written by on 15/09/2010
DON'T RENT A CAR FROM THEM!!! The car was a little bit cheaper than in the other companies, but I wasn't told about hidden costs/charges for the fuel they take 68 euros for the Fiesta. I did give the car back with the full tank and they didn't give me my money back saying that I supouse to return the car with an EMPTY TANK!?
written by on 14/09/2010
DO NOT HIRE FROM GOLDCAR!!!
The thing about GOLDCAR is that they on the face of it offer a cheap car hire service, like I said on the face of it. We paid 90 euros for a week, once at the counter they tried to get us to upgrade to a larger vehicle for another 30 euros. Then the insurance did not cover wing mirrors and glass so did we want additional insurance of 30 euros. Then the fuel now it cost 70 euros for a full tank of diesel, which we were told to return empty. I suspect if I had wanted to drive round the island 4 times that might have been possible as it was I returned it with 3/4 of a tank and was pretty much told - tough! The price of diesel per litre was 73 cents approx that means a VW Golf has a 96 litre fuel tank. When I said to the member of staff you are now going to charge the next person for the fuel I have left in the car I was told - Yes , how bad is that!
written by on 13/09/2010
Hired a Mercedes C200 lovely car, first one had a flat battery took 30 mins to find a replacement.
Fuel very expensive tookt he car back with half a tank, no refund!
My 10 year old left a shoulder bag on the back seat when we returned it to the airport (in a rush) didnt notice untill we were airborn. Emailed and telephoned dozens of times they didny want to know.
They have a thief working for them.
I WILL NEVR USE THEM AGAIN, I WOULD RATHER WALK BAREFOOT OVER HOT COALS!!
written by Griff60 on 10/09/2010
I have just returned from renting a car with Goldcar ex Malaga and was a little stunned when they charged me 75 euros for a tank of fuel for a Peugot 207, needless to say i returned it with the fuel warning light on.
I have now checked the fuel capacity of this car it is 50 litres assuming it is nearly always returned with some fuel in it, Goldcar are ripping off quite a lot of money from this fuel policy.
I shall rent with Helle Hollis next time who's current fuel policy credits quarter tank increments up to full on return.
Unless of course they join the band wagon.
written by on 10/09/2010
I would highly recommend avoiding Goldcar at Malaga airport. I know that many companies add on extra charges, but these are just beyond a joke- the price was nearly 250% of what it said on the reservation. Their fuel is more than double the price you'd pay in a petrol station- and they give you no option but to buy a full tank, and buy it from them. They're rude, unhelpful, and treat you like they really don't care at all about what you think of them. Our car was old and the seats covered in cigarette burns. Plus, they charged us 30 euros to pay with a debit card (for the rental, not a security deposit, which might have been more understandable). When another member of our party offered to pay by credit card, their employee said that they'd charge us anyway. Avoid them, they're awful.
written by on 01/09/2010
Rented many times before with mixed experiences (avoid Do You Spain & Record Go at all costs). Booked a Focus estate & got a Focus estate. It was in excellent condition but when i plugged the sat nav in the cars cig lighter socket it didn't work. Went back to the hut in the car park and asked a member of staff for help. Not a problem, he walked a fair distance back into the main airport and fetched keys for another 2 Focus estates for me to try and let me pick which one i liked the best. It was dent free and had 6K on the clock. Slight downsides were as follows - car cost 175.00 euros for the week, full tank of petrol cost 82.00e. Tank capacity is 55 ltrs and average fuel cost on the island was 1.15e per ltr so a full tank should cost 63.25e, not 82.00e but all the firms I've used in Majorca do it. The extra "Relax" insurance was 5e per day, which covers glass/tyres/keys. They take the payment on your card in British pounds at their conversion rate (0.84) and charge you 2% for doing so! It's on the bottom right of the contract which you sign saying that you agree to the charge, but it was not explained to me. Total cost was 297e or £251 so the conversion seemed ok. Overall i was very happy and will book direct with them again.
