Beware - Goldcar Car Rentals Spain

Jim_Wallace12

1. Goldcar not only in Spain but also in Madeira I recently booked a car through Holiday Autos and when I received my confirmation I was informed that the booking had been placed with GOLDCAR I have used Holiday Autos for many years I foolishly trusted them to deal with reputable companies
2. My experience with GOLDCAR was horrendous Long queue at Airport, abrupt ,agressive staff , I was advised that the insurance policy which I had booked and paid for in UK (ON Holiday Autos Advise) was not fit for purpose ,After long and heated discussions I gave up and paid for GOLDCAR's All inclusive Insurance They then informed me that I had to pay $90:00 for a full tank of petrol which equated to approx $1:65 per litre(Pump price in Funchal $1:35)and return the car empty It is almost impossible to use a full tank of petrol on Madeira in a week and I returned the car 1/2 full. My request for a fuel rebate was laughed at with a shrug of the shoulders.
3. I have complain to both Holiday Autos and GOLDCAR but to date no respose or acknowledgment of my correspondance
4. AVOID BOTH COMPANIE LIKE THE PLAGUE
5. My cheap 8 day car hire finished up costing me nearly £300:00 BUYER BEWARE

wroughtironron

Don't go anywhere near Goldcar - check out their systems of milking your credit card below - a bunch of crooks




http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews236975.html

Gooner_Boy

My wife & I booked car hire in middle of October 2013 to pick up a car at Palma airport through DoYouSpain.com as we have done many times in the past.
Usually we are routed to Record Rent a Car and we have no problems but this time we were booked to rent with Goldcar which caused us no end of problems!
When we arrived at the rental desk there were 5 women there but only 1 was serving customers. Even when I managed to catch the eye of the 4 who were not serving they completely ignored us.
Eventually our turn came and we were told that the car allocated was a Ford C-Max but we had booked a Nissan Qashqai. I queried this but the lady just shrugged her shoulders and said she didn't have a Nissan Qashqai but did admit that the car allocated was 2 groups below what had been booked but flatly refused to give any sort of refund/compensation or upgrade.
She then insisted that we pay €80 for a tank of petrol even though you cannot get €80 of fuel into a C-Max and we had specified that we wanted a full/full fuel policy. She then said to not fill it up when it was returned and that she would refund the full that was left. I didn't want this and said I would bring it back full as I didn't want to pay their admin charge. She ok but we would still be charged €15 anyway!
She then said that we would have to pay €60 for "extra insurance" to cover tyres, glass etc. I said we didn't want this and to just block an amount on our credit card in case. She said this was not an option even though DoYouSpain and Goldcar websites say this is ok
I then paid the €140 on my credit card but did not realise until much later - do to all the hassle - that the euros had been changed to sterling at a disadvantageous rate
When I got home I complained to DoYouSpain who replied eventually that Goldcar denied insisting that we pay €60 for "extra insurance" stating that we agreed to it and that if we were not happy we could have got a refund before walking away from the desk and an amount would have been "blocked" from our credit card instead. They refused to refund this amount as they say we did not complain at the time of hiring which is a load of tosh!
We did get a refund for the unused fuel less the €15 admin charge
DO NOT USE GOLDCAR UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE RIPPED OFF!

14nermina

Unfortunately I am the latest to be ripped off by Goldcar. As per the previous threads I too had to queue for ages, pay over the odds for fuel, and lose out with the credit card fees.

That was just the start though. I shoulld have smelt a rat when they said that if I didn't pay 90 euros for the insurance then they would take my credit card details and I they would use it to pay for any damages up to a total of 600 euros.

I returned the car on 13 days ago on 18th January in the same condition I received it in but today I have had an email off Goldcar saying they have taken 350 euros to cover for damage to a wheel rim and loss of revenue as a result. They even sent a photo of the damage.

Two points here i.e. if you saw the damage you would say that it looks like somebody has whacked it with something seriously heavy in a downward motion. I cannot see how this damage could have been caused through driving!

