71 for a 10 day car rental - turns into 501.
We booked a car for 10 days at a cost of 71, which was a bargain with Goldcar Murcia (airport).
When we got there, they tried to sell us a different insurance where they make the excess charge 0 rather than 1400. I think the cost of this was about 180, which was just ridiculous. They also said they charge 250 for every scratch bigger than about 2 or 3 cm.
At this point I realised how they make their money, its either on the insurance or fictitious charges for damage.
When they then showed us the paperwork showing a flatplan of the car, with all damage already marked on it, there was 12 crosses marking where damage is already in place (these were pretty small scratches). To me this meant that they had already taken 3,000 from punters for minor damage. But this money isnt for redoing paintwork. This goes straight in their pocket.
This started to set alarm bells ringing in my mind, so when I got the car I photographed all the panels and the wheels. I didnt check them all off against the paperwork, which I really should have done.
When we returned the car, we handed in the key at the desk but there was no-one there to look over the body work.
A few days later we got the full bill. They had already taken the money, which was an extra 250 for a scratch and 180 for cleaning.
The small print does say the car must be returned in the same state as when you received it. When we got it, it really was in a showroom condition in terms of clean, which means that unless you get the car valet cleaned, they can charge you a cleaning cost. In reality no-one will have time and equipment to clean it thoroughly. I dont think theyll charge everyone, but it just means they have the right to for whatever reason they feel appropriate.
Luckily we had the photos showing the damage to the car when we got it, so when they sent their photos, we sent ours showing the same damage. We explained how the cleaning was excessive too.
They refunded part of the cost of cleaning reducing it from 180 to 60 and said that this was an error, but with regards to the damage, there was no timestamp on the photo, so I replied with another email showing a timestamp with the photo.
After weeks of waiting, and many phone calls you cannot speak to customer services, you have to send them emails, which you then get not read receipts back. So I submitted this again via the online portal as suggested, but you cannot attach images. I finally got an email back saying they have looked into this and they cannot take this any further despite not being able to look at the photo. There really was not way of communicating with them, so I left it up to Nationwide building society to sort out, as charged to my credit card. Goldcar gave a response back with a copy of the contract and photos of the damage. I then replied to nationwide again with exactly the same details, which they sent back to Goldcar. After about a month, they decided to refund the full 430.
So overall, they initially refunded me 120, and then refunded the full disputed about of 430. A total refund of 550. I only spent 501 in total, so overall they paid me 49 and gave me a car for free for 10 days. It cost me a lot of time sorting all this out, so still not happy.
If Goldcar want this money back, they are welcome to ask and Ill say that I have investigated and cannot take this any further, while leaving many weeks before replying.
Sterke punten
Clean car in showroom condition Although the small print says that they car must be returned in the same condition this means they can charge you for cleaning if they want.
Zwakke punten
Extra hidden costs like cleaning and fictitious scratches.
No customer services to talk to when you want to dispute charges.
Selling of extra insurance at a rediculous rate.
Ability for them to charge you whatever they want once you sign the contract.
Very expensive (although advertised very cheaply)
Business model doesn't make money from the rental, but the insurance and cleaning etc.
ONE BIG CON.
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