By Chris Greb (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Friday, June 8, 2007 - 5:14 pm: |
I was charged $200 for alleged damage to a rental truck by Island Car Rental. One of my friends was charged $565 for alleged damage to a rental truck at the same time. We were both scammed by island Car Rental because there was no damage to either truck when we returned them.
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By Vince DePietro (Bellevue Condos # 9) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #945) on Friday, June 8, 2007 - 5:39 pm: |
Chris.. Very sorry this is your first post! I suspect there may be more to this story. At any rate, if you feel you were treated unfairly, why not just deal with issuer of your credit card?
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By Tom C. (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4495) on Friday, June 8, 2007 - 9:09 pm: |
Chris, I am saddened to read your report. Having dealt with Patrick and company Island Carrental on three separate occasions, I was always treated fairly and in a professional manner. In fact on my last trip, as they had completely depleted their rental inventory and to honor his commitment to me, Patrick rented a deluxe pick-up from one of his competitors (they were also out of "budget" rentals) and gave it to me at his "budget" rate. I can not understand how his company has changed so much since December 2006.
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By seb (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3109) on Friday, June 8, 2007 - 10:05 pm: |
Chris, I am trying to make sense of your posting. Are you saying you were charged for damage that had occurred before you rented? If so, I fail to understand why that damage was not shown on your status report when you rented the car.
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By Susan Taft (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #740) on Saturday, June 9, 2007 - 8:27 am: |
I too have dealt with Patrick at Island Carrental on several occasions and have always been treated fairly and in a professional manner. Last year we had a tail light stolen from the truck (yes, the moderators saw a police report)and Patrick made sure it was taken care of immediately so that we would not be stopped by the police for a missing taillight. As both Tom and Seb said, any damage that was on the truck when you rented should have shown on your original paperwork.
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By pat murphy (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1208) on Saturday, June 9, 2007 - 12:32 pm: |
chris, you say there was no damage to the truck when you returned it. why did they charge you? what did they say was wrong with the truck? when you pick up a vehicle you go over it with the rental rep and all damage (cracked light lenses, dinged windshields, dents, scratches, etc.) should be noted on the inspection form. then when you return the truck you and the rep go over it again...all previous damage should have already been on the form. why did you let them charge you if you say there was no damage?
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By John P. Wahlig (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #239) on Monday, June 11, 2007 - 10:25 am: |
Don't waste your time responding to this thread, we won't hear from Chris again. Just toss a hand grenade and run.
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By pat murphy (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1213) on Monday, June 11, 2007 - 6:51 pm: |
unfortunately, that's why the board moderators require a police report to substantiate reports of thefts and other crimes. too many people will post something (ficticious or not) just to cause trouble then disappear.
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By lisa z (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #133) on Monday, June 11, 2007 - 8:05 pm: |
No Pat, I think most of us are more intelligent than that, and know this is a one hit wonder.
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By Chris Greb (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #2) on Monday, June 11, 2007 - 8:11 pm: |
You people sure do know how to attack a person.
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By Julia (Moderator) (Moderator - Post #2) on Monday, June 11, 2007 - 8:25 pm: |
Hi Chris, if you have had problems we really are interested but you have to be able to back up your claims. The moderators have no connections to any of the companies in Bonaire so your posts will be treated with impartiality, we don't want you to feel under attack.
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By Ted I (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #3) on Monday, June 11, 2007 - 9:10 pm: |
Island Car Rentals: one opinion
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By Ron Gould (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #923) on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 7:20 am: |
You were there on the Initial inspection! If you didn't catch the crease at that time then more then likely it wasn't there. Take the time to do a complete inspection and avoid this problem in the future... Ron
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By Jan Klos - ( Hamlet Bonaire #10) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #486) on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 7:44 am: |
This past winter, the vechicle rented had been keyed uptown during the evening. The deep scratch covered the length of the right side of the truck bed. Hubby and I decided that we didn't want to deal with this at the airport, so we went to the agengy and showed it to them. We wanted a written estimate. After a week of no call back, we again went to the agency, and was sent to where they have their damage repaired, and was quoted 200 naf. After a few more days, we went back to the agency to find out of the collision guy, gave them the price. We were then told it would be $500. This is what the deductible was. After going back and forth for awhile, the charge was finally brought down to $200. I doubt that this scratch will even be fixed.
