Beware - Goldcar Car Rentals Spain

doodle_bug

Aqc101 wrote: »

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??

It is in the terms and conditions, I had a quick look, where you put in your details and tick the box "I read the terms and conditions"

DebP145

An issue arose, following our hiring a car with Goldcar Pisa in September 15. We tried repeatedly to make contact with the Goldcar Pisa office on the number supplied by the company with no success. Numerous Emails subsequently sent to the company were simply ignored. Only when I researched the company and sent an email to one of its directors did I receive a response. By this time however too much time had elapsed to deal with the issue. Goldcar however has been unwilling to acknowledge its non existent customer service. In my opinion this is not a company which respects its customers.

dennisathersmith

I picked up Goldcar from Tenerife south. On journey to my destination I noticed car only half full but decided I could not be bothered to go back. I filled up 2 miles from airport on return to drop car off so car was full on return. Goldcar now present me with 40 euros charge for not returning full which it was. So I find I have been ripped off on 2 counts. Beware be very aware.

dickinsonjohn1

We hired a Seat Ibiza from Goldcar Alicante through DoYouSpain.com at the end of September 2015 and returned it 15 days later.
We took the car on Full/Full so we returned it full.
Back home on checking our credit card statement (MBNA) we noticed that Goldcar had refunded the fuel less 35€. There was also an additional charge by Goldcar of 206€ made 4 days into our rental and 10 days before we returned the car.
I contacted Goldcar and they said that they had retained 35€ because the car had been returned without the documents. I told them that we hadn't had any documents when we collected it and after investigating they agreed and refunded the 35€.
They totally denied that they had charged us 206€, saying that there was no such charge against our contract. They said that we should take it up with MBNA which we did.
After about 1 month, MBNA contacted us and said that Goldcar had supplied them with photographic evidence of damage to the car. They forwarded this to us along with a copy of the Goldcar contract detailing the charge.
The first thing wrong was that the photos were of an Audi and not the Seat which we had hired. The second thing wrong was that the contract was for the Audi but for another person who had hired it 3 weeks before our hire period. The 206€ charge was shown on the date they had charged our card.
Interestingly we now have a copy of someone else's hire contract with their full name and address, credit card number and passport number.
This is not an administrative mistake it is blatant fraud. Goldcar will get their money even if they have to defraud other innocent customers to get it. They totally denied having made a charge and then supplied fraudulent evidence to support the charge they supposedly never made!
We have only now, 3 months later, managed to sort this out with MBNA so my next call will be to the Spanish Embassy in London to find out which department of the Guardia Civil I should inform of what must even under European Law be criminal fraud.
I would very much like to find a reliable trustworthy car rental company at Alicante Airport but wherever I look, every one is pilloried by the vast majority of reviewers.

NiftyDigits

dickinsonjohn1 wrote: »

We hired a Seat Ibiza from Goldcar Alicante through DoYouSpain.com at the end of September 2015 and returned it 15 days later.
We took the car on Full/Full so we returned it full.
Back home on checking our credit card statement (MBNA) we noticed that Goldcar had refunded the fuel less 35€. There was also an additional charge by Goldcar of 206€ made 4 days into our rental and 10 days before we returned the car.
I contacted Goldcar and they said that they had retained 35€ because the car had been returned without the documents. I told them that we hadn't had any documents when we collected it and after investigating they agreed and refunded the 35€.
They totally denied that they had charged us 206€, saying that there was no such charge against our contract. They said that we should take it up with MBNA which we did.
After about 1 month, MBNA contacted us and said that Goldcar had supplied them with photographic evidence of damage to the car. They forwarded this to us along with a copy of the Goldcar contract detailing the charge.
The first thing wrong was that the photos were of an Audi and not the Seat which we had hired. The second thing wrong was that the contract was for the Audi but for another person who had hired it 3 weeks before our hire period. The 206€ charge was shown on the date they had charged our card.
Interestingly we now have a copy of someone else's hire contract with their full name and address, credit card number and passport number.
This is not an administrative mistake it is blatant fraud. Goldcar will get their money even if they have to defraud other innocent customers to get it. They totally denied having made a charge and then supplied fraudulent evidence to support the charge they supposedly never made!
We have only now, 3 months later, managed to sort this out with MBNA so my next call will be to the Spanish Embassy in London to find out which department of the Guardia Civil I should inform of what must even under European Law be criminal fraud.
I would very much like to find a reliable trustworthy car rental company at Alicante Airport but wherever I look, every one is pilloried by the vast majority of reviewers.

