Goldcar Rental

I just wanted to share my experience and hopefully help others.
I do not suggest to rent from Goldcar (I assume Interrent as well since they are the same company).
It's just not worth the hassle and stress.
They attract you with a lower price then try to scam you in every way.

I went to pick up the rental from Barcelona airport. Lady at the counter try to sell me the usual insurance coverage which I refused. She was not happy then said the car I rented was a diesel therefore I need to pay extra 50eur. I explained that I did not specify for diesel. She insisted that it is the only available option in the group that I booked which was a larger car. She saw that I had my family with me and said if I don't pay the extra 50eur then she can change to a small gasoline car. I asked what those options were then she said if she changes to a gasoline car then there will be an even higher fee for changing the reservation so it didn't make sense to pay more for a smaller car. I told her that I heard and experienced this scam before and I even told her on their T&C it clearly says:

"The ExtraDiesel surcharge could be applied if the customer voluntarily requests a vehicle running on diesel fuel, for 2.5 euros per rental day. If there are only diesel cars in the Group chosen by the customer, at the pick-up time, this charge will not apply."

She got really upset when I challenged her and said it doesn't matter and its different this time and she will not release the car unless I pay or I can wait until 11pm with my young children until they close. Her colleague at the next counter suggested that I pay the extra 50eur since I needed the car and had young children with me. She said I can call customer service after to request for the refund and it's just her colleague's job to charge the extra. They are blatantly scamming even when it's against their T&C.
They knew I couldn't cancel the res and get my money back without a lot of hassle and I was under pressure to get the car with the young children.

I later called customer service and spoke to a rep who confirmed I shouldn't need to pay for the diesel fee according to the T&C. He said I should get a refund at the counter and also asked me to write to their info goldcar.com email address which I did.

After returning the car I went to the counter to request for the refund but the rep just said they do not do refunds anymore. I told him I have gotten a refund before but he just gave me the run around saying they now need a special password that only the rep who issued rental has. I asked if he was telling the truth and he just said he can say whatever he wants. He told me to go and call customer service for the refund. I called customer service on the spot and the person over the phone also gave me the run around and said I needed to wait for the email reply and he doesn't know if/how I will get the refund. It doesn't seem like they want to resolve it after scamming the 50eur or they try to make it as difficult as possible.

What's worst is that after I returned the car they try to blame me for an existing damage. When I checked out the car I mentioned about all the dents and scratches and the gas not being completely full. The clerk said its ok since its an old car and just told me to take a pics and the gas tank meter. I explained it to the check-in clerk but he said there's a small dent on the bumper which we both agreed looked like an old damage. Still he asked me to fill out an accident form, provide my passport and license and signature. I asked if it was necessary since we just agreed that the damage was old. He then said I can go which I assumed everything was ok.
Nonetheless, I later received an email asking for the same time. Which I replied with the same explanation. Then I later found out they took 250eur off my credit card without my approval.

Now I am just trying to settle with my credit card or possibly reach out to their top management.

It just unlawful for them to con you for the diesel charges even when you tell them its clearly stated not necessary on their T&C. Then bill you for existing damages on an old car. I have a feeling many others must have fell for the same tricks.
I hope this can help future potential customers.

Will definitely avoid them in the future.
Their reps will try to scam you and they have the rudest and offensive behavior. Sometimes you wonder if they are trained to treated their customers in such ways since they know you will have a hard time cancelling the reservations.
I know times are tough during COVID but its just unethical what they are doing to cheat your hard earned money.

Charges not explanable

INTERRENT are the same company as GOLDCAR and both are owned by EUROPCAR. All three companies are bordering on corrupt, they will mislead you on their website with cheap prices and brilliant customer service but in reality they absolutely do neither. They will take your money and then refuse to deal with any issues in a fair and reasonable way. We paid 拢370 to hire a car in France via the main SPANISH website and paid extra for free cancellation. Unfortunately due to Covid we had to cancel that booking and now INTERRENT/GOLDCAR are quoting FRENCH law stating that we will not get a refund and we must accept a voucher for the full amount. Allegedly if we don鈥檛 use that voucher can claim our money back in 1.5 YEARS! However, in 18 months I doubt this company will exist and/or we won鈥檛 see our money again.

