 Poster: A snowHead
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On my latest Goldcar rental agreement from Barcelona Airport T2, they charged me €2.50 per day for "C. Extra V. Diesel", which the two people at the counter insisted was an obligatory charge for diesel cars due to an environmental tax imposed by the city of Barcelona. When I queried it again upon returning the car, a different two people told me the same thing, and that it was mentioned in the Ts&Cs. When I got home I looked up the Ts&Cs and apparently the abbreviation means "Cargo Extra Voluntario Diesel" (Voluntary extra diesel charge) and it applies when the customer has expressly and voluntarily requested a diesel vehicle, which I certainly didn't. When I called their central office they instructed me to file a complaint on their website which I'll do in due course, and I'll update this thread with the result.
To me, this is clearly a generalized scam, so be on the look-out!
Whilst on the topic, it never hurts to remind all potential Goldcar clients that their modus operandi (at least in the various offices which I've hired from in Spain) is to offer extremely cheap rentals and then get you later for some scratch or other which the vehicle probably already had. My latest rental had tons of damage all over, which doesn't bother me in the slightest but which is a bit of a hassle because half of it wasn't listed on the damage sheet. So I had to go around the car with the guy from the office pointing out all the places of damage, which was met with all kinds of huffing and harrumphing as I consumed 20 minutes of his time (to which I simply cheerfully stated that if I don't point it out now, they'll shamelessly charge me for it upon return). Sure enough, upon return they inspected it in minute detail and found a scratch on the right side bumper-rail which I think I thought was mud when I checked the car originally, and they charged me for it. No problem - I have one of those excess insurances - but it's a reminder of their general approach.
I use Goldcar when I know I'll have time to do that tedious inspection upon checkout; their prices are often extremely competitive. If I know I'll be in a hurry then I use someone else. Basically the money you save using them is really to pay me to do their job for them, i.e. to spend ages inspecting the car in detail and forcing them to update their damage record with 10 new crosses all over the vehicle. That either suits or not, depending upon circumstances!
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Mon 13-01-20 13:52; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Pay peanuts. Get monkeys.
Whilst there are numerous bad experiences with all hire companies, the more "budget end" operators tend to have the lion share of poor experiences. It's a gamble.
I've used solely Europcar and Enterprise and never had any issues. Although saying that, paying more doesn't mean no hassle!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Pyremaniac, thanks for the tip. I am a little puzzled why you would use them knowing what you do. Is the saving really worth the lengthy inspections, insurance claims and head office complaints.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Depends! Upon competitivity of pricing and availability of my time, for any given rental. That calculation will differ from rental to rental - and from person to person of course.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I've used them once. Never again. It's just not worth it. Utter cowboys. Trading standards should be all over them.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Scammed by them once, never again.
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| ChrisKernow wrote: |
| Scammed by them once, never again. |
+1 Avoid at all costs
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