hmm, not sure about angus car hire, but i can certainly confirm terrible service from goldcar.

The queue to pick up the car in Palma airport terminal was 1 hour 45 minutes plus. They spent on average 25 minutes processing each customer.

I watched as tens of users who'd waited for an hour finally gave up and went to another car hirer to pay a higher fee, but get one of their cars instead.

God forbid if you don't have a print off of the agreement. Even though they can see the reference number for your reservation, they turn you away without refund.

We choose them via carhire3000, (who had the best price online), but pickup was through goldcar hire in the airport. They were terrible.

NEVER AGAIN. Worst customer services ever. Staff are completely overrun, and don't care one jot. No apology for extraordinary waiting time. staff were in no hurry to clear the queue. not flexible at all. rude and surly! If you exit the arrivals side to be served on the other side, you're in for a long wait, as they place next to no staff on this side, and you can't get back in to the other baggage reclaim side again.

To make it worse, they charge you for a full tank of fuel that you have to accept, saying "return it empty". problem is that after 6 trips across the island on our week long holiday, we'd still not even used half a tank (thus scammed by approximately 40 euro of unused petrol). They obviously do this for a reason and are on to a winner to supplement their low initial online fee, by charging (over the odds) for a full tank, knowing full well that they're likely to have the car returned with only a quarter of the tank used.

My experience of goldcar means that forever more i will pay attention to hirecar, and not just go for the cheapest online option (which can end up as more expensive when the load you up with hidden extras at the pickup location).

lastly, i ordered an estate car, so i could fit in 4 adults and my 4 month old baby (car seat/pram/luggage/etc), but they had none left, so we were given what i would describe as a downgrade to a smaller car, where we struggled to fit everything in. After taking 2.5 hours beginning to end to queue, process, then pick up the car, i had lost all fight by this point and just wanted to get my angry and bored passengers out of there and over to our villa to start the holiday.

I can honestly recommend never using goldcar hire again, to anyone. It's a false economy with terrible service.

Be alert on car hire.

I had the same problem. €60 for a tank full in Tenerife. Petrol is 56 cent a litre. How can you get that into the tank of a small car. I refused the car but was charged £32 for cancellation even though they have a no cancellation fee "policy" I assumed they were comparable to the others on Travelsupermarket.......BEWARE THEY ARE NOT. I should have gone to Auto Reisin like I always did. I think travelsupermarket should flag this hidden charge before they put these chancers at the top of the search pile. I will think again before I use travelsupermarket for anything

Fuel policies...what a minefield....check it out:

Auto Europe:

* Petrol first tank is payable locally at time of pick up (tank price is typically €60 or more, depending on the category), client should return the vehicle as empty as possible. Exception: Rentals 3 days or less, credit will be given for fuel left in the vehicle).
* Local toll, highway fees, or travel stickers required by local authorities.

Holiday Autos:

On arrival they give you two options for fuel: 1) Full - Empty: Pay for a full tank of fuel at a cost of between 45 - 90 eur depending on the size of the car, and return the vehicle empty. No refunds will be given for unused fuel. 2) Full - Full: a fuel deposit 45 - 90 eur depending on the size of the car, and return the car full.

Fuel: a deposit is often payable for fuel and is usually refunded if the car is returned with a full tank. Fuel policies vary. Please check when you pick up your car

Argus Car Hire:

Fuel charges are payable at the rental counter. Your vehicle will be supplied with a full tank of fuel and must be returned empty. No refunds will be given for unused fuel. Suppliers fuel policies change from time to time, please confirm at rental counter.

Car Hire 3000

Full to empty policy.

Hertz even tries to make it look like they’re doing you a favour:

“Hertz rates do not include fuel.
All Hertz vehicles are rented with a full tank of petrol and must be returned with a full tank or a local refuelling charge will apply.

Fuel Purchase Option (FPO).
For convenience, you may purchase a tank of fuel from Hertz at the time of rental at a price that is competitive with local fuel stations. This method eliminates the need for you to refill the tank before returning. Please be aware that we are unable to give a refund for unused fuel."

To Gillian French at Argus Car hire, Instead of just listing your suppliers policy, why don't you arrange better terms and conditions. If you don't get them walk away and find someone that will offer a better deal or the terms that your customers want. After all your business depends on us your customers. If you think about it a full / full fuel policy encourages your customers to drive less miles, reduces wear and tear on the cars, should fit in with any green policy your company might have and just might make your customers happy. Hey what do I know, I'm just a fed up customer who now seeks out companies that offer a full / full fuel policy. They are there! Try a little harder Gillian and you might just grow your business!

There are rules about this. A moderator needs to see it. Just shows how stupid they are if they think putting their name on a forum like this will help them sell anything where everyone is complaining about the poor service.

yes we definitely should have one- and another thing, how come HolidayAutos.com is getting away with spamming this forum. Shouldn't there be a rule against this type of advertising?

Same thing with me. The Berlingo only holds 60 lts with a maimum value of 50 Euros (diesel). So it amounts to at least an extra 45 Euros on the rent! I will not be using them again under any circumstances! Add insult to injury I took the car back with half a tank of fuel! Shame on these companies. We should produce a name and shame list! Why don't they just play fair with customers. Oh I did complain about it when I got back and have not had a straight answer yet!

Hi Blackbeetle,

we are happy to advise you that holidayautos.co.uk has full to full fuel options with all our suppliers in Portugal.

We hope we can help you with your next rental!

holidayautos.co.uk

It's pretty standard practice these days mate. I had the same trouble with AutoEurope when I rented a car in Lisbon Airport and had to return it back empty. I can tell you I had some problem trying to waste a full tank. Suppliers these days seem to insist on it. Not very green is it?

Hi Gillian, I wonder what cars you hire at Argus that can be returned "EMPTY" maybe you should have a word with the patent office and get it on the World wide market......"A car that runs on empty"

Its a rip off and everyone knows it,you CANNOT return a car empty. Incidentally I was charged 95 euros last week at Malaga airport by your company for fuel for a Berlingo.It was half full when I returned it,how do you justify that?

You're paying for the shareholders bubbly

You charge 59 Euros to fill a tank on a Renault Clio.... Sorry but you are having a laugh!!

Hi there,

On behalf of ArgusCarHire.com, I would like to take this opportunity to explain that as a car hire consolidator, ArgusCarHire.com deals with hundreds of suppliers who each have their own seperate policies regarding fuel.

Currently Goldcar.com employs the following fuel policy:

For rentals of three days or less, customers receive the vehicle with a full tank and upon the return or the vehicle you will be refunded the proportion of unused fuel.

For rentals of a minimum of four days, customers receive the vehicle with a full tank and you should return it empty.

As ArgusCarHire.com is always looking for ways to improve the service that we offer, we value all customer feedback and we apologise if their was confusion about your rental on this occasion. To minimise misunderstandings we encourage all of our customers to carefully read the small print of their rental agreement to ensure that they have an understanding of the terms and conditions involved with their rental before they accept the agreement.

Hopefully this clarifies the situation for you,

Kind regards

Gillian French

Argus Car Hire

holidayautos.co.uk fuel policy in Tenerife offers all cars with the option to return the car with the same amount you picked it up with. So you will not be charged for any unused fuel.

I hope we can help for your next rental

holidayautos.co.uk