Beware - Goldcar Car Rentals Spain

macca1974

I'd also advise not using Goldcar, I certainly won't be using them again. family holiday in August, booked the car well in advance through a broker and read the information once it had been confirmed. The broker suggested some insurance for £73 which I took out having been stung previously at the airport.

I subsequently got to Faro airport and speaking to the person at the Goldcar desk was told that the insurance that I had was irrelevant and that i would need let them take a £2K charge on credit card if I didn't take their insurance out. Luckily, I was able to leave the queue and cancel the insurance from the broker (which got paid back to my card).

I then felt almost forced to take out the insurance for €160 which meant that there was no excess. Simply didn't feel comfortable driving a car round the algarve (including to some nice beaches etc) knowing that I'd be worried about scratches etc. really is annoying having the broker selling you the insurance and then the car company that they have put you with saying it isn't valid.

Almost as annoying was the petrol policy. They said the car is full and you need to pay €90 for the petrol up front. I said "okay, I will return it full and you can refund", they stated "you can indeed, however there will be a €22 service charge"...for me to fill up the car for them.

The other really really annoying thing that they do in Portugal is make you pay €1.50 a day rental for the transponder in the car for the motorways. We were there for 14 days so another €21 which is more than the damn things cost!!!

I'm all for companies making a profit but really hate it when I feel that I've been gauged by somebody who knows that I don't have any choice.

Timbersnake

Well here is a new one to add to the ever growing bad issues with Goldcar, of course based around the 'optional' additional insurance.

We hired a car from Doyouspain site with Goldcar to collect from Palma de Mallorca airport. Upon collection, the desk was very busy and there was already an arguement pursuing with the desk staff. I filled out the relevant paper work and was handed keys to a car and informed what parking space it was in. It was located at the bottom of a dark and very busy multi-story carpark. Strangly, unlike any other hire firm used, the car was not checked-over or checked-out, with any confirmation and sign-off of existing damage? I thought this strange as any existing damage had not been outlined by the desk staff at the arrivals lounge.

Travelling with children and with deadlines to meet, we got everybody onboard and made our way to the villa. Upon arrival and after checking in, I went back to the car to collect luggage and then saw the state of the vehicle. It had multiple scratches and abrasion marks, with a particularily bad damage near the underside of the vehicle. The condition didnt bother me as much as not being informed at point of collection.

I checked over the paperwork I had been provided to see if the damage had been noted, the paperwork did not provide any indication of prior damage or that it had been signed or agreed with me. However I did notice an unusual charge for 'Cobertura Relax' which translates as 'Relax Coverage'. While the car was insured without excess as part of the deal, this additional cover was for wheels, glass, keys and underside damage.

I was not impressed as I not been offered the cover or been made aware that I was being charged this. I did not even require it, as I had purchased such cover independently beforehand. Apparently staff are on commission to sell this cover so I am suspicious the transaction was dishonest. Its moved from hard-sell to just charging you without awareness or consent. I have lodged a complaint with Doyouspain though no doubt will have to go further to Goldcar. I may then have to enquire about a refund through the CC company.

Its hard when your in a rush in a busy and hostile environment with language barriers, but my advice is check all charges!!

charliealphatango

When I called Goldcar to check the fuel policy, I did so in plenty of time before we travelled, in case there was a problem. We knew we were staying very close to Barcelona, for only 3 days, and would simply not be able to use much fuel.
During the call, I enquired about the “handling and admin charge” as there website did not give any amounts and asked regarding the fuel, if it would be a problem to return the vehicle with a full – or close to full tank.
I was told clearly (most reassuring) that it was a Flex Fuel hire – whereby a full tank is paid for at destination and all unused fuel is refunded, minus a handling and administration fee. I explained that we would be returning the car full – and he said that this was no problem at all, would be refunded for any fuel that we had not used. He also clarified that the “handling and admin charge” fee was a maximum of 31 Euros.
I repeated back to him that this was my understanding and he again assured me that was indeed the case and there was no problem or charge for returning the car full. I asked him to clarify a third time and restated the charges as I understood them and he again assured me that this was the case.
I asked if the call was being recorded and he assured me that it was – which is why I noted the date and time of the call.
However after waiting to be taken to the Goldcar office and then queuing for over an hour, we were told that this was not the case.
The woman that we spoke to was unbelievably rude and aggressive. When I tried to explain about the phone call, she shouted at me and said that she had notes on her screen which said that the man we spoke to told me we had to return the car empty. When I tried to disagree, she shouted at me. She told us that if we did not return the car empty she would charge an additional £40!
She then proceeded to tell us that we had to pay them for additional insurance. I explained that we had already purchased Excess Insurance. She said that she would not accept this – she would not even look. She said that only their insurance was accepted and if we would not purchase it then she would charge £1000 to the credit card – which she intimated we would probably lose. We tried to show her the details that we had received from the Broker, she again refused to look and said that they were generic documents and they were incorrect - and that Goldcar had their own policies.
At this point we were running very late. She said if we didn’t like it we could get out. I was close to tears and we were left with no choice. We were bullied into paying for insurance we did not need. As regards the phone call – I was simply lied to - Repeatedly. We were treated incredibly rudely, unfairly and aggressively.

