[QUOTE=johnnyone;11778311
I am considering going back to the car hire companies insurance simple for the convenience of being able to drop the keys off without having to check the car over.[/QUOTE]

Yes must admit I have done the same for an upcoming visit. However I do just wish the car hire companies would make it easier to search and compare true all inclusive price I.e. including the full insurance cover. I have found that local car hire near to where we live is straightforward they quote the price inclusive that's it no faffing about. In high season they are easily competitive with airport hirers cheaper when you add in their extra insurance. Winter though great deals can be had at airport. You do need to do your homework and as has been said read the small print before getting to airport to relieve stress levels for you and the queue behind you!

One of the complaints found on Trip Advisor re Goldcar was the distance the Fuerteventura Goldcar office was to the airport. This is not Goldcar’s fault as on their opening web page - Goldcar, Fuerteventura - it clearly states ‘the offices of Goldcar can be found a few kilometres from the site of the airport at C/ Janana Polígono industrial el matorral, Sector 7, Parcela 2. Although a short distance from the airport, passengers will easily be able to reach Goldcar via their free shuttle services’.

I know this is off-topic regarding the payment of credit/debit cards, but it is relevant to those who book through a third party and do not look at the main party’s website. I doubt if the third party informed the client that the offices were a distance away from the airport, and I also doubt the client checked.

The queues at a car hire office can be found anywhere in holiday season, depending on time of day. It just goes back to what I said before; check everything in the comfort of your home to save stress at the airport.

Well, that's one of the (milder) complaints.

I think the numerous scams that have been evolving over time are the larger concerns. The majority of complaints seem to centre around bait and switch, extraordinarily long queues (with one receptionist for hundreds of customers), and by far the most ominous is the extortionate insurance practices (of which I've been a victim myself).

You book the car on their website. You buy the CDW. Then, when you finally get to the hire desk, you're told that the CDW sold on their website is from a third party, so to must put down a £500 deposit (taken from your card) which will be returned when you return the car in good condition, or buy their house-brand CDW at £29.99 per day or whatever.... If you pay the deposit and they find damage, then you can claim it back from the insurance you bought on their website. And oh, by the way, you also have to pay 86 for fuel, regardless of whether you use it or not. Surprise.

So, you take the car, and at the end, you return it. You had no damage. Nothing happened. Nobody bothers to inspect it. And you used half a tank of petrol. Sorry, no refund. Then, you wait weeks for your deposit to be returned. Finally you call them and find out that there was (amazingly) exactly £500 damage to the car that had no damage. Nobody bothered to say anything. They simply kept the deposit. And there's little you can do about it. And getting a receipt for the damages to submit to the third-party insurance company you booked on their website is like pulling teeth.

The stories of this are rampant, and the very same thing has happened to me. In England, no less.

So, I no longer use the cheapo car hires. I've been using Sixt a lot lately, and have never had any problem at all. Plus, there's no queue. And full CDW is included. And their cars are always on airport (no buses to remote industrial parks where you wait in a queue).

Lastly, you have to search far and wide to find any similar complaints about these reputable firms. The no-name cheapos sell on price, not reputation.

I am not defending the whole car hire industry (in Spain) just Goldcar, to whom I have no affiliation except praise. One example, which I admit is different to a holiday hire. When I was in Spain I hired cars long term from Goldcar for ten years. They renewed my car every year, sometimes two. I used to pay cash, debit or credit card, both cards Spanish. A couple of years before I returned to the UK they changed their policy to credit card only, although as a long term hirer I paid by my Spanish debit card. The reason for this was because cash went missing at most offices every week. Imagine a huge company such as Goldcar with dozens of offices in Spain alone, especially at holiday time, with each of them collecting cash. It was a nightmare for them.

Another reason was the damage caused to new cars. In the cash days damaged vehicles were returned to the airport and the keys chucked through the office letter box or left on the counter without seeing an employee from Goldcar and Goldcar had to foot the cost of repairs. Once I had to take a car to their service depot near Alicante airport for an oil change and a manager showed me round the place, lines upon lines of damaged cars, some brand new and rented out for the first time. Their insurance bill was astronomical. Maybe now it is insurance policy to take a large deposit, I don’t know.

Back to my example, which I seem to have moved away from. When the credit card rule came in I also had to pay a deposit for my car. This was 300 euros. I paid in cash at the main office. Unfortunately I lost the receipt. When it came time for me to move back to the UK I asked them for my deposit back. They said they could not trace it at the office I dealt with but they would look for it and phone me back. Being Spain I did not hold out much hope. An hour later they phoned me and said they had found the transaction on their main computer and already refunded me the money. It was in my bank account the day before I returned the car to the airport.

At this time I also got charged 80 euros for a tankful of petrol. On the journey back to Castilla-La Mancha I saw the tank was only three-quarters full. I phoned to tell them and they refunded me the difference through my bank.

Goldcar has had more than their fair share of criticism but have they done anything illegal or underhand? I would never hire a car through a third party and not check everything to the smallest detail by email or phone with the main party involved.
I remember hiring from a large company from Luton airport some years back. On returning the car to the office, I handed in the keys and they said, have a nice journey. I asked them to check the car over for damage. They told me they would do it later. I said to them that the car has no damage now but it could incur some in their car park. I INSISTED they check the car over in front of me. Reluctantly they sent someone with a clipboard to the car park with me to check the car. They told me it had no damage and they gave me a receipt. That’s all it took. NEVER leave a car unless it has been checked over and you have the receipt to say no damage.