Goldcar Rental

We rented a car in Madrid, had no damages during the rental and returned the car in the same state as rented, which one of the employees confirmed when accepting the car from us. We have pictures to confirm that.
The next day we received a charge of 400 euros on our credit card. No email confirmation or any other notification, just an authorised charge.

We contacted Goldcar and they said that they sent an email but to the wrong email address, how convenient鈥?They asked us to file a complaint and we are still awaiting to hear back from them鈥?If we had known of the charge early enough, we would have dealt with it through our insurance company.

This kind of behaviour is disgusting, charging people without their knowledge, pretending that there are damages to the car even though your employees confirm otherwise when they accept the car. We want the full refund otherwise we will be pursuing this through the European Consumer Bureau.

Complaint File number 2514432Status: -1
Contract number: 18826143

Very poor company, they charged at the rental moment an unjustified extra for the pollution produced by the car.
I booked via a broker, so I immediately contacted it. They agreed with Goldcar that it was a not justified charge and promised to refund me… But the refund never arrived, and every time Goldcar was using the excuse with the broker that didn't receive the bank details… That went on several times in a few months. During the last contact with the broker, they suggested me to contact a European resolution authority.
Don't trust this minor rental car company!!!

I had bad experience. I didn't like the process of car checking. They block more than 1200 鈧?for the garantee deposit if you don't subscribe their insurance and this is against law, moreover they charged me for an upgrade + taxes I never asked.
They recently got fined twice by untitrust for these kind of dishonest practices.

Goldcar asks for a deposit of 1110 euros en Tenerife where I rented the car. That's fine. A lot of money, but I was willing to pay. However, it turns out that they will ONLY accept credit card (not debit). I didn't have that, and it has never been an issue in my country. So even if I was willing to pay, they wouldn't accept the deposit from me (they could, but they wouldn't – I know this because they did it with a smaller amount later). Therefore I was presented with two options: 1. Cancel and lose my money from the rent or 2. buy their superinsurance for ~300 euros (which was twice as much as the actual rent). And I already had a good insurance from back home.
We had planned the entire vacation for having a car. So this really felt like throwing money in the trash can.
They can have the policy they want (regarding credit or debit). I get that. But it is poor, lousy and unethical service, and I do not doubt that they have this policy to get people trapped like I got.
Use another car rental company.
And if you end up with Goldcar anyway, make sure to have a credit card (in the driver's name!).

Goldcar, never again!!
As usually, I have rent a car for my holiday. I did it online. I planned to go for a 21- days holiday in Spain.
Unfortunately I have chosen the Goldcar's offer for all 21 days. I have paid in advance the whole amount with full cover. Because of the health problem of my child I couldn't arrived at the airport in Malaga on the first day mentioned in the contract and I have arrived one day later. I wanted to rent a car for remaining 20 days. At the airport the Goldcar said that my contact is cancelled and all money has been lost. They proposed to me new contract for renting a car that was three times more expensive than others rental companies offered at the airport. They charged me the whole amount for 21 days without renting the car for even one day. The Goldcar offer is dishonest and unfair for consumers.

This company is dreadful. Booked via youdospain and was assured that it was full and final payment. Arrived at Malaga and was charged nearly 鈧?00. Why are they not responding to my emails? Be aware they use other company names!!! Always check

If I could have put the star as Zero I would have. Holiday Autos said the only fees I would have to pay at Goldcar would be 拢4.42. when I got my credit card statement Goldcar had taken out 拢1,360.67 including a Barclay Card transaction fee of 拢39.50. I received a refund from Goldcar of 拢1,207.26 which leaves a difference that they have taken from me including the transaction fee of 拢153.41. I am pursuing this through Holiday Autos who I booked the car with.
As for the Trustpilot reviews – according to their website they have 4.5 stars which is different to the ratings above!!!

This is a feedback for the Goldcar at Faro Airport (Portugal).

The staff was so pushy to for us to take on the additional insurance. He made it sound like I didn't have any choice and it's not optional. I rejected the offer and he was so annoyed and became rude to me. I came from England and even said "do you understand ENGLISH to me?"

When we drove off on the highway/motorway, the OIL LIGHT came on. We got to our hotel and the ENGINE LIGHT came on also! I called the customer service as I didn't want to drive the car anymore just in case. I've asked for a tow truck and to replace the car and they've mentioned that I have to pay for the tow truck and I have to drive the car back to Faro Airport (30 minutes drive). I was so disappointed and drove the car back to replace it.

I got to Goldcar and mentioned about the mechanical fault and they should be constantly checking the car before lending it to customers! The lady who replaced my car was also rude and annoyed because we came back and changed the car!

I've been renting cars across the globe with SixT, Enterprise and more but this is far WORSE of the worst customer service, worst cars and never again!

