On a recent visit to Spain I did the usual search for the cheapest car rental from Malaga Airport. The car broker using the Cartrawler search technology came up with a great offer of a Volkswagen Golf or equivalent for €89 so I checked the terms and conditions of the search website which all seemed fine and completed the booking. I was clearly told that I could expect the following:
- The Best Price On Every Rental.
- Fully Inclusive Rates (Including Vat)
- No Hidden Extras
- Complimentary Breakdown Assistance
- Fully Comprehensive Insurance
- Staff Are Friendly
- You Won’t Get Saddled With Hidden Costs
- No Extra Charge For Paying By Credit Card
Now let me tell you the reality of my booking experience when we turned up at the desk of Goldcar at Malaga Airport to collect the car. The reception from Victoria Eugenia at the desk was “frosty” to say the least and she proceeded to run us through the rip-offs that we were about to be forced on us. Having arrived on the “red-eye” flight from Liverpool we were in no mood to argue with her as we just wanted to get our car and begin our holiday.
Rip-Off 1: Extra Insurance
We were first of all informed that we only had basic insurance cover & were handed a leaflet showing our minimum liability should any of the following events occur:
- Puncture (€50)
- New Tyre (€150)
- Broken Window (€ 55-490)
- Broken Windscreen (€225-850)
- Towing Service (€80-600)
- Wheel Rim (€55-320)
- Damage to Undercarriage (€600)
- Taxi Transfer After Accident (€15-25)
- Outside Mirrors (€190-430)
- Burned Clutch (€290-520)
- Engine Damage (€4,350-11,150)
- Battery Recharge (€50)
- Oil Sump Damage (€80-290)
- Catalytic Convertor (€505-1,750)
- Radiator (€155-300)
- Substitution car (€100)
- Loss of Keys (€150)
- Repair Period (€30 a day)
At the time I scanned the list and commented that I would not be responsible if the clutch burns out as I’d only be driving about 80km to our destination. I was told in no uncertain terms that I would indeed be responsible which really left me with no alternative other than to agree to the additional insurance at €5.00 per day (€35.00 for the week).
Rip-Off 2: Extra Driver
Due to the general strike in France our original Ryanair flight had been cancelled so we had to travel two days later and as such had to change our car rental dates. Our original booking had included an additional driver at no extra charge (with a different company). When we requested the additional driver with Goldcar we charged an extra €17.50 for the week.
Rip-Off 3: Fuel Charges
We were informed that the car was full of petrol and that we were to bring it back empty. Now I know that this scam has been running for a number of years though I thought that many companies had now dropped it but not Goldcar. I would never have been able to use the full tank as I wasn’t on a driving holiday but simply using the car as transport for a return journey to our accommodation. To add insult to injury we were charged €82.00 to fill a Ford Focus Trend 1.6. With average petrol price of €1.18 per litre this car’s petrol tank capacity would have to have been approximately 70 litres. Having since researched this matter I’ve found that the actual capacity is 55 litres which means that we were ripped off on fuel alone by €17.70 (= 15 litres x €1.18 per litre). And that is quoting the airport petrol station´s retail price not the preferential rate available to car rental companies.
Rip-Off 4: Accounting
Finally I had to sign the rental agreement and handed over my UK credit card. I was told that the final price was £204.33. Notice that the final price is stated in Sterling rather than Euros. This final figure was arrived at by adding on €34.09 in VAT (which was supposed to be already included) arriving at a Euro total of €223.50 . Remember the rental started at €89.00!. This figure was then converted to Sterling at a rate of 0.914 which I assumed was Mastercard’s rate for the day. However, I’ve since been told by other clients that this rate is adjusted in their favour. Finally, an “Exchange Rate Mark-Up” of 2% was added to my bill and I was forced to sign an agreement stating:
“I accept the conversion rate & final amount & that the final selected transaction currency is GBP. I understand that Mastercard has a currency conversion process and that I have chosen not to use the Mastercard currency conversion process and I will have no recourse against Mastercard with respect to any matter related to the currency conversion or disclosure thereof”.
This is a story of daylight robbery and cannot be allowed to continue. On my return home I researched Goldcar on Google and found countless tales of people telling pretty much the same story as the one I’ve related above. Here are just a couple that you might like to take a look at:
Some of these people refer to extra charges added to their credit card bills once they arrived home for completely made up claims by Goldcar so I will be watching my credit card statement closely over the coming weeks.
