Seems like a lot of talk lately about rental agencies. Thought I would share our experience. We landed on a Sat. I am in charge of luggage while wife runs to Avis to get vehicle. She said she was 1st in line from our flight. 6 people were ahead of her from previous flight (airport was empty so they had been on the ground for a while). Luggage took about 30 min, I bag dragged over to Avis. And waited. And waited. Line is very long by now, 2 people working. Plane landed at 1:40, finally got out truck at 3:35. We reserved a extended cab, got a regular cab diesel. Only 1/4 tank of diesel. Hmmm…..seldom do rentals have so little fuel, wonder why. Screw it I wasn’t wasting another 2 plus hours. Truck has been ridden hard, but it’s a truck I can live with rattles and stuff.
Sunday, unable to dive we drove around island just seeing what’s new. It’s now 3ish so we stopped by gas station near airport. We are on 1 bar. They are out of diesel! We have been on 1 bar for a while. Screw it, we went over to Avis to get what we paid for. Explained that we are out of fuel and service station had no fuel. Told that we would be charged $15 per liter for the 1/4 of a tank. We spent another hour there; begging, pleading, groveling trying to understand why with 14 other trucks in their lot they could not provide us with the truck we paid for. We were told to come back tomorrow.
Hmmmmm….. wonder how much Avis made off the nearest gas station being out of fuel on that day? Inquiring minds want to know.
By now not a happy camper. Was told the other station on island diesel. We did get directions to other gas station, (turn left at yellow building, next right at house that had goat in front yard, left before the grey donkey.)
Found other gas station. We are now on “walk”. It is now 5:15 and unmanned. Only way to pay is with a Bonaire bank card which we don’t have. No gas, no way to get home. Bribed someone to put in $40 of diesel for $60 to get home.
We use Bonaire Pros to book our trip. Sent Andrew an email on Sunday evening. Received a response almost immediately even being Sunday evening. He copied a response to the manager and owner of Avis.
Monday we returned to Avis. They had a truck for us. Looking at rental agreement and it clearly stated that trunk (tailgate) did not work. I ask they said it was fixed. It wasn’t. Went back inside and were allowed to wait while they found a service tech who took apart the tail gate for repairs. Another hour wait while we looked at trucks on the lot. Wonderful way to spend a dive vacation.
Looking over truck there was a busted leaf spring (drivers side) and a huge cig burn in seat….we took videos.
Andrew from BonairePros took absolutely great care of us. Credit for the incorrect vehicle (I know minor money but it’s th principle). Follow up emails to ensure we were taken care of.
I won’t go into all the emails and discussions between Bonaire Pros and myself but suffice to say it was handled FAST and professionally. This is the only vacation we’re we book through a travel agency and glad we did.
I will never use Avis again. Andrew from BP was a great help and will use in the future.
B
Sunday, unable to dive we drove around island just seeing what’s new. It’s now 3ish so we stopped by gas station near airport. We are on 1 bar. They are out of diesel! We have been on 1 bar for a while. Screw it, we went over to Avis to get what we paid for. Explained that we are out of fuel and service station had no fuel. Told that we would be charged $15 per liter for the 1/4 of a tank. We spent another hour there; begging, pleading, groveling trying to understand why with 14 other trucks in their lot they could not provide us with the truck we paid for. We were told to come back tomorrow.
Hmmmmm….. wonder how much Avis made off the nearest gas station being out of fuel on that day? Inquiring minds want to know.
By now not a happy camper. Was told the other station on island diesel. We did get directions to other gas station, (turn left at yellow building, next right at house that had goat in front yard, left before the grey donkey.)
Found other gas station. We are now on “walk”. It is now 5:15 and unmanned. Only way to pay is with a Bonaire bank card which we don’t have. No gas, no way to get home. Bribed someone to put in $40 of diesel for $60 to get home.
We use Bonaire Pros to book our trip. Sent Andrew an email on Sunday evening. Received a response almost immediately even being Sunday evening. He copied a response to the manager and owner of Avis.
Monday we returned to Avis. They had a truck for us. Looking at rental agreement and it clearly stated that trunk (tailgate) did not work. I ask they said it was fixed. It wasn’t. Went back inside and were allowed to wait while they found a service tech who took apart the tail gate for repairs. Another hour wait while we looked at trucks on the lot. Wonderful way to spend a dive vacation.
Looking over truck there was a busted leaf spring (drivers side) and a huge cig burn in seat….we took videos.
Andrew from BonairePros took absolutely great care of us. Credit for the incorrect vehicle (I know minor money but it’s th principle). Follow up emails to ensure we were taken care of.
I won’t go into all the emails and discussions between Bonaire Pros and myself but suffice to say it was handled FAST and professionally. This is the only vacation we’re we book through a travel agency and glad we did.
I will never use Avis again. Andrew from BP was a great help and will use in the future.
B