The bottom line is they are not to be trusted. It is their decision not to refund people and they are using the French law to keep your money.

DO NOT under any circumstances trust any of the 3 companies named above. Use reputable hire companies and pay a little more for good customer service. This lot have zero customer concern.

I can just warn everyone about the financial strategy of this rental car company, called Goldcar. It relies on hiding costs as best as they can to appear cheaper than others. But the moment you rent a car, you will end up paying more than with any of the more serious companies.

At Nice airport a female staff used attempted intimidation against me as a female driver in order to manipulate me into buying more extras.

She, for instance, asked me if I鈥檓 sure that I want to drive this vehicle without having any second driver registered (pointing to my male partner). When I said no, she claimed that my driving license is less than a year old. After I corrected this very obvious mistake, she didn鈥檛 even apologize but started the next try on selling me another package (side note: a second driver costs extra). This woman looks at a large number of driving licenses every day. Mine is a standard EU driving license. No one can tell me that this wasn鈥檛 by intention.

Another example is that she asked if I鈥檇 know how to refuel a car (if not they have a service, which, as a side note, costs extra). These a not the kind of questions she had asked the man before me in the queue.

Her attitude combined with what she said make me feel discriminated as a female driver. And that all of this is systematically backed by a modular cost structure of Goldcar itself.

In addition, we found out that the full insurance I had thought of buying was not an actual full insurance.
Initially the price was 268,23鈧?for a full insured Fiat 500 for 5 days.
In the end, we payed 142,95鈧?more for the actual full insurance, which let us to leave with a whopping 411,18鈧?

That is more than a rental from other, more serious, rental companies and car models of higher segments.

The firm is based on cheating its clients. We returned the car on time but were charged the next day for an extra day. They do not reply to any emails or letters. The company should be taken to court and no doubt banned from trading. AVOID Goldcar at all costs!!!

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

I have just returned from Madeira when I have just been ripped off by gold car, they said I could have an upgrade if I paid for full comp insurance, which I did, I had to return the car full on its return, the contract said diesel but when I opened the filler cap it said Un-leaded, I was 90% sure it was Diesel but decided to go to the gold car desk, they said they would sort it out and charge me for the Diesel, I have now been hit with a 拢78 bill which included a 拢50 fine for not filling it up !!!!

I appealed the fine and it was said to be fair !!!

wish I had put un leaded in now and screwed the engine

DONT USE THESE HORRIBLE PEOPLE

Don't hire a car a Goldcar true the rental company Rentalcars.com

Rented a car through Rentalcars.com at Goldcar in Nice.
Car renter was over 2 months to repay my deposit of over 12,000, – danish kroner (1500 euro). When the amount finally arrived, it was approx. 100 euro lower than the amount that Goldcar initially raised.
After countless mails and phone calls to Rentalcars, my bank took the case. Only then the money was returned.
DON'T TAKE ANY CHANCES WITH RENTRALCARS.COM AND STAY AWAY FROM GOLDCAR IN NICE

DO NOT USE GOLDCAR – SCAM AND DONT REFUND MONEY.
WORST CAR SERVICE EVER

I was charged 30 euros for car cleaning.

The undersigned has booked a car with the company GOLDCAR but at the time of the withdrawal I was offered unacceptable solutions, not provided by the terms of the contract.

For example, blocking a sum for the fluel flex, not required. The undersigned also provided the option of using 2 credit cards headed by the charterer but categorically I was denied the opportunity to take the car. Therefore the car was not withdrawn, but about 鈧?85 for the rental was charged, The contract with atlaschoice did not provide any fluel tax and even the GOLDCAR site was not specified.

NEVER AGAIN'