That just about completes my horror story of rip-off car rental by Goldcar except for one final point. By law in Spain it is compulsory to carry a set of triangles and a reflective jacket should you breakdown on the road. These were not supplied by Goldcar and we would have been responsible had the police stopped us during our stay.
Follow Up
I have since written to Goldcar and had no reply. No surprise there! Cartrawler (who provide the search technology) apologised for the incident and hope that it will “not affect my decision to use CarTrawler in future”. Although I have no complaint against Cartrawler I had to point out that I will not be using their technology again when searching for car rental because operators such as Goldcar can falsely provide low quotes that get their rates to the top of the search results then they proceed to rip-off unsuspecting holidaymakers on arrival. This makes a mockery of price comparison websites in this market.
The only solution is for major operators in the car rental search market such as Cartrawler to drop unscrupulous operators such as Goldcar from their network.
Recommended Car Rental Supplier?
In maintaining my proactive response to this rip-off I’ve been researching a large number of online car rental companies and for the moment have decided that my main recommendation is a UK company called Economy Car Hire which offers the following:
- Fully Comprehensive Insurance.
- No Insurance Excess.
- Unlimited Mileage.
- Free Additional Driver.
- All Airport Taxes & Surcharges are Included.
- Top Up Insurance at only £1.50 per day (covers tyres, windscreens, underside of vehicle, ie. parts not covered by Collision Damage Waiver).
- They Charge in Pounds when Booking & VAT is Included.
- Fuel Policy Varies According to Supplier & are Constantly Monitored.
- Excellent Customer Support Team.
Try a search for your next rental car using the following search engine:
Good morning,
my name is Gaetano Strada,
I’ve rent a car, via enoleggioauto.it, from GOLDCAR Company in Porto Airport form may 9 to 13 2012.
I have had a very unhappy experience with that Company , I’ve payd more than twice the rent price, due to a strange trick in the Company fuel policy. This is the story:
-On renting the car, I payed in advance at the rental office 89.999 euros for fuel and taxes (23%) , and I was shure, as for all the rental companies that I have always used in the world, that this money would have been balanced according to the fuel consumption, on returning the car. In fact, to be kind with the rental company, and to lead the refund to 100% of my initial payment, I REFILLED 100% of consumed fuel , worth additional 33,00 euros.
- At the end of the story, I returned the car, and the employee told me that I had choosen an “option” In the Company Fuel Policy (see annex) and so there was NOTHING TO REFUND and nothing to discuss !!!! Note that nobody, on renting the car, told me about so called “options”.They only said that the tank was full.
This company has got 99 euros from me for the fuel that was STILL in the tank , AND 33 euros I spent for refilling….this is VERY INCORRECT !!!!
PORTO AIRPORT , GOLDCAR COMPANY, time 9 may – 13 may 2012
I ask for a refund of 99 euros.!
BE VERY CAREFULL WITH THIS COMPANY …..as a result I spend more than twice the rental price, and many others customers were damaged.
Hi Gaetano
Sorry to hear about your experience with Goldcar.
Unfortunately, there are many similar stories appearing all over the internet. Just search for them and you’ll find countless complaints from unhappy customers.
Here’s another story about them that I just came across:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/feb/19/car-hire-holidaymakers-goldcar
We had a similar experience when we rented a car from Alicante airport. The petrol cost more than the actual cost of car rental. This always happens therefore we are going to use coysrent-a-car in future. They charge 12 Euros for petrol in a small car and 25 Euros on a larger car. This means that you pay only for the petrol you use. At one time this was the usual practice or some companies would put in and charge for half a tank.
We are frequent travellers between Alicante airport for an hours travel north. I too have come across this fuel rip off charge even though I do the usual research. Recordgo who I’ve used before, charged me 88 euros for fuel in a ford focus. My original costing for hire was 153 euro which ended up at 333.00 euro.I did challenge this at the desk but was fobbed off.I have taken the advice of a reviewer on this site and will use economy car hire.
I would not use Gold Car ever again,having been ripped off
at Alicante Airport in 2010. I was introduced to them by the Carjet website.
I hired a car through search engines for cheapest rate as I go frequently to Algarve. This one was through Auto Europe and the rental with Gold Car.
A Renault Clio.
