Goldcar - Avoid this Car Hire Company in Spain
On a recent visit to Spain I did the usual search for the cheapest car rental
from Malaga Airport. The car broker using the Cartrawler search technology came
up with a great offer of a Volkswagen Golf or equivalent for €89 so I checked
the terms and conditions of the search website which all seemed fine and
completed the booking. I was clearly told that I could expect the following:
- The Best Price On Every Rental.
- Fully Inclusive Rates (Including
Vat)
- No Hidden Extras
- Complimentary Breakdown Assistance
- Fully
Comprehensive Insurance
- Staff Are Friendly
- You Won’T Get Saddled With
Hidden Costs
- No Extra Charge For Paying By Credit Card
Now let me
tell you the reality of my booking experience when we turned up at the desk of
Goldcar at Malaga Airport to collect the car. The reception from Victoria
Eugenia at the desk was "frosty" to say the least and she proceeded to run us
through the rip-offs that we were about to be forced on us. Having arrived on
the "red-eye" flight from Liverpool we were in no mood to argue with her as we
just wanted to get our car and begin our holiday. Rip-Off 1: Extra
Insurance
We were first of all informed that we only had basic insurance
cover & were handed a leaflet showing our minimum liability should any of the
following events occur:
Puncture (€50)
New Tyre (€150)
Broken
Window (€ 55-490)
Broken Windscreen (€225-850)
Towing Service (€80-600)
Wheel Rim (€55-320)
Damage to Undercarriage (€600)
Taxi Transfer After
Accident (€15-25)
Outside Mirrors (€190-430)
Burned Clutch (€290-520)
Engine Damage (€4,350-11,150)
Battery Recharge (€50)
Oil Sump Damage
(€80-290)
Catalytic Convertor (€505-1,750)
Radiator (€155-300)
Substitution car (€100)
Loss of Keys (€150)
Repair Period (€30 a day)
At the time I scanned the list and commented that I would not be responsible
if the clutch burns out as I'd only be driving about 80km to our destination. I
was told in no uncertain terms that I would indeed be responsible which really
left me with no alternative other than to agree to the additional insurance at
€5.00 per day (€35.00 for the week). Rip-Off 2: Extra Driver
Due to the general strike in France our original Ryanair flight had been
cancelled so we had to travel two days later and as such had to change our car
rental dates. Our original booking had included an additional driver at no extra
charge (with a different company). When we requested the additional driver with
Goldcar we charged an extra €17.50 for the week. Rip-Off 3: Fuel Charges
We were informed that the car was full of petrol and that we were to bring
it back empty. Now I know that this scam has been running for a number of years
though I thought that many companies had now dropped it but not Goldcar. I would
never have been able to use the full tank as I wasn't on a driving holiday but
simply using the car as transport for a return journey to our accommodation. To
add insult to injury we were charged €82.00 to fill a Ford Focus Trend 1.6. With
average petrol price of €1.18 per litre this car's petrol tank capacity would
have to have been approximately 70 litres. Having since researched this matter
I've found that the actual capacity is 55 litres which means that we were ripped
off on fuel alone by €17.70 (= 15 litres x €1.18 per litre). And that is quoting
the airport petrol station´s retail price not the preferential rate available to
car rental companies. Rip-Off 4: Accounting
Finally I had to sign
the rental agreement and handed over my UK credit card. I was told that the
final price was £204.33. Notice that the final price is stated in Sterling
rather than Euros. This final figure was arrived at by adding on €34.09 in VAT
(which was supposed to be already included) arriving at a Euro total of €223.50
. Remember the rental started at €89.00!. This figure was then converted to
Sterling at a rate of 0.914 which I assumed was Mastercard's rate for the day.
However, I've since been told by other clients that this rate is adjusted in
their favour. Finally, an "Exchange Rate Mark-Up" of 2% was added to my bill and
I was forced to sign an agreement stating:
"I accept the conversion rate
& final amount & that the final selected transaction currency is GBP. I
understand that Mastercard has a currency conversion process and that I have
chosen not to use the Mastercard currency conversion process and I will have no
recourse against Mastercard with respect to any matter related to the currency
conversion or disclosure thereof".
This is a story of daylight robbery
and cannot be allowed to continue. On my return home I researched Goldcar on
Google and found countless tales of people telling pretty much the same story as
the one I've related above. Here are just a few that you might like to take a
look at:
Goldcar
on the Reviewcentre
Goldcar at Moneysavingexpert
Goldcar on the Complaintsboard
Goldcar on Holidaycheck
Some of these people refer to extra charges added to their credit card bills
once they arrived home for completely made up claims by Goldcar so I will be
watching my credit card statement closely over the coming weeks.
That
just about completes my horror story of rip-off car rental by Goldcar except for
one final point. By law in Spain it is compulsory to carry a set of triangles
and a reflective jacket should you breakdown on the road. These were not
supplied by Goldcar and we would have been responsible had the police stopped us
during our stay. Follow Up
I have since written to Goldcar and had no reply. No surprise there! Cartrawler (who provide the search technology) apologised for the incident and
hope that it will "not affect my decision to use CarTrawler in future". Although
I have no complaint against Cartrawler I had to point out that I will not be
using their technology again when searching for car rental because operators
such as Goldcar can falsely provide low quotes that get their rates to the top
of the search results then they proceed to rip-off unsuspecting holidaymakers on
arrival. This makes a mockery of price comparison websites in this market.
The only solution is for major operators in the car rental search market
such as Cartrawler to drop unscrupulous operators such as Goldcar from their
network. Recommended Car Rental Supplier?
In maintaining my proactive response to this rip-off I've been
researching a large number of online car rental companies and for the moment
have decided that my main recommendation is a UK company called
Economy Car Hire which offers the following:
- Fully Comprehensive
Insurance.
- No Insurance Excess.
- Unlimited Mileage.
- Free
Additional Driver.
- All Airport Taxes & Surcharges are Included.
- Top Up
Insurance at only £1.50 per day (covers tyres, windscreens, underside of
vehicle, ie. parts not covered by Collision Damage Waiver).
- They Charge in
Pounds when Booking & VAT is Included.
- Fuel Policy Varies According to
Supplier & are Constantly Monitored.
- Excellent Customer Support Team.
Try a search for your next rental car using the following search engine:
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