Holiday car-hire firm Goldcar slammed for ‘scamming’ Brits across Europe… and here’s how YOU can avoid becoming a victim
The Spanish-based company have been accused of charging customers for pre-existing damage and pushing additional, unnecessary insurance packages
PICKING a hire car company is no mean feat, but one European firm has come under fire from British customers for adding charges of up to thousands of pounds to their credit cards after they returned their vehicles.
Furious tourists have accused Spanish-based Goldcar, which operates in 13 countries, of charging them for pre-existing damage and pushing additional, unnecessary insurance packages.
Several also allege the company withheld their deposits for weeks on end, often leaving them out of pocket.
Matt Jones, a DJ from Sheffield, booked with Goldcar through the DoYouItaly website for a two-week Italian holiday in August last year.
He said he had originally booked a Ford Focus, costing £170, but was given a Vauxhall Astra with a few bumps and scratches.
Matt told how his experience picking up the car was “terrible”, adding: “There was a very hard sell.
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“We had our own excess insurance so did not need to take theirs. They were not very happy and claimed my insurance was invalid.
“They then charged an extra €100 to fill the tank and blocked £1,000 on our credit card.
“I made it clear that should anything happen to the car, my policy covered me up to 28 days after the car rental agreement ended, and that should anything happen, to make sure they contact me in that time.”
Matt explained how when he dropped off the car in Rome, the rep tried to argue that the dents were new.
He recalled: “After a heated debate we were given guarantees that they were happy and no additional charges would be made.
“We assumed all was well, but when we did our accounts at the end of September we noticed unusual transactions on our credit cards.
“I tried to call and contact them via social media and was eventually given an email address to send my concerns to.”
After chasing a reply for over a week, Matt said he got an email outlining additional charges for a one-way fee (€150/£126) and a fuel handling fee (€30/£25), both of which he’d already paid on collection, and damage on the rear door and bumper (€540/£456).
He had also been charged €22 (£18) for diesel, when the car was petrol, and €92 (£78) for fuel, despite paying for a full tank on collection and returning the car full, bringing the total amount to €834 (£705).
“I felt robbed and upset,” said Matt.
“They got it wrong on every level, and as they failed to let me know in time, the insurance policy I took out in case they tried it on had expired.
“Despite my repeated request for them to prove the repairs had taken place, they never replied.
“I took up a social media campaign against them, but the only correspondence I had was from their legal team, threatening to prosecute me if I continued to harass them.
“Funnily enough, the money has been returned, albeit still £60 short, but I still have had nothing from Goldcar confirming the money was returned.”
There are several pages warning people about hiring from Goldcar on Facebook – and one called - and even a website called .
Many angry customers have also taken to Twitter to complain they’ve been victims of a “scam”.
Simon Richardson, a journalist who travelled to Lanzarote in November 2016 with his wife and daughter, told The Sun Online how he was suspicious of the company from the start.
When he arrived to pick up his Fiat Punto, which he had booked from Goldcar through Irish-based agent Argus for a week for £71, he said he was struck by how the woman behind the desk “became quite dismissive” when he refused to buy their top up insurance policy.
He explained: “We had our own crash damage waiver policy, but I got the impression she was on commission to flog the extra insurance.
“She became very disinterested and dismissive when we refused to pay an extra 200 euros for it.
“The car itself was tatty and rather dirty inside, and I pointed out considerable scratches, scuffs and a dent to the woman doing the check-out process.
“She actually said that she wasn't interested in scratches, only dents of more than 5cms.
“I was suspicious, so my daughter took photographs of the marks on the car before we left the airport.”
On return, Simon recalled how he approached the Goldcar representative to ask if he was required to return the keys to the office.
“I was told in no uncertain terms that it was not necessary, and he would take the keys and sort out the paperwork,” he said.
“Two weeks later I received an email from a no-reply address informing me a charge of 200 euros had been made to the credit card I provided for damage to the rear bumper.
“When I contacted Argus they said the contract was solely between me and Goldcar – something I did not accept.”
Thankfully, after Simon sent over the photos his daughter had taken and wrote a stern letter to Goldcar and Argus, the company refunded him.
He explained: “An email from Argus told me that Goldcar claimed the charge was ‘correct’ in line with their agreements, but as they were ‘short of some of the paperwork’ they would reimburse me.
“I received an apology from Argus, but Goldcar never admitted responsibility and claimed the refund was a goodwill gesture.”
Martin Cawte booked with Goldcar via Rentalcars.com for his family holiday to Spain in February this year.
He described it as the “worst customer experience of his life”, which he thought had ended once he returned the car to Barcelona Airport.
But this wasn’t the case.
Martin recalled: “We picked up the car with no hello or good evening. The staff were rude and abrupt and very pushy regarding the additional insurance cover.
“Their tone worsened after I explained I had already purchased this cover from a third party.
“No information was given about how to return the car at the end of the hire period and they didn’t offer any assistance in the use of the vehicle, which was a seven-seater with moveable seats.”
Martin said they were expected to check the car over for previous damage in an “unlit parking space in the car park”.
He added: “The number of marks noted on the car by staff before we checked it was around five, but there were easily around 25, plus visible scratches and minor dents and scuffs which we could see by using the torch on a phone to check.
“On our return there were several staff milling around in the car hire office but no acknowledgement of our arrival in a timely manner.”
HOW TO MAKE SURE YOU DON’T FALL PREY TO A HIRE CAR SCAM
- Always look at online reviews before you book to check for any bad experiences and ratings. Good websites include TrustPilot, Trip Advisor and Rental Car Reviews.
- To ensure you avoid being put on the spot at the airport desk when it comes to insurance, we recommend taking out your own crash damage waiver policy. This means you have time before you go to review what you are liable and covered for in case of an accident.
- ALWAYS take photographs of the car (internal and external) before you leave the airport. This provides you with proof of existing damage on the vehicle.
- If you are returning your car topped up with fuel, keep the receipt and take a photo of the dashboard showing a full tank.
- Insist on getting a copy of your check out and check in documents so that you have proof the company is happy no additional charges are due.
On March 11, a month after Martin had picked up the car, he discovered Goldcar had still not released their held deposit.
Worse still, they had actually taken the payment, which was almost £2,000.
“As such I had also been charged a non-sterling transactional fee of £50.64,” said Martin.
“Due to this not being refunded within the time stated I also went over my card limit and was charged a fee of £12.”
Martin called Rentalcars.com, whom he said were "really good" at following up the complaint - though he said he was advised by the representative “not to use Goldcar”.
He claimed his email was “ignored” by Goldcar, adding: "Their CEO never responded and the response I finally got from them was really poor.
"They never apologised and just highlighted my money had been returned, nothing more."
In January this year, the by the Italian competition authority (AGCM) as the Spanish and Italian branches of the company used “unfair commercial practices”.
These included “aggressive advertisement of additional products” – their insurance cover – and charging a service fee for refunding money for fuel that the driver did not use without explaining this to the consumer beforehand.
According to the AGCM, the company “takes advantage of the consumer who is in a weak position at the pick-up”.
Furthermore, Goldcar provides “only insufficient information about how they calculate the costs of damages”.
A spokesperson for Goldcar said: “We expect our staff to be courteous and attentive and we’re improving the information we provide about cover options on our website and also at the counter.
"I am sorry if our counter staff were over-zealous and did not adopt the right tone when discussing different cover options.
"Regarding the charge for damage to the vehicles Mr Jones and Mr Richardson rented, it seems there were some inconsistencies in our paperwork and as a result we decided to refund the charges.
“We process more than one million contracts a year and the number of errors is small. Where there is an issue we aim to resolve it as quickly as possible.
“Our records show that Mr Jones was only charged the one way fee once. According to our records the car was not returned full but in fact almost empty so we believe the fuel charge was applied correctly. However we are investigating why there was a diesel charge and we hope to resolve this shortly.
“We wrongly processed Mr Cawte’s deposit as if it were a debit card transaction rather than a credit card. Credit card deposits are simply blocked so there is no transaction cost or exchange rate variance.
“We have apologised to Mr Cawte, returned his deposit, covered his costs and also returned the cost of his rental as a gesture of goodwill.”
In March we reported how families were warned of hidden hikes in Easter holiday car-hire prices.
Last year we told how car hire company Avis "raked in £2 MILLION" with a dodgy Brexit tax on Brits abroad.