Did you think Goldcar reliable and trustworthy beforehand?
I always book direct with Hertz. None of the hassle of booking dodgy car hire via a broker.

dickinsonjohn1

We had used Goldcar several times in the past although admittedly some years ago and had never experienced any problems.

mess0804

any recomandations for a different company, not Goldcar, for Gran Canaria ? (I see Orlando, Hertz and Cicar on search engines).

SW17

mess0804 wrote: »

any recomandations for a different company, not Goldcar, for Gran Canaria ? (I see Orlando, Hertz and Cicar on search engines).

Cicar or Auto Reisen. Both offer fair fuel policies, and no hidden charges. I've used both in Tenerife, only used Cicar in GC, but Auto Reisen also operate there.

I found Cicar's cars to be in better condition, but that could be down to when in the cycle I rented. Had good service from both companies.

StuieUK34

I use these guys in Gran Can:
http://www.autospluscar.com/


There a car rental firm. IE:
You book a car, pay for it when u get there, the car is fully insured as that's the idea with hire cars, and they take visa debit cards, as well as the normal credit cards.
They ask you bring the fuel back as u had the car, and ideally, in the same condition..
Its how car hire should be...
None of this 'excess waiver stage 1, super excess, super super excess', ultimate liability protected when u goto the moon, etc rubbish !
The price you pay includes full insurance (ie: NO Excess crap), no £1000 holds on your Bank/Credit card either.

Seriously, AutoPlus, or Auto Reisen or TopCar Auto Reisen.
They are how car hire should be.
I used Autoplus last year, and got the skoda fabia combi (estate), ironically, not a bad car! Put 25 euros of fuel in, so I gave the car back with more fuel than I started with, as the thing does good mpg (despite having 4 peeps in it!)


Auto reisen:
http://www.autoreisen.es/ingles/tenerife_car_hire.php
(for all islands)

ControlledChaos

We just got back from a trip to Fuerteventura. Booked a car via Expedia, which I tend to trust - but it was with Goldcar (which I really should have Googled first - they are notorious scam artists).

We showed up at their counter after 9pm, only to be told we needed to pay double the going rate for a full tank of petrol, PLUS an extra €127 for insurance! Politely declined the insurance, as we're already covered, only to be told that it was required if we wanted to take the car. (Others have said they were offered the option to have a "damage deposit" held on their card instead - we weren't offered this, but it was probably a good thing, as another traveller told us at drop-off that he had just been told the £200 "deposit" he'd put down wasn't going to be refunded!)

By this time, it was 10pm, we were on an industrial estate in an area we weren't familiar with (no way to get a cab), and our son was tired and cranky, so we very reluctantly agreed to the insurance. Imagine my face when we got to the hotel and I read the T&Cs on our booking - the insurance we'd been forced to purchase ("Cobertura Super") was clearly listed as an optional extra! Yes, their employee blatantly lied to us.

We were also told quite brusquely that the cost of any remaining petrol in the tank when we returned the car would be "refunded, automatic - in 2 hours" - needless to say, it's a full day later and no refund has appeared.

I've contacted both Goldcar and Expedia about this, but don't hold out a lot of hope for a resolution from either one - so I'm resolved to spread the word as widely as I can instead. DON'T RENT FROM GOLDCAR - EVER! They put a real damper on the start to our long-anticipated holiday, and I'm still very angry about it.