GoldCar Rental
Reviews and Complaints

In August I hired a car from GoldCar, Barcelona Airport, through the agents DoYouSpain.
The hire was 'pre-paid', was for a petrol car and was for 'full / full' fuel.
When I collected the car, I was charged €57.21 extra. This was itemised on the invoice given to me as 'airport tax' and 'smart return'. This amounted to €35.21 on the invoice, however, €57.21 was charged to my card.
(the difference was for a 'diesel supplement'. For a petrol car?)

At the pick-up office, on the car park, it was chaos. There was no sign of any staff wearing any GoldCar uniform. Behind the desk, in the office, was a couple of 'local males' who told me they were not GoldCar staff. There was also a small 'local' family hiding behind the counter.
On finding the GoldCar colleague, I asked for them to remove some tapes which were fastened in place, stopping the use of one of the rear seats. This resulted in several 'low-lifes', obviously not staff but pretending to be interested parties, descending on the Seat Ibiza from all angles and part of our luggage being stolen, containing over €800!

I complained to DoYouSpain about this incident and about the standard of GoldCar's staff.
DoYouSpain made their apologies, then sent a copy invoice, pointing out even more charges which had been fraudulently witheld / erased from my original invoice!

The airport police and the local police were alerted to the situation in the car hire carpark, to which I was told there are many criminals hanging around the airport car-hire offices in order to prey on tourists carrying money!

I have been advised to take this up with the European Consumer Centre as GoldCar (or GoldCar staff) are clearly scamming their customers, especially those who are pre-paying through agents.

I took a car at goldcar Firenze airport . I booked it on Expedia with a very attractive price. When I took it it was dark night and the car was damaged on the right side. When I returned it they found a very small damage I didn't see at 11h30 pm. They said it was my responsibility and they want me to pay 240 euros for a very small damage. Scandalous, and they never repair the damage.
So AVOID BOOKING WITH THIS COMPANY

Estimado señor

Referencia. Número [protected]

Estoy escribiendo para quejarme sobre mi reciente alquiler de coche desde el aeropuerto de Málaga del 20/10 al 23/10/18.

Cuando llegué en la recepción presenté el comprobante de alquiler que indicaba claramente que 20.85E era pagable, y que ya había pagado el recargo del aeropuerto y el alquiler de GPS a Economy Bookings. Tengo una póliza de seguro con franquicia en el Reino Unido, por lo que no le compré un seguro adicional.

Sin embargo, en el mostrador de Goldcar, se puede ver en el documento adjunto que me cobraron varios extras, incluido un recargo duplicado en el aeropuerto y el alquiler de GPS (que luego se descubrió que no funcionaba) que Goldcar me aseguró que tenía que pagar. El único extra que quería agregar al alquiler fue un conductor adicional (23.65EUR). Al final, me cobraron 217EUR en lugar de los 44, 50EUR que esperaba pagar.

Esto significa Queen en total, por un alquiler de 3 días me cobraron 238.90EUR en lugar de 65.80EUR que había contratado a pagar cuando reservé en línea con Economy Bookings. Andreas en su recepción, confirmó al regreso del automóvil que el GPS no funcionaba.

Por lo tanto, solicito un reembolso de 187.85(?) EUR; incluyendo el precio del dispositivo GPS que no funcionó.

Atentamente,

Nick Walker.

When renting the car at Tenerife South, the lady at the desk told us as we paid for a full cover insurance, we do not need to check the car or take pictures as it is all ok and can just take it and go. The state of the back seats was already stained but we did not say anything as we did not need to worry, as being told so. There were just two of us and we have not even used the back seats for anything, so we do not agree to be charged €150 for cleaning of back seats which we have not used and which should have been cleaned before we rented the car anyway. If there was something wrong with the car, why your staff did not tell us anything when we returned it? Why the person at the desk did not specify anything at the time of renting? I believe we should be getting the car spotless when renting in the first place, and it was not the case. The staff taking the car when returning said everything was fine and we would get our money back soon. It is very easy to charge customers for something after they have left the country and are very unlikely coming back to solve the situation. We were renting via www.economycarrentals.com several times around the world and never have experienced such service and attitude, if only knowing the Gold car company before and doing some research, we would NEVER rent with them.