Not even One star – scamming cheating company – took cars from Madrid – got to airport and was told that the insurance we had was useless and we had to buy theirs – they would not lets take the cars if we didn't pay for the extra insurance. when we got home, despite both cars being refilled 1k from airport and the cars being cleaned before we return we were charged for returning dirty cars and not having the cars returned full – awaiting outcome as this has been referred to my Credit card company to get additional fees back. Took them two months too reply to my emails – be calling the fraud squad too – hiring a car in Spain now is an absolute joke – had a similar experience last year but was refunded everything when i told them i had contacted the police – Advice – if you do hire a car take photos of it when you pick it up and drop it off – take pictures of the full tank – take pictures of mileage – just take pictures of everything
Google Goldcar scams !!!!!!

We booked and paid for our car via the Heraklion airport website and on the booking form included our flight numbers. When we arrived at Heraklion we discovered that the shuttle-bus service (run by Goldcar) had stopped for the evening. Thankfully we were proactive and went and asked for information and found the rental desk. However, another passenger on the same flight as us wasn't as fortunate, as they had been waiting at shuttle bus stop for a bus that was never going to come. They finally arrived at the rental desk only to be told that Goldcar were closing and were turned away without the car they had paid for!

These people charged me a deposit which was supposed to be refundable however they did not fully refund the amount paid. I lost around 拢80 on hidden charges such as charging me for a diesel car (even though I booked a petrol engine) and telling me that I changed the fuel policy – which I did not. I booked via Holiday Autos which you have to complain through and they failed to address the issues.

I advise you do not use Gold Car (or Holiday Autos)! I will certainly never use either of them again.

Please never ever use this service if you want value for money. Long waits. Extra charges everywhere. Won't accept most credit cards. They might be cheap up front when you book online but the costs at the back end are prohibitive. AVOID.

after 2 e mailed exchanges i have 2 of the 3 unclear extra charges refunded. i would suggest Goldcar be open and clear from day 1 to save getting negative reviews.

Very bad company. Extra charges for insurance, felt conned and lied to. We will never use them again. Their tactic is to have a very low rental charge then they pressure sell you insurance at a desk for 200 euros or 1200 euro on a credit card that they hold for 30 days. We booked at Malaga airport and the man next to us couldn鈥檛 afford this and had a small child and looked very anxious and upset.

Just book with Other well known companies,

My motto from now is, always look on trustpilot before doing anything

Walk or take a cab, don't rent a car from these people. Absolutely ghastly experience.

I was pressure sold at the desk into buying further premium insurance. The lady was plain rude, she did not allow me to say "no thank you" in fact I said it 5 to 6 times, she would then respond with things like "but if you get a scratch we are going to charge you 1200eu". I showed her that I already had aftermarket premium car insurance (insurance4carhire.co.uk) but she said it was useless and didn't apply here. She was clearly only in it for the additional sell. Customer service was really poor.

She also made comments that because I booked it through arguscarhire that I had waived certain protections and this was why I needed extra insurance. I would seriously investigate Goldcar if I was you, and in particular the lady that served me, as I am unlikely to use Arguscarhire again and just go direct to Europcar in future as a result of this. I also did not enjoy having to put an upfront deposit of 1200eu on the credit card at the start of the holiday, although I have no real issue with this as I can see it was on the voucher to let me know, just a bit of a surprise, again something I've never had to do at Europcar.

After I said my final "no thank you" she barely looked at me again, had a sour face, and made me quite anxious to be honest. When a holidaymaker gets off the plane and has to drive on the other side of the road in an unknown car, and immediately before jumping on the motorway is made to feel very guilty/scared/worried about not being fully protected, and made to feel bad for not having the extra insurance, it contributed to a really bad mood and anxious state for a couple of hours. Luckily the sun was shining.

Will never use Goldcar again for these reasons, which probably means going direct to Europcar.

Crooks. Absolutely disgusted…

They use third parties who offer and confirm a price which includes full cover (which I opted for). Was told that the total price of booking was 拢220 (including the full insurance cover), then when I get to the counter they tell me I have to pay another 拢220 because my booking didnt include full insurance cover. What can you do when you are there!

I am absolutely disgusted and want a refund for the additional insurance I paid. I still havent received my deposit back either!!!

Might as well chuck your wallet on the desk so they can help themselves to your money as they wont let you have the car until you pay up. Hired a car in advance from Rome CIA airport via Holiday Autos.com. Horrendous queues late at night due to relentless up selling of insurance that clearly people didn't want. We were ready for this so point blank refused as we had already payed online for it. Then the con started – we were told we had to pay a deposit of 拢1200 which miraculously was declined on our card which had been used the week before in the USA without problem. I offered cash – which was funny apparently, then I offered another card which they wouldn't take then miraculously all could be resolved if I paid for their unwanted insurance on the same card that had just been declined – and now strangely worked. 拢100 later we got the car which was smaller than we had paid for. Should have seated 4 with 2 cases – only 1 case fit in the boot so we had to put the other on the back seat – good job there were only 2 of us. I strongly believe that the operative lied and said the card had been declined when it hadn't to get us to pay for the insurance. Used the card for the rest of the holiday – no problems whatsoever. Pursuing them for a refund through the European Consumer Bureau

CON-ARTISTS AND FRAUDULENT THIEVES!

