Beware - Goldcar Car Rentals Spain

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  • Rented a car at Gran Canaria Las Palmas airport from Goldcar but NEVER AGAIN. No only did we suffer the problems reported by others, such as horrendous queues and the price more than doubling due to 'extras', but another scam was practised upon us.

    When we got home, they debitied the credit card with 250 Euros with no explanation. This was later claimed to be due to a missing parcel shelf ! All 4 of us in the car will confirm that there was no shelf when we received it (the car was a van-like Fiat Doblo, and it was not apparent that any shelf SHOULD have been there - there was no check by Goldcar either upon hand-over nor return)

    Goldcar refuse to remove the charge, so we have lodged a claim with the credit card company

    I am taking the case up with the European Consumer Office and will let you know how this turns out.
  • owzzz
    owzzz Posts: 2 Newbie
    Purchased car hire through Auto Europe (19-05-12) for a week long trip to Italy using GoldCar. The online booking service was very easy and quick to complete but after arriving at the Pisa airport late saturday night we found the service with GoldCar to be absolutely horrendous.

    With only one person on the counter the queue was very long and we ended up waiting 2 hours to get served. Common sense would suggest that the company would check car booking times and would staff the kiosk accordingly, but with only one person at the desk and with each car rental taking 45 minutes to process (No idea why?!) even the most modest of queues would take several hours to clear. The company is clearly ill prepared to deal with the volume of customers that use their service. Customers became very agitated very quickly and there was a sense of shock at the lack of operators and customer service not to mention the unexpected extra payment.

    When we finally reached the front of the queue we were told curtly that we had to put 1000+ euros deposit down on a credit card of which we didn't have. The mention of Credit cards was not given at the time of booking and it should be made clear on the booking form that a Visa credit card or MasterCard is required inorder to complete the booking as it is not a given that everyone has a credit card and it is also not the standard procedure for competitor car hire companies. On asking the operator to point this out to us at the time, she could only find the clause that customers must present a Visa or Master card at time of pickup which again demonstrates that even with a security deposit clause in the terms and conditions it's still not made clear enough not only to your consumers but to your operators as well.

    Secondly, there is no prior warning given in the terms and conditions about the numerical value of the fee payable on the day of hire and a 1000 euro's is not a negligible amount to be asked for and this potentially pushes many people over their credit limit when they are not prepared for it. Had this been explained at the time of booking we could of extended our credit limits and brought credit cards with us, this was also unexpected as this is not the normal procedure for competitor car hire companies.

    Alternatively we were given the option to pay an extended 175 euros to make the payment by debit card but this was at the managers discretion and the manager who was contacted on the end of the phone chose to decline. At this point having spent the evening travelling to Italy waiting in a queue for two hours being confronted by an unhelpful operator and given no option but to abandon our car hire with Auto europe in the middle of the night and needing to travel another hour to our accommodation we were then forced to book with a premium rate car rental operator paying a premium price of 410 euros for a fiat 500 without air conditioning.

    Auto Europe's website suggests that when you purchase your car rental through them, all the necessary taxes and insurance are taken care of and it states that your rental excludes only the following:

    1."Optional insurance for personal injuries"
    2. "Gasoline or Diesel"
    3. "Traffic admin fee of 35 euros per fine"
    4. "Admin fee of 250 euros in the EVENT of damage or theft"
    5. "Local toll, highway fees or travel stickers"


    There is no mention in the service agreement of the rental excluding the additional excess charge of 1000+ euros to be paid on arrival. This is hugely misleading as it is only way down in the terms and conditions that this is mentioned, by the amount of people who were shocked on the day suggests that there is a definite lack of clarity in the websites copy.

    I would not book with this broker again and would hesitant when using similar companies in future.
  • We rented over the internet via a link with vueling airlined and paid for the car and on arrival we were told the mondial insurance was no good and the staff at malaga airport were absolutley horrible demanding we pay for the insurance they are obviously on commmission , the biggest con was we had to pay for a full tank and they have on my credit card a 300 euro deposit which I am watching on returning the car you have to hand the keys in and they refused to check so they could in theory charge what they like , we paid more for insurance for gibraltar basic , petrol which we only used half a tank but money non refundable , I m sure this must be illegal , I forgot my driving liscence and my partner who had no credit card couldnt put in his name they said dont worry we will put you as main driver so we can use your card for a deposit , NEVER DEAL WITH THESE PEOPLE STICK TO REPUTABLE COMPANIES,
    dseers335 wrote: »
    I booked a trip to Alicante airport for myself and my girlfriend. We wanted to hire a rental car and ended up booking with a hire company called Goldcar.