Upon arrival at Mallorca airport we were completely ignored by Gold Car rep called Marc until he stated: "Ok, the total price is 279, price is including deposit, complete package and the airport tax". We have questioned him about what does he needs us to pay for as we have already paid for the car hire and have extra insurance. He stated that Gold Car do not offer cars for 12 euro a day and said: "This was only the reservation fee". When we asked him to explain what the complete package was he stated: "It is a price for the car". We have been asking him to explain what did we pay our Brooker and insurance company for showing him our paperwork, his answer was: "For nothing, for reservation only". As this was inconsistent with our paperwork we have once again have asked him to confirm that we have not paid for anything yet he stated: "for reservation". He carried on saying complete package is the car hire price. The conversation went on for several minutes and we have reordered it.

We have queried the charges with escalation team straight away and their reply weeks later was shocking: "I have reviewed the recording and we can find no evidence that you were forced to take the coverage" and that we should have known better. What coverage? This have not been mentioned before at all. It is really clear that God Car employees are lacking basic knowledge about their company's term and conditions. He demanded money straight away, completely dismissed what was written on the booking/insurance paperwork and lied in my face that a we have paid for "nothing", just reservation, calling our Brooker a problematic middle company, while claiming that GoldCar does not offer cheap cars i.e. £12 a day. Our evidence provided to Gold Car (voice record) leaves no doubt here and no misunderstanding.

Furthermore, Gold Car have not yet provided us with "Hoja de Reclamciones" form although we have asked several times.

Gold Car is yet to explain to us why in their reply they are referring to "no evidence that you were forced to take the coverage" where in fact, the word coverage has not been mentioned before by anyone at all? We have been told at the time again and again and again that we have to pay for car hire, airport tax and deposit because the payment we have made to our Brooker so far was for "nothing, just reservation"?.

Arrived at Las Palma Mallorca on Oct 11th 2018 and was met by a very pushy agent who insisted that I took their additional insurance. I exxplained that i had already taken additional cover with Rentalcars.co.uk. He spent around 15min warning me of consequences if i didn't take the cover. He offered free petrol and a car upgarde but i still refused and signed the 'DO NOT ACCEPT' section of the agreement.
On return to UK I was shocked to find that the 1400 Euro deposit had been taken from my credit card and only 1317.25 Euros had been refunded. Currently I am out of pocket by £134.68 and Rentalcars have been over a month trying to resolve the issue.

Before my purchase I Regret that I did not look for reviews on the web.
I repeat my advice...AVOID THIS COMPANY.

Hello,

My name is Rashid Ahmad. I very recently visited Malta with my family (wife, 1 year old son and 3 years old daughter). I hired a car from 25th to 29th in Malta with the following references:

Booking Reference Number: MT446423670
Agreenebt no. [protected]
Car Reg: LQZ 061
Make: Citron C3

This was supplied by Goldcar at Malta International Airport. It was around 10 pm when I was handed over the car. The person who was handling the delivery insisted me to see the car if there are any damages on the vehicle. I responded to him that it was your car, you should know the damages and inform me if there are any. He told a white lie and said: "No. My car is free of damages." But when I inspected the car I could see some scratches on the vehicle here and there and keep in mind it was 10 pm night time and I was with toddlers who were very unsettled and tired due to the flight. So, I told him about those scratches which he put on the papers. I told him it was night and there might be more if examined in day light. He responded it was OK. They have to follow the procedure. So I did not give it a second thought and took the car and drove to the hotel with my family.
When I reached the hotel, I again examined the car and I found a very slight dent on the upper side of the body. I took the photo there and then in case any thing happens. Next morning, in the day light I again had a look on the car and found there were bit more scratches which were not marked at the time of the delivery, so I took a photo of that too there and then. I kept driving the car, and enjoyed the rest of my stay in Malta but only until I was about to fly back.