DO NOT USE THIS TRASH COMPANY! They are thieves and con-artists hiding behind phones. Upon arriving at the Goldcar office in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to return my rental car I asked a member of Staff if I needed to fuel the car before returning it He replied with a "yes". So after knowing that I took the rental car to a Local gas station to refuel the car. As I have been driving for a number of years I am aware of how to refuel a car at a gas station!. After placing the nozzle into to the petrol tank I filled the petrol to its full amount until the nozzle would not allow to fill anymore. Then to see if it was refueled to the maximum I checked to see on the dashboard 1 bar of fuel empty on there. So I again placed the nozzle into the petrol tank to make sure I refueled to the maximum. And the nozzle kept on clicking signifying that it has reached its full amount. After a couple of days I received my deposit back only to find 拢51.00 deducted from my account from Goldcar I enquired about this and THEY SAID I WAS CHARGED FOR NOT FILLING UP THE PETROL TANK!. How ridiculous does that sound! Since then I've tried phoning,emailing and even trying to get through to the manager who apparently does not exist for Goldcar. They ignore your emails, rude on the phone and they are money hungry. DO NOT use this company you WILL be scammed. I have now reported this fraudulent company to my bank and will also be reporting them to Trading Standards.

NEVER use this company they are real thiefs! The are very able to defraud people! They play a little game with the damage of cars and let you pay for damages that you have never done! In italy in Rome Fiumicino airport I had a very bad experience and I have to pay 420 EUROS for a damage that I didn't.
They are very skilled people to steel your money. SHAME ON YOU!

I hired a car from Goldcar in Nice in December for a work visit I was doing.

Sadly my car was broken into and the back windows smashed. I have an additional insurance that covers this type of problem but since then Goldcar simply do not give me a copy of ANY paperwork at all. I have requested by email, by phone, and even via Facebook and to date I STILL do not have any justification to show my other insurance agent.

Customer service told me to send an email from the email that was used to make the booking and now they write back saying for data protection they are unable to send me anything as it has to be from my own email. I have now sent this to them and still nothing. It is unacceptable, as well as being illegal to deny invoices.

The worst car hire company I have ever dealt with. Hard sell insurance at collection, if you don't agree to take it they will treat you like a 3rd class citizen. We had taken additional cover through Ryanair Car Hire who we had booked through but they dismissed it. They then take a huge 1500 euro deposit on your card plus fuel – that card has to be in the name of the renter and not another family member (this caused a problem for us which they were extremely rude about). They also take a hold for a full tank of fuel even though you have to return it full. Our car was heavily scratched and damaged and in poor condition when we collected it, yet we were almost threatened that we could be charged thousands if we damaged it in any way and did not take their extra insurance. On return to England we discovered they had not refunded the full deposit and did not tell us why and I have sent in a complaint to investigate. Do not use this company – they are cheap for a reason and I said never again!

WHAT A BUNCH OF CROOKS

We booked a car from Goldcar through CarFlexi for a Station wagon, Citroen C3 Picasso or similar for 5 days from Marseilles Airport and should have realised it was not going to go well when the person in front of us called them a bunch of crooks, which we were soon to find out why.

We paid a deposit of 鈧?2.65 with a further 鈧?87.91 to pay on receipt of the car. Firstly, the person who took our details decided that the amount to pay was 鈧?90.38, a minor increase, but then the great insurance scam was explained, even though we were fully covered. For an additional 鈧?79.90 we could have unlimited cover and the car could basically be returned as a complete wreak, as I said no I was already covered then scam No 2 was explained. This was 鈧?541 charged (not held) on my credit card with an 8% non-negotiable handling fee (鈧?23.28). When the car was returned and cleaned at a cost to me, if no damage had occurred then the 鈧?541 would be returned to my credit card with an 8% handling fee again. The choice was be conned out of 鈧?90.38 for the not required additional insurance or 鈧?46.56 in handling fees for scam No 2. As they were not going to let me have a car unless I signed up to one of the scams, even though I explained and showed them I had paid for all cover and extras plus National (next door), did not have any cars I had no option to choose Scam No 1, then was told that a compulsory 鈧?0 was required as a holding fee for the fuel in case it was returned empty, talk about kick a bloke when he is down.

After all this the car that we were allocated had looked like it had completed the Marseilles Rally, with scratches dents etc all over it, then only good point was it was large enough and was an automatic. My wife went back to the reception as we wanted the damage recorded but was told don鈥檛 worry its all covered, at that time I took pictures as proof. So, if we opted for Scam No 2 then I am sure we would have been charged with something. I am still waiting for the 鈧?0 to be returned but as I refuelled at the petrol station 100m form their premises I am confident that they will not charge me any extras.

This has got to be the worst car hire company ever, do not use them.

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER

STOP! Do not rent your car at Goldcar you will definitely be cheated