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By Ted I (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #5) on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 10:35 am: |
"Take the time to do a complete inspection and avoid this problem in the future"
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By Chris Greb (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #3) on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 10:58 am: |
I agree with Ted. Like Ted & Patti I travel a lot. I am retired and take 6-8 trips a year. I have been all over the world and in the Caribbean many times and I have been on Bonaire several times and have never had an experience like this.
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By Jim McPeak (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #814) on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 11:08 am: |
Another idea that I have done in the past is to take a cab, if arriving at night. Come back early the next morning in the light and pick up the vehicle. That way, you can really scrutinize the vehicle. I just did this last December. I realize everyone wants to get diving the next morning immediately, but this can save you a lot of heartache. It also saves the waiting in line when you get there. Just make arrangements with them ahead of time to be there in the morning.
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By Chris Greb (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #5) on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 11:18 am: |
Good Idea - Thanks Jim. But, I think in the future I will not rent any vehicle on Bonaire and either ride with the others in my group or take cabs. It would be cheaper.
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By John P. Wahlig (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #240) on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 12:43 pm: |
Chris my apologies for the hand grenade comment. Thank you so much for coming back and adding to the conversation. We see far too many handgrenades around here, so I guess I let the skeptic in me come thru. Again, I apologize.
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By Chris Greb (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 1:31 pm: |
Thank You John for the apology. I do not think this will have any effect on Patrick, we have been fighting this since March and he is very hard nosed about it. The travel agent, who I assumed (you know what assumed stands for)had done some research on this company also tried to get somewhere with Patrick and he would not give an inch. He must need the money badly. So I do not think talking to him will do much good, however you are welcome to try.
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By Dan Wiggins (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 2:00 pm: |
Chris, dont think that it wont have any effect on Patrick's business.. a lot of people read this forum that dont necessarily post.. I have already made a note to avoid on my trip coming up, this is one of my pet peeves with rental companies. I always am very precise in this, and the other thing you can do during daylight hours is take pictures of the vehicle in question.. gives you at least some ammo in the 'scope' of damages in question.
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By Ron Gould (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #925) on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 3:16 pm: |
Chris, Get yourself a AMEX Blue Card and add The Premium Car/Truck Rental Protection Plan. No deductable and they pay off. I just used it for our past May trip. Only $19.95 for up to 42 days of use. I thank Jake for turning us on to this program! What a money saver!!!
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By Nell Keene (BonaireTalker - Post #75) on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 5:10 pm: |
another option: take alot of photos of the car, or video, when you pick it up. seems to put off any discrepancies on return.
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By Chris Greb (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #8) on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 5:49 pm: |
Thank You for some very good ideas, I will check into the AMEX blue card and will also be sure to take pictures of any vehicle. However, it is very unlikely I will rent a vehicle again in Bonaire. In the future I will go to Bonaire because it is a wonderful place to dive, but I will take cabs around town and only do boat dives and shore dives at the resort.
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By Ron Koehn (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Saturday, June 16, 2007 - 2:21 pm: |
Before I went on my trip to Bonaire in March,k I happened to read a review in this forum that made a note about rental car difficulties. Because of that comment, I was aware of the inspection on return often being highly critical
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By Chris Greb (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #9) on Saturday, June 16, 2007 - 4:10 pm: |
I am glad you had prior warning about this. I did not and did not know that the Bonaire Talks website existed. Believe me I will check any website info I can get in the future on every place I travel to go diving. I agree with you about believing that they do not use the money to do the repairs, I think they just take the money and rent the vehicles out as is, then if they get an unsuspecting dummy like me who does not document the damage (assuming that they are like rental agencies in the US, Ha! Ha!) they can charge the next renter for the same damage over & over ad infinitum.
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By Gina Sommerville (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Saturday, June 16, 2007 - 11:53 pm: |
I agree with Dan. When I read a negative experience such as Chris', I take note. We won't be renting from Island--although many of you have had great experiences with the company. Why risk ruining a great vacation?? We are using Budget and I'll have my digital camera charged and ready!!
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By Chris Greb (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #10) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 12:30 am: |
Gina - Be sure and check the bumpers and under the car as that is where they said my damage was. Have fun in Bonaire, it is one of my favorite places to dive and have fun. Another idea, as Jim said above, is that if you arrive at night take a cab to your hotel and return in the morning in the daylight and inspect your vehicle in the light.