When I went to the car rental park to return the car and gave the keys to the attendant. To my surprise, the attendant after taking the keys of the car, within seconds, spotted about scratches on the car and said these scratches were not marked by you when you took the car, so you have to pay. I was baffled. I explained to him that when I took the car it was night time and was not possible for me to see every bit in detail. Next morning I saw there were scratches and I took a photo as well. He went really harsh and said "That's it. You have to pay!" He behaved as he was some Maltese supreme court judge. I was really annoyed and tried to explain him again thinking he might not understood me. He threatened 'if you are not paying, I am going to prepare an invoice and we will deduct the amount from the held deposit.' It was really annoying.

Although, I had the full insurance and all damages were covered, I again explained to him there was also a dent on the upper body of the car which was not marked at the time of delivery and you still haven't noticed it. He said: "Okay you will have to pay for the dent too which he could not spot at the first instance." We told him we had full insurance, if there was anything wrong, our insurance could pay but he should try to understand. Why would we tell him about a dent which he even himself couldn't notice. But he remained ill-mannered. When I asked him about his manager, he said he was the manager. (To be honest, I don't think he was the manager, but if he really was the manager then you should seriously revise your policies to hire the employees).

My wife then tried to explain but he did not listen at all. My wife asked him if she could see any log of the damages of the car by the previous users. At this point he went really rude. He threatened me to pay or he will not give a single penny back to me from my deposit. He was behaving like a drunkard and was so rude. He was not listening and tried to intimidate us in the presence of our 3 year old daughter and an infant. My daughter became so terrified. I did tell him off. He had some papers in his hand (I think, he it was an invoice he was preparing) which he tore into pieces and got up of his seat and literally threatened us face to face. Seeing this disgusting behavior, we left the premises ASAP to avoid being attacked by this fat goon.

I went straight to the desk of Goldcar office inside the airport and explained everything to them. The guy at the office listened to me very attentively but said he couldn't do anything as they only deal with the paperwork and have nothing to do with the cars.

I was extremely disappointed with such indecency that I along with my wife and two kids had to face. It almost ruined our trip at the end.

To my surprise, I have now seen my bank statement which shows that I have been charged 1089 Euros. They haven't provided me anything about this deduction. I have been calling them, and no response. I have sent them emails but no response. This is really frustrating and annoying.

Date: 22/10/2018

Contract number: [protected]

Description of incident:

Rented a car for half a day (less than 12 hours). Queued 45mins to pick up, despite already reserve in advance and paid online. At counter, I was asked to pay an additional €158. The lady didn't bother to explain, so i asked and she said it's for deposit and will be fully refunded when i return the car in the good condition i receive and a full fuel tank. I don't read Spanish so i trusted what she said. I returned with full fuel tank. After a few days, i received a €75 refund in my bank account. I write to ask when i will receive the balance and the reply was unpleasantly surprising. They charged for things without my consent and told me otherwise over the counter. Below was the breakdown. What is even Smart Return? and why would i need extra insurance for a half a day drive nearby? The point is that it was explained to me as fully refundable deposit and these were not charged with consent. Please review this incident and look into any security camera/conversation as necessary. It was around 11am 22/10/2018 at the Malaga Airport Goldcar counter.

1) 6.51€ Charge office premium: (Location costs) For those offices located in airports, train stations or other facilities where an additional fuel surcharge is levied, this will be added to the final cost of the actual fuel consumption. The percentage applied for this item is detailed on page 1 of the rental agreement.

2) 14.95€ Smart Return: allows customers to return the car without refuelling, avoiding any penalty charge if the car is not returned full. The Smart Return fee guarantees that you are only charged for the fuel that you have actually used.

3) 59.95€ Super Relax Cover: (Basic Insurance) customers can drive safe in the knowledge that any damage will be covered and that Goldcar will handle all the paperwork.

4) 2.00€ Mega Relax Cover(Full Insurance)

5) 75€ Deposit Debit Card(Deposit of fuel)

Desired resolution:
Full refund as verbally communicated. Balance of €83 (€75 already refunded)

Goldcar Car Hire, Alicante Airport, October 19th to 26th

My Goldcar Experience:

Things I liked: There was unfortunately nothing to like.

