GoldCar & AmigoAutos

 On Friday, 30th April we picked up our car
from Goldcar based in San Javier Airport, this was booked via the
internet through AmigoAutos agents.  The booking was for 9 days in
total.  We paid in full for the car hire and 74 euros for a full tank
of diesal.  We had only been in Spain for two hours and received a
distressed call from our daughter informing us our home address in
the
UK had been burgled and she had walked in on them.  Can I just
mention,
we have car hire at least 7 times per year and have used Goldcar on
numerous occasions, so I would think we are considered "good
customers".  We managed to arrange flights back on Sunday afternoon
from Alicante Airport, having spent many hours on the phone trying
sort
out bank accounts,insurance, etc.  I telephoned both Gold Car and
Amigoautos to ask if we could return the car to Alicante airport,
together with half a tank of diesal, and 7 days remaining on our car
hire rental; I explained the circumstances and was obviously very
upset.  Not only had our house been burgled, both sets of car keys
were
stolen, bank cards, handbag, laptops etc and explained all this to
both
companies.  I requested if we could have a refund of the unused 7
days
car hire we had paid and the fuel - we were told no, and there was an
additional charge of 30 euros as we were returning the car to
Alicante
rather than Murcia!  To say I am totally appalled by their lack of
compassion, uncaring and totally non-human attitude this company has
is
an understatement.  I have emailed both concerned several times since
returning back to the UK and they insist they are not responsible and
its their policy to not refund any early return costs.  I asked if
they
would possibly transfer the 7 days to another 9 day booking I want to
make for June; again I been told no.  I have informed them I will be
writing my experience on car hire review websites and cannot believe
how we have been treated.  I will never use either of these companies
again, even if it is policy, surely a bit of compassion and
understanding would have not cost these large companies anything.  I
not only feel like I have been robbed by burglars, but also by these
compaines.  To add insult to injury,  whilst we were handing the keys
back into the car park office, the car was promptly driven away,
obviously they were getting ready to re-rent it out yet again and
charge for it, yet again...
 

I'm really sorry for your experience, Dawn, &, yes, under the circumstances, they could have been sympathetic, but terms & conditions always say that if you take the car back early they don't refund. It's a business & people in business are quite often ruthless sadly. Had they been caring you'd hopefully be singing their praises.

I hired a car through Carjet using Goldcar at Murcia last year the rental was for a month and we had to return unexpectantly to the UK after only 2 weeks They refunded the balance to my credit card a/c within 7 days

Hi Scubamike, you are very lucky and wondered was this indeed Carjet or Goldcar who refunded your money?  I was told by each company it was the other's responsibility to decide who would refund, of course, neither one will budge and basically don't give a damm.  I have used this company for the past 11 years and to be quite frank, hope they go out busines - they do not deserve any business the way they treat their CUSTOMERS!  The car hire charges are becoming so expensive and the rip off extras we are now considering buying a car - does anyone know of any good second hand car companies who they would recommend.  Much appreciated!

Hi Dawn I was told by Goldcar to contact Carjet on my return to the UK with all the contract reference numbers and the credit appeared on my credit card statement I assume it was Goldcar that made the refund as they were the only ones that had my card details

Hi Dawn again

As you  .. presumably .. are between Alicante & Murcia (like us, we're at Guardamar .. as you can see from the details showing under my name) it certainly would be beneficial to myself & those members who are in our area for you to fill in your location on your profile please. We then won't need to keep asking you.

There's a s/h car place by us that seems to do well with cars at much lower prices than we looked at when we bought a year ago. Cars look good so you may want to check them out. Also Framon Motors at Bigastro who have full page ads in the free papers there are well spoken of & have a deal to look after your car at airports for little annually compared with airport charges. See here If you're serious about buying a Spanish car let us know, we can help further as many of us have bought a Spanish car. We wanted a newish car &, as many of our friends had bought demonstrator cars from the main Ford garage in Torrevieja, we also did that. Spanish cars are NOT cheap like here in the UK.

Many thanks for that.  I'll make time to have a look at this garage when I'm over in June; yes, I am aware of how expensive the cars are, that's why we've always hired...... I've posted my complaint on many websites and also emailed the local newspapers to see if they will inform other potential hirers of their cold, unsympathetic attitude towards their customers.

Amigoautos are based in Spain, whilst Carjet have offices in the UK, hence, this is why I think Scubamike received a refund... I understand companies have policies and procedures to follow, but, it wasn't our choice to just return the car and cancel our holiday etc and I'm sure they could have been more flexible and at least transferred the remaining 7 days to June as requested....