Goldcar Car Rental Rip-Off

141 thoughts on “Goldcar Car Rental Rip-Off”

1. 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 rented from Goldcar Rentals. I handed the car back in perfect condition with 3 independent witnesses on 5th February 2016. I watched my card for two months and then relaxed. On 04/04/16 Gold Car Rental fraudulently took 149€ from my credit card citing ” extra cleaning ” as the reason. I saw this when my statement came through at the end of the month. This was clever as it puts my chance to argue outside the 3 month limit set by the banks to forcefully take the money back and then invite a challenge. Holiday Autos (the agents) questioned this and the delay and were told by Gold Car that they had an unfortunate administrative problem at that time. [ They have a history of saying that they happen to have had a particular problem in some area or other at the time they committed fraud ] Since Holiday Autos are merely an agent not the actual rental company there was nothing further they could do.
       Solution: do not rent from Gold Car. Rent from your holiday provider or airline provider.

   • 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 have read many comments about Goldcar which seem to hit the crown as far as ripping off customers is concerned. My advice to stop such practices is to inform the European Consumer Centre (ECC) I do not know if it is within their power to stop such malpractices but at least they could inform people via their newsletters ! To finish on a positive note I rent my car at Malaga airport in July from Del Paso car rentals and was very satisfied (no problem with the fuel policy – you get a full tank and are supposed to bring it back full !) Only little problem : their offices are not located in the airport so you have a 5 min drive to reach them via their shuttle van. The advantage though is that there is a petrol station next door when you return the car !!!

   • I have had a very similar experience with Gold Car rentals. Long Queues, hidden overpriced insurance costs and very poor service – my advice stay away. Use a reputable company for car hire.

     • Just got ripped off by GOLDCAR / 29 May 2016!!!
       A hidden €53 on the “one-way” rental! I think DoYouSpain are responisble to ensure the customer gets what the customer agreed with DoYouSpain. . . They happily take the booking and then its by bye . . .

       • I agree. DoYouSpain know that Goldcar cheat people, but as they earn from the ‘theft’, they keep quiet and continue promoting them. I won’t ever use either company again and have told my 22,000 Twitter followers not to either.

       • I rented a car through do you spain on several occasions but you know how good a company are when something goes wrong. they put me in touch with choice rent a car Ibiza. so far they have done nothing to help get my £700 insurance deposit returned and I have to get my card company to get my money back. they seem a good option when you take out the rental but after 6 weeks of returning the car and not getting the deposit back it has cost me over £1000 to rent a car for 10 days. not a good option, not as cheap as it seemed, no support to get my money back and they are still advertising this company to other customers

   • Hi ALL
     I will NEVER EVER rent a CAR WITH GOLD CAR AGAIN !!!!
     I would like to add my disappointment with dealing with your Bergamo , Italy branch of Gold Car. I am a returning customer and either myself or the party that I travel with always used GOLD Car in the past during holidays and business in Europe.
     Last year on 11.2014 I hired a car for a full week with full insurance and all the additions as I have done in other countries as I had always found your company to give a very good level of service.
     After returning to Ireland and 4 months later I noticed a payment has been taken out of my account without my consent by GOLD CAR Bergamo.
     When I called to GOLD CAR to ask why I was charged I was only told I had a traffic violation and that I was to contact the Police with Police Exp No .
     I contacted the Police and they know nothing of this penalty so now I am annoyed that firstly my account has been accessed without any notification and this appears to be a false claim and secondly that this is taking such a long time to get answers from your company.

     The amount on your claim form states a fine of €94.00 yet only €40.00 was removed from my account, can this transaction be explained to me please ? Can I also as why my personal account was accessed without my consent ?
     I won’t be happy to use GOLD CAR for car hire in the future if I am not satisfied with the result of this enquiry, as I have stated in the past to your Bergamo branch that I have no issue with paying any fine or penalty if I can be shown proof of any wrong doing on my behalf. So far all I can see happening is nobody is eager to help me with my questions and everything is very vague and I am not getting the help that I need.

     • Hi Kala – Please note that we have nothing to do with Goldcar. This is a compilation of comments from many people who are unhappy with their experience of renting from this company.

   • I have used every hire company operating in Spain
     I have little sympathy for these tales
     1) Do NOT use 3rd party agents ,it immediately muddies the liabilty waters deal ONLY. with he hire company
     2) Lhave received SEVERAL refunds on Full/ empty ALL from Goldcar, LISTEN to explanation on fuel options
     3) Do NOT assume that ‘some third party website’ has i sured your car, it HASN’T it has only insured THE WAIVER ( deposit) You WILL lose it if you damage car, you will then have claim on the lost deposit, a difficult procedure as you will need Goldcar or police to confirm the accident actually happened and the amount lost. Rest assured neither will ANY police or Goldcar staff make this a priority Statistically you have a very slim chance of a repayment and if succesful can take months.
     It is bloody liberty but presumably it looks better to advertise £35 a week care hire and then tell you about insurance than to advertise £130. But clearly this is how they make their money , factor it in to you holiday costs Believe me you CAN’T avoid it.
     AND its exactly the same here, if not worse I was given a ‘ FREE’ replacement car after an accident, really ? when I collected car, same procedure )100 quid insurance ! Some free replacement

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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….

5. 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.

6. 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.

       • Not true about ‘no surprises’ I am afraid. I was not even asked if I wanted extra insurance but was told I would need to leave a credit card deposit to cover the excess. I was happy with this a I had taken out third party insurance to cover the excess. When I returned the car and enquired about a refund of the deposit I was told that this was additional insurance that I had asked for and it would not be refunded. So straightforward rip off, my word against theirs.

         In the interests of fairness the fuel policy (this was in Tenerife) was pick up full and return full with a deposit to cover a tank of fuel (€49) which was promptly refunded soon after returning the car. So it is just the insurance scam I am still pursuing, in the hope that Goldcar may admit it was an honest mistake on their part.

       • I have just returned fro a holiday in Greece.

         Please note that all of the practices are also implemented there.

         TERRIBLE HIRE COMPANY!

7. 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.

8. 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 .

9. 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!

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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….

14. We have found “Enjoy Car Hire” in Murcia Airport very good. Have used them about four times with no problems.

15. 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.

16. 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!

17. 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?

18. 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”.

19. 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?

20. 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.

21. 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

22. I would not use Gold Car ever again having been ripped off at Lisbon Airport on 22-10-2012.

23. 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!

24. 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!!!

25. 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.

26. 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
    =======================

    Now I am going to “Consumer Cort” to denounce both on Goldcar and easyCar.
    Please if you got same experiences please do the same.

27. 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.

28. DON’T USE GOLDCAR

    – They asked us to do a pre-payment deposit of €1200 with the VISA of the main driver. We could only do one o 900€ because of the limit of the card. They didn’t let us do it with two different charges of two different cards. Result: we had to pay for the best insurance which was about 15eur/day, more expensive that the car itself.

    – We had to pay 90€ in advance for a full deposit, which is not reasonable for a small car. We were told that they would reimburse us the petrol left when we returned the car. As we didn’t agree with the price we gave back the car with the tank full. At the end it turned to be that the maximum they could reimburse us was 7/8th, which has no sense at all. Btw, 90eur was that high that filling half of the deposit + paying this 1/8th was still worth.

    – There are some special tolls in Portugal where you can only pay with a special device. We were told that there wasn’t any in our way. Finally there were two and we had to do a big round through secondary roads that made us loose a lot of time.

    – We finally filled a reclamation form and they haven’t still answered… I don’t think they do it.

    So we finally spent three times what we were supposed to pay.

    • Just back from a 6 week tour of Spain & was horrified at how many Goldcar stickers I saw in cars. Their cheap quotes (pre-extra charges) obviously work for them.

29. Our clients experience those long queues at the GOLDCAR desk at Alicante Airport, also.

30. DO NOT rent from this company, after reading all the terms and conditions, I thought I knew everything including their fuel policy. I picked the car full and on my journey returning to the airport I put 1 litre of petrol into the car just to make sure I got there, the car was literally on fumes in order to get the best value fot money on there rip off fuel policy. Anyway 1 week after returning, Goldcar dipped my account for 150 Euro, after a conversation with their unhelpful idiotic saff I was told that it was for extra cleaning, which was sand on the floor. As I was staying in a apartment block 5 stories high I did not have the use of a hoover. Is somebody getting paid 150 euro to hoover a car? This is just a rip off. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY – THEY ALSO TRADE UNDER ARGUS CAR RENTAL

    • Hi Mick

      Yet another customer ripped off by this company. With regard to your reference to Argus Car Rental, from what I understand this company uses the search technology of Car Trawler which returns results in its search for many of the main car hire companies. Goldcar is just one of the suppliers in their system. Argus cannot be held directly responsible for the unscrupulous behaviour of Goldcar but whether Goldcar should be one of their providers is another matter.

      Regards

      Gerry

      • Thanks Gerry for your reply, yes Argus are only a search engine, but still I will be contacting them Monday morning as they have an office here in Dublin. I have kind of accepted that I will not get a refund but I will leave no stone unturned to publicize this company. My wife is currently contacting the national newspaper. Whether we get anywhere or not will remain to be seen, I will update you as we proceed. I think a small campaign on Facebook might spur a little more. Thanks Gerry

        • Good Luck Mick – I look forward to hearing of your progress.

