Beware - Goldcar Car Rentals Spain

Just got back from Goldcar Bilbao. Got charged 128 eur for a tank of fuel on a fiesta! Only used 3/8's of the tank as was there on a 3 day break. Was refunded 52 eur upon my return. That works out as 76 eur for 3/8's of a tank of fuel; a ridiculous figure that wasn't far off the cost of the car rental itself. What's more, at no point was the breakdown of these charges verbally explained nor were we given the option to return it full ourselves and avoid their absurd handling fee (which should just be called 'unavoidable rip-off fee' since who on earth expects to pick up a car without fuel!) To rub salt in the wound they took a 650 eur deposit from my card when I refused their hostile attempts to sell me an over-priced excess cover (I had pre-arranged a 3rd party excess cover at a more sensible 2 gbp per day) and insisted that it wouldn't be refunded to my card for 45 days! I await to see if it will truly be as long as they have threatened.

Needless to say their short-sighted business model has stung me once but it has also ensured that they will be receiving no repeat custom. I hope these guys have thought this through because they will fast end up running out of naive first-time customers. At least I sincerely hope they will.

Make sure you're not next! Avoid these cowboys like the plague!

Just to reiterate what just about everybody else has said - avoid Goldcar!


Rented a Car in Majorca for one week ending 19.8.14. Booked through DoYouSpain - Like everybody else I didn't know that the rental company was Goldcar until booking process completed. Opted for the 'Full Insurance' through DoYouSpain and I have additional car hire insurance cover through my Natwest Black Credit card.


When I collected the car I was charged an additional 208 Euros, it was explained that I would get this back when I returned the car full of diesel. The contract is all in Spanish and nothing on the document suggested I was paying for anything else.


Before returning the car I filled up at a petrol station within 2.5 miles of the airport, and retained the receipt. Upon return of the vehicle I double checked what the refund would be and I was told 95 Euros not the 208 charged. I queried this and was sent to the main reception area in the hospital where I had to wait 30 minutes to see someone.


When we eventually saw someone he gleefully explained that the 208 euros consisted of 109 euros fuel charge and 99 euros for full insurance. I argued with him, showed him my insurance cover note, but he was totally unrepentant and tried to explain that the full insurance I had bought did not cover everything - I was so angry by then that I forgot about my credit card insurance that did cover everything. He eventually gave us the contact details for customer service.


I e-mailed them yesterday explained the situation and as of yet have not heard anything. I have also checked my on-line credit card statement and I can see a refund of just £13.99. I checked on the Goldcar web-site and apparently there is a refund for 47 euros and an additional charge of 30 Euros. I have absolutely no idea what these relate to. I have checked through my contract in fine detail and cannot see any mention of what a 30 Euro charge would relate to. I have emailed customer services again.


To sum up - I was NEVER asked if I wanted the additional insurance, the contract is in Spanish and it is far from obvious that insurance is included. I do not know what the 30 Euro charge is for, I do not know what the partial credit is for so all in all I feel like I have been robbed! To date the car has cost more than it would have done using Hertz or Avis!


As an aside I am in discussion with the credit card company that I used to pay for the car rental and they are investigating my claims as they do have a duty of care to ensure that all charges to the card are legitimate.

I was picking up a car at Rome airport in the Goldcars office having booked and paid for it through rentalcars.com. I was standing behind a couple who had like us had paid for their car hire months ago in the UK. The Goldcar clerk was asking them to pay for extra insurance but they did not have a debit card and no other means of payment. They left in tears without their car.
When it came to my turn I showed the clerk my insurance certifictae which I had taken out in the UK to avoid exactly this situation. He said that it was not full cover and that I had to take out their insurance. It cost me £300 otherwise I would not have been able to pick up the car I had already paid for.

I would classify this practise as outright extortion hitting tourists at their most vulnerable, and Goldcars know this. T&Cs apart, it is sharp commercial practise which may well transgress European law.

I have suggested that rentalcars.com review their arrangement with Goldcars in light of the huge amount of negative reviews. They have refunded me their insurance costs which I was led to believe was all that was required.

I've seen literally hundreds of them and not one single (no, not even ONE) positive review.

agreed, must work for GoldCar, otherwise just BS