I want to make sure this company can make no other charges whatsoever to the credit card. I do not trust them in the slightest!! I also want to be refunded for all unused fuel and for the unnecessary insurance. I would also like some form of compensation.
This company is completely disreputable. They already charge way over the odds for their fuel (but we were happy to pay for the fuel we used at that rate) but beyond that they were utterly dishonest, aggressive and threatening. They lied to us, bullied us and are aggressively mis-selling insurance products.
It is no surprise to me, that I now find that they have an abysmal rating on review sites with hundreds of people having similar experiences. I simply thought, that by dealing with a reputable Broker, recommended by a reputable Airline – I would not find myself dealing with disreputable con-artists!

Brollyboy

Despite having my own car excess insurance I had to buy Goldcars Super Relax insurance otherwise they would noit hire me a car. A blantant rip off.

On complaining to Car Trawler / Holiday Autos on my return they said
"The Super Relax insurance is an additional insurance offered by the rental agent to reduce the security deposit requirement of the rental. As per the conditions of your rental booking a security deposit will be held against your credit card for the period of the rental. In purchasing this insurance, the deposit requirement is waived and as such reduces all the customers’ liability in the event of an accident to zero.
Please, be advised that the Excess Car Insurances are reimbursement policies, which means that in case of a damage charge the Deposit can be claimed. However, this reimbursement policy does not reduce the amount due to be blocked on your credit card during the whole rental period".
So it looks like i have been suckered and will pay more attention next time.
Question - who can i take my complaint to - Trading Standards ?

NiftyDigits

Brollyboy wrote: »

Despite having my own car excess insurance I had to buy Goldcars Super Relax insurance otherwise they would noit hire me a car. A blantant rip off.

On complaining to Car Trawler / Holiday Autos on my return they said
"The Super Relax insurance is an additional insurance offered by the rental agent to reduce the security deposit requirement of the rental. As per the conditions of your rental booking a security deposit will be held against your credit card for the period of the rental. In purchasing this insurance, the deposit requirement is waived and as such reduces all the customers’ liability in the event of an accident to zero.
Please, be advised that the Excess Car Insurances are reimbursement policies, which means that in case of a damage charge the Deposit can be claimed. However, this reimbursement policy does not reduce the amount due to be blocked on your credit card during the whole rental period".
So it looks like i have been suckered and will pay more attention next time.
Question - who can i take my complaint to - Trading Standards ?

How have you been suckered? Did you offer to pay the deposit via your credit card to Goldcar on arrival?
If you refused to leave a deposit, then full cover with Goldcar was your only option.

It's simple, buy a 'reimbursement policy'(from a broker or online) and leave a deposit or buy full insurance from the hire company.

Brollyboy

Hi NiftyDigits

How have you been suckered? Did you offer to pay the deposit via your credit card to Goldcar on arrival?
YES I DID

If you refused to leave a deposit, then full cover with Goldcar was your only option.
SEE ABOVE

It's simple, buy a 'reimbursement policy'(from a broker or online) and leave a deposit or buy full insurance from the hire company.
CHEERS FOR INFORMATION

NiftyDigits

Brollyboy wrote: »

Hi NiftyDigits

How have you been suckered? Did you offer to pay the deposit via your credit card to Goldcar on arrival?
YES I DID

If you refused to leave a deposit, then full cover with Goldcar was your only option.
SEE ABOVE

It's simple, buy a 'reimbursement policy'(from a broker or online) and leave a deposit or buy full insurance from the hire company.
CHEERS FOR INFORMATION

This doesn't make any sense. If you pay the deposit, perhaps 1200€, then there is no issue. They won't refuse a car, but they may attempt to scare you into buying their insurance.
But you assert that they refused to give you the car.

bramblekins_2

Seems almost everyone has the same problems with Goldcar.
I hired a car through Europecar and got lumbered with Goldcar. It took an hour to get the car but not the car I requested, instead a "free" upgrade that I had to wait for because they didn't have a car ready. Their employee tried to sell me extra insurance that I didn't want and handed me the PDQ machine to enter my pin. The price on it was 272 euros. When I questioned it he said it was for insurance and fuel, I told him to take off the insurance which he did leaving 118 euros for fuel. A Renault Clio diesel tank holds 45 litres of fuel and diesel at the local pumps was about 1.30 euros. it doesn't take a mastermind to work out that is about double the price it should be. Also when I picked up the car there was damage to the drivers door as if someone had tried to force it. I pointed this out to their rep and he just said it was ok as they just hired them out like that, no offer of a diagram as other companies do so I took a photo. I posted on a trip advisor forum but whoever replies to posts on Goldcars behalf is not very helpful and when I questioned their fuel policy I was told I was 100% free to go elsewhere. In future I will use Hertz or similar as I have done before.

SOLYMAR

We go to Spain frequently and now only use reputable companies such as Hertz/Europcar etc. It's just been too stressful in the past with the cheaper companies, though we've never been ripped off in the way that you were! Also, I don't think that the cars benefit from the same level of maintenance from the local guys.

jonnymonny

Having just returned from Malaga after hiring through Goldcar I sat down to write a letter of complaint. But first, I checked this forum (of course I should have checked it before) to find that all of my issues have been reported here countless times. It is obvious that they attract clients via brokers with low upfront prices but then load on extras when you are in a vulnerable position at the airport - fuel charge, extra insurance, converting to £ without asking. All this after a long wait, very rude service and the fuel gauge was one pip below full. There seems to be no point in writing to Goldcar since the same tactics have been used for years and they obviously feel under no pressure to change them since there are always new mugs to fleece. So, what lessons do I draw? Use the forum before hiring (!); avoid Goldcar (and Delpaso, who are just as bad); take out excess insurance with icarhire.:mad: