Car hire charges!!

[chris and jackie]

We always have a car as like to travel further afield to Calpe, guadalest, fortune etc and also the golf course! We also have an annual policy which refunds any payments you get charged if you do not take the full insurance policy they try to sell you. We did get caught once when I did not use record but insurance company refunded the 500euros promptly.

[BeachLife]

Having said all of this - and I know this is strong language - isn't their some kind of fraud going on here by the car hire companies ?

There have been far to many cases of people handing their cars back in good faith with no apparent damage, getting on the plane and when home finding out there credit card has been charged €100's (or more)  for "damage" that didnt occur on their time with the car. There is never any redress or appeal process - I think its shocking

[John H]

I'm trying hard to remember a car that I have hired that hasnt had scrapes on the bumpers, "dings" on the panels, an assortment of scratches, kerbed alloys or dented rims, scratches on the dash panels that I can only assume came from a brief encounter with a lady on the 332 and on a couple of occasions stains on the seat that have led me to reject the cars, maybe these came from an encounter on the 332...........often on cars with less than 10,000 kms on the clock...........I guess the folk who had hired these cars said "wasnt me guv, it was like that when I picked it up"
I can quite see why the hire companys make additional charges.
Those of you who rent your houses out, I dread to think how some of your guests leave the property.

I can and have on many occasions managed a week in GA without a car...........any longer would send me stir crazy.
There are lots of places we love to visit, there are still plenty to explore even after all these years, and importantly restaurants we love to visit that would otherwise be out of bounds.

Have a great day all

Regards

John

[Big D]

Large amount of money now taken out from my account by Goldcar. I rang credit card company today to formally ask them to request my money to be paid back, not very hopeful of a positive outcome to their request.  However the person I spoke to at the credit card company stated that they usually get three or four similiar calls every day!!  There is without doubt fraud going on here on a large scale.  To those who have not been affected , count your lucky stars but be very very careful if you continue to hire cars.  I intend to persue this as best I can and will keep the forum updated.

[granalacant]

strange stories.

I have an annual travel insurance policy, costs me some 80 euros a year (incl. medical etc.) - and all this is covered. So should I have a problem, it just takes a simple email and mr Goldcar has to face the insurer.

Had a problem in january - where I was, snow had fallen and roads were impossible (yes, was with rental car: ... only fools and ...). It took the insurer 30 mins. after I sent an email to come back, then ring me at the hotel and find a solution (car was left there, and went by train). They contacted the car rental company and apparently got someone over to bring the car back (300 kms...). No charge for mea it was a case of force majeure (or if you want Act of God).

80 euros is a small price to pay for peace of mind ... for a whole year  :-)   

[Corporal Jones]

Totally agree Rich it is fraud on a massive scale,in all fairness its took the Spanish a long time to catch up with whats been going on for years in other countries, no suprise there though. Last year we hired a car with drivalia on return the girl behind counter asked if i had an excess policy, i stupidly said yes she then went down on her knees and inspected the car with great vigour,  she eventually found a 1 inch scratch on the inner face of a wheel, she poppdd up and said i quote That will be 100 euros please as this very small scratch wasnt there when you took the car, i duly argued the point but eventually paid the money, the manager then said why are you worried the insurer will repay you. In my opinion drivalia are no better than thieves and robbers. Saying that ive probably spent well over 1000 euros on car hire since but not a cent with drivalia

[Chris C]

Did you not have an insurance waiver excess policy to cover this? I purchased an annual one for about £40 through Zurich which covers me for this. Having said that have used Goldcar, Dickmans and Firefly and not had any problems at all to put my policy into use. I certainly wouldn't risk charging nearly a thousand euros on my credit card without some insurance cover!! Bit of a gamble. You pays your money and takes your chance imo.

Cheers

Chris

[Spurs]

Have you got anywhere with them Big D ?

[kh511]

i gave goldcar a go when i first flew out to GA in April, Perfect service, great car and great prices xx

[Tony Gillam]

I took photos of the car when returning it so, if there was any argy bargy, I would report it straight to the credit card company as fraud. If the car companies skim off from the independent insurers we will see the premiums rocket.

[puddy-woo]

I ordered a car on my last visit through doyouspain.  Was a lovely fiat 500 from goldcar. Was ridiculously cheap with a full/full option.  The night we were returning it we saw that someone had scratched the side. I do have a waiver but wasn't looking forward to the paper work etc. We returned the car late (there was no one there to inspect it) but never heard a thing. Received our petrol money back minus £2.  Total for a 5 day break was just under £20!!!!


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[Corporal Jones]

It's a funny world car hire companies are in the same league as estate agents,  double glazing sales and second hand car dealers. I recall on a previous forum Gold Car being one of the worst renters and to avoid at all costs maybe they have changed there tactics as losing market shares. A bit like ryanair you can only exploit your customers so far, O leary eventually realised enough was enough.