Beware - Goldcar Car Rentals Spain

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  • percy
    percy Posts: 11 Forumite
    We have just returned from Tenerife where we hired a car via DoYouSpain website. The hire was with Goldcar, a company we had not heard of before and how we wish we had checked this site before going ahead! There was a very long queue at the Goldcar when we arrived and it took ages to get to the desk. We had the email from DYS with us which clearly stated we had full insurance cover with no excess, except for damage to wheels/glass for which we would be offered additional cover on arrival. The girl at Goldcar wanted us to take insurance with them as she explaned ( not very well and not in good English)we did not have cover for everything. This would cost us an extra 60 euros.We declined this as we felt sure we were missing something in the translation and were in fact fully covered and that she was selling us the cover for wheels and glass. She advised that we would in that case have to lodge 600 euros on our credit card. We also had to prepay for the fuel 45uros.
    When we got to the car we noticed some damage to one of the wing mirrors and a cigarette burn on the rear seat. My husband drove to the Goldcar carpark office and spoke to the guy there who assured us " no problem, it's OK" so off we went. We had only booked the basic car which turned out to be a Fiat Panda. The car did not drive very well from the start and two days later we could not get it going, started up but no response from the gas pedal. We called Goldcar who advised to bring it back, a slight problem as it wouldn't move. They advised to call the breakdown number. they arrived and got the car onto a trailer and away. we then had to get back to the airport to get another car. The queue, again was long so I joined the queue and my husband went over to see if he could speed things up by dealing with the guy in the carpark area. He had all the details on his computer and remembered us. He gave us another car and explaned that the account (the 600 euros) had been opened to enable them to give us another car, but again " no problem it's ok" . We returned the car at the end of the holiday and were told that we had been charged 12 euros. We asked what for and the girl at the desk looked into our details and said " no problem it's ok I will refund to you, a mistake we charged you for the difference in fuel cost for the different car" Presumably a bigger fuel tank in the second car, what a rip off we didn't even use all the fuel! Anyway naively thinking that was the end of it , when we got home we looked at our credit card statement and they have taken the 600 euros from us. I have tried to call their customer service number without success. I did get through to the Tenerife office who explained nothing to do wirth them now and must deal with customer service, and they have taken the money because they need to check why the car broke down in the first place. By this we assume they mean was it our fault. Looking at our account on their website there is another 600 euros which we assume is for the second car! As yet that has not come off our card. Thinking back over the first day my husband recalls that the lady at the desk brought a set of keys out with our paperwork and after the discussion re the insurance she exchanged them for a different set of keys. Now we are concerned that we will be paying for a previously damaged car! I have emailed both Goldcar and DoYouSpain but We are increasingly worried that we have been duped on this and will not get our money back. Does anyone have any suggestions where we could go for help with this one?
  • EamonC
    EamonC Posts: 1 Newbie
    Although this topic has been going on for some time - nothing much has changed - I just had the displeasure of renting from Goldcar. Landed in Girona and cleared baggage at 22:20 and when got to Goldcar desk was met with a sign to say gone to lunch - back at 21:50 (30 minutes earlier) - with a large queue building the sole goldcar operator arrived back to their kiosk at 22:45. While I appreciate that as sole goldcar operative, she was probably over worked and underpaid (hertz, europcar and others all had two operatives and were attended) but there is no excuse for the attitude that by comparison would justify nominating the worst and grumpiest of Ryanair as personality of the month.



    As for the hidden charges mentioned by those above, here again a comparison with Ryanair seems appropriate - Goldcar make Ryanair look like the the most up front, no small print, company in the world.



    I will gladly pay any other company over Goldcar or get the bus next time. I recommend you keep far far away from Goldcar.
  • Keep away from Goldcar ( and Rentalcars.com) is my advise.

    I have never come across a more openly dishonest firm.

    First they quoted a low price on rentalcars.com - then after you accept - and book - they wait a while and then send you an email saying Euro 70 extra for dropping of in a place different from pick up. Then they added over 100 Euros on insurance when we went to pick up the car. So in the end they were not the cheapest at all, but it was too late for us to go shopping for cars again and they know it!

    I called rentalcars too and they basically said sorry our job is to sell a quote to you - as soon as you pay - you are no longer our problem!

    Then Goldcar came up with - you buy a full tank of fuel from us and give us back an empty tank. Whats if its not empty? Tough luck! The fuel is not refunded!

    Our hire car's boot stopped locking on day 2. Called roadside assistance - who took an hour to respond. Then asked us to drive 40 kms to the airport to exchange the car.

    On reaching there they said you have to pay for the fuel you have used thus far and go back to the full tank -empty tank scam above. We protested and they finally agreed to not charge us for the fuel difference - if we agreed to take a smaller class of car - at our original price quote!

