Car Hire - Alicante Airport April 2012

Post reply   Start new thread
:: New - Old :: Old - New

Pages: 1 |

Forum home :: Latest threads :: Search forums
The Comments
20 Apr 2012 1:39 PM by christinejoyce Star rating. 56 posts Send private message

We booked our car from Doyouspain, as we usually do.  They reserved us our car via GOLDCAR. Ford Focus Automatic. As usual, I picked up our bag whilst my partner went off to sort out the paper work.  I arrived just as she was going to charge him 199e for a tank of petrol! Now in my book, that is about £170 for a tank of petrol!!!!!! As you can imagine, I said forget it we were not paying £88 for our hire and more than double that for a tank of petrol, she said it was because the car had a big tank!!!! Excuse my sarcasm, when I told her it was the same model I drive at home, and told her how many litres it actually takes. All of a sudden she found us another model, but said it was a little older and had a smaller tank  - really???? Well guess what the petrol charge for a full tank came down to 85e, still about 25% more than it would cost to fill the tank.  Be warned, this is a very common scam with car hire, but protest and you may get some kind of result like we did.  They still made a hefty profit from us but not to the tune of £170! As you can imagine we will not accept a car from them in the future.  As we need an automatic, wew always have a problem with reasonable car hire, any suggestions out there?





Like 0      
20 Apr 2012 1:58 PM by bobaol Star rating. 2253 posts Send private message

bobaol´s avatar

 So that makes it about €3.60 a litre they were going to charge?  I know petrol has gone up but that seems a bit ridiculous.  Even with the €15 "administration" charge it shouldn't be more than €90 if they fill up at an expensive garage.  Plus I very much doubt if the tank was completely empty on last return, anyway.

Econorent at Alicante still does full/full.  They have changed the system a bit as you leave a deposit for the fuel (on the credit card) but it is refunded on return if the tank is full.  I don't know if they do an automatic, though. 





Like 0      
20 Apr 2012 7:43 PM by christinejoyce Star rating. 56 posts Send private message

Thanks for that, I will try to see what their rates are. We come to our place in Formentera a few times a year, and are even considering buying a small car, automatic, and keeping it there. Just weighing up the pros and cons for that. I have found that the full to empty basically is giving any rental company 20-25% profit on the tank of fuel. Bit naughty all round really.



Like 0      
20 Apr 2012 8:04 PM by Jarvi Star rating in Halifax UK and Sucin.... 756 posts Send private message

They should be ashamed for trying to rip you off.

You don't mention though how much you paid for the hire. I hired a car from Goldcar at Murcia airport for 11 days at Easter. Hyundai i20,  Cost 39 euros! The car was perfect.

They charged me 60 euros for the full tank, it probably only cost about 45, so they made a profit on the fuel. However 11 days for 99 euros works out at 9 euros a day with fuel included - bargain...





Like 0      
21 Apr 2012 12:27 AM by christinejoyce Star rating. 56 posts Send private message

As I said initially we paid about £88 for 10 days hire, but to be charged £170 for fuel is definitely taking the .........funny when I told them to cancel the car, they found another car, same model with a so called 'smaller' tank! With a fuel charge of nearly half that. It's the cheeky con that gets up my nose. You did very well with your deal and I agree winter rates are good. But I am sure I am not an isolated incident. Just be aware of this little trick.



Like 0      
22 Apr 2012 4:13 PM by sunseeker7 Star rating. 5 posts Send private message

Whenever we book with DoyouSpain - which has been around 14 times, we specify NOT Goldcar. They charged us for petrol and diesel and we couldn't get our money back. I saw another Goldcar user on holiday and asked him if they had done the same to him. He had his bill on him, and they had charged him the same. Looks like they're up to their old tricks again.

Eileen





Like 0      
22 Apr 2012 4:51 PM by Abyss_Rover Star rating in Mallorca. 72 posts Send private message

We have noticed a huge increase in the gold car vehicles on Mallorca. I'm not sure if it's because of their prominent sticker, on the rear screen, but they seem to be everywhere. I wonder if they have the same tricks here.



_______________________

www.finditfme.com The new, advanced way to find what you are looking for.




Like 0      
23 Apr 2012 10:45 AM by neatrees Star rating in Vera Playa. 64 posts Send private message

Unfortunately goldcar is not the only one doing this. I used to use Solmar from Alicante and got a shock when they the first time I used them from the new terminal, threy charged for a full tank of petrol at double the value of what I worked it out to be. I was about to cancel our booking when I heard the same argument from the next car hire kiosk.

I have from then on managed to bring my rental car back with just the smell of petrol in the tank, I'll be damed if I am giving them any benefit.



_______________________
Regards Neil



Like 0      
23 Apr 2012 1:05 PM by christinejoyce Star rating. 56 posts Send private message

Well with any of them I am going to have the exact size of the tank of the model I rent, and question why their car seems to have a 100 ltr tank! I think the only reason she backed down was because I told her I have the same model Focus in the UK and knew the size of the tank! You can fool some of the people, some of the time!



Like 0      
23 Apr 2012 2:00 PM by carolandrichard Star rating in West Yorkshire and P.... 93 posts Send private message

I have said this before, try Al Andalus Car Hire http://alandaluscarhire.com/default.aspx Operates at Alicante, Murcia and Almeria.

Always full/full - you don't even have to pay for fuel up front and get a refund. No charge for extra drivers. All paperwork completed before the hire and car waiting for you at the airport.

And no, I have nothing to do with the company.





Like 0      
23 Apr 2012 10:48 PM by Marksfish Star rating in Vera, Almeria. 2624 posts Send private message

Marksfish´s avatar

 Well with any of them I am going to have the exact size of the tank of the model I rent, and question why their car seems to have a 100 ltr tank!

If you read the small print, legally they are allowed to charge up to 25€ for fuelling a vehicle.

Mark





Like 0      

Pages: 1 |

Post reply    Start new thread


Previous Threads

Mercedes,Spainish translator - 0 posts
Looking for an automatic car - Rojales area - 0 posts
Iberdrola online logout - 4 posts
Broadband - 1 posts
Nearest Carrefour to Mazarron and directions please? - 1 posts
Spanish Lessons - 0 posts
Add link - 0 posts
can you give proxy vote by email? - 2 posts
Healthcare Pensioners to pay for prescriptions - 9 posts
INFORMATIVE TALK ON TAXES FOR FOREIGNERS IN MANILVA (MÁLAGA) - 0 posts
aifos getting away with it - 59 posts
AGM proxy votes by email - 12 posts
Working in Gibraltar - 2 posts
Silver Cutlery - 0 posts
Que? Ahora? - 1 posts
3 pin (UK) plug sockets. - 18 posts
Creditor's meeting - 8 posts
NIE U Turn Re POA - 8 posts
Bancaja merger with Bankia....the customer´s nightmare - 24 posts
Car Hire - Help Please - 8 posts
Driving to spain/ Pet Friendly Hotels - 1 posts
sending stuff to spain - 5 posts
Timeframe for receipt of AGM/EGM minutes - 42 posts
Looking for Accomodation Andalucia within San Roque to Manilva area - 6 posts
living in a mobile home - 19 posts

Number of posts in this thread: 11

DISCLAIMER:  All opinions posted on these message boards are the opinion solely of the poster and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Eye on Spain, its servants or agents.


1 |
Our Weekly Email Digest
Name:
Email:


This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse you are agreeing to our use of cookies. More information here. x