Counter staff tried to pressure me to buy additional insurance which I had already purchased in the uk. I was also told that if the car broke down or I was involved in an accident there was no breakdown or recovery included in the rental. In her words ‘ you are on your own’. The car had a lot of dents and scratches and the interior was dirty. The woman in the pick up cabin was not interested in helping me to identify all of the damage on the car bodywork when I collect the car.

ACE in Bordeaux is Gold Car, a company I avoided, despite being cheaper, due to its very poor reviews. It took over 2 hours to collect the car. Car received had class 1 damage, with very few panels not damaged. Drop off took around 15 mins. Gold Car have offered compensation for delay, before I have complained, of 1 days rental. However, my final invoice has shown no credit. We shall see.

Checking in a nightmare. Nearly two hours queuing at Bordeaux airport to do check in. Irate customers ended up in aggressive altercation with one of the desk staff, police were called to calm everything down. Our check in lady apologised and was helpful, but overall a ridiculous length of time to pick up a car. Dropping off was easier and customer service pleasant and efficient.

Easy to use

We have used several times. Due to this and our yearly car hire excess insurance, we no longer get the hard sell for own car rentals unnecessary insurance which we have found stressful with other companies. The car was very clean and in excellent condition.

Price drop protector was really good - we did pay less than initial booking price. Would definitely use again.

Didn't like rip off insurance extras and withholding over £1000 for over a week. The 'sell' makes the experience stressful. A scratch was also missed on checkout and the agent didn't send me an updated form as he promised. These moments and poor reputation of gold cars lead to distrust