Things I disliked:

- being told at the desk that I had to take out additional insurance of 150 euros, while I had already taken out insurance with AXA at the point of booking via Ryanair

- that it said on the documents that I didn't need to take out additional insurance, while acknowledging the car hire company (Goldcar in this instance) would try and make me to do so. Highly confusing and unprofessional, it all had the sniff of a scam - by being lured in by cheap headline prices when booking.

- the Goldcar representative became extremely rude when I read out the hire car document i.e. that I didn't need their additional insurance

- there were several unrecorded dents and scratches on the car. I noticed these when collecting the car and returned to the desk. One was added by the operative to the hire documents, but one dent/scratch towards the front of the car I was told was not big enough to necessitate being recorded. On returning from holiday, I then receive an email with an invoice for 150 euros for this exact dent/scratch that Goldcar told me was too small and did NOT need to be recorded. That is a terrible practice, and effectively theft. It is clear I am not the only one this has happened to. On returning the car and waiting in the queue, another gentleman came back and said there were several unrecorded scratches and dents on his own hire car (as there were on mine) - he was told "not to worry" so that he didn't have to wait in the queue. I know full well he will also be charged for scratches/dents that were NOTHING to do with him, and will go some way to ruining his holiday as it did mine.

- Due to this extremely poor experience I looked for reviews online (which I now know I should have read before booking) and I see that Goldcar have a really terrible reputation. And have done for years. To my surprise, they are owned by Europcar. To the point that many reviews talk of a 'scam' i.e. charging people for damage on cars they did not cause. As per an article just this last Sunday in the Sunday Times 'exposing' Goldcar's practices. Amazing that this article comes out just days after my own experience with this shameful company.

- Rather than "recommending Goldcar to a friend or colleague" (as their survey asked me), I will instead tell everyone I know and anyone I meet going on holiday to NEVER use this company or their parent company Europcar. They have been fined by regulators twice before, but this clearly has had no impact on their behaviour.

Goldcar is a disgrace - nearly all the reviews say so. Some people have been unlawfully charged a great more money than I have for damages they did not cause; that is terrible behaviour and seriously impacts people's lives.

Contract no [protected]
Customer 6663026
You have charged me for a scratch on the tyre I was told but did not scratch anything I would like a report for this
I also hired a vehicle immediately on the return of vehicle and the contracts prices do not match up you have an excess granted but there are other charges that do not match up
This was contract no [protected]

Hired a VW Polo from 19th to 26th October from Gran Canaria airport. I declined to take any additional insurance as I was only going to drive to and from my hotel around 25kms away. When collecting the vehicle I noticed the rear left wheel trim to be missing so I made a close inspection to check for any damage. None visible other than the areas already highlighted on the paperwork provided by the office in the airport.
I returned the car on 26th and parked up in the Goldcar drop off area. I again checked my vehicle and there was no additional damage in any way. Upon arrival home, I received a bill from Goldcar stating that they would be charging me €350 for damage to front bumper and rear wing. This is a total fabrication of damage and do not expect to be charged for this.

I booked a car rental online, through Goldcar's website (https://www.goldcar.es), on December 18th 2017 (booking/reservation number [protected]), for Cluj-Napoca. The pick-up and drop off dates were May 15th 2018 to May 18th 2018. The cost for the rental was 158.09 RON. I picked up the vehicle, declining the additional coverage option (Super Relax Cover), on the agreed date and time. I was charged on my VISA credit card (ending 3024) on May 19th 2018 for $40.22. The car I was assigned was an Opel Corsa (CJ-18-RDX). On May 16th 2018 at 4:15 PM I was involved in a car crash with another moving vehicle in Targu-Mures, Jud Mures. The accident wasn't my fault. The incident was without victims, both myself and the other driver being able to communicate and drive the cars together to the Targu-Mures Road Police Station.

I called Goldcar Cluj Airport office and spoke with a representative, which advised me to go with the other driver to the Road Police Station and obtain a police report and repair authorization. The accident was reported at the Targu-Mures Road Police Station, following the rules and regulations of Romania. Both, myself and the other driver, interviewed with police officers, took breathalyzer tests, a police report and repair authorizations being issued after a few hours of police investigations. The other driver was declared at fault, having their driver's license suspended for 90 days and fined a ticket.

