Just thought I’d let you all know my experience with Goldcar Car Rental to try and raise awareness about the company and to help some of you fellow Monzo users.
If you’re travelling around Europe you might find the low prices of around 15 cents a day for car hire (yes you heard me 15 cents!). Though upon you going to collect the car they’ll either take at least a 1000 euro deposit on your car or up-sell there insurance. Considering the majority of their cars are non-refundable you will be forced into it. They’ll then charge you an administration fee for using fuel which is a non-refundable 22 euros and then they will charge for a fuel tank though they will refund it on return of the vehicle.
I strongly suggest that you read reviews on rental companies (not just Goldcar) before taking out a car and try to use reliable companies such as Avis or Hertz.
Car rental can be a bit of a minefield with the various contracts they offer. But I wouldn’t say Gold Car are any worse than the rest.
For what it’s worth, every car company will try and up sell you the insurance. If you don’t want it, be firm and tell them no.
The best fuel policy I find is “full to full” - But make sure you return it full, otherwise they sting you with charges.
As for the deposit, that’s been the way for years (a good reason to have a credit card). Although the last 2 car rentals I’ve had haven’t taken this - Only a fuel deposit.
Lastly, check the car with a fine tooth comb before you drive away. If there’s a tiny scratch, report it - They will try and tell you it was your damage otherwise.
I always take photos of any issues I see on the car before I drive off.
But like you said, make sure to do the research into the contract before booking - Headline prices are never what they seem.
I couldn’t agree more, and actually had a pretty good experience with goldcar earlier this year. Whilst the headline rate was 60EUR I had every intention of paying for their insurance & took an upgrade (it made sense to get a bigger car for 4 of us) so ended up paying about 250EUR for 7 days hire.
Taking the insurance has always seemed to end with a far smoother process and unless you completely write the car off damage has never been an issue for me.
It is a minefield but is 250 EUR for a week using someone else’s car unreasonable? I don’t think so?! Its also the sort of product where you never hear of the thousands of good experiences people have, only the negative ones!
We were in a very similar situation, we booked both the car and insurance online however even though we’d booked to drop it off somewhere else then where we collected it from they insisted we had to either drop it off where we collected it or pay an 85 euro fee. I think 22 euros for an administration fee is a bit of a joke though.