written by on 29/08/2010
Really awful service. Would never use them again. Staff were so rude and unhelpful. The car was shabby and had high mileage even though we had paid over a £1000 pounds for a ford focus. The engine developed a problem and a warning light appeared on the dash. We returned the car to be told that as we had declined to take out the additional insurance we would have to pay a 500 euros deposit whilst the car was checked out by an engineer but no engineer was on duty until the following day. The staff were horrible refusing to even talk to us as they were too busy as a flight had just arrived. We were told we just should have taken out the additional insurance as only the body work and not the engine was covered!!
written by on 28/08/2010
Goldcar - What a rip off!! So annoyed that they charged 88E for a full tank when we only wanted to poodle around but after queuing almost 180 minutes at airport (with small kids) couldn't face the argument/change of company. As others have said, they really push the tyre insurance thing; you almost expect one of their reps to be hovvering around waiting to puncture your tyre if you don't! The reps certainly aren't thick on the ground at the counter. There was no-one to show us the car, no sheet to sign to acknowledge current damage nor on return. Am still worried they're going to try & fleece us for the dent we found on arrival at our property which couldn't be seen in the dark of the garage though is clearly old damage. AVOID AVOID AVOID.
written by on 24/08/2010
Booked with Car Hire 3000 knew there would be a supplement for fuel but no mention of the value so quite shocked when charged EUR80!
also waited over 2 hours in a queue - never again!
written by on 11/08/2010
Fuel - was 82 euros for Ford Focus Wagon. Slightly high but not outrageous.
Staff - surly and didn't like it when I turned down the extra insurance (5 euros per day extra). Insisted on pointing out repeatedly that I had declined. Made a point of reading all the small print.
Car - had plenty of scratches but took photos in case of any extra charges appearing.
To sum up, wasn't pleasant experience but ok. Wld go elsewhere next time.
written by on 09/08/2010
Total scam no mention of any hidden charges.
Dont think they ll be in business long as most of there customers were not happy.
never use these people avoid like the plague
written by on 09/08/2010
They sent me away to hoover the car before i returned it... need i say more!
But, i only left 3km worth or fuel in the tank - so i guess we are even.
They tried the extra insurance scam on me too. I declined.
Booked with DOYOUSPAIN never again! Holiday Autos are better.
written by on 28/07/2010
I have hired cars regularly with Goldcar in Almeria and had no problems. However they are cheap and you do get what you pay for:
Long queues as whole plane rents from them.
Not always car model ordered, but always acceptable, new and clean
You have to accept extra charges, which btw are charged by all cut-price firms:
i.e. full tank of (expensive) petrol/return emptyish; extra charge for excess insurance & wheels etc (Tip: get annual excess cover in UK); extra charge for additional drivers.
At Almeria Airport we have ALWAYS been treated with courtesy by the staff.
I have in the past been hit by a farmer's truck and had to call out pick-up and also been snowed in up the mountain and had to telephone the extend my hire by un-known number of days. All has been dealt with with the minimum of hassle and very speedily.
I have read bad reviews but can only conclude that these were not for Almeria Airport Office.
written by on 27/07/2010
I read the overall negative reviews and was a little scared first as Goldcar seemed to be the only car rental company still available to us. I read all the extra costs that would occur, so I was aware of that and calculated it in.
Honestly, I was surprised on how smooth everything was in the end. Ok, we arrived at midnight, and therefore had only a small queque. but staff was very friendly, we paid exactely what we calculated, our chosen car was available, everything was easy, fast, and we could not have wished for anything else. Uncomplicated return of the car also. Excellent value for money, would use it again anytime in Palma!
written by on 27/07/2010
DO NOT USE GOLDCAR!! AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
Let me tell you how my supposed £120 booking for 7 days car hire turned into£440.
Booked through Auto-europe website in the UK which worked out about £120 for the week's hire. Pretty good I thought. Turned up at Gerona airport, Goldcar had a large slow queue - thats fine though I thought, saving a lot of money.
They then offered extra insurance, I declined. They then told me I had to pay 60EURO to fill up the tank and I was to return it EMPTY. I knew of this little trick, but paying an extra 20 Euros for the overpriced fuel and loss of fuel not used on return again I expected. I also added my fiance as a second driver, that totaled £70 so now I was on £190. But, to be expected to at least pay fuel.