31. GOLDCAR is a SCAM! Stay away!

    I found on the Internet several forums and statements from more than 3.000 people that were robbed by Spanish car rental company GOLDCAR. Unfortunately not in time, as I recently got robbed too. Operating within EU laws, I would claim that GOLDCAR’s business model is illegal. Hopefully someone one day stops them from ruining people’s vacations.

    I hired a car from GOLDCAR in Lisbon airport, using CarTrawler – all basic insurances included. When picking up the key’s at GOLDCAR’s new counter in Lisbon airport, the GOLDCAR lady tried very hard, to sell me additional insurances. I’m used to this, knowing it’s a part of their commission model, so I refused. Never the less, the GOLDCAR lady continued to repeat, that she recommended an additional insurance, and after answering “no thanks” seven (7) times, she told me that this was a “big mistake”, and that I for sure would “regret the decision”. She even told it in a very odd and rude way that made me feel quite uncomfortable. Working with business and sales development myself, I’m normally quite tolerant in cases where sales people get commission on their sales, but this was too much.

    Now, after some days in Portugal, I returned the car as picked up (with some big scratches around, that I fortunately got marked during pickup). The guy at GOLDCAR drop point checked the car, didn’t find anything that wasn’t already marked, and then asked for my copy of the papers. After a few minutes he returned, went to the very dirty wind screen, wiped the dirt away on a 10 cm area in upper left corner of the wind screen and pointed out a microscopic, 0.5 by 0.5 mm tiny white dot placed at the edge of the wind screen. It was so tiny, that if you didn’t know it was there, you would never see it – even standing right in front of the screen with total clean windows.

    I immediately felt the “setup”. Why would he suddenly come back and wipe the dust of in a 10 cm area, and point out something that you would never see, if you didn’t know it was already there? I immediately claimed that this small white dot never could be categorized as damage, and that it probably already was there at pickup. I mean, we are not talking about one of those 1 – 2 mm small craters caused thrown-up pebbles. We are talking about a tiny white dot, smaller than a single, white sugar particle, and only in the absolute top surface of the glass.

    But no, GOLDCAR demanded 400 Euro for a new wind screen. They claimed that they needed to change it for “security reasons”, and I was shocked. I felt this as a really unethical way of doing business. In pure anger, I went over to the cleaned, “pickup ready” cars from GOLDCAR, and documented with my camera, that 7 out of 21 cars (30%) had even bigger “cosmetic” dots on their wind screens. How could they send all these car’s on the street, if a tiny, tiny white dot, at the very edge of the wind screen far from drivers side, made up such a big security issue, that the wind screen needed to be changed?

    It’s probably needless to say, that my arguing didn’t last at all. Despite my protest, GOLDCAR kept 400 Euro of my deposit, and we all know that this wind screen won’t be changed, and we also know, that the next customer won’t see the small white dot before it might be pointed out by a GOLDCAR employee when returning the car. Being very cheap on the search engines and then robbing people afterwards seems to be their business model.

    Shame on you GOLDCAR!

    • Hi Nis … yet another shocking horror story about this company. How they continue to get away with such behaviour is hard to believe.

      Regards

      Gerry

32. Unfortunately the fuel policy is something all companies do at Malaga airport. We always advise our guests to use malagacar.com: they are trustworthy, reliable and offer good prices.

33. I have used malagacar.com at Malaga airport for 10 years now. Never any problems at all. Highly recommended. And they are the cheapest too..

    • Hi Svein

      I’ve also used them at Malaga Airport and have been very satisfied with their service.

      Thanks

      Gerry

34. Incredible bad experience, the fuel policy is absolutely a fraud.
    They only inform you after closing all the contract details, in my case 131 Euro of advanced fuel costs. Of course, more than what fits into the Ford Galaxy effective usage during the day trip estimated 20 Eur… no chance of getting back the money, only a paper where to ask for reimbursement on their Internet site.
    Staff non-existent, unfriendly.
    Car was with damage, not registered by them. Avoid using them, waiting queue very long, only one person serving customers.
    Don’t use them if you want to avoid arguing and being ripped off.

35. I too have used Goldcar in the past and would never use them again due to their
    ****************HIDDEN SURCHARGES.**************
    After all the bad press and internet pages on Goldcar WHY is there always a queue at
    their desk in Alicante. ??????
    Steve

    • Hi Steve

      I’m sure the queue is because they “appear” cheap from initial online searches before taking into account any additional charges.

      Regards

      Gerry

36. i only have to say one thing.
    i rent the car for 20€ in the net in portugal (i am portuguese) faro station,and at the end they charge me more than 100€ with the policy of “full tank”. I advise for all costumers, DON’T USE GOLD CAR!!!!!!!!! At least in Portugal.

37. Same sad story for me I am afraid. Picked up the car and saw some tiny marks on the door. The guy told me that it was nothing to be worried about as it wasn’t damage. I should have insisted to have it marked on the papers as when I returned, one guy took the car and said it was fine but another guy went straight to the door and spotted the marks. An obvious scam that costed me 200EUR. Combined with their rip-off fuel and cleaning policy, these people are obvious thieves and you should stay away from them. NEVER AGAIN!

38. I would not recommend Goldcar Fuertaventura as they cheat their customers:
    – they charged me 154 e for insurance telling me that I pay for deposit,
    – they charged me 60 e for cleaning the car (which I do not think that should cost more than 20e)

    I suggest to use other suppliers as your cheap car may not be as cheap as you think
    I was using car from 29/07 to 12/08/2014 in Fuertaventura

39. I too have had a bad experience with Goldcar, Alicante Airport. Fuel charge of 120 euros for a full tank of petrol in a Seat Ibiza! (holds 50 litres at 1.20 euro/£ = £2/litre!) I asked if they would refund the full 120 euros if I returned it full, to be told ‘no’, they would refund only up to 75%. So I did this expecting 90 euros back in my account, only to find they have an admin charge of 25 euros that they take off first! Also forced to pay 150 euro for FC insurance or they wanted 600 euros off my Visa card for them to help themselves to I assume for previous damage to car. How do these companies remain so busy? Do they not want repeat business from happy customers?

40. We had a similar experience. We ordered a Fiat 500 and got a Renault Megane which was too big for my wife. The Megane was junk. It even had ‘Brake Failure Warning’ light showing on the dashboard. When we phoned the SOS number we got no reply so we phoned Reservations where they told us not to worry about it – all Meganes are like that (I think Renault will take issue with this). We are now trying to get a refund and some recompense for ruining our holiday. Will post updates as the issue progresses. With all this bad publicity how on earth do Goldcar stay in business?

41. Checking on a number of recommendations and one of those being Martin Lewis and his money saving expert website he gives some great tips to save money and pick the companies with a full/full fuel terms.
    http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire

42. I was also scammed by Goldcar company.
    They took more than 80 euros from me.
    Do yourself a favor and go someplace else.
    Companies that work with Goldcar should also be responsible for this mess as it is equivalent to robbery.

43. This firm should be put out of business very soon, because they are deceiving people!

    Goldcar is a FRAUD! If you are in the market for a rental, do not fall for this firm’s scam! Goldcar is an absolute FRAUD! I will share what might happen to you if you select this firm:

    I live in Lisbon and have chosen to use its great public transportation instead of owning a car. Once in a while I rent a car to get away and have a relaxing weekend. This time I did it with Goldcar (Trashcar would better describe it though). It was the 16th time I rented a car in Lisbon, but the first with this trashy company. They deceive you in every way they can. First, they charge you a 23 euro fee for gas (which I only found out because I am inquisitive. Otherwise they hide this fee in the price of the tank of gas), then they tell you that in your online reservation you selected the option to return the car with an empty tank (I never even had such option available to me at reservation, which I confirmed latter. The reservation document says nothing about returning an empty tank). What that means is that they charge you 74 euros for a full tank (way overpriced for the little car I rented) and, unless you return the car with no gas, they pocket the rest of the gas that was left. It does not stop there though. To get you to pay for Via Verde (the auto-charge toll) they lie to you saying the system on the highway does not allow you to pay cash or credit card and, if you don’t activate their Via Verde device, you will get a fee of 79 euros. Believing in the Goldcar’s agent, I went ahead and took their Via Verde device, only to find out that I could have paid with cash or credit card.

    In none of the other 15 times I’d rented a car in Lisbon was I deceived (in other words, there are plenty of good options for you to choose from. Avoid problems for yourself and do not go with the fraudulent Goldcar!). This time I was deceived in many ways. Do you know what the worst part is though? It’s not the money part. It is that the thought of being deceived was stuck in my mind throughout the weekend, which made what would otherwise be a nice weekend a pretty uneventful one.

44. We rented a Goldcar vehicle (pickup Malaga airport) through Rental.com for November 20-29 2014.

    In the voucher, it stated that the rental included Collision Damage Waiver and Theft Protection with zero excess. It also said the CDW coverage excluded damage to tyres, rims, glass, tow trucks, etc, and that we would have the option at pickup to either leave a deposit to cover these items, OR purchase additional insurance to cover these exclusions.

