Beware - Goldcar Car Rentals Spain

bashful

We used Goldcar at Alicante Airport on a recent trip to Spain.

We were charged £88.71 GBP on our credit card on 17 March for fuel when collecting the car but only received £51.41 GBP on 27 March for returning the car with a full tank. A difference of £37.30 GBP.

I can't find anything in their documentation to explain the charge.

We were signed up for "Flex Fuel (SDR)" and charged 81.82 Euros at pickup plus 18.18 Euros for actual fuel. Is this the problem?

From the conversation with the very busy Spanish lady at the pickup desk I was left to understand that the fuel charge would be refunded if the car was returned with a full tank. We filled up in the fuel station on the service road back to the airport so the tank couldn't have been fuller.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Brian

Running_On_Empty

At Malaga we use CarGest and have done so without problems for several years. We used to use GoldCar, not a nice experience.
Yes, the car park at Malaga Airport is gloomy and no there are no attendants there.
CarGest are just on the slip road approach to the Airport and their mini bus collects you promptly and drops you off again promptly. Last visit, the mini bus driver even stopped on the busy approach road to ask a lone female walking with a case if she wanted a lift in.

eDicky

bashful wrote: »

We used Goldcar at Alicante Airport on a recent trip to Spain.

We were charged £88.71 GBP on our credit card on 17 March for fuel when collecting the car but only received £51.41 GBP on 27 March for returning the car with a full tank. A difference of £37.30 GBP.

I can't find anything in their documentation to explain the charge.

We were signed up for "Flex Fuel (SDR)" and charged 81.82 Euros at pickup plus 18.18 Euros for actual fuel. Is this the problem?

From the conversation with the very busy Spanish lady at the pickup desk I was left to understand that the fuel charge would be refunded if the car was returned with a full tank. We filled up in the fuel station on the service road back to the airport so the tank couldn't have been fuller.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Brian

Goldcar charge a premium price for the full tank of fuel supplied with the car. But the refund they give for the full tank you bring back is at the normal price of fuel. The difference is their profit.

This extra fuel cost cannot be avoided when you rent from companies like Goldcar, who offer low rental charge to attract customers and then extort them. But you lose less if you return the car with a full tank instead of empty.

riderus

Worrning!!!
I rent trough rentalcars.com Goldcar Car Rentals in Tenerife suth airport.., First i make booking in rentalcars.com and i pay them 210€ for a car a few € less than it was in Gloldcar web page..!

1.
When i land in Tenerife south i go with theirs vauchar to office of Goldcar i give to employer first CREDIT CARD witch i never use before and never after when i give it to this employer, i have it in a safe in apartment all the time!
After that he seed to me if a pay 98€ i dont need credit card, he give me back CREDIT CARD WITCH I NEVER USED JUST THERE and i give him debit card to pay this 98€ extra for full insurance coverage for rental car with no risk.. I rent Audi A1 with 3/4 of gas, I bring it back intact and all most full tank of gas, they all check et drop off!!!

2.
What happened next i was shocked!!!
.
When i com e home i check my debit card account an i fin out they charge me 230€ for car like was Glodcar price and 98€ extra for full insurance coverage for rental car with no risk!!! At the date of my arrival on Tenerife.. So i pay booking with rentalcars.com 210€ two weeks ago and to Goldcar when i pick up a car all from my debit card!

3.
And that is not all!!!
After two weeks when i was home i get a call from Sparkasse bank that my CREDIT CARD (witch i made one weak before when i lend in Tenerife south) was used "compromised" on some web page for 500€!!! They check IP an it was from Spain!!!

LIKE I SEED BEFORE I NEVER USED THIS CREDIT CARD NO WERE IN MY LIFE I JUST THERE ET THE DESK OF GOLDCAR!!!

