Beware - Goldcar Car Rentals Spain

3coPete

Well it seems they are still up to their scams and now in Faro. Just like many of us I booked through a 3rd party, in my case rentalcars.com and got Goldcar. The rate looked good and I was attracted to the statement that I had full insurance cover, the fuel policy was less clear but indicated full to empty and refunds would be made for unused fuel, all good so far.
Forum readers will understand a fairly typical story at the arrival airport. Approximately 90 minute wait probably caused by insurance hard sell and misrepresentation, €1200 charge demand on credit card for insurance excess, heavy fuel charges of €140 for 8/8 full with €29 refunded for 4/8 returned.
To cap it all, I like to use a CC with a lower credit limit when overseas so when that card was refused for the insurance excess the fuel charge had to be removed. It seems they must have both payments on the same card, surely unnecessary but I’m on holiday so don’t want to argue the toss. Nevertheless, for my compliance to their demand, I paid the sum of £5 in the difference between fuel charge taken and fuel charge returned as discovered on my CC statement.
It seems the ‘low cost airline’ model is well and truly practiced in corporate car hire with ‘apparently’ low upfront costs and increasingly devious, if not downright illegal scams to maximise profits. I will endeavour to use local hire companies like Malaga Cars at Malagar airport in future and will make every effort not to use the likes of Goldcar

DAVIDPENSON

THE AUTO-EUROPE SCAM
This company sells an an excess refund product with illegal terms and conditions, forcing customers to commit a crime in order to process a claim. their terms and conditions that i had to ask for after product purchase, are a contradiction of the Road traffic act and are a violation the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations. they are not authorised to sell insurance but advertise their products as if they are an insurance product when they are nothing more than a con
In this market I suggest that all readers look further down internet search results, and save yourself having to file a county court claim.

r0ssc0vich

Here's what happened to us. We booked our rental online (I forget the website). Clicked on the picture of the VW Golf GTi (or similar). Done. Realised we'd booked the car for a time slightly before we'd arrived so called before we left to let them know. 'All fine' they said, 'don't worry about them time'. Arrived at their the Gold Car desk in Palma airport 15 mins after our booking time, got stung with A 40 euro penalty for being late. Asked for a complaints form, was told 'there is nothing to complain about, it's in the terms and conditions'. Explained again that we'd called first and were told it would be fine and demanded a complaints form. Was told 'ok, but it is for nothing, what's the point?'. We were given a ford fiesta 1 litre. I explained that the Ford Fiesta was not similar to a Golf GTi but was told 'We've already upgraded you, this is more than you pad for'. The man then explained that the car was full and that I was to bring to bring it back full but that he would take a 90 euro deposit which would be refunded if the car was brought back full. I explained to him that the small print said to bring car back empty. He said I could do that but it was more expensive as we would be charged 90 euros for the fuel. Fine I thought, thanks for the heads up. Drove the car for a fortnight, hopelessly underpowered, but otherwise ok. Filled her up outside the airport and checked her back in. Asked when my 90 euros would be refunded. Was told I wasn't due a refund as the car should have been brought back empty! I explained the scenario and information I'd been given when collecting the car. No dice. I admit to losing it a bit at this point. They finally reneged and said they would refund 66 euros. What about the other 24 euros I quibble? the car only costs 50 euro to fill and it's full! 'That's a logistics charge' I'm told. 'For what?' I ask. 'For logistics' I'm told........ 'How long will it take for my refund to appear?' I ask. '24 hours' I'm told. Fine I thought, this is a joke but fine. 1 week later, refund finally appears.

GOLD CAR ARE A SHAM OF AN ORGANISATION. PLEASE, FOR YOUR OWN SANITY, AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE.

Colm_McGarrigle

I have always found Goldcar to be reasonable in the past but this year they really let me down. All the same extra insurance cost scams as mentioned in previous posts but with an extra dimension in my case. I booked a car with air con as Tenerife is very hot. What I got was a car with partial air con so everyone needed to push forward out of the back row of the 9 seater as it was a cauldron back there. Did Goldcar do anything about it? Not a chance. The battered, dirty old banger that I am compelled to drive has ruined this holiday. Never again will I hire a car from Goldcar!

amardell

As I did not want to pay the hugely overpriced additional insurance offered by Goldcar I bought full insurance cover from DoYouSpain. The Goldcar rep. spent a considerable amount of time attempting to sell me Goldcars overpriced insurance regardless of my continued statements that I neither wanted or needed it.

My family had already been waiting around for 50 minutes when I finally received the rental contract to sign and I, in my haste to get away, was caught out by a number of other 'scams' that the car hire companies use to get extra money from its customers. First there was a 11.57 euros 'upgrade' to a diesel, then 86.78 euros for picking up at Barcelona and returning to Valencia. I was also stung for a 2% mark-up because my card was charged in GBP instead of euros which I had asked for.