    We were willing to take the risk with things like tyres, glass, etc. But at pickup, the Goldcar employee behind the counter (Jose Antonio) INSISTED that the CDW covered ONLY damage to third-car parties involved in an accident, and provided NO coverage whatsoever to our own rental vehicle. If we wanted to protect our car, we had to buy an extra “Relax” policy at 82.19 euros – 150% more than we had to pay for the rental itseself.

    I am not an insurance expert, and Jose Antonio insisted again and again that CDW meant that we would have to pay for any and all damage done to OUR car, that we did not want to take the risk and took the extra insurance. Now that I am home, I have the chance to look up CDW on the FAQ of rental.com website (and other places on internet) and this is what I read:

    Collision Damage Waiver…provides cover for damage that occurs to the vehicle itself. This means that the car you’re driving is covered – however, there is almost always an excess and in most destinations there are exclusions to your cover. Items such as windscreens, tyres, undercarriage, replacement locks, replacement keys and towing charges are often not covered by the CDW. Please check your confirmation voucher under the “What’s Included” section.

    As we had CDW with ZERO excess, our rental car actually had all the coverage we wanted and needed. This means one of two things:

    1. That Jose Antonio does NOT know what CDW with zero excess means (in which case he should NOT be working at a car rental place)

    2. He knew exactly what it means, but was LYING to get more money from us.

    I find the first amateur and the second contemptible – in either case, I am going to be spreading this information about GoldCar as far and wide as I can to ensure other people avoid such unneccessary payments. I will certainly NEVER be booking with the company again.

45. Just an update to everyone reading this thread:
    We have a place near Malaga and have hence used a lot of car rentals from Malaga airport. Goldcar in 2014 moved to a “flex fuel” system, putting them at the front of the pack of all the low cost rentals. You still pay upfront for a full tank of petrol, and their website states clearly what this could cost depending on the vehicle class you have chosen. BUT NOW, you get a refund rounded to the nearest 1/4 tank for whatever you do not use. This is much better than the rent full/return empty that the other low cost car rental places at Malaga operate with.

    We find goldcar to be the best car rental company for rentals of 5-6 days or longer as then their low daily rate makes it worthwhile paying for this tank of fuel and standing in the line to pick up the car (can be quite long. Do make sure you check in online before you go and your wait for the car is cut from 10mins to 3min – but at least you are in the terminal waiting rather than offsite like other cheap companies). If it’s a shorter rental it’s better to go with a “pick up full / return empty” place, such as Enterprise (our favourite), hertz, europcar… whichever internationally recognised car rental place that’s doing the best rate at the time, just make sure it’s full to full fuel policy on whatever short term rental you get.

    With Malaga car rentals, never assume anything. Read all the T&Cs before you choose the rental provider. Don’t use a price comparison website for the booking like car trawler as you won’t get the full T&Cs before you book. Check where the car pickup will happen that you don’t have to wait for a bus to take you there. Get your excess insurance online before you leave (much cheaper) and don’t let anyone tell you that you need to pay extra for excess insurance once you’re there. Don’t expect Goldcar to be polite or give you an immaculately cleaned car, if you want this you need to pay up for somewhere like enterprise. You get what you pay for. Generally I think Goldcar are fair and good for the price and I am sorry to see so many people have been negatively surprised by them.

    • Hi Rebecca

      Thanks for your comment, you’re the first person to have something positive about this company. As you can see from the length of this thread there are few clients who would describe them as “fair”. My own experience is certainly consistent with the “unfair” experience.

      Best Regards

      Gerry

46. Fair comment Rebecca,
    But I detest the high pressure insurance sales attitude upon collection.
    The FLEXFUEL robbery after you have left the country is a nice touch also.
    Notice the huge line of people at the GOLD CAR counter at the airport, Even though the car is usually booked and paid for on line.
    Strange that the other car rental company’s don’t have this issue…
    I can highly recommend CICAR , although you must book early not to be disappointed.
    Cuidado muchachos, Goldcar robando !

47. I read all of these. I was also ripped off in the fuel scam and the insurance scam. Goldcar is bad and Cartrawler is their partner in crime. I bought insurance ahead of the rental with Cartrawler and then was told I needed to pay again at Goldcar or have to post a 5000 euro deposit. Yes FIVE THOUSAND EUROS. Oh yes and the cost of their fuel offer was a straight rip off which I discovered when I added fuel to the tank.

48. Thank you to Gerry Kirkhof for taking the time to make this informative article on the perils of renting a hire car through Goldcar. Unfortunately Goldcar are not the only car hire operator to be unscrupulous in their car hire contracts as I have found out to my costs in the past.
    I have taken his advise and have now booked my next car hire with Economy Car Hire, the true costs are all there up front with no hidden extras.
    It’s time something was done about the Spanish car hire regulations which at best are poor.

49. We had a similar experience. Do yourself a favor and google ‘goldcar review’ before booking with them. Or look at twitter-account @GoIdcar_Victims.
    We chose goldcar because rentalcars.com presented them as being the cheapest by far. It turned out to be a scam.
    When we wanted to pick up the car at Palma de Mallorca airport we had to wait in line for 1,5 hours (on 10 april; low season).
    We would have had to wait an hour longer if we hadn’t used the “express lane”. This cost us an additional €20,-. We were told that the queue is always that long, day and night.
    The main reason it takes so long is because by the time it’s your turn you’re pressured aggressively and repeatedly to take the goldcar insurance that will set you back an extra €148.
    They claim that the insurance bought online is not all-risk (which was not true). When we repeatedly said we were happy with our current insurance goldcar required a €1.200 surety on my creditcard. Ok. We also had to pay in advance for a full fuel tank. When dropping the car the remainder of the fuel would be repaid automatically.
    As you may have guessed by now: nothing was repaid although fuel was left in the tank. No response to e-mail and twitter messages.
    Still we feel we were lucky; we’ve read so many horror stories online about these crooks that we count our blessings; many customers discovered strange credit card deductions by goldcar afterwards. This is the reason why only now, after receiving the final receipt of rentalcars.com, I feel safe to write this review.
    For an additional few bucks a day I would’ve preferred a real rental car company. Would have saved me a lot of time and aggravation. And stress afterwards, checking my credit card charges. I do not understand how goldcar is awarded a 7 on rentalcars.com, daughter of booking.com. What astonishes me the most is that this kind of ‘service’ still exists in 2015. How can it be that goldcar.com is still in business?

    • Once again nothing short of shocking yet the complaints continue to come in and Goldcar continue to treat customers in this manner.

50. Hi there,

    I had similar problem. I wasn’t complaining about getting Peugeot 208 (with damage on the front and scratches all around) instead of Ford fiesta. I paid almost 50 eur before taking the car and at the airport I was charged additional fees. FUEL: 80 eur, I was told that In case I return car with full tank, I’ll get back 80 eur. Actually, tank was full only for 7\8 at the beginning. I returned car with 8\8 (I really took care). Refund was 71 eur. Strange. I was complaining, of course. But you know, once you sign the paper…. INSURANCE: I was almost forced to take their insurance. I was told that only scratches can cost 300 eur and I was told some similar crap. Insurance was for 70 eur. The trip took 3 days. Now I can really say, that I will never use their service again.

    I. B.

51. Ok, I tend to be a fair person and rarely over exaggerate, but really, this was the worst customer service ever (and I am not talking just car hire. … ever).
    So, after two beautiful days in Lisbon, we came to the Lisbon International airport to pick up our pre-booked, pre-paid car from Goldcar. And it was a shock to see a long queue to their desk, a queue that span through a long corridor with some people standing outside on the sun. People with small children, older people, families, many are tired after their flights. People at the start of the queue were waiting for five hours to get there.
    First we’ve attempted to cancel the booking and re-book with one of other companies (prices there were a bit higher, but no queues outside their desks). But you couldn’t cancel that pre-paid rate…. we’ve tried using their online check in option hoping it’d speed up or process. No success. .. We called Holiday Autos, our broker, they couldn’t do anything for us. Over one hundred people were trapped in the queue.
    We started queuing at 14:00 and got our car at 18:00.
    Once we reached the desk, the hidden charge saga has started. No wonder why every client took them so long to process: almost every client was arguing, asking questions, complaining. Some were coming back after getting their keys and checking the cars. One couple had to come back as their Fiat Punto was missing a side mirror :-)…
    Of course there was a push to buy a very expensive CDW insurance from them. Because we had a third party insurance, we had to go, check our car, mark all the damages (ourselves), bring the paper back after waiting in another, but shorter, queue. And as an additional punishment for not buying their CDW, we were told we had to stand in this long queue again to drop off the car at the end of our rental 🙂 this is not acceptable.
    The car itself was relatively new, but had a lot of scratches. I wonder if we didn’t notice anything at the beginning of our rental. Would they claim we are liable?..
    I expect a lady from Goldcar will respond to this review saying she is so sorry we had such a terrible experience, but this won’t change anything. The queue will still be there so will the hidden charges and rude, tired, stressed staff at thier desks.
    I do not recommend this provider.Pay a little more and choose another company. Beware and stay away from the Goldcar!

52. LOL – I came here after typing ‘Gold Car Promo Code’ into Google search. This was the second link !!!! I’ve stopped my car hire order and gone looking elsewhere!!!