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By Gail T. (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2150) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 1:22 am: |
Ron Gould - you posted 'You were there on the Initial inspection! If you didn't catch the crease at that time then more then likely it wasn't there. Take the time to do a complete inspection and avoid this problem in the future... Ron'
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By Ron Gould (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #929) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 9:30 am: |
GAIL, THE TRUTH HURTS! It is our own resposibility to handle rental agreements no matter how tired we are! Chris has already made the statement that she will not rent from anybody on the Island again! She will become a USER and leave the responsibility to someone else! NO I don't feel sorry for you or anyone else who lets people take advantage of them.
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By Gail T. (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2151) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 9:48 am: |
Enjoy your day of perfection, Ron.
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By Ron Gould (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #930) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 9:53 am: |
It is spelled "RESPONSIBILITY" not perfection...
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By Chris Greb (BonaireTalker - Post #11) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 11:22 am: |
Gail - Some people are sure full of themselves. Because I was tired and did not make a complete bumper to bumper inspection that makes it OK for a company to run a scam on tourists. I THINK NOT!! However I have found that some people on this website seem to go over the edge if you do not completely agree with them.
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By Chris Greb (BonaireTalker - Post #12) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 11:35 am: |
Ron - I do not think taking cabs where I want to go qualifies me as a "USER".
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By Chris Greb (BonaireTalker - Post #13) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 1:09 pm: |
I am a 69 year old woman still diving and carry my own gear and never ask anyone for help. I am very proud of being totally independent and do not appreciate some of Ron's comments.
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By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5440) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 1:21 pm: |
HI Chris, I am just getting to reading this thread and want to say how sorry to hear what happened to you with Island Rental. Thank you for posting your experience and hopefully Patrick will realize he might be wrong on this one. I do not use Island Rentals, I have my own truck on island when I go there, so no affiliation with them.
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By Ron Gould (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #931) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 1:33 pm: |
Debbie, I don't want to sound mean. We all have to pay for our mistakes(in some ways)and it bothers me when people try to blame things on others. It is what it is and sobbing won't change anything...
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By Gail T. (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2153) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 2:39 pm: |
Ron, I held you up in prayer this morning at the 10:30 service, to lighten your heart a bit. I have never met you, but you appear on line to be a very hard, unhappy, unforgiving person. I hope you felt some peace earlier today.
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By Chris Greb (BonaireTalker - Post #14) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 2:53 pm: |
Ron - I do not think trying to warn others of a problem business can be classified as sobbing or blaming others. Why are you so angry?
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By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5442) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 4:23 pm: |
O.K., I know I am coming in on this one a little late in this thread, but it is obviously a "she said, he said" issue and no one really knows exactly what really happened except all those involved.
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By Chris Greb (BonaireTalker - Post #15) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 4:39 pm: |
Debbie - Thank you for your message. I was just trying to warn people to be careful when renting a vehicle in Bonaire. I did not expect to start World War III with anyone. I hope this will be the end of all this rancor and anger as I do not think that is what this website is about.
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By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5443) on Sunday, June 17, 2007 - 4:55 pm: |
Hi Chris, I don't think there is any WW III going on here, just differences of interpretation of things, that's all. I am glad to hear you will return to Bonaire and I wish you many more years of diving. Ron really is a sweet guy, he has a right to say his opinion as I do mine and you do yours. We don't always agree here on BT, but that's o.k., if we did, then we would be oh, so boring.
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By Ted I (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #10) on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 1:53 am: |
"No repair bill or any proof of even an estimate was ever sent. (How hard can it be to dummy up a cost estimate?)"
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By Ted I (BonaireTalker - Post #11) on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 2:25 am: |
"I rented with Budget and received a totally serviceable truck. A well used, well worn, well scratched and rusted truck. Just the same, when I returned the truck the inspector went over it like it was a show room model or as if she owned it herself. Because of the warning, I was prepared and had made note of all the flaws first.
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By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5446) on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 10:51 am: |
Hi Ted I, Didn't mean to neglect your post, actually I only was commenting on Chris's posting as that was what I read. I have now read yours too, yes, it is a bit alarming reading about two bad incidents with above said company in the same thread. That said, I can say that even though I have my own truck on island, I have dealt with "other" rental agencies for many years and have not had any bad experiences with them. I do not believe that this is a normal happening with rental agencies on island. I know that does not make you feel any better and I am so sorry to hear what happened to you. After reading this whole thread now, I have these visions of folks taking cam corders and cameras for inspections when picking up their rentals. Certainly not an ideal visual for sure. Thanks for posting your experience here, have you emailed Patrick or your contacted your credit card company for a detailed invoice of damages from Island? If you were charged, and paid for it, you have a right to the bill. Your credit card company would not pay for something without a bill of said damage. I do believe that since you were not on island physcially, that the bill would have been sent to your credit card company, not you.