    Will never use either of these two companies again. Stay away is my advise.
  • As most of this thread states, GOLDCAR should be avoided at ALL costs! The people behind the desk were rude and discourteous. I told them we did not need their insurance but they included it. We were told on booking that there was an excess of 650 euros, but you either took out their insurance or paid ANY costs in full including breakdown. This insurance was almost the cost of the car hire.
    They charged 80 euros for a tank of fuel. I filled up the tank for 58 euros, they applied an extra charge of 20 euros for their person to take it to the petrol station.
    Most at their desk were complaining.
    NEVER USE THEM. Hopefully by continuing this service they will go out of business. But look out this type usually set up with a new name!
  • cfc1900
    cfc1900 Posts: 18
    Combo Breaker First Anniversary
    Forumite
    I used this firm recently (March 2013) and can confirm all the negative comments on this thread. I used carrentals.co.uk and Gold car came up the cheapest with CDW and free second driver. Previously I've used Avis and expected a similar level of service. After all the Avis desk is next door. There was a queue at the Gold Car desk snaking back up the ramp from the arrivals hall. No queues at any other desk.We waited 2 and a half hours. You have to pay extra CDW even though they say it's included.You have to pay for a full tank and leave it empty. If you have a diesel Citroen C4 you are going to have to do a hell of a lot of miles to leave it empty. After my experience with this cowboy outfit I made sure I did do the miles. I would have siphoned off the diesel and given it to the Andalusian gypsies rather than let that firm have it. Avoid this firm at all costs. My advice would be to either stick with the big names, or go for one of the firms that meet you at the exit gate and run you to a nearby off airport location. Don't touch Gold Car with a bargepole.
  • ellisah1 wrote: »
    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.
    This is obviously an intentional theft by GOLDCAR!!!!!
    Same thing happened to us. May 2011, GOLDCAR, same type of vehicle, same airport, same 'parcel shelf'. Charged to credit card on return to UK. I complained and GOLDCAR weren't interested, eventually got money back from Barclays bank.
    It's not always obvious you are booking with GOLDCAR as Travelrepublic and the like act as agents and I'm guessing the cheaper the cost of hiring the better. The fuel policy alone makes GOLDCAR the dearest hirer. The reason why there's always queues at their desk is, I imagine, because they quote the lowest rates to companies like Travelrepublic and thereby get lots of unsuspecting people through their doors.
    A hideous and criminal company, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole, stick with the reputable companies, I've also used NATIONAL, HERTZ and AUTOREISEN, all very good.
    Shame something can't be done about their activities.
  • Worst car hire experience I have ever encountered. Goldcar is a rip-off organisation and should be driven out of business. Shame on Rentalcars.com for using them.

    First rip-off is that I had to pay 113 euros when collecting the car for a tank of petrol for a Ford Focus. That equates to more than 2 euros per litre, whereas the rate at the pumps was around 1.40 euros. I didn't want a full tank of fuel - you get no refund for unused fuel on return.

    Second rip-off is the damage excess refund insurance which I paid £40 to Rentalcars.com for. I was told by Goldcar, in no uncertain terms, that it was "worthless". I had to endure a hard sell from Goldcar to take their excess waiver insurance, which would have cost me more than 100 Euros. I refused and therefore had to provide a credit card for a pre-authorisation of 1,200 Euros, on top of which I would have had to pay excess charges of at least a further 600 Euros if anything at all had happened to the car (whether my fault or not).

    The condition of the car was disgraceful. I was asked by the extremely rude member of Goldcar staff to sign confirmation of the damage to the car before I had even seen it! I refused, of course, and insisted that we inspect the car together. That inspection identified 20 separate scratches or dents, some of which were significant. The front tyres on the car were illegal and almost completely without any tread. Unfortunately I did not notice this until I had left the airport, otherwise I would have refused the car. When I pointed it out upon returning the car, the member of Goldcar staff just shrugged her shoulders. The car was a death trap.

    The pound where the cars are held was being watched over by a couple of Eastern European "heavies" who are clearly running a rip-off organisation with no regard for customer service or even safety. Please avoid this organisation at all costs. That is the only way to drive such underhand and criminal practice out of business.
  • ijrussell
    ijrussell Posts: 52 Forumite
    edited 17 April 2013 at 8:50AM
    To put a different slant on this we ended up using Goldcar last August via CarHire3000. When I found out we were using Goldcar I wasn't very happy after reading lots of negative comments on here. Unfortunately it wasn't possible to change companies without incurring high costs.

    As I was aware of the "required" insurance to cover everything, I didn't bother sorting something cheaper myself like I had the year before, as I resigned myself to paying the extra charge.

    We arrived in Mallorca and I left my wife and kids to collect the luggage as I was expecting huge queues as this was Saturday evening in the middle of August. However, when I got to the desk I only had to wait for one customer to finish before being seen. Yes I was overcharged for a tank of diesel and "had" to pay for the insurance but the overall price wasn't too bad. I also made sure I was charged in Euros allowing my credit card to convert the transaction which they did.

    In the end I'd got the car sorted before all the bags came out!

    We then collected our car which was a virtually brand new Merc B Class which was very nice. (We had booked a Ford Focus Estate or similar)

    At the end of the holiday we returned the car (fuel almost empty after lots of driving) with no issues.

    Overall I was very happy with the service we received. So much so I have booked with Goldcar direct this year. When comparing the prices between the big names and Goldcar there isn't a lot in it when fuel and insurance is added in.

    I have no doubt the the horror stories above are true, and I too was concerned before last years holiday, but we had great service at a good price.

    I hope this calms the nerves a bit of people who end up with Goldcar via a broker.
  • Oh dear, I booked and paid for 2 weeks car hire from Faro via Holiday Autos, received and printed off my car hire voucher at which point they advised the car hire company was Gold Cars. I then searched and found all these negative reviews. Will cost £15 to cancel booking and alternative car hire companies they offered were much more expensive.

    It is annoying that the car hire company is not known at the time of booking, however I guess it is why they are cheaper. I have paid for the Excess cover at the time of booking and I am worried that Gold Car will say they have no knowledge of it. I am trying to get something in writing from Holiday Autos, as it is not mentioned in either the confirmation email or the car voucher email.

    I am also concerned about being charged in sterling for the tank of petrol and the "out of hours" fee (drop off is out of hours) of 35 euros. I guess the only way around that is to take the euros in cash to pay for it. The amount charged for the petrol is nothing I can do about, nor the queues.

    Even if I change car hire the extra cost would not cover the petrol/out of hours fee.
  • Actually it does state "Product Total Damage Excess Waiver" in the voucher.
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