Secondly, if I had caused the damage (which I did not) then does it cost 350 euros to take a wheel off and replace it with another?

Anyway, I've emailed them back but I'm not holding my breath. After reading all the other complaints I doubt if I'll get anything back from them.

As per previous posts - DON'T USE GOLDCAR

canavoid

Dear All,
I'm having Your bad, bloody experience, insurance asked for 10 days rental, that was written with a broker Rentalcar.com all included, plus fuel charge of 80 euro when a tank can only take 45 liters , it means here in Tenerife about 50 here a petrol costs 1.30 a liter ( because to fraud the customer they force to pay full tank and give back empty) DONT WORRY THIS EXPERIENCE WILL GO ON YOUTUBE AND SPREAD ALL AROUND THE WORLD, BE SURE, I’M STARTED FROM NOW…………

canavoid

:mad:Dear All,
I'm having Your bad, bloody experience, insurance asked for 10 days rental, that was written with a broker Rentalcar.com all included, plus fuel charge of 80 euro when a tank can only take 45 liters , it means here in Tenerife about 50 here a petrol costs 1.30 a liter ( because to fraud the customer they force to pay full tank and give back empty) DONT WORRY THIS EXPERIENCE WILL GO ON YOUTUBE AND SPREAD ALL AROUND THE WORLD, BE SURE, I’M STARTED FROM NOW…………

Obviously_the_best

canavoid wrote: »

:mad:Dear All,
I'm having Your bad, bloody experience, insurance asked for 10 days rental, that was written with a broker Rentalcar.com all included, plus fuel charge of 80 euro when a tank can only take 45 liters , it means here in Tenerife about 50 here a petrol costs 1.30 a liter ( because to fraud the customer they force to pay full tank and give back empty) DONT WORRY THIS EXPERIENCE WILL GO ON YOUTUBE AND SPREAD ALL AROUND THE WORLD, BE SURE, I’M STARTED FROM NOW…………

This is a case as much against your broker for misleading you as anything else. The real message there is avoid car hire brokers. If you'd booked on GoldCar's website you would have been clearly shown all of their policies before you booked.

iain115

March 2014
Gold Car Summer 2014 Rentals Spain (Top Up Insurance)

Do not use Gold Car this summer.
Hired car as normal with all insurances top up included
CarJet UK
Gold Car still asks for 600 euros deposit on collection.
On returning to UK last week, my credit card has been debited for the following reason:
Replace damaged lock?
This is another scam which has been reported on other forums.

You collect the car; look for any damage that needs to be recorded before accepting, as there are always scuffs or marks that should be noted down.
But now you will have to check all locks and missing trim as none of this is included in any topup insurance and Goldcar is now only Third Party cover.
Hope to recover my money through my bank, as this car hire as a whole is not what I had purchased.
I travel to Spain at least four times a year, and have used many car hire companies over the last ten years.

27bridie

Would like to add another warning, we followed advise on this website to take out independent insurance to cover excess, but when our Goldcar broke down and needed to be recovered, from a car park ramp, we have been charged 850€ to repair the clutch. We were also left stranded miles from the airport. Apparently if the car breaks down then the customer is deemed liable, and excess insurance does not cover you. There is no clear indication of this on Martin's car hire advise.

skid112

27bridie wrote: »

Would like to add another warning, we followed advise on this website to take out independent insurance to cover excess, but when our Goldcar broke down and needed to be recovered, from a car park ramp, we have been charged 850€ to repair the clutch. We were also left stranded miles from the airport. Apparently if the car breaks down then the customer is deemed liable, and excess insurance does not cover you. There is no clear indication of this on Martin's car hire advise.

so you missed this bit then?
Quick questions on car hire insurance

Collision damage waiver insurance - what is it?
Is breakdown recovery included in excess insurance?
It isn't usually, so check with your excess insurer if it's in your policy. Otherwise, getting towed away could set you back £500.

Car hire firms will normally include breakdown recovery if you add the excess element to their in-house policy. If you do choose a standalone excess insurer instead, you may not get breakdown cover.