Worse than it should have been

The only presence that ACE appears to have at the airport is a crudely desiged logo printed onto an A4 sheet of paper and sellotaped to the wall behind the Goldcar desk. It was almost impossible to find. Our booking voucher asked us to join the ‘Priority Lane’ but there was none. There were 79 customers waiting in a 3 hour queue ahead of us. There was nowhere to sit and we had to leave our children on the floor with our luggage. When we did finally pick up the car, the tank wasn’t completely full, despite being on a full to full contract, but by then we were beyond caring. We nearly missed the latest check in for accommodation because of the delays.

The sign at Bordeaux Airport for ACE car rentals was a tiny A4 piece of paper with no other directions. Wait time at the desk was 10minutes yet took over 3hrs to get all the cars for my party! Was given 3 different cars, the children seats I had pre booked weren't available and as a result was pulled over by the police which was a horrific experience for my 18month old daughter. We were asked for a 1,400 Euro deposit each for each car which was news to us. Having finally paid everything and gotten our cars after multiple changes and a police stop (they wanted to make us get taxis for the kids) we were on our way. 2 out 3 cars we didn't fill up on return and were fined 50 euros per car atop the petrol cost. 1 car was filled up but apparently 4 euros short of a full tank and an additional 50 euro charge was placed on our card a week later (having agreed at the drop off the tank was full). Bottom line is this was the worst experience of my life and thing ACE and all their staff should be ashamed of themselves.

Insurance a joke and hidden

Not use again simply because on picking car up, we were told that we were not covered for anything on car unless we paid €188 for their insurance. I had paid extra when booking the car for initially for coverage. They told me at counter it doesn’t count and we would be charged for anything wrong on return of car. We opted not to take it but puts an amount of anxiety on you during by whole holiday.

The insurance options and fuel refill terms were complex. When I booked I didn't realise a diesel rental car has a tax in France