I dropped the car on May 18th 2018 along with all the accompanying paperwork: police report and repair authorization, photo copies of the other driver's insurance policy details and insurer information; to Goldcar Cluj Airport office representative. I was assured that all the documents are in order and that I shouldn't worry about anything.

On May 24th 2018 I was charged $1364.39 (5393 RON) on the same VISA credit card (ending 3024) by Goldcar DEP. I have repeatedly contacted the Goldcar Cluj Airport office representative, on July 27th 2018, on August 2nd 2018, and on August 6th 2018, I also filed in a claim (Incidencias number 1705109) with Goldcar Customer Service Department about refunding the $1364.39 (5393 RON) amount. I have been in touch briefly with agent Tania, which refused to assist with my claim. I do not understand why I am still being charged for a cost of repairs that has been covered through the other party's at fault insurance policy and why Goldcar Cluj Airport is illegally withholding $1364.39 (5393 RON) of my card.

The work complaintsboard.com is doing is admirable and I am hoping that your team will be interested in knowing about such a happening, too. I would like to officially report Goldcar Cluj Airport for fraud, scam and bad business. Upon a more attentive look at Goldcar service reviews, consumer complaints and severe warnings, I think complaintsboard.com should check into this organization's operation. This is being a really poor experience personally which I am hoping that through your efforts may also help other past, present and future people. I will not let this aspect go and will continue in fighting to recover my money and also let the authorities of Romania know about the shady business these individuals are doing.

Contract Number.[protected]

Customer Code. [protected]

I rented a car from you with above details. I had "Super Excess Refund" with the booking. In addition I had Insurance cover for the Excess.
Your Agent produced a list of charges for different repairs/claims, which amounted to many thousands of Euros and insisted that the Car was only Insured for 3rd Party and therefore any and all claims except 3rd party were payable.
This of course is a LIE, but in order not to enter into an argument with your agent/employee I decided to pay the extra insurance and claim it afterwards from you, as this is a blatant fraudulent claim.

Have spoken on the phone to your customer services and was told that I had the option of leaving a deposit of E1, 400 or pay for the extra Insurance, but this option was NOT offered to me as your agent produced a list of repairs/claims which added to many thousands of Euros and Insisted that the Car was only insured for 3rd Party only, which of course is a blatant Lie.
This meant that any claim would not be considered/included as excess and therefore Not covered either by my additional Insurance or the "Super Excess Refund".

I therefore demand a Refund of E208.86.

This must be actioned Not later than 3 days from todays date 25/10/18.

Failing to refund me, I shall pursue the claim through the courts.
Regards

Theodoros Laghos

during the hire of a car from Pisa Airport we had to change cars due to us suffering two punctures. Gold Car breakdown services we able to reserve a car at Florence airport but were unable to provide transport. I was however told to arrange a taxi myself and the money would be refunded.

We consequently arranged a taxi at a cost of EURO120 and picked up the car and continued on our holiday. I was told to submit the receipt when returning the car to Pisa airport.

On returning the car I gave the receipt to your team at Pisa and was told it would be paid within 7-10 days. This has not been paid despite two reminders to your Pisa Airport team.

Please expedite the payment as soon as possible please. My email is [protected]@gmail.com.

Thank you
Andrew Hilton

Dear mr./ms.,
A week ago I rented a car in Paris airport Orly by interrent, a part of your organization.
I choosed the cheapest one for €60 for two days, excluded the total cover, starting sunday 14th of october at 9.30 am and brought the car back at tuesday 8 am.
I made a deal full to full which meant that the tank should have been full when I got (the dirty) car, which wasn't(a quarter tank was missing) and brought the peugeot 208 back fully tanked.
I had to pay €101, - for full coverage, €10 for gps and another €141, - downpayment for the fuel.
I am still waiting for the last money to return but you understand that I am not happy with this situation. To pay more then €300, - for that car for two days...
If you don't reply on this message within two days from now on I will make this anounced in facebook and much more!
Roberto Groothuis

Hello,

Client code - [protected].
Contract - [protected].

