Don't trust RecordGo car rental in Spain

DeborahS890118 · ‎01-25-2023

UPDATE: Although I booked this through the AARP Travel Center, "Brandon" with AARP Customer Service just told me via Chat that members can book any company through the AARP Travel Center and AARP is not affiliated with RecordGO, so AARP won't do anything about this. I find that misleading. Word of caution for future.

ORIGINAL POST:

I used my AARP discount to rent a car through RecordGO at the Malaga airport in Spain last summer. My rental agreement included a "guaranteed" Lexus and insurance I had purchased as an add-on offer directly from AARP.

When I arrived to pick up the car, they told me the Lexus wasn't available and downgraded me to a lower-level car. I told them it's customary to upgrade when the car you've rented isn't available. They refused. They also refused to adjust my rental fee. So I was forced to pay the Lexus price for a Honda.

Then they extorted me into buying another insurance policy. They said they would not honor the policy I had already purchased through AARP, and the agent told me straight-out that if I did not buy the policy from him, they would definitely find damage on the car when I returned it and they would charge my credit card on file for $2,000. I had no other options, so I agreed.

After I took the car, I went to charge my phone using a charger that fits into the cigarette lighter. It's a known functional charger, but it wouldn't work in this rental car. The only way one could charge a phone in this car was through the USB port that also exposes your phone's data to the car's computer. I know better than to do that. Fortunately, I had brought a spare battery charger for my phone. When I turned on the radio, the dashboard computer showed three people's names as options to choose for contacts to call and music to play.

I suggest AARP dissolve its relationship with RecordGO. And if it's possible to get a refund for that insurance policy I was unable to use, that would be nice. Please let me know whom to contact for that. Thank you.

AARPJoseV · ‎01-26-2023

Hi Deborah! I am here to help. You can always contact AARP for help if there's an issue with an AARP provider. Please use this link (https://help.aarp.org/s/) to contact us by phone, chat or text.