    They seemed quite cheap and already have "all-inclusive" insurance included so it sounded good.

    I will make sure I never go near this company again.

    Firstly, when we arrived we had to queue for just over an hour before getting to the front of the desk. Being peak-season we weren't too suprised and, although inconvenient, we could bare this.

    When we reached the desk the rep was very abrupt and bordered of rudeness. This didn't really bother me (at the end of the day this guy was working and had a lot of holiday-makers to get through).

    When we had finished with the details the rep asked if I wanted "full CDW insurance" or just "basic" cover for tyres and glass. Now, as I have hired cars several times in the past I am fully aware of exclusions (tyres/glass/keys etc) and so replied that I did not require any extra insurance and my credit card covers for the tyre/glass etc charge - but did query the "full CDW insurance" he was offering. The man looked at me and said "if you are involved in a crash then we will need to charge you for all repairs". I told him that this was already included in the cost I had paid for the hire and highlighted the wording on my voucher which backed up my understanding. "it is not correct. if you have a crash you only have 3rd party and we will take a 5000.00EUR excess-deposit until the repairs are worked out" - using these words exactly. The rep was basically telling me I had zero cover whereas the paperwork I had and the website tells me I was all-inclusive.

    After several more minutes of this I agreed to take the extra cover so I could enjoy the rest of my holiday stress-free and had to pay up a further 60.00EUR.

    The rep just handed me an electronic paid to sign which had no indication of what I was paying for or agreeing to exactly. A few days later I inspected the contract to see that the total price and been converted to GBP with a 2% mark-up, the cost of fuel was priced at 82.00EUR and I was charged for some kind of diesel-upgrade on top without my consent (I had booked a petrol!).
    The vehicle itself had some problems but it is rare to be given a perfect rental car, especially in Spain, so this was OK.

    When I got home I sent an email to my broker ("Carjet") who confirmed my understanding of the insurance (all-inclusive except for the tyres/glass etc). They could not really disagree as I was going by the wording on their's/Goldcar's website.

    Carjet then contacted Goldcar with my complaint to get to the bottom of it. After a few weeks, Goldcar replied to say that their rates were all-inclusive except for a few minor items and they did not take any deposit in case of a crash. Goldcar said that I must have misunderstood due to the language barrier and the cover I had taken was only cover for punctures/loss of keys etc and their rates included in more just 3rd party.

    After a few more emails back and forth Goldcar closed the case stating "we can't refund when the client has signed the contract".
    This email probably makes me sound like newbie who doesn't read the small print but I really am not (it gives me something to do during the flight!). My partner also backs up entirely what I have said and encouraged my to write this.

    That's my review. Stay away from Goldcar if it can be helped. The salesmen at the desk will lie to you outright in order to make an extra few Euros commission.

    I have prebooked my next trip and Carjet were able to arrange the car hire through "Solmar" this time for the same price.
  • chiny
    chiny Posts: 193
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    Looking at my CarJet booking history in Spain, I see I have used Goldcar 50% of the time and had no issues so far. This includes 2 Goldcar hires in 2011, so CarJet don't appear to have dropped Goldcar.

    In many years, I have never had a car examined on its return, even on one occasion where I admitted that the car had been washed 50 metres down the road in a storm, only being prevented from going out to sea when it jammed against a lamp post.

    Spain is slow - forget talk of lawyers. "Complaint forms" are always available and might eventually get seen by the local council but you will have left the country by then. Ditto a "denuncia" to the local police but they are more persistent and will nobble you should you ever return.

    My main weapon is learning a little Spanish, not much, you could do it. It works wonders in acquiring faster service, bigger discounts, free upgrades for cars and hotels... it really pays dividends.