I collected my car rental I booked online, Thursday 11/10/18 from the desk at Murcia airport. I was told I had an up grade and given a card to access the barrier to leave the airport. Ticket didn't work and had to leave car at the barrier and go back into the airport, same happened to other people and a car build up started. Ridiculous! Then while leaving the airport in the hire car I noticed it was very slow starting in first gear and in second, but once I got passed 2 gear it was okay. Then at roundabouts it was evident that there was something wrong with the gear box. As I was using my phone for google maps the battery was low so I continued to my destination, La Manga resort. On arrival of the main gate the car would not go up the slope (hill). The security guy was yelling at me to move the car, but it would clearly not drive, as the gear box was gone. The security guy also tried to move the car and said it was broken, which I knew at this stage. I reported it over the phone which took ages and had to repeat myself. I had to walk with my luggage to my apartment extremely big hills. It took me 40 minutes arriving hot and bothered. I was told by this stage over the phone that it was to late for me to receive a replacement car (22.20) as the airport closed at 23.00 pm.

I had been told that the car was considered very dangerous and not road worthy and you are in breath of your own contract. I had evidence of this taken on the night as my security, should I need to take legal action.

I was told that a tow truck would pick up the car as it could not be driven. No one called me back. I changed and headed to the hotel to have something to eat, as it was now very late. As I passed the broken down hire car, the tow truck was there with security. I mentioned it was me who had rented the car, and then they asked for the keys, I had to then walk all the way back to my apartment up the hill to get the keys. By this time it was 23.00 hours, my first evening was ruined.

I was given a number to call the following morning. A guy called Ricardo gave me a so called local number for a taxi (0034-[protected]) and told me they would arrange to collect me and bring me to the airport. Number didn't work! Rang another number who were very helpful as I was told I need to get a taxi back to the airport to collect another car to the cost of 45 EUR.

I had booked to have tennis coaching for Friday/Saturday/Sunday, I was not prepared to miss my lessons.

I did not collect another hire car, and I would like a full refund of the cost of this car rental.

Thanks in advance for your urgent reply.

Kind regards
Allison Leece.

Hi #Goldcar - I recently rented a car from you at #MurciaAirport for 4 days and am extremely disappointed at the way my booking has been handled.
1. I was charged e23 for #airport taxes and some operation fee when I picked up the car. I have never in all my days of #rentingcars had that charge and thought it was a fuel charge.

2 I was told by the #Goldcar employee that was dealing with my booking that i was NOT to fill the car when returning it.

3. I returned the car with over half a tank of petrol and was charged e100. I have two issues with that - I would have happily filled the car if that's what I was asked to do. In what universe does under half a tank of gas for a #FordFocus cost e60 a meaning a whole tank costs e120?

4. I have raised this incident with the customer services team but am now being ignored so have no choice but to elevate this issue to #socialmedia.

#goldcarcustomers flying with #Ryanair #aerlingus #easyjet #flybe be very very careful when renting a car from this group - everything is not as it seems or as explained.

I hired a car off goldcar (regrettably) in Alicante in from 18 June to 29 June 2018. There was a small scratch on the front of the car on pick-up, which was smaller than the notifiable size of reportable damage on the handout i received at the desk. Nevertheless, i took a photograph and went on holiday with my wife and 3 small kids. I returned the car 10 days later in the same condition, i thought.

A week later i discovered a charge on my credit card of 354.80 for damages (4 July). I called costumer services and lodged a complaint about the charge. Some time later. after a lot of correspondence, i received photos of the damage. It was the same scratch as before, only this time is was slightly bigger.

My problem is not with the damage but the fact that i was not notified about the charge. The goldcar terms and conditions state that "In all cases, Goldcar shall immediately report the charge that was made and the reasons for it, giving the customer all the information possible."

This was not the case. I had to call and make several queries about the charge. I still have had no satisfaction from goldcar. I think that it is illegal for them to charge my card without my knowledge. Each incident i open gets a reply form a different member of staff who are not addressing the issue.

I would love help with this please.

