reply...
    This is correct. If you don’t take out Gold car full insurance at the rental desk the company always ask for a deposit from 650€ - 1.300€ in case of any damage. The basic insurance of Gold car covers only theft and replacement vehicle.
    I have not had a response from either Goldcar nor rentalcars.com since forwarding this information to them, I shan't hold my breath!

    Debating whether to go legal with this now since I have email evidence trail of what happened

    Either way, I would highly recommend avoiding both companies!
  • Goldcar Murcia

    Having read the poor reviews for Goldcar I was, obviously, very nervous about hiring with them.

    However, given the fact that I do not have, and do not want, a credit card I had no other option as they were the only company who would accept a debit card (booking via indigo car hire who were also excellent).

    Imagine my surprise when everything went as planned!!

    No long queues at check in, a very friendly gentleman at the desk who could not have been any better.

    Yes, there are additional charges when you get to the desk but I was expecting this as I had read the full terms and conditions of the booking.

    Returning the vehicle was also fantastic, just park up and drop off the keys.

    I was even refunded 8 euros for unused fuel when I barely left anything in the tank.

    Well done Goldcar you surpassed my expectations and allayed my fears, I will definitely recommend you and will definitely use you again.
  • nickcc
    nickcc Posts: 2,265
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Not sure your first post after joining would be in support of Goldcar or am I just being suspicious.
  • Well, having just returned from Italy, I'd like to share my joyful experience of Goldcar - funnily enough, the Italian approach is no different from Spain - blatant misrepresentations at the desk from the rep ('you must take this insurance' - that's the Super CDW insurance - only after repeatedly refusing and seeking full clarification was the option of a 2,000 EUR pre-authorisation on my credit card offered. And of course the 130 EUR Full-to-empty fuel charge - again, total rip-off. The cost of the 'extras' added 75% extra to the contracted total hire cost.

    I booked through holiday autos - so neither of these purported contractual terms were made clear at the time of my booking. Goldcar have no basis to claim that I agreed to these terms at the time of booking. I was asked to sign for the Super CDW option electronically (you don't see any of the contract as it's just a box to sign on an electronic signing pad), but it transpires that the contract I signed included the sterling/euro 2% conversion charge (not mentioned anywhere), was in Italian, got separate summary terms in German and could include anything.

    There is a silver lining - having had a clear statement from the rep that it was mandatory for me to take out the Super CDW, I proceeded to do so (with the full intention of making a claim for misrepresentation in due course) - 20 mins out of the airport, an old woman crashed into the back of me and drove off without leaving her details although I have a mugshot of her shouting at me in Italian - all her fault (I was stopped at lights in a queue and had been for 30 seconds).

    I also managed to return the car with no fuel - some fumes perhaps, but nothing that you do a journey of more than 2 miles with. I'd never be able to buy fuel as expensive as the stuff that Goldcar fills up its cars with (liquid gold would be cheaper) - I knew that as soon as the cost of the mandatory misrepresented contractual requirement was included.

    Do I feel victorious? A little, perhaps - but I was and remain so angry with GoldCar, its representatives and (having now done my research...) its response to complaints under this website, I would never ever go near them again - I hope they go out of business. It's not even as if they are in any way cheaper once you add on their tricks and misrepresentations - stick to the more reputable outfits.

    I tell the tale to add to the unscrupulous behaviour of GoldCar. Avoid.
  • I recently rented a car in Ibiza and was very disappointed with the unusual charges for fuel , the forceful way they tried to get me to buy extra car insurance and the general rudeness of the sevice. It took over an hour to get my car, most of that was taken up by the attempt to sell me added insurance. When you arrive in Ibiza, you have to wait for a bus to the car park to pick up your car. They have a couple of 7 seater vans to ferry you between the two. We waited over 20 minutes for one to arrive. When we went to collect the car, we were given a very rude sales pitch from an incredibly aggressive woman who wouldn't take no for an answer.