53. How many more will fall for this con company, well I did so I guess others will.

    “DO YOU SPAIN” SHOULD NOT PROMOTE THEM

    My experience

    Rented a 3 door basic range car for what was a good price, so far so good

    After waiting almost 2 hours in the cue at Malaga Airport to collect the car we were told we had to leave a deposit on the credit card of 950 euros, guess this is standard? we were charged 90 euros for a tank of fuel, told it would be refunded if we brought it back full, which we did, still awaiting refund 3 days later? we were told that we needed to upgrade as the 3 door car wasn’t available for a further 21 euros for a 5 door, insisted we did not want to upgrade and were given keys to a 5 door anyway.

    Staff are rude and don’t respond to questions and are positivity aggressive with their responses

    Two days into the week hire the car would not start 8 times out of 10, we rang the breakdown number and they said there was a charge of 120 euros to come an look at the care to see what was wrong. When we challenged this they said return the car to Malaga airport and we will replace. We drove 50 Miles back to the airport the next day, rejoined a queue for another 40 minutes. The unsympathetic assistant came to the car and turned the key and it started, I explained this was an intermittent problem and started most occasions but on many occasions it wouldn’t start and we had to get a push from people to get it going.The assistant insisted there was nothing wrong with the car and would not accept my concerns. Finally he said we can swap the car if we leave a further 950 deposit on the credit card, he would then get a mechanic to look at the car and if there was a fault they would charge the credit card for the repairs, and if there wasn’t a fault the would charge the card for the cost of examining the car for a fault, Unbelievable. We left with the faulty car and spend the rest of the week waiting for it to breakdown again, which it did twice.

    Terrible company, surely all this must be illegal – do not use them

    STAY AWAY FROM THESE RIP OF MERCHANTS

54. We rented a car with Goldcar in Mallorca through the Economy Car Rentals web page. When collecting the car at Mallorca airport the employee of Goldcar asked for a signature for the contract on a digital writing pad. Only later the contract was printed out with the signature digitally added and then handed to us. The contract was in Spanish only. Also, the employee only talked in Spanish to us which we’re not quite capable of. We only found out once back home with help of Google translator that Goldcar had added an insurance for tyres which we hadn’t asked for.

    We requested Economy Car Rentals to help us recover this insurance fee as we hadn’t asked for it nor signed such contract knowingly.

    While Economy Car Rental forwarded our request to Goldcar only very scarce feedback was provided by Economy Car Rentals on progress. Sometimes more than 6 months passed in between their communications and feedback was only given after repeated enquiries from us.

    After one year of on and off communication, Goldcar finally refused to refund the 100 Euros for this unwanted insurance. Their reasoning was that “as you may have unknowingly benefitted from the coverage and have been protected against any unexpected charge during your hire period”.

    Also, Economy Car Rentals refused further support in this matter saying that “unfortunately we can not interfere further to this case, as the rental agreement entered into at the local destination is exclusively between yourself and the car rental provider”.

    So, just another example which goes in line with the above experiences.

55. This summer I rented a car in Malta with Goldcar. When I presented my card, they informed me the card was not accepted. Then I offered a second one. Also not accepted. A third one – not accepted! That was completely impossible. The credit cards were working well and had good funds. Without a choice I was forced to buy an insurance of 67 euro for 3 days! Then after I analysed the slips of my credit cards i see that the transactions were not rejected, but cancelled. I phoned my bank and they told me that the credit request appeared on their systems but that was immediately and automatically cancelled by Goldcar and my bank never made a credit evaluation for the transaction!
    That was not all – I got an empty tank, instead of a full one (although my contract cleared stated full/full).
    I made complaints locally and then online when I returned home – until now without success – they have not given my money back.
    DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM
    Pedro

56. We also rented from Goldcar in Malta at the end of May 2015. All the above stories sound very familiar and on the day getting the car at the airport there were 3 other people in the queue with similar complaints but little option but to take it. Apparently there were huge cancellation costs when cancelling on the start day of the contract.
    Since then we have seen a charge of about Euro27 on our credit card, in September 2015, and on enquiring about this we were told it is for parking in Valletta, of Euro 1.67, and an administration fee of Euro25!!!!
    This company is the worst I have ever come across. Apparently they are not part of the Rental Car Association, or something to that effect, so there is really no recourse.
    DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM

57. Let me add as a comment my BAD experience with them (Lisbon Airport).
    This company seems to be on a verge of a FRAUDLENT activity.
    If you think you have found a bargain because of cheap car rental referred by various rent-a-car search engines, then you are totally fooled. Just an example for 5 day rental and a small car: your base price is 35 euro. Then you will learn, if you are not very lucky, after about 3-4 hours (?! yes !!) of waiting, that you have to pay the fuel (about 90 euro) and 87 euro of insurance. No insurance? OK, we will block you 1200 euro on your cc. No toll road device – let us better listen, we can persuade you to take it with you (and pay). This is still nothing. You returned a car in a perfect condition and you think your nightmare with this company is over. But no – they suddenly charge your credit card for some hundreds of euro and you will never know why. Nobody answers phone calls, nobody replies to e-mails, they fake the response on their FB profile. And yes, they hide a real car condition before the customer (like damages you are not able to spot during your inspection)!!! This is insane but they act like this.

    Unbelievable? Just read the others opinions!!! My advice: if you, by chance, have made a reservation with them, just cancel it even losing some money. It will be much less than you will lose if you go with them!

58. I have used Goldcar at La Linea a few times and have been very pleased with the service and cost. Yes you have to supply your credit card details (just in case of accidents) I have now booked my next months hire with them. I will continue to use this company. I always hire full to full fuel as I travel around, £72 for a weeks hire is very good value. No hidden extras, maybe La Linea has it sorted 🙂

59. I can complete my story:

    In my case, during the car return the “damage” to the door lock was noticed by a service man – but I was advised to go to the office to check if it was not registered earlier. I went to the office and presented my contract. At the top of the contract there is a statement “check broken lock”. The lady at the office checked and reported to me that this damage HAD BEEN registered EARLIER and said that “everything is all right and I do not need to worry”.

    I had no chance to spot it during the car inspection at the check-out since that “damage” is in fact a slight dent near the car lock (the lock itself was working properly all the time). Despite that fact Goldcar took 350 euros from my credit card just a day later. I had to wait 15 days for their “comment” on the reason of charging and the reason was a “broken lock”.

    In other words, they charged me for the pre-existing damage (!!!) and most possibly, they will not hesitate to repeat the “trick” with the next customer if he/she does not buy their expensive insurance.

    I rented cars dozens of times in my life but something like this happened to me the first time. I still cannot believe it.

60. Myself, my wife and our 2 children (3-5 years of age) experienced the very same scam in Italy/Rome.

    When I filled in the form on the internet in order to rent the car, I specifically underlined that I didnt want or need an extra insurance (as I was already insured for that specific purpose).

    An insurance called something like “super comfort relax” was added in the contract when picking up the car in Rome. It didnt say anywhere that it was an insurance though.
    In fact the sales person (who spoke very little english) explained that it was a depositum, which would be returned to me when delivering the car.

    Anyway, when we returned the car, another sales person now explained that the “super comfort relax” was in fact an insurance and that I had signed the contract…!
    When arguing that her sales colleague had told us differently she just shrugged while repeating the signature mantra, by the way without making eye contact once.
    It seemed clear that she was fully aware that something was dodgy and that the very discussion we were having merely was a part of the job description.

    After a while things got slightly heated as no one wanted to budge and a queue was lining up.

    At this point the other sales person first threatened, and then did in fact call the police (or so he said anyway). The police never showed up though.
    As we had a plane to catch and as there was nothing I could say or do to get through, we had to settle for being ripped off.

    But the horror didn´t stop here:
    The 2 sales peoples´ next move was to deny us our shuttle buss ticket to the airport. The guy did so, by the way, smiling and right next to my children.
    The ticket for the shuttle buss was already paid for (in double)!

    The actual buss drivers sympathized and told us that this happens all the time, but due to the fact that they were afraid of losing the jobs, they couldnt help us.
    So we had to order a taxi.

    So in the end Gold car got their money for an insurance that wasn´t wanted or needed.

    It seems that a few people have had good experiences with Gold car, but the vast majority begs to differ.

    So why take the chance?
    Why would one support and thereby justify the existence of an enterprise that clearly (if one does one´s research) scams people over and over again?

    In my opinion this scam is part of Gold car´s unofficial policy and the workers are in on it and educated to deal with it.

    What a horrible way company!

61. I too have been scammed by Goldcar at Pisa Airport. I have complained to the broker, DoYouItaly and their parent company, DoYouSpain but to no avail. I insisted that they remove Goldcar from their list of suppliers but they have done nothing about it. I lost £180 in insurance excess for which I have an annual policy. When Goldcar withdrew a further 30 euros from my credit card 2 months after my hire period, I had to cancel my card and thankfully my bank refunded the illicit transaction. I was going to contact Goldcar direct as DYI and DYS were a waste of time but after reading that other complaints have gone unanswered, l think it would be a waste of my time.

62. You also need to check if you have breakdown cover unless you pay for the super rip off package. My reason is if you cannot change a tyre you be charged for a call out. If you need towing you be charged for a call out especially due to an accident but some say not if the problem is caused by mechanical failure. If you purchase annual policy from another company to use with your hired car beware they don’t cover breakdown call outs as they except this to be standard on any car hire agreement but sadly this is no longer the case.
    I know when my external car hire insurance runs out I will search for new companies that include breakdown as my current one doesn’t. If you have a flat take the car a garage and buy a new tyre is cheaper then the rip off charges they have in-store for you. Also note that the car jack may also be missing from the car so you are forced to call them for help.

