Are you thinking of using the Goldcar rental company? Have you seen a great deal with them on the web? I’m wondering if the phrases ‘you get what you pay for’ or ‘let the buyer beware’ were ever more apt?
Goldcar is a disgrace. Their modus operandi is to advertise below the market price to attract business, then to intimidate customers into paying more when they collect the car. I was at Palma, Mallorca, airport several times over the week-end, saw the huge Goldcar queues when Hertz and all the other desks were queue-free, and I experienced the bullying tactics of the Goldcar sales staff first hand, as well as listening to the complaints of others.
What specifically prompted this post was three distressed young girls who paid €75 for to hire a Fiesta for three days. After paying the rip-off €80 for €40of fuel ('bring the car back empty!'), they were bullied with misinformation into paying a further €160 for 'bodywork damage insurance'. (Paint and bodywork is covered in the basic insurance, but they were told it wasn't.) So, ignoring the fuel ripoff, they had to find €160 at the desk that wasn't in their budget. No wonder they were upset.
It doesn’t matter how long the Goldcard customer line is (a wait of over one hour at Palma airport this weekend), the sales staff still insisted on going through their full script of fear inducing spiel. They just don’t care about you as a customer.
In thirty years as an international businessman, hiring cars from all sorts of companies all over the world, I’ve been subject to a whole raft of sales tricks to sell on additional services. That’s life, these companies have a job to do, and the sales desk staff have a commission to earn. But Goldcar simply goes beyond the pale with outright dishonesty and bullying tactics.
My advice, avoid Goldcar like you would a snake oil salesman.
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