I was surprised that it was full tank and return empty but the RIP-OFF of Euro 110 to fill the car made me boil over with rage.
I stay in Eastern Algarve and often go in to Spain. With some companies this entails an additional fee around € 30, but with gold Car this was € 8.50 per day and my rental ,was 18 days.
The attitude of the staff at the desk was terrible regarding any complaints about these RIP-OFF extras and indeed at the desk there were 2 other customers with exactly the same arguments Search Engines have become the Operations field for gangsters and renters should be aware that the Quotes given are False by many companies such as Gold Car
I CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY DENIA IS STRANGLING ITS TOURIST
TRADE BY REDUCING PARKING DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON.
THE MAIN CAR PARK AT THE START OF THE TOWN HAS BEEN ROPED
OFF AND PARKING IS FURTHER REDUCED BY BULL BAITING ARENA.
CRAZY !!!!
JUNE 2012
Thank you for the warning..
I just made a booking at Gold Car, but after reading here, and studing the contract carefully I cancelled the booking… Crossing my fingers and hope the money will be back….
The same happened to me at Murcia with Goldcar – also booked through Cartrawler. The start cost was 96 Euros and ended up being more than 200 Euros. We did go on a driving holiday but still had fuel in the tank at the end of our holiday. I purposely drove around until the tank was almost empty before I returned it. I complained to Cartrawler ( who made a load of excuses and didn’t want to know) and Goldcar (who just ignored me). I’ll never use either again.
I have just looked around for my upcoming car hire to Spain and found the GoldCar site (directly) to be the cheapest. I carefully looked through all of terms and everything that people have complained about above are very clearly stated in their Terms & Conditions.
They tell you that you are not covered for certain things and the extra insurance is optional. I am not sure why the poster believes that you cannot burn out a cluth within 80kilometres…if you are not used to driving a manual vehicle it can happen in a matter of minutes.
I work for a car hire company in Ireland (absolutley nothing to do with Goldcar as they do not rent in Ireland) and I am sick of seeing posts where people have complained because they have not bothered to read the T&C’s.
While I agree that the fuel policy could be a lot more customer friendly, I have to point out that they advised me of it in the terms BEFORE I booked. The price difference in the basic rate still works out cheaper for me compared to their competitors. I can understand you were not happy as you were not on a driving holiday but it was in their terms. (if it was not in the terms received by Cartrawler then it would be my view that it is them that are advertising it incorrectly – Goldcar would have had to give them their terms and if everything you complained about was not given to Cartrawler then surely they would have made a bigger issue out of it)
You could have chosen a more expensive product from the cartrawler site which perhaps had a better fuel policy.
I would also like to point out that all broker search engines offer a ‘zero excess’ policy but when you read the terms it states that it is with a 3rd party insurance company and not with the actual local supplier. You will still have an excess locally – you have to leave an excess on your card (can be up to 2000e in Ireland) and if there is any damage you have to pay the car rental company. The onus is then on you to claim it back through the 3rd party insurance provide.
Please read the terms before booking ANYTHING. You cannot complain about something that was explained before booking – if you didnt read the terms then that is your own fault. Please dont say that the terms are in small print either because compared to airline T&C’s, a 3 year old could understand these.
Michelle,
I was totally astonished by your comments and your total avoidance of the term ‘rip-off’ when talking about car hire firms. I have over 6 years of very recent experience of loads of Spanish car hire companies since retiring and purchasing a property there.
How do you explain the very common practices of :
1. Charging for a full tank of petrol of say, 100 litres, when the tank capacity of the car is 70 litres.
2. Charging for the tank of petrol at a cost well above the pump price at the garage.
3. Operating a ‘return empty’ fuel tank policy – it’s impossible !
4. Providing a less than adequate insurance and then trying to persuade the customer to pay a grossly inflted price for additional insurance.
5. Having a long list of items NOT covered by even the FULLY comprehensive insurance !
Still think it’s all honest and above board ? Spare me !
Alan Mackay.
Alan,
Please reread my post. Nowhere did I state that it was customer friendly or not a rip -off, I was just making the point that everything that was complained about AFTER the rentals was in black and white for the customer BEFORE they chose the rental company.
I rented from GoldCar last weekend and had to purchase a full tank and return empty – I did not like it any more than you did BUT I knew that it was something I would have to do because I read the terms – even though they had that policy, with the money I paid them for fuel they were still cheaper than their competitors. I returned with a half tank of fuel, hard to stomach, but I still saved money in the long run.