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By Chris Greb (BonaireTalker - Post #16) on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 11:14 am: |
Hi Debbie - When we rented the vehicles Island Rental made us sign credit card slips for the $565 deductible and said we would get them back when the vehicles were returned (of course they refused to return them). Our credit card companies said as long as Island has a signed credit card slip there is nothing they can do about it. I requested an invoice from Island and got a piece of paper with hand written "Damage to truck $200" which of course is easy for anyone to fake. In the end the final word we got from Patrick was "Too bad, sh*t happens".
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By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5452) on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 1:01 pm: |
Chris, It is standard procedure for all rental companies to have you sign a credit card slip when you pick up your rental and it is "normally" returned to you when you return the truck/car and is used only if the vehicle is not returned with the same amount of gas it was given to you or damage to vehicle. That much is on the up and up. However, Chris, if you really feel you were taken advantage of, then please, put it in writing to your credit card company and contest the charges. I am a stickler for the principle of things, and if you, yourself know that this is bogus charge, then don't believe a voice on the phone from the credit card company, you have rights and I know many people who have had a problem with a purchase or rental and even with a signed credit slip on file, they have contested the charges and won. Time consuming, sure, but since you say you have been fighting this since March, seems you have the stamia for such a thing. Every credit card company has policies for such a thing and if you kept all your paperwork updated in that regard, then read through it and see what you have to do to dispute it. Talking to a person on the phone is not considered letting the credit card company know officially, so it may be, in fact, too late from the date it happened to officially dispute. They all have rules as to how long after you receive a bill and have a problem with the charge to dispute, doing so in writing, certified mail leaves no doubt as if they received it, or time frame either. You are off island now, the only way to get your money back is through your credit card company. Posting here on a public forum is good to let people know what happened to you, but I wouldn't waste anymore of your time with Patrick. He has already decided there was damage and billed you. Your next step would be to dispute it through your credit card company officially. A phone call is not good enough. The person on the other end of the line is not always the best one to discuss theses things with as you can call the same company with the same question and get three different answers to that same question. Had it happen to me. Some people just blow you off with can't do anything as they are too lazy to investigate your question further or don't really care. Good luck with your credit card company.
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By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5453) on Monday, June 18, 2007 - 1:35 pm: |
One more thing to add, and I will address this one to Ted I: As Julia, our BT pointed out way earlier in this thread, "if you have had problems we really are interested but you have to be able to back up your claims. The moderators have no connections to any of the companies in Bonaire so your posts will be treated with impartiality, we don't want you to feel under attack."
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By Ted I (BonaireTalker - Post #12) on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 - 6:41 pm: |
Debbie, thanks for your response. I contested the charge with my credit card company immediately, on the basis that Island owes me substantiation for the loss being at least $565. As I believe your post above agreed, I deserve something more than Patrick's word. When I get a response from the credit card company, I will copy the mods and anyone else that sends me a PM request. Hmmm.....I wonder how much more there is to learn from all this.
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By Jack van Vliet (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 6:59 pm: |
Island Rentals IS a scam! I live in Bonaire, and our company frequently rents cars for visitors. We agreed a corporate rate with Island rentals, established an account, arranged speedy collect and drop-off procedures.
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By Chris Greb (BonaireTalker - Post #17) on Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 10:17 pm: |
Thank You Jack! I was beginning to get the feeling that just because I cannot produce paper work (which Patrick refused to give me) that the others do not believe that this happened. I am really upset that I could not get anywhere with this with my credit card company or Patrick and because I was a first time contributor to this site that I was automatically disbelieved. I am sorry to hear that you had a bad experience but, grateful that there is someone who agrees with me.
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By Ted I (BonaireTalker - Post #14) on Thursday, October 18, 2007 - 3:11 pm: |
Well, wonders never cease, U.S. Bank just refunded the full $565 deposit against Island Car Rentals. No details as to how that all went down; whether they asked nicely, or whether they broke Patrick's knees or whether the gave up and paid me just to drop the whole thing and keep me satisfied. I just might ask, but I'd guess they want that to be their business secret.
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