The vehicle I was given at Rome International Airport has such worn tires that a police officer in Gubbio, Italy told me the car was like not street legal. I was originally given a Seat Arona. When I picked up the car on January 7, 2021 the clerk tried hard to upsell the full insurance package. When I declined to purchase it, she indicated that Italian police tend to stop and confiscate rental cars and that without the road service I'd be left on the side of the road. I asked a senior Rome police official about this and he said it was a ridiculous claim. Driving toward Gubbio there was light rain. The car became almost uncontrollable. When I arrived in Gubbio I discovered that the tires has absolutely no tread. Since I'm not a automotive expert, I asked a local police officer to have a look. That's when I learned that car was likely unsafe to drive. I tried repeatedly to reach someone at GOLD CAR roadside assistance, but was never able to reach an agent that spoke English. That's when I decided to contact customer service and request an car exchange at the nearest GOLD CAR office. Bari was the nearest office. I swapped the car in Bari and received a Fiat 500L. This car was in working order. The agent at the Bari airport was fast, friendly, and courteous. My final car return experience at Rome airport was positive. I've experienced dishonest rental agents all over the world, so it didn't surprise me when the woman tried to scare me into purchasing insurance that I didn't need. But her excuse, that the Italian police will simply confiscate your rental car and leave you on the street, does a disservice to the hardworking women and men of the Italian police departments. I found Italian police officials to be honest, kind, and helpful throughout the country. read more

We booked a car with Gold Car through a third party booking site: Got Rentals. This was for a work-related trip; we were leading two tours of people through central Italy for three weeks and needed the car as a back up in case someone got sick and needed to go to the doctor without taking the full bus tour, and to pick up supplies, etc. When we arrived, we waited over an hour at the office in the airport to pick up the car, and when we finally got to speak to an agent, they would not let us take the car without an International Driver's License. There was nothing in any of our documentation beforehand noting that we needed one. We asked what our options were, and they said, nothing. We did a quick search and found that it was possible to get an emergency digital Intl. Driver's License online. They said they would not accept that. We asked if we could get a refund and they said we had to go through our third party booking site. We had to scramble to re route things and get ourselves alternate transportation for the first few days. We arranged to have my parents get us an Intl Driver's License in the US and expedite it to us. We called Gold Car and asked if we could use the last two weeks of our rental if we came in and presented the Intl. Drivers License and they told us that they car was already rebooked and the rental was no longer available. Fine. We book a car through another company, with our freshly minted Intl. Drivers' Licenses, and they never even ask if we have them available, they just let us use the car. The third party booking site agreed that we should get a refund, but now, one month later, they are still waiting from confirmation from Gold Car that we never used our booking. They tell me that they are sending reminder emails every 48 hours to confirm that we, in fact, did not use our booking, and have heard nothing back. This would not be nearly so infuriating if we didn't already know that they rebooked the car that they were going to give us, so we know that they have gotten paid twice. We just want our money back. read more

How we paid $170 for 1/8th of a tank of gas Goldcar's fuel policy is heads they win, tails you lose. We rented a car from Goldcar Fiumencino in May 2017, and they required a 100 Euro deposit for fuel. We chose the option to return the car with a full tank of gas. We stopped on the way back to fill the tank, but by the time we got back to Goldcar the fuel gauge dropped 1/8 of a tank, and was 7/8ths full. When we returned the car, the attendant looked over the car, checked the fuel gauge, and said "perfect". 4 days later we had a $57 charge on our credit card, which included a 50 euro penalty for not returning the car with a full tank of gas, plus the amount to top off the tank, which was the balance. Okay not the end of the world, but they never returned our 100 euro fuel deposit. Either charge the card, and return the deposit, or take the fuel penalty out of the deposit and return the balance. Instead, they did both, and we are out $170 for 1/8 of a tank of gas. I filled out a complaint on line, a week later I got a response that if the tank is not full, a penalty of 50 euro is applied and charged from the deposit. Problem is they charged my card the 50 euro penalty and never returned the deposit. From what I've read online, there is another fuel option to return the tank empty. However, if the tank isn't completely empty (say you only use a half tank of gas), they apply the same charges and keep you're deposit. Heads they win, tails you lose. I wouldn't use this company again, its a sleazy business tactic and we ended up paying double the contracted rate because of Goldcar's unethical fuel policy. read more

I've been waiting on a line for over 2:30 hours and still have 3 more people in front of us. They average about 30 minutes per client and have one person while all other locations have streams of help and are getting their clients in/out with no issues. Simply the worst read more

Absolutely a bunch of Crooks! I made an online reservation and when I arrived they made up a story about requiring an international drivers license otherwise if I got stopped by police the car would be impounded for 30 days and there would be a daily fine due. However, they told me they would ask the "Boss" if I purchased the all inclusive insurance package could the rental employee allow the rental to me without the international license. Then the employee made pretend that he called the "Boss" and how amazing, I was allowed to pay an extra $250 and take the vehicle. The employee called his boss and I overheard the conversation which consisted of a simple "yes" word. Really poor company. Wish I never went here. I'll update my review pending the completion of my trip in 7 more days.... read more