I would never choose a company who operates this policy if the basic rental price was comparable to a company who had a full to full policy.
My aim out of posting was to get people to read Terms & Conditions, nothing else.
Even after my post I can see that Lesley Ashwood said she didnt realise that she had to leave an excess in case of damage – I would bet my house on the information being on the site she booked and on her voucher – the question is did she read it before booking.
I truly believe that Car hire would not have the so called ‘rip off’ tag if people took the time to read. Surely you only have a case to complain about something if it is not stated to you before you book?
In reference to a company charging 100 litres for a 70 litre fuel tank, that is something I have never heard or experienced…3 or 4 litres or rounding up to the nearest 10th but never that much – Which company did you experience that with??? They must be millionaires but I would need to see proof before beliveing that.
I was charged a reasonable amount for the fuel with GoldCar…slightly higher than the petrol stations but nothing crazy.
The return empty policy is a money making policy, nobody is denying that, and is a much bigger problem in Spain than Ireland as most tourists to Ireland are on driving holidays not driving to their beach hotel and staying there.
As far as I am aware, for any company that I have ever had experience with the ‘full’ insurance (when purchased directly with supplier) covers you for everything as long as it is not driver error. I a customer loses the key, puts the wrong fuel in the vehicle or burns out the clutch, then I really do not believe that the rental company should see their insurance premium rise for driver stupidity.
(As stated in my previous post, be careful when taking out insurance with third party brokers…they have nothing to do with the actual car hire suppliers and all the terms are still the same – you are liable for an excess and the 3rd party insurance only works if you do NOT take any extra insurance with the car hire firm. If there is any damage you still pay the car company and then wait to claim back through the insurance company. Do not expect to turn up and have nothing else to pay just because you have purchased insurance off a random website – (INCLUDING ECONOMY CAR HIRE THAT THE PAGE OWNER IS RECOMENDING – YES IT OFFERS A ‘NO INSURANCE EXCESS’ BUT THAT IS WITH THEM AND NOT THE RENTAL COMPANY – YOU STILL HAVE AN EXCESS ON ARRIVAL )
The fuel policy is a money making scheme but when you rent a 20,000e car in the off peak months for 65Euro for 1 week you have to wonder how certain companies are making any money – 3 companies went bust in Ireland in the last 2 years and Spain have had a few go under as well.
Alan, in reply to your statement, it is honest and above board when everything is in the T&C’s before you booked.
Please read the T&C’s and there will be NO surprises – if there are, then walk away and book elsewhere. If they have definitely not advised you in the terms then they do not have a leg to stand on when refunding your deposit.
My husband and I travel to Spain through Portugal (we like the drive).This year we hired a car through Guerin’s agent we paid the fee and when we printed off the email as the receipt it had printed in very bold letters ‘PAID IN FULL’ So when we arrived at Lisbon airport we went to the desk to pick up paperwork etc we were then faced with our credit card having 2000euros blocked. Who has a 2000euro to spare? apparently this was to cover ‘just in case we have an accident’. My husband explained that we have a receipt saying paid in full, all the clerk kept saying was ‘ it is in the terms and conditions’. What do you do? you are caught, do you walk away and try another dealer (but apparently ALL of the hire car dealers are doing this) and we were then told to return the car empty of fuel, how does that work? Reading the above stories of other travellers it would seem these companies are raking it in at our expense. Wouldn’t you think that countries that are experiencing ‘crisis’ would show a bit of common sense, and not charge their customers the price of a second hand car for the priviledge of holidaying in their country. This event soured the beginning of our holiday and is waiting a response for the said company.
we were victims to this as well although we were with drivalia at alicante we have since found out that it works out better to book hertz or avis not as dear as there are no unexpected charges and they have loyalty cards as well when we go back to alicante next year this is what we are doing we will do everything to make sure we are not ripped off things are bad enough and this leaves a very sour taste for the start of the holiday
Susan,
Complain LOUDLY when you hire a car about the various ‘rip-offs’ : the inflated charge for a full tank of fuel ( e.g. charging for a full tank of 100 litres when the tank capacity is 70 litres !), the ‘return empty’ fuel policy ( impossible ! – just try it ! ), the less than adequate insurance charged at inflated rates which covers virtually nothing, etc., etc. If enough people complain loudly and long enough we can get things changed. Please help us achieve our aim of an honest car hire market – even if it does seem like a long shot !