63. I wish I read such reviews before renting a car with these criminals…

    Goldcar is just a scam.

    Despite having private insurance, they insisted I take their insurance (65 EUR a day!) claiming that my private insurance would be enough. When I say no, they started to threaten with comment like “we are really, really fussy. If there is any, even very small scratch we’ll find it”, “it has never happened that somebody brought the car without damages”, “we will need to hold your deposit for 30 days if you do not take our insurance”. At the end there were empty threat, and the car was checked out without damages, although I could see the clerk looking really hard for something.

    The other infuriating issue was the fuel policy. They give you the car with a full tank and they pre charge you fuel at the double, if not more of the street price (it was 145 EUR for a micra!). First they don’t write in the contract that the price of the fuel is so 3x high street price, but they write they will reimburse any un-used fuel plus a fee. They don’t specify how much is the fee, so you won’t expect the fee to be higher than the car rentail itself. I brought back the car with full tank I was charged 38 EUR for services fees, that was as much as the charge for my two days of rental. So you are screwed anyway, if you bring the tank empty you pay about 85 EUR in overcharged fuel (or more with a bigger car), if you bring it full, they charge 38 EUR anyway. There is no way to pay only what you agreed initially!

    There were other issues, the check in and check out took ages, when I returned I had to go back and forth from the parking to the office as there was nobody attending the parking.

    However my big issue is with the un-transparent fees structure. It looks cheap in the booking, but as explained before there is no way to pay what you agreed because of their fuel policy (not to mention the fact that they ransom your deposit, mine is still blocked after 3 weeks, unless you pay them 65 EUR a day for a useless extra insurance)

    Never ever again Goldcar

64. Having a holiday home in Spain we have used most car rental providers numerous times and actually find Goldcar, when you go via their own website and consciously select the options you want to pay for, to be very reasonable and clear. They have the added bonus of pickup inside the terminal at Malaga airport, while many other rental car companies in that price range are a bus ride and significant delay away. They have been constantly refining their initially very unfair fuel policy the last few years to a flexi fuel system (which charges an admin fee when you return for example 1/2 a tank of fuel) or, the better option now available, full-to-full (i.e. pay for fuel upfront in case you return the car empty, but then get a full refund if you return it full). This shows me that they have listened to customer feedback. You do need to stand your ground to avoid the hard sell of extra car insurance. My advice would be to get an excess insurance in place online BEFORE leaving your home country (maybe you even find your existing home/car insurance contains excess protection) and tell them you’ve already purchased this insurance so you’re happy to take the car as is.

    I would however STRONGLY advise people NOT to use price search sites like cartrawler, holiday autos, etc – as you simply don’t know what you’re going to get before you’ve paid. This is where you have a big risk of being conned in my opinion, as you’ll find fuel costs are on top, additional driver costs are really expensive extras, etc. As ever, the less middlemen, the less risk of being surprised by additional T&Cs you did not know about!

    • Thanks Bex … some very good advice here

65. I am sorry to say I am another guilty party who did not check out these criminals.
    I have just been scammed for 90 euros for one half tank of fuel at Alicante airport. Luckily I got most of my deposit back.
    Someone should do something about these people.
    I can not believe that in this day and age, there are still companies that can RIP YOU OFF like this.
    I was given a drawing indicating slight damage to the car on the driver’s side when I picked it up.
    It was dark in the car park, and the cars were parked very close together.
    When I reached daylight I could not find the damage, but noticed marks on the other side of the car.
    This concerned me throughout my holiday, but GOLDCAR did not pick up on this.
    They could have SCAMMED me for quite a few quid on the basis of claiming I had caused the damage, but they slipped up there.
    Not only fraudsters, but also IDIOTS.

66. I confirm the ill tactics of Goldcar.
    Goldcar sucks.

67. Be Warned Gold Car are still stealing money from customers I have just retuned from Alicante and was astonished to find a £39.00 charge taken from my bank account on talking to Gold Car they claimed it was for filling the fuel tank. the tank was FULL when I returned the car. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES HIRE A CAR FROM THESE THIEVES.

68. I have also really bad experience with this company of cheaters. They charged me more than 2x.
    There is the info, you can leave the refundable deposit 1 100 €, but in the end they will automatically charge you (260 €) and nobody is asking you, if you agree or not.
    NEVER RENT THE CAR WITH THIS COMPANY!!

69. On a recent trip to Mallorca I booked a car hire thou Ryanair website the procedure was easy enough,and advertised as the price you see is what you pay. Not so as at the end of the booking you are invited to take out additional insurance with AXA INSURANCE I did so because I knew car hire company insurance is very expensive. OK all’s well till you get the the Goodyear desk at Mallorca were you wait an hour before you get the the front of the queue. You show your voucher and AXA policy to the agent and proceed with the hire proceedings at no time does the agents tell you about the extra insurance they are going to add, like it or not. You do not initial or tick any boxes on the car hire contract as is customary with other hire companies. You query the 155 euros he charges to you credit card and he tells you it’s for fuel and as I have hire full to full it will be charged back into my account within hours and as this is company policy you have to accept it or no car.

    The hire agreement is in Spanish so no possibility of spotting the sneaky 82 euros charged as Coverture Super (extra insurance). I accept the lying agent’s explanation. On return home I check my credit card and find nothing has been credited, days later I received a credit of 55 euros with no explanation via email. I try their website nothing other than no invoice available for this hire contract. I complain via Ryanair manage my booking and get a reply from CarTrawler who act as intermediaries for Ryanair and other car hire agencies. No result they say I signed a car hire contract with Coverture Super in the wording and I was legally bound to honour the contract despite the lies told by the agent, and AXA will not refund the extra insurance recommended by Rynair. BEWARE WHEN USING GOLDCAR THEY ARE LIARS AND THIEVES and have by far the most and worst reviews on the internet.

    • John, I had similar experience. See my recent post. I also used AXA excess waiver but it didn’t protect me. I got bullied into buying Goldcar insurance. I have just written to AXA to see what they have to say about this. Gary

70. INDEED: STAY AWAY FROM GOLDCAR! Here’s my story :
    Through AutoEurope, I rented a car with Goldcar for the period May 10-June 1 2016.
    I have serious complaints about the service I received from Goldcar ! The reception at the Goldcar counter upon arrival at Malaga Airport was extremely unpleasant!
    First, the man at the counter tried to sell me their full insurance, although my voucher clearly stated that I already subscribed to it with AutoEurope. I answered that I already had this insurance, but he said : “no, you haven’t”. When I started reading my contract with you, he interrupted me very rudely, saying : “you don’t have to read the whole contract! When you have insurance with AutoEurope, you still pay the damage, and it is not sure that they will reimburse you; when you take it with us, you don’t pay anything”! Of course, this statement is ridiculous and very confusing! I’ve worked with AutoEurope before, and know better …
    I ended up paying 173€ extra : 99,17 + IVA for returning the car to another office, and the rest for fuel if I didn’t return the car with full fuel tank.
    Then, he made me sign the document about the damage of the car, which I hadn’t seen yet, saying that he didn’t have time to go with me all the way to the car, but if something was wrong I could tell the Goldcar person on the parking lot. I expressed my dissatisfaction with that procedure, but there was no other solution. Arriving at the car (a good 10 minutes’ walk with luggage and so!), I noticed sticker-damage on the driver’s door which was not mentioned on the document. There was nobody from Goldcar present in the parking, but then I noticed someone from Goldcar passing by and asked him if he could confirm the damage on the document so that we could go on our way. He answered that he had to be in time at the office, since clients were waiting, and didn’t have time for me! I guess once you’ve paid, you’re not a client anymore for Goldcar!!! So I had to go all the way back to the office in the airport, another 10 minutes’ walk …
    When I arrived there, some 20 clients were waiting, and 2 out of the 3 clients being served were shouting like hell, it was actually a big discussion going on and I was rather pleased that I wasn’t the only one being badly treated. I managed to tell the same man at the counter that there was a problem with the car, showed him a picture of the sticker (as he told me to do if there was damage) and asked him to change that on the form; he went away without saying anything, came back a few minutes later to tell me I was given another car. When I told him I didn’t need another car, just a mention on the form, he replied that “the boss had decided so”.
    He wanted to send me off with the new car keys and a new ‘damage’ document that I had to sign, but that of course I refused. After some discussion, he left the counter and the clients – 2 of which were still ‘fighting’ – and came with me to the parking lot (another 10 minutes’ walk).
    The second car was OK, so I signed the document, transferred all my luggage without any help from him, and gave him back the keys of the first car. The whole process took me 2 hours: I was at the Goldcar desk for the first time at 9 a.m. and left the parking at 11 a.m., having an important business appointment at 11.30!
    By that time, I had become so frustrated and nervous that, in transferring my luggage to the new car, I forgot my raincoat. I noticed this early evening, called Goldcar to mention it, and went back to the office two days later: I was told they knew nothing of a found coat, although the car could not have been rented due to the damage, and you couldn’t miss the coat: bright red, on the rear seat!!!
    I was told to contact ‘customer service’ by phone on this matter, and received the same answer when I mentioned my problem at the time of return of the car. Nobody could give me any e-mail address of this ‘customer-service’ … !
    The conclusion is that Goldcar is in many ways dishonest (if not plain thieves) and absolutely not ‘client-friendly’.