Franck

Wow some sad stories here about renting cars from Goldcars in Spain. I note however that most of the scam places seem to be at airports serving the major holiday resorts and I find from experience that at these resorts scams are not exclusive to car hire firms. I have joined in here on the forum because I regularly use Goldcar at Reus airport and find the service first class and scam free. They are often the cheapest (my 23 day trip in April/May 2015 cost me £66 for a Ford Fiesta). Sure they offer me the extra ins option but I always say no thank you. I have no need to discuss with them that I have the annual carhire ins advised by MSE at a cost of £36 annually. If I have to claim I accept that the car hire firm will chase me but I then pass on the issue to the MSE recommended carhire ins people who have a great reputation. My son does not have a credit card and they (GC) are the only Car Hire people we could find that would let him use his UK debit card to pay. Yes he did have a couple of extra hoops to jump through but was happy to do so and found the airport desk staff very helpful. The central cust serv staff who I double checked the use of a debit card were also extremely helpful and correct in everything they told us. I recently missed a flight and had to catch the next one two days later. Goldcar cancelled my booking and refunded my money in full within 10 mins of telling them and with 0 cancellation fees. The amount of fuel in the car when collected is on the contract and I get a quick refund very shortly after after the vehicle return for fuel not used. I accept that like all car hire firms the amount charged for a refuel is often different than what I pay at the pumps. They have overheads that I don't so that is why I refuel the vehicle to full before return and take photos of the fuel gauge as well as the car in case of any arguments about condition. Goldcar staff at Reus are usually more mature than my experience at resort airports so whether that makes any difference is a matter of opinion but I have lots of good tales from my villa renters about the friendly help and assistance obtained from Goldcar. Last year at Malaga we used another firm that was similar in price to Goldcar and although things were fine we didn't find them as customer friendly as Goldcar. Why did we not use Goldcar on this occasion - simple really. Despite the alleged issues with GC the biggest queue for car hire was at the GC desk with a huge queue that spiralled up the stairs - too popular..

antenna

Are there Two Goldcars operating in Spain?
NO.......But i think there are two Frank's operating on this website.

MJO76

I am one more victim of Goldcar rentals, however I am fighting the case because I recorded the conversations I had with them and took pictures of the car and mileage on collection and return, thus the credit card company can see that it is plain and simple fraud and can pull back the unfair and unauthorized charges.
What I cannot fight because I realized too late is their policy on petrol: collect full at exorbitant prices and bring back empty.
Additionally, no point contacting the head office as they took no notice of my complaint about several issues on the pick up of the car (dirty, wrong mileage, broken book). The only benefit is the record of the conversation to the head office and record of the e-mail sent to them.
I was forced to insist that the assistant present on the pick up of the car wrote that the boot's door was damaged and was not closing properly. He was reluctant to record it at first and I had to insist several times. During the entire rental the boot's door was open. For additional security I took it to a garage (extra witnesses just in case).
I would not at all recommend this company. From all the car rentals that I have used this is certainly the worst. So much so that this is my very first review of a service ever, as I have never come across such a bad quality service / fraud.

MJO76

Family and friends of Goldcar Rentals should not be allowed to write comments in here because of conflict of interest.

davethekeys

On Sunday 29th March 2015 I had to wait exactly 120 minutes (yes, that is 2 hours!) to check in at the Goldcar desk at Palma Airport. No explanation or apology was given. They have two offices in the airport but only one was being used. Why? They must know have many bookings they have?
I emailed Goldcar to complain and suggested that the least they could do was to add gratis Priority Check-In to my upcoming (and already booked) next hire. I received no reply to this. Nor did I receive a reply to two subsequent chasers.
Yesterday, 12th May (yes, that's almost 6 weeks gone by) I emailed again. This time I did get a reply. This said that if I wanted Priority Check-In I have to add it to my booking and pay for it myself. Basically they don't care about the shockingly poor customer service they provide and have no desire to retain customer loyalty.
Over the last couple of years I have used Goldcar at Palma dozens of times and have recommended them to friends and family. They have always been my 'go to' provider. In future though I will look elsewhere first. Paying a little bit with someone else more may well be worth it.

longjohn9394

They should be renamed 'velcro' what a rip off!

I thought I'd paid extra for insurance with the booking agent but they were having none of it, they have you over a barrel as if I didn't take the extra insurance they would charge my credit car 2000 euro's deposit which would be refunded IN TWO MONTHS!!!

I did manage to opt for a return with full tank but still got charged a fuel amount (71 euro's) which they said would be refunded within the hour upon return. I've been back 3 days now and still no credit on my account!