    We were charged a full tank of petrol when we picked up the car and were told that this would be refunded if we returned it full. I've never seen this before and it struck me as very odd indeed.

    When we dropped the car off, I wanted to make sure that we wouldn't be charged for not filling the car tank up. My Spanish is pretty good but I just wanted the attendant to confirm that we wouldn't be charged for this. After 3 attempts to answer the question, he told me that if I didn't understand , this was my problem and he had work to do. He was totally unprofessional!

    Eventually, somebody else came to check the car and 45 minutes later, we made it to the airport. That's right, it took over 45 minutes to drop off the car and get a transfer to the airport from the car park !

    I will never ever be using this company again. They are not customer focused at all and they have a totally impractical practice that I would rather avoid by paying for a professional outfit like Hertz or Avis. They are more expensive but I have never had anything but good service from them.
  • I've just returned from Spain - Murcia - and had an excellent experience with Goldcar from Murcia Airport.
    No high pressure sales, no confusing paperwork, just great service.
    Booked a Renault Clio or similar and was offered a Fiesta. Explained not big enough ( I am a giant ) so they rifled through their spare cars and upgraded me. For next to no extra money we were upgraded two classes of car.
    The guy who served us was polite, efficient and friendly. We chatted about how busy they were whilst the paperwork was completed - all very relaxing.
    Yes, they offered extra insurance but I explained I was fully covered and that was it.
    They had a fair fule policy - collect full and although you have to pay for the tank of fuel they refunded it when the car was returned full. I didn't speak with anyone on our return, they just did it.
    So just be prepared; know what you're about and Goldcar are excellent. Great value, great service. No problems.
  • NiftyDigits
    NiftyDigits Posts: 10,459 Forumite
    SeaJay wrote: »
    I've just returned from Spain - Murcia - and had an excellent experience with Goldcar from Murcia Airport.
    No high pressure sales, no confusing paperwork, just great service.
    Booked a Renault Clio or similar and was offered a Fiesta. Explained not big enough ( I am a giant ) so they rifled through their spare cars and upgraded me. For next to no extra money we were upgraded two classes of car.
    The guy who served us was polite, efficient and friendly. We chatted about how busy they were whilst the paperwork was completed - all very relaxing.
    Yes, they offered extra insurance but I explained I was fully covered and that was it.
    They had a fair fule policy - collect full and although you have to pay for the tank of fuel they refunded it when the car was returned full. I didn't speak with anyone on our return, they just did it.
    So just be prepared; know what you're about and Goldcar are excellent. Great value, great service. No problems.

    Looks like a false review.

    Says nothing about the amount of the deposit required and the fees deducted, even if you return the car full of fuel.

    I think that it's all lies.
  • nickcc
    nickcc Posts: 2,265
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    SeaJay wrote: »
    I've just returned from Spain - Murcia - and had an excellent experience with Goldcar from Murcia Airport.
    No high pressure sales, no confusing paperwork, just great service.
    Booked a Renault Clio or similar and was offered a Fiesta. Explained not big enough ( I am a giant ) so they rifled through their spare cars and upgraded me. For next to no extra money we were upgraded two classes of car.
    The guy who served us was polite, efficient and friendly. We chatted about how busy they were whilst the paperwork was completed - all very relaxing.
    Yes, they offered extra insurance but I explained I was fully covered and that was it.
    They had a fair fule policy - collect full and although you have to pay for the tank of fuel they refunded it when the car was returned full. I didn't speak with anyone on our return, they just did it.
    So just be prepared; know what you're about and Goldcar are excellent. Great value, great service. No problems.

    Another first post wonder, must be getting desperate and loosing business. About time these scum bags were put out of business. If this is a genuine post copy's of their contract would prove me incorrect.
  • nickcc wrote: »
    Another first post wonder, must be getting desperate and loosing business. About time these scum bags were put out of business. If this is a genuine post copy's of their contract would prove me incorrect.

    Compare with Strachanio above. Same style. I wonder if they are by any chance related?
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