71. We rented a car in Portugal, for a discount price and were very happy with it.

    We were informed about extras and took almost none. We paid only a service which automatically paid each the highway fees before using any (service + fees = 15-20 euros)
    We took it and returned it with the full tank & no extra scratches .
    They were honest and transparent about everything.

    Perhaps the price we paid (discounted, as I mentioned) made us happier but they were really ok. I previously rented cars from different rental companies in different countries (Finland, UK, US, Israel, Cyprus) with a normal fare and the experience was similar.

    Thanks
    Monica

72. I had similar experience. Also was told because my wife booked it and i was the named driver it was invalid and had to be under her name which we did but I was charged as a second driver as extra! The service was disgusting and rude and it took us longer to get the car than that flight and that is no exaggeration!

    • We hired twice this year from Goldcar from San Javier (near Murcia) and found Goldcar to be good. I had read about the additional insurance that if you do not take, Goldcar will put a holding fee on your credit card so I took the “Do you Spain” extra insurance that is 50% less and gives you full cover. You still let Gold car put the large holding charge on your credit card and should you get a claim then on the holding charge you would then male a claim against Do you Spain cover and they will re-fund you via their policy.

      On both hires we were subjected to the Flex Fuel which is in the favour of the hire firm but would say it is not by much and in my case probably added 1 Euro per day over and above the original hire cost, which was still cheaper than other quotes.

      At this airport the staff were very good. At the carpark some of the dings on the car did not match the paper work so I found their representative and they had a template card and if smaller than the circle in the middle it did not count. The cars could have done with a good clean inside and out but I think due to the quick turn around this does not feature. I think what I paid for my two hires was fair and would use them again.

73. In may 2016, I hired a GOLDCAR vehicle and paid for a separate insurance. When I went to collect the car there was a long queue, but airplanes carry a lot of people, and there were queues for that too. Very friendly and helpful staff explained to me about the insurance so I decided to take out theirs which did cost me true, but surely the cheats were the initial insurance company , who must have been aware their insurance was worthless.
    I had chosen to go for the cheaper hire car company and was still actually pounds saved.
    all went well and then…..a few weeks later an email to inform me of a petrol cost refund !
    In august 2016 Booking .com advised me of a different firm which I took up: was I collected at the airport NO : I had an urgent appointment…so off I went to GOLDCAR.. and yes another friendly and helpful person soon fixed me up, after clearly telling me about the insurance stuff and the fuel options. Unfortunately I had a minor accident , and their attitude ..no problem either return the car or continue enjoying your holiday ..
    On returning the car a smartly dressed young man who spoke superb English reassured me again. result ..a very happy customer….
    consequence : YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT YOU PAY FOR
    advice know the terms and conditions and expect what you pay for
    so THANK YOU Goldcar

74. Dear all

    I booked a car in Bari with goldcar rental agency. I paid 430€.
    Arrived at bari airport no front desk no signs and of course nobody. I decided to call a number I found on the web. They are outside the airport and explained me they will send a shuttle which came one hour after my arrival.

    Finally they told me that my reservation was cancelled because I was 5 hours late (due to flight cancellation). They proposed me to rent a new car for double price. I friendly invite them to go f..k.

    Please take care when you rent with this company.
    Last point in the shuttle safety belts were neutralized (no chance to buckle). It is criminal when i know that children was with me.
    Take care

75. Rip off
    Arrived 8 he late due to technical problem in Gatwick
    Booked every thing on line with extra insurance . Total cost was €440 for 14 days. Eventually I found that I paid €1,250 for car rental only, reason for that they up graded my car to a diesel one!!!!!!!. I asked if there will be any difference in the price, man said no .so I paid about €800 extra to get diesel car. Thanks to Goldcar.
    Please avoid this company

76. I have just had a similar poor experience. Booked through Do You Spain agency. Wasn’t aware that from Madrid airport I would have 1 hour wait outside the terminal for their shuttle bus, then an hour wait in a queue at the desk to process the booking. I had collision waiver but still made to put down a 1,200 euro deposit and pay a “mandatory service fee” for their fuel service which I declined to use. I don’t speak Spanish and this was used against me as a means to make me pay this fee regardless.

    Returned the car on time, no damage, full tank of fuel. Signed off by the employee. check barclaycard transactions tonight, 30,42 euro charge applied to my card by Goldcar. Download invoices from portal and there is a 7 day rental reference but nothing further.

    Total additional rip off for Goldcar approx £52 over 2 transactions, which adds 25% to my rental costs. I have filed a dispute with barclaycard who will refund the transactions and complained to Goldcar and Do You Spain, but expect no response based on the above comments.

    Next time I will use Avis – always been good before when used for business and their cars are at the airport. Shame on you Goldcar.

77. I had a very similar issue with Goldcar at Tenerife on Feb 23rd 2016. I told them I had purchased separate AXA insurance but they said unless I pay 1200 Euros deposit on my credit card or their 120 Euro insurance I was not getting a car.

    I very reluctantly agreed to pay a deposit on my card but they said the card was declined. Goldcar would not let me sort it out with my credit card company so I had to purchase the insurance AGAINST MY WISHES. When I contacted my credit card company they told me my card was NOT declined and I have a written confirmation from them.

    Goldcar said that the deposit MUST be on the same card as the booking and cannot be on another card. However how convenient it is that the customer can pay the insurance on ANY card !

    Goldcar actually told me that if I left the desk they would not give me a car ! I noticed when stood at the back of the lengthy queue there were a few other people waving credit cards aggressively at the desk clerks obviously being similarly ripped off.

    This company is basically committing fraud and stealing money off people.

    Do they not have the equivalent of Trading Standards in Spain ? If a British company conducted itself in this way it would be closed down. It is obvious companies in Spain can do what they like with no consequences. I have just booked ten nights in Can Pastilla, Majorca in September and we will be using a reputable company such as Avis, Hertz that’s for sure.

78. I also had problems with Goldcar. They are not honest and my bill in the end summed up to more than 500 € for a one day rental. When I tried to contact them by mail to their customer support area they never answered my mails. I strongly recommend people not to rent through Goldcar. It will cost you gold and frustration.

79. I seldom if ever leave bad review of companies. I have my own business and realise that sometimes things can go wrong, which is unfortunate as long as you rectify the problem as soon as possible.

    This lot are the nearest thing to scammers that I’ve come across in terms of a business with such a public profile.

    My rip off was for a payment for car hire insurance. Hands up that I signed the form but at no point was the charge drawn to my attention. If it had been I would have declined it as I always have annual car hire insurance in place so that I can avoid this extra cost when hiring vehicles. Their trick is to emphaise the payment you are making for petrol and the terms and conditions that are attached to that charge.

    What surprises me as well is that seeing the weight of bad experiences that customers have had with them that credit card companies are still willing to act as merchants on their behalf.

80. Its not just Goldcar.
    Be warned:
    Booked a car from Solmar Barcelona Airport Spain.(we travel abroad and hire cars at least 3-4 times a year) car rental from Barcelona Airport 24/08/2016 for 8 days, paid the rental price via ‘Do You Spain’
    Arrived on time at Barcelona airport and followed poor directions to bus stop (where there is no indication that it is for Solmar) to meet our transfer bus which Solmar said would be ‘waiting’ for us. What a joke !
    WE waited one hour and twenty five minutes for transfer bus to arrive in 30+ degrees heat, we watched other rental companies (i.e. Gold car) transfer buses come and go (3 x for one company !)
    When the driver finally came after 5 phone calls to Do you Spain, we and another French family asked him where had he been, he insisted he had been at the pick up 35 minutes previously, this was total rubbish !
    Transferred to car pick up reception area and one man initially serving a very frustrated business man who Solmar said was not the person who booked the car and hence he was denied a vehicle. The very cocky and rude reception man finally turned to us and started to process our rental, at the same time the French couple where having difficulties with their rental with another rude man who could not find their rental agreement on his computer and was insisting they have a different car and probably pay again!
    We where then told that we have to pay another 144 Euro for THEIR insurance and 25 Euro to have them fill the the tank plus pay up front for a full tank of fuel and then a 1500 Euro block on our credit card (even though it says in all their literature and the sign in their office for the type of car we were trying to hire was 1000 Euro) Which we refused, We phoned DO YOU Spain whilst in the office and explained the situation and Do you Spain confirmed the 1000 Euro block etc and i even handed my phone to the reception man, who was insisting that it is now 1500. I walked behind his desk and pointed out the sign behind him, at this point he said he was cancelling the booking!!! that was it !
    Three separate customers in the office and all three having problems !! I rang DO you Spain again and explained that Solmar are now not going to rent us a car and was apologized professedly and promised refund of initial monies paid (now 5/09/2016 and no refund as yet)
    To recap car hire was advertised at 87 pounds, what you have to actually pay is
    87 pounds Sterling Car hire
    140 Euros Their Insurance or 144 Euro for better insurance
    25 Euros to have the tank refilled
    50+ for fuel (can have refund on each quarter of a tank that remains (so they say))
    1500 block on your credit card

    So this company is not cheap at all, hidden costs which you feel you have to accept as you are so far from the airport you have to accept.
    We did not, and were left stranded with children in 30+ degree heat in a foreign country, this is diabolical behavior by this RIP OFF company.
    We managed to get a lift from another kind shuttle driver (NOT SOLMAR) back to the airport and went to SIXT car rental and for the total of 140 Euro we had a car within 10 minutes, and only 280 Euro block on credit card and can use external insurance. The difference between the companies is light and dark.
    BE WARNED, DO NOT USE SOLMAR YOU WILL REGRET IT.
    They were happy to strand a family with children !!!!
    Go elsewhere, anywhere, read the reviews, Why DO You Spain is associated with this RIP OFF firm is a mystery, they will be getting a letter of complaint as well about this company they are advertising.
    I have video footage of all the people complaining and having problems in SOLMAR offices which i will post when we have checked the legal implications.