However, I returned it on 7th June, noone viewed it with me, just left in an airport carpark and keys dropped off. A few weeks later I checked my credit card statement to find that ON THE DAY I returned the car (7th June) they charged me 250EURO. Then a second charge of 50EUROs was made 12 days later at a different location (San Juan). So now I had been charged an extra £255 (more than doubling my costs) for no given reason.
I queried this with my credit card issuer, and wrote an email to the customer services for Goldcar. About 3-4 weeks later I received an email response thanking me for enquiring about the charges, but confirming that having looked over the case, the charges were made due to "mechanical damage (refueling mistake)" which also required a tow-truck hence the 300EURO charges in total.
However, I was given a car with a full tank which I paid for the fuel but did NOT fill up myself, and I did not use more than the tank - I returned it NEAR EMPTY. Not once did I even open the petrol cap. So this was an impossible explanation.
I'm waiting to hear back from both my credit card and Goldcar, but these lot are a bunch of crooks. They have falsely accused me of something and have taken my money illegally as far as I am concerned. I am telling everyone to avoid Goldcar - they are con men and crooks.
written by Sylviesteak on 21/07/2010
I rented this car for me and some friends. We wanted to make a trip on the coastline and looked for the cheepest and best cars. Our choise was Goldcar and it was the best choise we could make. The car was great, clean and almost new. Obviosly it is the same car we could have rented from each company but the price was incredible.
Ofcourse we had to wait on the collection because almos the whole plane had a booking with them.
I will repeat in october.
written by on 19/07/2010
To save a lengthy review I'll summarise in bullet form.
*The staff at Goldcar were exceptionally rude / off hand.
*Forced to pay 70E for a full tank of fuel or 'lose my money on the car hire'.
*Attempted to bully us into taking out additional insurance (having already paid for collision waiver damage)to cover windows and pickup truck charges of 1000E in case of an accident - recovery charges allegedly not covered by the collision waiver damage! *Car downgraded without any refund / apology. They admitted they only had 2 x Seat Leon which we had booked on the island!
*Car given had been involved in an accident - badly smashed / scraped along driver's side.
* Refused to let me use their phone to attempt to cancel the car after I couldn't call the 0800 number for Jigsaw Travel. Told me 'that's why we have payphones'.
*Goldcar called the police to 'arrest me' when I explained to those queuing what was happening. Luckily the police had seen it all before and ensured that I was provided with a full refund.
PLEASE, PLEASE AVOID AT ALL COSTS
written by on 09/07/2010
Huge queue on arrival at Murcia Airport of unhappy customers arguing about terms of hire actually provided - no insurance for vehicle or passengers included in hire costs - 30 euros per week compulsory extra charge to have cover - 60 euros for fortnight, fuel to be returned empty.
Ford focus booked but diesel VW Golf provided at 14 euros extra charge for diesel, plus 73 euros for tank of fuel, plus 25 euros instead of expected 20 for additional driver.
Instruction to take payment in euros not pounds was ignored and extra costs resulted from this.
Cost increased from 362 euros booked for 2 week hire to 534 euros.
Staff laughed when people complained about extra unexpected costs.
I would never use GoldCar Rental again and recommend others to avoid them.
written by on 08/07/2010
What a scam! Like the previous commenters we were charged a tank of fuel. Had to pay 75 euros for 50 euros worth of fuel. Also had to pay for upgrade which we did not ask and was not mentioned.
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Frajer's Comment
Written on: 03/08/2010
Hi, I completely agree with you. I am unfortunately in the same situation and after reading your comment I am even more concerned about the future charges. During our stay the car got broken twice. The batery of the car key turned out to be faulty, and now they are telling me that after checking the key (two weeks later!) it seems to be fine, and I have to cover the breakdown lorry expences!! Could you please let me know something more on your case now? Did you get the money back, and if yes..how...? I would appreciate any information as it my help me to claim my money BACK! Thanks a lot. Regards
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