Goldcar Charged Me for Fake Damage After Airport Car Return
I rented a car through rentalcars.com from the supplier Goldcar, with reservation number 6815337**, for pickup and drop-off at Diyarbakır Airport between December 22 and December 26.
When I picked up the car, they recorded a video. During the video recording, my entire family and I were standing right next to the vehicle the whole time. All of us appeared in the video, and we never stepped away from the car. They told us that we could inspect the vehicle if we wanted. We checked both the interior and exterior. There were two visible damages, which they pointed out themselves and documented. There were no other visible issues at all, so we got in the car and left.
On December 26, about two hours before the scheduled return time, I called to ask whether I could return the car two hours late by paying an extra fee, and I received confirmation. When I arrived at the airport at the agreed time, I was told over the phone that there was no one available to receive the car and that I should leave it in the parking lot with the key inside.
I had to catch my flight. Using my credit card, I paid the equivalent of one full day’s rental fee for the extra two hours and went into the airport. About one hour later, they called me and claimed that the armrest on the seat was broken.
The armrest was absolutely not broken. It worked without any issue when we picked up the car and throughout the entire rental period. There was never any wobbling or collapsing. It had a very slight tilt, but this never affected its function in any way. When I told them I did not accept responsibility for this damage, they sent me a video showing them manually shaking and forcing the armrest downward. This was absolutely not its condition when we received the car.
They also sent a long video, claiming it was recorded at the time of pickup. However, during pickup we were all standing next to the vehicle the entire time. In the video they sent, there is clearly not a single person around the car. They tried to imply that the car was undamaged using what appears to be a previously recorded video, and then they took the car to a service center.
They sent me an invoice from the service center for $146, allegedly only for the armrest part. They informed me that this amount would be deducted from my deposit.
If the video had been genuine, I might not have been this upset. However, by sending a random video recorded when we were not present (possibly months earlier), they are clearly trying to mislead customers. When we picked up the car, we only checked for visible damage. It never crossed our minds to lift, lower, or aggressively shake the armrest. It was not damaged at all—if it had been, I would not have been able to use it continuously without problems.
I have also submitted my complaint through Rentalcars, and I am currently waiting for a response.
Rentalcars.com made an illogical statement like "we could have helped if you had purchased a protection package." Goldcar told me that the protection package only covers glass and wheels when renting the car, that's it. Secondly, do we only have the right to lodge a complaint as a customer after we purchase an extra protection package? Thirdly, my complaint isn’t even about being forced to pay for damage I didn’t cause, right? My complaint is that your supplier sent people a video taken at another time as evidence. My complaint is that Goldcar’s staff didn’t come to collect the car and no vehicle inspection was performed at delivery. I didn’t sign anything when returning the car, and I wasn’t even there when they took the car back. Goldcar is not preferred. Rentalcars.com is not preferred.
Dear G*******, Thank you for contacting Goldcar Turkey. We will conduct the necessary investigations regarding the issue you raised and will get back to you as soon as possible. We thank you for choosing Goldcar and would like to convey that we are always pleased to serve you. Sincerely, Goldcar Customer Service