    My secret weapon for acquiring even bigger discounts is to stand behind my blue-eyed, blonde, decent-Spanish-speaking wife. She is almost as antique as me but no male Spaniard has yet managed to resist :D

    Seriously, before you hit Spain this summer, go on one of those "Spanish for holidays" courses that are available pretty cheap even these days from an adult education centre. It has saved me 100s if not 1000s of euros and opened many doors.
  • eyres
    eyres Posts: 4 Newbie
    I'm another victim of this ongoing Goldcar saga. Just returned from Pisa and hired car through Jet 2 - Traveljigsaw - Goldcar. Charged extra all inclusive insurance to prevent excess of up to 2000 euros if involved in an accident, and credit card bill just arrived and charged an additional 150 euros. They get you to sign an electronic pad, not use a pin, and the screen doesn't clarify the amount being charged. I have looked on a number of forums now and they are all saying the same thing - 'don't touch them with a barge pole.':mad:
  • Pugwash69
    Pugwash69 Posts: 136 Forumite
    I reckon the language barrier is half the problem.
    I rented a car in Kings Lynn last weekend, and the lady said I could pay more to remove the £500 excess on the insurance. I pointed out that I had already paid £3 per day for that when I paid online.
    She said that their system didn't see that itemised but admitted I had already covered it. She then crossed-out the printed sheet she'd produced where it said £500 and wrote £0 excess.
    I think there might be an issue hiring cars through these comparison sites that doesn't always tell the car company what exactly you paid for. I'm not discounting the idea that they try to rip you off either though! I'll probably do a comparison site next time and see if I can book directly through the hire company's site instead.
  • I don't know how these conmen sleep soundly at night. We have just returned from a trip to Spain, and hired two cars (as we had assumed this would be cheaper than one larger car) from Goldcar in Malaga airport.

    The first problem was a huge queue at 9pm at night, which is not fun with small children. Then the sudden additional charges: the excess waiver insurance, and the full tank of fuel. My wife speaks fluent Spanish, and to be fair the chap at the desk spoke very good English, so language was not the issue.

    The full tank of fuel was charged at 114 Euros, which for a Citreon C4, would mean a price of 1.9 Euros per litre. The actual rate at the local station was 1.29 Euros. I have written to complain, but I doubt it will get me a refund.
  • I had the misfortune to use them this year on my trip to Spain.
    I booked via Holiday Autos and took out the extra insurance with Hoilday autos for £50.00 which is their total waiver policy.

    On arrival at the desk with Goldcar, They tell me this insurance is no good and I MUST take out their one for an extra 60 euros.

    After much arguing, I am told I must leave a deposit of 300 euros if I dont take it out.

    Not the start I wanted at the start of my much needed holiday, so just paid the extra. Plus of course their rip off charge for the full tank of petrol.

    Currently still waiting to see if Holiday Autos refund me anything, and have informed them that Goldcar Rentals tell their customers their insuance they sell is no good.

    Oh, and whilst I was there for aprox 45 mins, I was one of three brits who were all involved in disputes with them.
  • My husband and I also booked a car via this company, and similarly had to wait ages at the desk on arrival for service. We were also told about the extra insurances etc. and that if we didnt take out the extra cover they would hold £300 on my Credit card against any damage not covered, so we paid a further 6 Euros a day. They also converted the euro charge to £ sterling with a commission of 2%. For a hire of 7 days, we finished up paying almost as much as my daughter did for 14 days. Never use this company again.
  • I would never use or trust Goldcar again either.
    I booked Car Hire through Hapimag holiday company. A company that have in our dealings with them been totally reliable. They routed the booking through Holiday Autos and we ended up with a prepaid voucher and paid extra for CDW insurance. They were not particularly cheap for a six day hire of compact car. they were within 5 euros of the Hertz price only they had a car size we wanted and it wasnt so clear with Hertz. If I had known Holiday Autos would use Goldcar I might have remebered hearing about them somewhere. On arrival in Faro they said our insurance did not cover collisions, did not cover tyre replacement or breakdowns due to tyres or any other breakdown on the motorway. We were also told that we should make sure the petrol tank is empty as we would be charged for a full tank of diesel. We only used 10 litres as we didnt travel about anywhere

    We were charged £143 extra for ?? I still not sure what the breakdown is even now. I have emailed them for a breakdown.

    I would not use them ever again:(
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