81. Worst Company EVER to treat with!

    FRAUD! be aware!

82. Was looking for a discount code, when I bumped into this website.

    I have rented from Goldcar in Malaga and Madrid around 10-15 times now, rentals between 2 and 10 days.
    Could not be more happy. They are “ryanair” of rental companies. Read all the rules before you sign/rent and you should be fine.

    I got few tickets and 40€ fee from GC… but that is on website.
    I got car scratched while it was parked – paid 130€… fair enough. Still was cheaper than if I bought all the insurances 😀

    I tried few other companies, but quickly switched back go GC.

    Few times I have rented from “brand names”, in Germany and USA – much more rip-off then GoldCars, tbh.

    Only my 5 cent.

83. Loads of complaints but not much on resolutions. There are things you can do to get your money back from Goldcar. Check out my twitter feed @robbedbygoldcar and go into my “likes” for a list of options. We can fight back and the more of us that do the more chance we have of bringing these criminals down.

    • I rented my car from Goldcar last week at Milan Linate airport, using Nova Car Hire as my online agent because in my experience they always give me a much better deal than going direct to the car hire companies.
      I paid £81 for 6 days for a Ford C-Max or equivalent, including full to full fuel policy. On arrival at the office we had to queue over 45 minutes while watching those in front of us arguing about the ‘extras’. By the time I got to the front I was prepared for battle. I was given the hard sell for extra insurance, the rep insisting that I’d be a fool not to take it. I stood my ground, insisting that I did not want it, and my Nova voucher stated that I’d paid in full. I eventually got my way, after reluctantly agreeing to have my credit card blocked for 1565 euro to cover any excess. They told me that they would lift the block after 30 days, despite only hiring the car for 6 days. I protested but they insisted that this was their policy.
      There is no office at the car park, so when you return the car you have to walk all the way back to the terminal building office, wait in line, then wait for someone to come out back to the car park to check the car with you. This took us about an hour, despite being in a hurry to check in for our flight home. After checking the car, the rep confirmed that it was fine and we just about made it to the check in desk for our flight.
      Now back home, and having experienced the very dodgy ways this company operates, I found this site and I’m not surprised at all by the stories I’m reading. I’m checking my online bank daily for any credit card debits from Goldcar as I have absolutely no trust in them whatsoever.
      Yes, they were cheap, and if they make no further charges on my card then I feel I got a great deal, but after all the stress we had to put up with, and now reading stories of them scamming for surcharges on the blocked amount, I won’t be satisfied until the 30 days are up and I can relax. I will never use them again; they’re not worth souring what is supposed to be a relaxing holiday.

84. I had a rental from Goldcar from the end of August to the start of September this year (2016). My rental finished on 9th September. On 11th October I had an email with “some information of interest to me” (really!) which had a pdf of a bill for €200 attached and two photographs – one of the number plate of the car I had rented and one, an image of a small scuff on an unidentifiable panel. The two photographs are undated, and though they are the same colour car, could conceivably be different vehicles! There’s no way of dating the photograph, so after 32 days no way of proving that the damage was caused by me, on that vehicle, in the period where I was responsible for it. I queried this with Goldcar, who have reiterated their demand, so I am pursuing my credit card issuer for a charge back. We’ll see what happens…

85. As an update to the above post, I can confirm that the €1565 block on my credit card has been lifted, 8 days after returning the 6-day hire car. The 30 day block I was told about was either incorrect, or perhaps scare tactics to make me take out extra insurance; I can’t say which.
    All in all my experience with Goldcar was unnecessarily stressful, however since I wasn’t scammed for any additional costs over and above what I’d initially agreed to pay when I prebooked, I consider myself very lucky to have got such a great deal. I’m not sure I would use them again if travelling with family or friends, however when travelling alone I’ll be better prepared with time to spare to go battle with these guys to get another bargain at their expense. They clearly quote low prices to hit you later with additional costs, but armed with a little preparation you can play them at their own game and come out tops.
    In future I’ll make sure I video the car on pickup and note any marks or damage inside and outside the car, along with the mileage and fuel level. I’ll do the same on return, also noting the cleanliness of the car. My booking agent Nova Car hire always quotes for a full to full fuel policy with no compulsory extras. If these Goldcar clowns want war, they’ll be picking on the wrong guy!

86. Never ever.

    I pick up the car from Madrid Airport after searching for 2 hours where exactly is there office. They give me wrong information on my booking.

    I left the car on the next day in Denia which is aprox 450 km. away from Madrid.

    For all the pleasure of using the car for 1 day i have payed 340 euros.

    So please think about again before you pick up this company!

    I DO NOT RECOMMEND GOLDCAR TO ANYBODY!

    Thank you

87. Hi returned from 10 days in Almeria booked car hire online with internet through “Do You Spain” the car chosen was a Citreon DS3 or similar when we arrived to collect our chosen car we were given a Fiat Panda, when asked about the Citreon DS3 we were told that it doesn’t exist to hire from them. I thought I had seen every scam but this was new to me, a honey trap to lure you in and snap goes the trap.Complained to ‘Do You Spain’ and guess what … they said I got similar although I could have rented a Fiat Panda cheaper elsewhere. Car hire is a minefield froth with stress, it needs a serious look at, and policing as it can ruin your stress free holiday!!!!

88. We also have been scammed. We hired a car through Holday autos to be collected at Malaga airport. After a long wait, late in the evening with two grandchildren in tow and a 1 HR drive ahead of us, I was told in a bullying, intimidating way that I could not have the excess option I must either buy their insurance or take full responsibility for breakdown or accident damage with no help from them. I argued and tried to show the hadn’t my rental agreement but he would not look at it. He was a most unpleasant man raising his voice aggressively to me.
    I have since taken this up with Holday autos who say not enough people complain for them to stop using Goldcar, I find this unbelievable when you look at the hundreds of reviews. I have got nowhere with them! I am still in email correspondence with Maria who appears to be in charge of complaints. I have emailed the MD but guess who replies – Maria. I have asked for her line managers email 3 times. I know that I won’t get my money back but at least I can waste their time answering my emails.
    IF YOU RENTED THROUGH HOLIDAY AUTOS AND HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE WITH GOLDCAR, MAKE SURE THAT YOU COMPLAIN TO THEM.
    NEVER RENT WITH GOLDCAR!

89. Gold car Mallorca 1st March 2017

    Hired through rentalcars app and excellent value at £31 for the 5 days, we didn’t need the car other than driving from Palma to Porta Pollence – cheaper than taxi, bus or shuttle as we had a cycling holiday planned. I’m careful so no inurance so paid the £1100 deposit and £95 fuel deposit. took photos and video of the damage #Important

    and refulled the car Saturday prior to driving back to get an idea on how much we used it came to a whopping 7.56 euros.

    WE found a petrol station open at 4.45am and fuelled it up cost 6 euros and the little panda had 8/8 bars arrived at airport and took additional videos. all good dropped the keys off as nobody about.

    got my deposit back and then hit for £156 charge no idea what for as no contact from goldcar and my fuel deposit originally 95 came back as 86, pretty certain as always they need there extra charges.

    currently in dispute with nationwide to get the money back, try finding an email for goldcar

    is it info@goldcar.com ?? hopefully get the charges back asap

90. We reserved our car online. We wanted to leave a deposit of £1,400 not pay the NON-REFUNDABLE £300 odd for “super relax cover”. However, at the desk they charged us this anyway without disclosing it and refused to refund it. They also took the liberty of charging us an ADMIN FEE of £70 odd for the quarter tank of fuel we used + the premium cost of the fuel. Absolutely unwilling to negotiate despite our complaints both whilst in Mallorca and to head office since home. Might I add no damage was done to the car so they have kept the £400 as pure profit on top of the hire cost. DISGRACEFUL. DO. NOT. USE. We are taking them to trading standards.

    EXTORTIONATE HIDDEN COSTS. DO NOT USE.

91. Rented through Holiday Autos and picked up at Mallorca. Car was parked in the dark multi-storey but seemed ok in the daylight. When I returned it to the airport their operative inspected the car and signed my copy of the rental agreement. Next month 200 euros appeared on my Barclaycard bill. I contacted Holiday Autos who told me that they would do nothing. I contacted Goldcar on their dedicated link and heard nothing. After a patient wait of two weeks I contacted Barclaycard, sent them scans of the paperwork and was refunded on that day. I assume that after Barclays had snatched back the money, Goldcar did not fight it given their many shady practices.
    SHOUT FROM THE ROOFTOPS PEOPLE. Such companies should not be trading. As the Donald might say “Lock them up”

    • I read in an article about Europcar’s inflated repair bills that they have agreed a takeover of Goldcar later this year.