When I returned the car to Goldcar I was asked for the keys and told the car did not need inspecting. I insisted it did especially as I had just filled the car with diesel and I had a full-full fuel contract. (If it hadn't been inspected I would have been liable for a charge of 109 euros for returning the car empty.) Following the inspection I was informed that the car was fine and there would be no charges, the inspector made his squiggle on the contract and handed it back to me.

Good I thought, I can't get stung for any made-up car return charges after I get back to the UK.

Unfortunately I was wrong, I have just received two low resolution pictures of a drivers and passengers footwells showing dusty footprints for which I have been charged a 'special cleaning' fee of 30 euros.

To ensure I didn't get charged for cleaning my wife and I thoroughly cleaned the car inside and out before returning it. The car I returned was clean so I do not know which car the pictures were from or how old the pictures are. The dust shown was so insignificant that it would have taken 30 seconds to brush or vacuum out.

I attempted to use the Goldcar complaints link to question the charge but the web page informs me that my email address and contract number are invalid, so no luck there.

I will never use Goldcar again and I will be asking my credit card company to investigate this ridiculous and unwarranted charge. Just another scam to rip-off customers for a few more euros.

I wonder who at Goldcar has the job of thinking up new scams to fleece money from its customers?

nardberg

... as to how these scammers are still operating and ripping people off at least 5 years since this thread was created.

Myself and a friend were both scammed by GoldCar at Pisa airport last week. I repeatedly told them I had my taken out my own insurance. The conversation went round in circles for 10 minutes until the rep asked "Ok so you don't want this cover?". I told him that was the case, and was asked to sign on the plastic screen on top of the counter.

Almost as an afterthought to the transaction when the keys were given to me I was handed a folder containing folded paper. Little did I know (or realise until 6 days later) that I had of course been charged for their Super Relax Cover at 120 Euros and my signature handily printed on the bottom of the agreement so I have no recourse.. every reply from them now begins and ends with "You signed the agreement and the insurance is on there". Quite clearly I neither signed nor agreed to this charge.

From reading the scare stories, I feel as though I should cancel my credit card as there may be further scam charges arriving over the next weeks or months. Anyone had success reclaiming through their Credit Card company or a body such as the UKECC?

scarffyuk58

My wife & I have just spent a glorious week in Sardinia on a Daily Telegraph deal which included a weeks car hire from Gold Car Rental. Although we have rented from this company many times before in Europe without any issues, we also know how expensive the CDW insurance can be if taken through the rental company. Therefore we decided to arrange our own insurance in the UK before we travelled at a much more realistic premium. We arrived in Orbia to collect our car to a totally under staffed office with two long queues out of the door, one to collect and one to return. After a 20 min wait in line it was finally our turn which was not an over friendly experience to start with but only got worse we announced we had our own insurance. This was not met well and the young woman's attitude towards us was quite frankly disgusting. If you are in a service industry at least treat your customers with a little respect. The terms of withholding our deposit in the event of damage was then "rattled" off at us at the speed of a machine gun and we were asked to sign the paper work and were handed our keys. Upon finding the vehicle in the car park we were amazed that it was rather dirty and there was a significant scratch all the way down the passenger side which hadn't been noted on the paperwork. We returned to the office to notify the staff of the scratch which was duly noted on the paperwork and we were dismissed as "OK to go" without any inspection whatsoever.

Upon returning the vehicle one week later we were met with an equally long queue at the office with people waiting to return their rentals. We were escorted to the car park where two vehicles in front of us were checked, the first in detail which was signed off with no issues and although the couple renting the vehicle were nervous of not getting their deposit refunded there and then they were assured that if there was any damage they had taken the rental companies insurance so there would be no issues. The second vehicle was then checked but not for any external damage, but merely the fuel content of the vehicle. The driver was then also assured that their deposit would be fully refunded. Then came our turn.
The mileage was checked, the fuel was checked as were the vehicle documents in the glove compartment. All fine so far. Then the exterior was checked and in the first pass all OK. Then the operative decided to take a second sweep of the car, walked around the back, wiped the dirt of the passenger side rear corner of the bumper and announced there was a scratch. Upon investigation this "scratch" was a hair line about 2 inches long which would simply come out with a slight rub with T Cut or similar. However, as we "had our own insurance" as we were then informed, they would have to deduct €260 from our deposit for the repair.