Regards, Alan .
hi,
i used goldcar last summer in malaga and the whole experience still infuriates me, they offered to upgrade my car which i considered really nice of them until i realised that it had a bigger tank!!!!!!!!!!! which resulted in the most expensive fill of petrol ever. we were only on a weeks holiday which meant that we returned the car more than half full which resulted in a nice profit for goldcar. No way would we use a full tank of petrol over a week unless we went on a marathon drive every day.we had to wait over 30 minutes to get the car and it seems to be company policy to frighten you into taking extra cover, to keep you waiting and they certainly do not have a friendly staff. I complained in writing but with no success. This year, we stayed away from car rental and used the efficient local bus service thus saving ourselves over 250 euros. I told my friends to avoid goldcar as they are a rip off!
Hiring a car for use during a holiday in Spain is a minefield. I have hired cars from loads of different companies over the past 6 years since retiring and buying a property in Spain and, virtually without exception, they are all racketeers and will milk you for what they can extort from you, with the ‘return with empty tank’ as the top ‘rip-off’, followed closely by the less than full insurance cover which they offer. Honesty and integrity are words which do NOT feature in their dictionary !
PLEASE, everyone, speak up and complain LOUDLY at every opportunity when hiring a car – it is only by doing this will we get things improved. Complain not only to the car hire companies but to the internet search engines as well as they are just as bad. The more people who complain the better the chance of things improving.
Hi Alan
It is indeed a “minefield” in the world of car hire. For that reason I’ve added any companies that I’m happy with to our Spain car hire page.
Thanks for your comments.
Gerry
I hired through Goldcar at Malaga airport this weekend and their service was shocking. I had to wait in a queue for over an hour just to get to the desk and when I got there I was told I had to take the extra insurance because I have a young child. I pointed out on my rental voucher that insurance was included but the guy told me it was not. I said I was getting very tired and fed up after the long wait and I did not want the extra insurance I just wanted to get the car and get to my hotel.
He told me again you have a young son you need the insurance for his protection and he would not let me leave without the Insurance. As it was just €35 I agreed as long as he hurried up. He then told me I got a free upgrade to a 5 door car but as there were just two of us I told him I was happy enough with a 3 door, then the fuel €85 I got a skoda Fabia which has a 50l tank, turns out they charge €15 for refuelling the car and the total is €140 which didn’t add up! Oh it’s €55 for the insurance he made a mistake earlier!
There was nothing in the terms and conditions about the fuel charges. He then charged my card and asked me to sign an electric pad, turns out I was signing to accept their terms and conditions without even knowing it, and the paperwork i got was in Spanish so I have no idea what I have agreed to.
After doing some research even the insurance doesn’t cover you. There are stories of people being charged thousands of pounds upon return for damage that was not even there, there is one story where a guy dropped the car off at the airport and handed the keys to a Goldcar rep but was contacted when he got home to say the car had not been returned and charged £5000.
I will be taking photos of the car parked in one of their bays and of the person I hand the keys to when I return. I will never use Goldcar again, I booked through Hertz last year at Reus airport and never had any of this hassle
Good morning Gerry
Just returned back from Spain with my family and we had the worst car rental experience with Goldcar at Malaga airport. Its incredible how this can be allowed to happen to so many customers every day as my story is identical to what has happened to you and many others.
I am considering creating a Facebook page to make people aware of this scam so as to save them money, time and frustration and at the same time stop companies such as Goldcar from benefiting from innocent people. What do you think? Ideally I would need support from other victims for it to have more impact
We spent 3.5 hours at the airport before the car keys were handed over to us and had to go through the bullying experience of them making us pay the additional cost of £106 for car insurance and petrol. I have since refilled the petrol tank and it only cost €50 yet they charged me €87.
In addition the car had a major failure (clutch) after 5 days and they force me to travel back to the airport to get a replacement car.
We had booked a Renault Clio with a SatNav but were given a Ford Fiesta and they laughed at us when we mentioned the SatNav. As regards to the model they should us the complete list and Renault Clio was an option yet when we booked online it was confirmed as available and I have paperwork to prove it.
What do you think, would you support me if I create a Facebook page to make other travellers aware of this injustice?