I booked a Fiat 500 or similar for 8.10.2018 to 15.10.2018 via the Ryanair website. When I arrived at Marseille Gold Car office I was told by the Gold Car employee, Franck Emeresse, that I would have to take out their package in addition to the €77.48 I had already paid. Their package would cost €288! This was for additional insurance, not having to return the car with a full tank of petrol and car cleaning. I explained that I did not want any of these services. I have my own excess insurance. I always return a car with a full tank of petrol and ensure the car is clean. Franck Emeresse informed me that I did not have a choice in the matter. I either had to pay an extra €288, or I could not hire the car. He would not budge on the matter. I have hired many cars before and have no problem having a large amount blocked on my card in case I damage the vehicle, but I was told this was not an option. He also blocked €66 for petrol before he told me that I would have to pay the extra €288. This is a ridiculous amount to try and charge for a small car with one driver. I had no choice, but to cancel my booking. He would not refund my €77.48, as he said I had not cancelled in time. I wouldn't have cancelled, if they hadn't tried to charge me a crazy amount of money. I then had to go and find another car to hire from a different company. Consequently this proved to be very expensive, but not as expensive as Goldcar. I have tried to complain direct to Goldcar, but it won't accept my email address. It seems they try and make it difficult for customers to contact them.

Hi,

I have just returned from a family holiday in Tenerife and can assure you that nothing has changed with Goldcar Car Hire as I have just been scammed.

I booked a hire car on line from Goldcar through an agent called ET Car Hire. I made sure that I paid for the full insurance package which included every eventuality - a total of £114.70 was paid for the week and for some reason I had to pay an additional 6 euros when I picked up the car.
We arrived at Tenerife South airport on the 9th October and made our way to the car hire office - which was a bit of a trek! We then had to queue outside the office for what seemed an eternity. Whilst queueing an unhappy customer came storming out of the office stating that he had been conned out of 200 euros for insurance. I assured my family that I had foreseen this problem and had already booked full insurance cover.

We eventually reached the desk and. True to form, that woman told me that I must take out additional insurance for 150 euros. I smugly showed her my paperwork which clearly stated that under no circumstances should I pay for additional insurance. She informed me that this was worthless and continued to badger - at which point I flatly refused. She then became very agitated and asked for my card to pay the outstanding balance and a fuel deposit. I produced my debit card (which is the exact same card that I used to pay for the vehicle) but she informed me that they do not accept debit cards, only credit cards. I told her that I have never owned a credit card so wouldn't be able to produce one. At this point she told me that she would accept a debit card if I paid for the insurance at 150 euros. Obviously I was extremely unhappy with this and at this point my son put forward his credit card to use. Guess what - she couldn't accept because he wasn't the main driver.
I knew that this was all just a scam so I told her to cancel the car and we would make our own way. However, she then told me that she would have to charge me for this as I had given less than 24 hours notice. Completely over a barrel!

I reluctantly had to agree to pay the additional insurance and a fuel deposit - a grand total of 287.86 euros!
When we were leaving the car hire site we did notice a petrol station right on the exit, so I said to my family that we would make sure to fill up at this station - to make sure we don't receive any additional charges.

We returned the car yesterday (15th October) and I drove past the hire place, took the car to the petrol station and asked them to fill it up. I paid for the fuel and drove back round to the hire place (less than ½ mile) and then made sure we cleaned out the car as I was sure that they would try to take more money from us. I gave the keys to an employee who went and checked the car and came back and told us that everything was ok. I asked about the fuel deposit and he informed me that I would receive a refund within the next few days.

We flew back to the UK and arrived home at 2.00am and as soon as I cancelled ‘airplane mode' on my phone I had received an e-mail from Goldcar with a statement attached. It seems I have been charged 10 euros for fuel filling and a 50 euro fine for breaching the full tank policy. This cannot be correct. In total the car has so far cost me around 350 euros for the week when it was advertised at £70 for the week.

I haven't slept since arriving home because I know that this is just a racket and they have totally ruined what should have been a nice relaxing family holiday.

I would urge your readers to take heed - DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES HIRE A CAR FROM GOLDCAR!

Regards,

Phil Massey