All in all a straight forward farce & a con. The staff were then very un-interested in any discussion but getting my credit card in the machine so they could deduct the said amount and rent the same car out to another mug. When we tried to discuss the situation the response was "sorry I do not understand what you are saying". Funny we had experience no language barrier up to that point? Be aware, the saving in taking out CDW insurance before you travel is insignificant to the smack across the buttocks you get from the rental companies when they decide you are the unsuspecting tourist that draws the short straw in topping up the rental companies coffer! Are all car rental companies this unethical? Hopefully not but obviously Gold Car are so stay away from these people at all costs.

NiftyDigits

scarffyuk58 wrote: »

My wife & I have just spent a glorious week in Sardinia on a Daily Telegraph deal which included a weeks car hire from Gold Car Rental. Although we have rented from this company many times before in Europe without any issues, we also know how expensive the CDW insurance can be if taken through the rental company. Therefore we decided to arrange our own insurance in the UK before we travelled at a much more realistic premium. We arrived in Orbia to collect our car to a totally under staffed office with two long queues out of the door, one to collect and one to return. After a 20 min wait in line it was finally our turn which was not an over friendly experience to start with but only got worse we announced we had our own insurance. This was not met well and the young woman's attitude towards us was quite frankly disgusting. If you are in a service industry at least treat your customers with a little respect. The terms of withholding our deposit in the event of damage was then "rattled" off at us at the speed of a machine gun and we were asked to sign the paper work and were handed our keys. Upon finding the vehicle in the car park we were amazed that it was rather dirty and there was a significant scratch all the way down the passenger side which hadn't been noted on the paperwork. We returned to the office to notify the staff of the scratch which was duly noted on the paperwork and we were dismissed as "OK to go" without any inspection whatsoever.

Upon returning the vehicle one week later we were met with an equally long queue at the office with people waiting to return their rentals. We were escorted to the car park where two vehicles in front of us were checked, the first in detail which was signed off with no issues and although the couple renting the vehicle were nervous of not getting their deposit refunded there and then they were assured that if there was any damage they had taken the rental companies insurance so there would be no issues. The second vehicle was then checked but not for any external damage, but merely the fuel content of the vehicle. The driver was then also assured that their deposit would be fully refunded. Then came our turn.
The mileage was checked, the fuel was checked as were the vehicle documents in the glove compartment. All fine so far. Then the exterior was checked and in the first pass all OK. Then the operative decided to take a second sweep of the car, walked around the back, wiped the dirt of the passenger side rear corner of the bumper and announced there was a scratch. Upon investigation this "scratch" was a hair line about 2 inches long which would simply come out with a slight rub with T Cut or similar. However, as we "had our own insurance" as we were then informed, they would have to deduct €260 from our deposit for the repair.

All in all a straight forward farce & a con. The staff were then very un-interested in any discussion but getting my credit card in the machine so they could deduct the said amount and rent the same car out to another mug. When we tried to discuss the situation the response was "sorry I do not understand what you are saying". Funny we had experience no language barrier up to that point? Be aware, the saving in taking out CDW insurance before you travel is insignificant to the smack across the buttocks you get from the rental companies when they decide you are the unsuspecting tourist that draws the short straw in topping up the rental companies coffer! Are all car rental companies this unethical? Hopefully not but obviously Gold Car are so stay away from these people at all costs.

Why did you give them your credit card? Better to let them call the police so as to show them the scratch involved.

mgfvvc

Goldcar at Faro didn't sting me, but I found out about their reputation after making the booking and I was concerned enough to make sure I had lots of photos and everything well documented.

The queues weren't bad, I resisted the insurance hard sell, the state of the car wasn't great and I had them document a few more scratches on top of the half dozen they had documented.

It could have been worse, but it was pretty poor and I will not be hiring from Goldcar again.

Aqc101

My Goldcar Rental;

Arrive at Goldcar desk at 23:30... That's a e40 surcharge... Why would that be I ask? Because it's after 11pm. Oh but of course. It's not stated in the rental agreement but why not start with surcharges because of the time of day?..
Next surcharge is for refilling the fuel tank... But if I bring it back full there is no charge surely? Not with Goldcar, an administration surcharge is still necessary they say...
Oh but if you take out our e85 insurance then we can forget about the time of day surcharge they kindly offer.

So I return the car, and naturally they check the car over for damage... But hold on... There is a tiny graze on the hub cap of their 15,000km rented car... The mark is so small it doesn't even show in a normal camera phone image... So he gets his special camera from the office to take a pic. This will be assessed and a suitable damage surcharge will be emailed to you.

Another happy day for Goldcar and their never ending golden surcharges.

So I email the broker Auto Euorpe tell them about my unhappiness regarding the e40 surcharge. They reply, it's all in the terms and conditions... Hold on though Mr Auto Europe, I reply, I never told you what the surcharge was for, so how can you tell me it's in the terms and conditions? Details, details when should details get in the way of a good surcharge??