Warning - don´t use Goldcar Rental when in Spain!

Never in my life have I been som humiliated as a customer as I was both on pick up and return of a vehicle at Palma de Mallorca Airport. The inefficiency of the procedures, the suprising rip off charges for fuel and comments like \"Don´t try to teach me my job!\" when asking for a return inspection and a receipt was far too much. This was both the first and the last time I made business with them. And I was not alone to have severe critical comments; we were a lot of people who were pissed by the treatment. Use other agencies instead!

//Ken

I was on holiday in Marbella from 20-23 May and hired a car from Goldcar Europa at Malaga airport.

On 22 May, the car would not start so I called them to report the problem. On 23 May a tow truck arrived and they took the car away.

I then received a call from Goldcar and they said that if I took a taxi to the airport THEY WOULD PAY and that they would give me another car.

When I arrived at the airport they refused to pay and I called the police. Eventually we agreed that I would pay and claim the money back when I arrived home: the police have copies of the contract/taxi receipt and my details as well.

Initially, Goldcar said they needed to decide if it was my fault that the car would not start before they refund me for the taxi (100 Euro).

This was frustrating but I agreed to that as I knew that I had nothing to do with the problem with the car.

I left it until today and I called them again (I have been dealing with Loren in the main office in Valencia).

She told me that I will be refunded but they need an invoice off the taxi company! I told her that I have paid the taxi and that I have the receipt to prove it. She said that they need a printed receipt off the taxi company and that they only receive them every 2 months: I tried to explain that the dispute is not with the taxi company, and that they owe me the money and the police have a record to prove that.

I have now run out of patience with this company. They are obviously not planning to refund me and just want to drag this out as long as possible.

Arrived home to find they had put an additional charge of 150 Euro on to my credit card without my knowledge. They will not reply to any e-mails to advise why they did this. Checked lots of forums and they seem to do this to lots of people. Stay well away from this company.

Its good to know that this forum is serving its purpose in terms of offering a platform for the exchange of opinions - negative as well as positive. Can relate positive experiences they've had with car rental companies in spain -?

I have had exactly the same experience as 'fedup' and been charged an additional £139. Not only am i clueless as to the purpose of the charge but after 4 emails I have still not had any response.

Does anybody know of an ombudsman that this could be referred to?

Ray

BEWARE !!!!!!!.We had booked a villa with "FREE" car hire included,and also paid the Villa Company (Villaparade) extra to "waiver the insurance excess".Upon our arrival at Palma Airport we were shocked to find the massive queue for Goldcar.Two Hours,Ten Minutes later we made it to the desk.Only then did we find that we needed to pay a further excess as "Glass,Tyres,Keys and Underbody" were not covered !!!.They then charged us for a FULL tank of very expensive diesel(a lot more expensive than what it cost on the island).They told us to return the car back with an "EMPTY" tank.Not a chance !!.I worked it out that we would have had to do over 2 complete laps of the islands coastline or 19 trips from the airport to Pollenca !!.My credit card bill was over 100 Pounds (Goldcar even charged a percentage to convert Euros to sterling).The villa company have now dropped Goldcar.BEWARE,BEWARE.

Recently hired a 7 seater car in Malaga from Goldcar as there were 6 people in our party and we needed the extra seats. We only used the car to travel from and back to the airport, 3 couples , long weekend, no kids , great ! Back in England when my friends credit card bill arrived there was an additional charge of £1861.66, after several calls and emails it transpired we were being accused of stealing the 2 rear seats ! We never at any time removed any seats. When we dropped the car off at the airport we asked if they would like to check the vehicle but they only checked the fuel then 6 or 7 goldcar reps got in the car and drove off . We have asked Goldcar to check cctv to show we were all sat in a seat when we dropped the car off but they have refused . This is clearly a SCAM . Goldcar have refunded £975 leaving an outstanding amount of £886 . credit card co not being helpful saying we have to claim it back ourselves . DO NOT USE GOLDCAR PAY EXTRA AND USE A REPUTABLE COMPANY .

I booked 7 days car hire in Malaga at the end of September 2009. Firstly the queue for a car was ridiculous. The 'add on' charges were totally unrealistic. Full tank of fuel for a small Ford is NOT 68 litres . Car was badly dented, scraped and interior smell was foul. Mentioned to staff who said everything was normal. Returned the car half full of petrol and was told they could and would do nothing to help me. Pointed towards exit and told that was 'airport departures'. We then had to walk for 40 minutes with heavy cases to find we were in Arrival Lounge NOT Departures. If you value good service and expect decent treatment DO NOT USE GOLDCAR.

I have just returned from Gran Canaria where I have had an apartment for 20 years. I hired a car through the carhire supermarket and it was with Goldcar. Tehy insisted that I paid €35 for an insurance excess even though I showed them the annual policy that I buy every year for £65 to cover that insurance. They also charged €58 for a tank of petrol on a ford Focus which would only have cost about €40 at a filling station. They also told me to return the car with an empty tank which is impossible, in my case there was sufficient fuel for 180k more. This is tantamount to daylight robbery. Alot of people were complaining about the extra charges but the staff didn't give a toss and just told people to go elsewhere and claim a refund. Fat chance of getting one from that load of crooks. I'll never use them again.

Location février 2010, Grande-Canarie
Citroën C4 quasi-neuve, haut de gamme.
Prix très concurrentiel (15€/jour), mais assurance obligatoire de 45€..., et plein essence du véhicule facturé 1.07€ le litre quand il est vendu 0.83€ sur l'île, véhicule a rapporter réservoir vide, ce qui est impossible... Cela me parait commercialement discutable.

Rental february 2010, Gran Canaria
Citroën C4 almost new, not a cheap one.
Very low price (15€ a day), but a special insurance was compulsory(45&euro..., the fuel tank was full at 1.07€ /liter when it's sold à  0.83€ on the island, the car was to be brought back with a empty tank, which is quiet impossible.... All this seems commercially debatable .
 
 Erick