Regards,
Nikos
Hi Nikos
You would be amazed at how many similar stories I receive about this company. The ones posted here are just the tip of the iceberg. Considering how common this despicable practice has become I’d be more than happy to make our many newsletter subscribers and Facebook followers aware of any such page. Just let me know when it’s live.
Regards
Gerry
I too used Goldcar in Malaga airport 2 weeks ago, and have a slightly different gripe – Having waited in a queue for over an hour to get the car, we finally got our keys and went to find it. On finding the car (right next to the Goldcar office, a passing car stopped, someone jumped out and grabbed our hand luggage which contained our passports, all of our money, all ID, house keys, villa keys, car keys, directions, various electrical items (ipad etc)….literally everything of any value (I know we shouldn’t have had it all in one bag, but hindsight is a wonderful thing), and they also took our 8 month old baby’s change bag containing all his nappies, food etc.
We were obviously very distressed, including my 5 year old daughter who was stood next to the bags when they were snatched. There were LOTS of Goldcar staff around in the car park, and one of them came to us asking if we got the numberplate – we said No, and asked where the police station was and he just said ‘Pah’ and waved his hands at us in a dismissive manner and walked off.
When we finally found the police station they told us that happens 3 times a day in that car park as there are no barriers to get in or out. The fact that Goldcar obviously didn’t care about what had just happened to us even though we were their customers, and next to their office has made me so angry that I will be taking this up with them directly. (not that it will help if any of the other comments on here are to go by).
For what it’s worth we were also shocked at being charged 100 Euros for a tank of fuel in a 1.6 Ford Focus, however due to the theft we then had to make 2 subsequent trips back from Nerja to Malaga to go to the British Consulate to be stung for 496 Euros for 4x emergency passports at least we were able to deliver the car back on empty.
I am now waiting for the next ‘robbery’ in which they take money from our card, judging by some of the reports on here….
We have found “Enjoy Car Hire” in Murcia Airport very good. Have used them about four times with no problems.
I now take pictures beforehand of any cars that I hire and I let them see that I am doing so.
I hired a car in England and didn’t take out the extra insurance. It was just for the convenience of driving to my friends’ house and park in their drive. When I took the car back the chap looked it over and found a panel that was coming away. ‘Oh dear, oh dear’ he said. I pushed the panel back and said ‘don’t you oh dear me’ if that panel keeps popping off it’s nothing to do with me, it must be like it all the time. He said that it would be 750 pounds (that was how much they charge if ‘anything’ is wrong). I said that it had better not come off of my credit card. I watched it over the next few months and it didn’t, but I got the impression that they were looking for anything that would get them this ridiculous surcharge.
We flew to Tenerife North Airport at 21.40. We booked the car in GoldСar. Their office is open until 22. First we called and asked if they could wait for us after the plane landed. If they can not, then we would have booked a car at a different location. The answer was yes. They promised to wait for our plane to the end. In any case, we wrote about it in the reservation request, indicating the flight number. After all that you read up on this company, whether it is necessary to write that in the 22 hours we were left with the bags at the airport without a car? Phone in their office did not respond. We had to take a taxi to get to our hotel in the south of the island.
The next day we called the office in the hope that we will get our car at the hotel. GoldСar offered us a ride back to the North Airport (90 km) to pick up the car!
Of course, we have to rent a car in another place!
Inexcusable disregard for the customer!
I returned from alicante two weeks ago and found I had been charged for the fuel despite returning it full as instructed by the staff at goldcar on collection . I complained to carhire3000 who I booked through but they have not being supportive at all . What recourse is there?
The number of complaints about Goldcar both here and on many other websites (do a Google search) is quite incredible yet I’m not aware of any action being taken against them. There is a clause attached to your credit card known as “Section 75″ which means that your credit card company has some liability when there is a problem resulting from a purchase over £100. It’s probably worth contacting them to see if you can get any support.
Anyone else have any suggestions? Contact your Euro-MP? Anyone else had any experience of dealing with similar matters?
I couldn’t agree more with the countless criticisms that are heaped on Goldcar. I really felt ripped off in Lisbon last week when I had to agree to pay as much for insurance of the car for a week, as I paid to rent it. Having rented cars in Med. countries many times and without problems I of course expected the car to fully insured. But no: A choice of three insurance models were presented to me, and – driving in a foreign country – I felt I had to accept the “full insurance”-model, which is included as standard in other companies’ policies. So no more Goldcar for us – ever!!
