Car Rental at Malaga Airport

Worst pick up

Pros: Any good was overwhelmed by the bad, annoying and vacation-stealing problems. See below.

Cons: Did not like taking a number to talk with an agent, but that was the start. 45 minutes later we went to get our car which was parked in a dark garage so we could not effectively inspect for damage. Rude worker responded “Habla espanol” when we asked where the exit was. Three miles into journey the car began to buck and miss when accelerating. Called company and after 1 hour they picked it up leaving me stranded without transportation. Three hours and four calls later a taxi picked me up to take me back to the airport for a replacement car. Almost 2 hours later, after line standing, I got a car that worked, but like it’s predecessor, was parked in a dark garage so again damage inspection was not feasible and later scratches were found that were there before we picked it up. This exchange took most of 1 day out of vacation. Not a happy camper.

Terrible Experience

Cons: No one ever answered our call to pick us up at the airport. We were forced to find another company. I have traveled for 31 years and never had this type of problem.

Disaster from the start

Cons: When I rented the car with ACE - there was NO mention that ACE is actually Gold Car in Malaga. When I tried to ask for help, no one knew what I was talking about and had never heard of ACE. I kept showing the confirmation, which clearly had the ACE logo, name and confirmation number. Not anywhere on my reservation did it state that Gold Car was a code partner. This debacle took over an hour to solve after I had to call the office (after waiting on hold for 45 minutes). Finally found the Gold Car pick up desk and was told I had to buy additional insurance, even though I bought insurance through Allianz once I rented the car, which cost an unexpected 150 Euros. The customer service woman at the desk was so unfriendly and clearly hates her job and made for an already frustrating experience completely unbearable. It was very difficult to find the car in the labyrinth of cars in the parking garage. no one was down there to assist. Once I finally found the car, I was shocked to see that it was a manual and not an automatic. Luckily, I know how to drive a stick but I kept thinking that if this were any of my friends, they'd be screwed since they don't know how to drive one. Again, there was no mention of this on the reservation or gave me an option to choose manual over automatic when i booked the car. My ability to drive a stick was my only saving grace in this whole unfortunate, unpleasant experience. I will never rent a car under these conditions again.

Ace who?

Cons: Arrived in Malaga to not find Ace. Not could I not find them but no one had even heard about them. Ended up renting a car from another company.

Complete scam

Pros: That I hadn't actually put money down-that it was only a hold. That way I could walk away and find another rental car option.

Cons: These were the main problems: 1) ACE is not ACE: That Ace was separately named GoldCar with no link anywhere showing that they were connected-I called their phone with no answer over and over. The signs at the airport for over 10 different rental companies-did not state that ACE was a part of Goldcar- in fact, nothing indicated that they were it. After spending 30 minutes asking different rental car companies who ACE was partnered with, I finally found out it was Goldcar. 2) BREAKING POLICY: They charged beyond what the booking fee was with a strange fuel policy charging me 140Euros (for a fiat) which was not on my booking. When I showed them my booking they still said "sorry, we are not ace so you'll use our policy instead." This was not what I signed up for. 3) DUBIOUS ADDED COSTS: They wanted a deposit of over 1,000Euros as security for the car, or a 60Euro insurance fee. This was far beyond what my full coverage 72Euro booking was supposed to be. I left in the end. KAYAK should definitely not work with such companies or advertise them as an option.