      At least it helps keeps the thieving bar stewards in one place. Pity it’s not behind bars!

92. Customer service representative from the airport was terribly rude and vile, the car was a wreck with dents all around and extremely dirty inside. I genuinely missed a scratch when I had a look around due to the poor lighting in the parking level -2 Malaga airport. Called the customer service next day and explained all details and a note has been taken by the goldcar employee. I explained again when I drop the car but the lady at the office in Malaga airport was as I said vile and rude. Got an e-mail with the pictures of the scratch and 200 euros bill but they charged from my account £294.66 without any other explanation. Never come back and spread the word all over the internet so other people will not be scammed.

93. On looking to hire a car in alicante for the latter end of august ,! i am being directed to a full comp insurance hire(recommended),”2 Am getting a fuel surcharge for full to full and 3 because my flight is arriving late am being hit with a 30 euro (out of hours ) charge both coming and again when leaving.This is with Goldcar,and a few others.Why are they renting on a 24/7 basis and then charging out of hours surcharges

94. Feeling rather foolish find myself having to add a tale of the money-grabbing attitude of gold car/rhodium car hire. I was unhappy with their approach from the start, since on switching on the ignition on first car they provided the warning message was displayed “oil change required soon”. This seems to be a sure indication car had hardly been checked as being suitable for hire. The next car was mainly acceptable, but we discovered that the windscreen washer liquid was empty: another example of not checking the car. It is a legal requirement to carry a reflective triangle when driving in Spain. None was provided by this car hire company. BEWARE!

    Again being foolish, I did not trouble to top up the tank the day before we left, and, having an early flight and about 200 km to drive, we did not find a suitable filling station before arriving at Murcia airport. The tank was about a quarter full. Several weeks after return, I discovered that They had charged €39.67 for the fuel, (quite reasonable) but then added €41.34 as a “Refuelling charge”! I wonder what they pay their staff? No comment had been made about this on any paperwork given to me.

    So I add my voice though to advise very strongly against using this car hire group.

95. WINDSCREEN SCAM – They are also using a windscreen scam. I’m not the first by a long way.

    The guy on check-out spent a lot of time checking the body work and noting the many chips and scrapes on the paperwork.

    On check-in the guy didn’t even look at the body work, went straight to the windscreen and found the minor chip in the corner (next to the tax sticker). He knew it was there all along.

    I disputed this at the desk and they immediately charged me 400 euros.

    AVOID – DISHONEST.

96. I ha similar problem with GOLDCAR http://www.dookolakuli.pl/goldcar

97. Mark Goulding this has just happened to us at San Javier, we returned the car completely undamaged the guy told me it was 100% clear and started to walk off, I asked him to sign my paperwork, he refused and ran off to his office, would not let me in, the main office assured me i was being over cautious,,,,today i got an invoice for 355 euro, which they have taken out of my deposit…I have photos of every panel in the car.I am going to be on a relentless mission, until the laws are changed …why do we have to experience this type of abuse, it would not happen in many other industries.

98. Hello everybody!

    I would like to let you know about my experience with goldcar ( the one located in San Vicente Street).

    I rented a car in July (14th-15th) for a weekend. I have got my insurance so I did not hired goldcar one. The person behind the counter was really nice when we got the car. He said that we have an extra hour to check in. If the goldcar office is close when we check in, we could leave the car parked outside.

    Goldcar was closed when we went to leave the car, so we parked it outside. I took pictures of the car. The car was fine. I called them to let them know where was parked and I emailed them.

    A week later it was taken from my account 180 euros. I didn’t know what was that because I didn’t receive any invoice.

    I went to goldcar office to ask What it was the amount that it was charged into my account. The person behind the counter was extremely rude. The way he talked to me was really passive agresive, being even unrespectful to me. He said that the car had a little bump at the back(probably done when it was parked. It was not told to me that I was responsible of the car until the office was open again. If I would have known I would have brought the car at 4 pm when it was open again, not at 1.40 pm).

    You should know that I didn’t mind the bump because i had an insurance and I could get the money back from them.

    I did ask for an invoice because I need to know and I have the right to know about what I am charged for. He told me that I’d received the invoice shortly although he didn’t know when.

    I sent an email to customer service explaining that I needed an invoice, the check in paper and pictures to send to my insurance company to get the money back. I didn’t get any answer so I decided to call them. It was around 10th of August.

    The girt that I was talked to was really nice. She actually got me an invoice (although you couldn’t see the reason about why they did charged me). She told me that I would not needed the check in paper and the pictures as most companies did not ask for that. I reply that I will let her know about that.

    Unfortunately, the insurance company needs Thale check in and the pictures. I sent another email to goldcar. No answer. Another one. No answer. A call around 24th of August( the guy that answered me told me that I needed to send the email to one email instead of replay to the old one). I did that. No answer.

    I am waiting for them to send me the papers. To show me a document that shows why I paid 180 euros and that allows me to claim that money back from my insurance company.

    I will let you know how this ends..

    The thing that it hurts me the most it is how the worker at the office talked to me as he forgot that I was the client.

    Good day and happy rentals!

99. Worst carrental company ever. Hidden costs, bad service and they charge you afterwards for fuel, although you left the car with a full tank!

100. Warning to anyone renting a car in Spain / Europe

     Goldcar car rental company debited €1100 from my credit card for hotly disputed car damage ( complaint 1746796 ) – No damage occurred – I was simply being made responsible for previously existing very small marks – just a scam to bleed money from unsuspecting customers.

     My Advice – Google ‘tripadvisor goldcar scam beware’ before renting

     Not many happy customers on TripAdvisor

     Save yourself the grief of dealing with Goldcar

     I wish I had!!

101. Just had an email from Goldcar saying I broke their Full on Collection / Full on Return rule and they are charging me €59.
     I filled the car at the petrol station immediately before the airport to the point that the pump cut-out. The fuel gauge showed full, BUT they claim it wasn’t.
     So – with this company even the full to full policy is no protection.

     Also the car damage report on collection was not correct as it didn’t show most of the “hard to see” problems (but I bet they would have been seen on return), so beware this also.

102. I rented a car from GoldCar (via DoYouSpain) for 4 days of a holiday in Lanzarote in October 2018. On collecting the car I had to provide a credit card surety for Euros 1,000.00 against damage. I inspected the car with a GoldCar rep, pointing out some minor scrapes and dents. I took a photo of obvious damage: the bonnet badge was badly cracked and worn. I returned the car after carefully looking after it 4 days later…again a joint round-the car check, with the GoldCar rep pronouncing the car “OK”, but not giving me a copy of a check-in sheet. A couple of months later I received a credit card bill itemising Euros 640.00 payable to GoldCar. I took this up with GoldCar who responded this charge was for “damage” to the car during my rental. I objected, and we argued to-and-fro for several months. I involved DoYouSpain as I believed they bore some responsibility of this rip-off as the agents in the initial hiring transaction, and on whose recommendation I chose GoldCar. Basically DoYouSpain did not want to know; denied all responsibility. I involved my credit card company, who said they were sympathetic but powerless, as GoldCar had my card details. I reluctantly agreed to pay the credit card bill in full, and immediately demanded full reimbursement from GoldCar. I also demanded they inquire into this and provide me with proof of the “damage” whilst the car was under my care. Eventually, they provided their “proof” in the form of documents for an identical car, showing some superficial damage front and rear. Reviewing these documents, I noted the following:
     1. The car registration was different
     2. The car was rented out to someone with a Germanic name at the same time as my rental
     3. The car was rented out from the GoldCar offices in Valencia, mainland Spain; perhaps 1,700 miles from Lanzarote across the Atlantic and Mediterranean Seas.
     I informed my credit card company. Later GoldCar told me the money had been reimbursed to my account. There was no apology from Goldcar or from DoYouSpain for this fraudulent behaviour.
     All I can say is – If you want your holiday spoilt, almost enough to put you off holidays forever, use DoYouSpain to rent you a car from GoldCar. Remember Goldcar will ask for your credit card details, and can make demands for payment some time after your holiday. The credit card company’s “hands are tied”.
     If you want to be safer with car hire choose a reputable company, and try to take a complete and detailed round-the-car video on check-out, and on return of the car demand a copy of the completed check-in sheet.

103. Another good company I’ve gone with twice and had great service was centauro. The girl on the desk upgraded us for free to a better car after learning we’d be driving hundreds of miles in a smart car (lol).

104. Stay away from Goldcar.
     Total rip off.

     From me, they have taken over 700 euros right now.
     Their parking lot gate was not working, had to leave the car to another parking lot 100m away in the canary airport. Left the car key to the office, since no one was working there and helpline only works from Monday to Friday had no opportunity to let them know.
     Had to go on my plane.
     A couple of days later they claim that I have to pay a fine cause I did not deliver the car on time.
     Should have left the car next to the parking lot gate and just step away.
     They were in possession of the car and the car key and now I need to pay over 700 euros, which seems about right.
     Opened a case in European consumer network services, let see where it takes me but I will give them a nice fight for my money.

Comments are closed.