Only a shame that there is no way one could make sure that all these very informative comments are known by prospective customers before they sign for the use of a “Goldcar”.
I go to Spain on a quarterly basis. The closest airport for my final destination is Malaga. I used to hire a car in the airport. In April 2012 I made the mistake and hired a car from Goldcar. I didn’t have problems during my trip, I returned the car in time as per contract. Flew back home. The next day I arrived home and checked my bank account statement. Goldcar had charged me in USD although I informed them that the bank account assigned to my bank card is in Euros. They converted the Euro amount to USD and then back to Euros. This conversion cost me 56.78 Euro. I contacted Goldcar by e-mail and via phone but they never refunded me.
In August 2012 we went again to our friends in Spain. In August the Malaga airport is pretty crowded so I asked my wife to hire a car while I waited for our baggage. I forgot to mention to my wife to avoid Goldcar. By the time I got my luggage, my other half was already waiting with a Goldcar car key. The answer to my question why exactly this company she said: “there were less people at Goldcar’s desk”. She’d already paid everything so I yielded to fate.
Again no problems during the trip, car returned on time, flew home. After three weeks on my wife’s bank account an additional charge of 130 Euros appeared. Claimer: Goldcar. I accessed Goldcar’s webpage and found two invoices under our client code: first for the car hire (which was ok) and a second one for unknown reasons. There was no description on the invoice just the amount. We contacted Goldcar by e-mail and phone and after more than one month I got the answer: the additional charge relates to special cleaning which is ridiculous as we returned the car in the same condition as we received it, without damages or dirt.
The biggest problem in the whole story is that my bank paid these charges even though I informed them that they shouldn’t. Once your card data is provided to Goldcar (ie. when you pay for car hire on the spot), later on they can charge you whatever amount they want and several times. They can send invoices to the bank with whatever description – and strangely the bank will transfer the money to Goldcar. And afterwards you can chase your money by calling Goldcar (it’s pretty hard to reach Goldcar’s Customer Service and the international call costs are expensive) but you’re wasting your precious time. So if you don’t want to have stroke, if you would like to have calm après-holiday then avoid Goldcar. Pick another company but read the objective opinions about it before contacting them.
Please note I didn’t write down the above because Goldcar got my shirt out, but to help others not to experience the same.
Yet another shocking example of what this company seems to be getting away with without suffering any consequences. When will it end?
Read your contract before you hire. It says “special cleaning” charge may apply … that means they will charge you €50 or even more at the end of the rental when you return the vehicle. You will probably have left the country by the time you receive this charge. We had our WORST EVER car hire from Goldcar in Gran Canaria airport in May 2012.
Hi, Just want to confirm all above comments! Avoid Gold Car at all times. I was renting so many times with various companies and never seen thieves like this. Just came back from a visit to Mallorca, Spain. When picking up the car I was asked to pay €85 for a full tank of petrol (no other choice). I have rented a Ford Fiesta which has a tank capacity of 47 litres and the current petrol price in Spain is around €1,50 so I was ripped off by about €15 here.
The second thing is that the tank wasn’t even full … I have done 500km averaging 7.2L per 100km which makes 36 litres – you know the way you fill up your car and it shows full tank before tank is really full – I think they are pulling out this trick. I think they have stolen around €30 euros from me all together. I have written a complaint but no reply so far.
Once again beware and avoid this scum.
Greg
I would not use Gold Car ever again having been ripped off at Lisbon Airport on 22-10-2012.
There are a few issues here, and people who don’t hire cars regularly need to be aware of them.
1. All hire companies require a credit card to block off the excess – unless you buy their “no excess” insurance.
2. If you buy your own insurance you still have an initial liability for damage to the rental car, and you will need to recover any costs you incur through your own policy later.
3. Basic insurance is the same as in the UK and other countries – it only covers damage to a 3rd party.
4. Terms and conditions of all hire companies used to be virtually identical, Goldcar have moved the goalposts, and now they’re not – read them carefully.
It has been claimed earlier that Goldcar’s full/empty fuel policy is quite clear, this is it:
ORDINARY FULL/EMPTY OPTION
Customers who choose this option pay for a full fuel tank at the Goldcar facilities, at the market price for fuel of the type recommended by the vehicle’s manufacturer.
By selecting this option, customers waive a refund for any fuel remaining in the tank when they return the vehicle.
Goldcar provides this service at competitive fuel prices as a courtesy to our customers.
OK you must pay for a tank of fuel, and there is no refund. However, the “courtesy” service is no such thing – it costs €15 (this should be deducted from the charge when calculating your fuel costs).
Secondly, they state the fuel is “at the market price” and then say it’s “at competitive fuel prices” – quite obviously one contradicts the other. The truth is they charge a premium for the fuel and even if it’s just 5c more than the pump price, you will find the total cost of a full tank, with the courtesy charge, will cost you €18-20 more than filling it yourself.
Finally, some of Goldcar’s T&C’s are just scary, and wide open to abuse. Being responsible for a failed clutch, when you have no idea of its condition really is high risk! Also, your liability for loss of income while a car is being repaired is passing a basic business cost on to the customer.
Keep away – simple!
Just noticed the Spain Car hire link recommends Holiday Autos. Beware! They use Goldcar, and other companies that operate a full/empty fuel policy. You will not know who you’re booking with until it has been confirmed. However, they will change your booking if you are unhappy.
Bottom line – check the terms and conditions before confirming any booking!!!
We hired a car last week at Goldcar in Alicante airport and my advice is that you should check the condition of the tyres before taking the car and check whether there’s a warning triangle in the car. We had to pay 30 Euros for a missing triangle that was never provided and I was afraid every day because of the terrible state of the tyres.
I just have had very bad experience with reservation I have done thought website http://www.easycar.com.
My booking Voucher was not accepted by the car renting company GOLDCAR, after they found my booking and enter all information they told me that their system can not proceed with car renting because of some finantional riscs. Same happen when my wife tried to make renting on her name!
I do have use another renting companies before many times and no problem was at all.
I do have 10 years driver licence and my credit card have no limits etc.
I called to my bank they assure me all is good with card i also called to police to find out what is wrong – they all reply there are no problems!
So I had no car!
Prices are so much hight in other renting offices! So I rent car from another company with no problems but 3 times expencive!!!!!!!!
I have spent 4 hours of my time by solving all this situation.
I should tell it was booking for 5 days final price was around 120Euros (very cheap for type of car I choose and amount of days I rent) I personal opinion that GOLDCAR deny my booking for economic reasons or luck of cars. Since the only official explanation I got was:
=======================
Dear Sir/Madam,
Thank you for your email.
I can confirm the following response from the supplier below:
“Our database checks the details of the documentation provided by each customer. In some cases this leads to an alert associated with the information provided by the customer that does not allow us to proceed with the contract.
This alert advises us that there is a financial or security risk associated with the information provided and we cannot provide the customer with a vehicle. Unfortunately due to data protection concerns Goldcar cannot to provide details of this alert.”
If you still unhappy with the response above, please contact Goldcar directly as easyCar is not liable for your claim.
Kind regards,
Sophie Phillips
easyCar Customer Care
easyBus House
North Circular Road
Park Royal West
London
NW10 7XP
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Now I am going to “Consumer Cort” to denounce both on Goldcar and easyCar.
Please if you got same experiences please do the same.
Been using car hire for many years at Malaga and Gib.THE ONLY COMPANY TO NOT CHARGE FOR ANY AND I MEAN ANY EXTRAS IS BRUNOS CAR HIRE.They will seem to be expensive when you go to their web page but you can always e-mail them for a better price.Ok the cars might not be brand new but I have never had one let me down,they dont ask for extras for PETROL,INSURANCE,TYERS,WINDSCREEN,EXTRA DRIVERS,BABY SEATS OR ANYTHING ELSE YOU CAN THINK OF. We were stuck in Spain re the volcano for 6 days over our agreed hire time you know what they didn’t charge any extra. Also you don’t have to wait in the car hire lounge, just a short walk to the public car park and they meet you there. If the owner of this web page could move this post to a more readable position if only to help people understand that MOST CAR HIRE COMPANIES WILL ALWAYS ASK FOR MORE MONEY ON ARRIVAL AND A MASSIVE DEPOSIT ON YOUR CREDIT CARD. I say we should support companies like BRUNOS for being honest and having the bottle to be different.
Thanks for recommending this company. However, it’s important not to tar all the big car hire companies with the same brush as they aren’t all guilty of imposing the same additional charges as Goldcar seem to regularly add on to the bill.