Avis, thumbs down. BonairePros thumbs up!

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wildbill9

Contributor
Messages
652
Reaction score
511
Location
arkansas
# of dives
1000 - 2499
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
 
Thanks for sharing; good to know.

Only way to pay is with a Bonaire bank card which we don’t have.
I wondered whether that (a gas station not taking U.S. credit cards, if I understand correctly) was still the case (I encountered one in 2019). Do you recall the name of that gas station? It might be good for people to be aware. I started packing a decent-size amount of cash just in case I ran into that situation. Thankfully, Bonaco took my VISA just fine in Feb. 2022.
 
I would never recommend renting with Avis in Bonaire unless you are desperate for a vehicle. There is another thread on this but we will always use Bonaire Truck Rental - a local family owned business. They only charge $60 a day and that includes full CDW insurance, taxes and fees. They meet you at the airport to deliver the truck so no lines or waiting. Their trucks also include a mobile wifi router, 24/7 road service, second driver, etc. We just got an email about a discount they're offering on new rentals through August - $50 off on a 7 day rental or more with the code: BONSCUB22.
 
Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Avis. Thanks for letting us know about the quality customer service you received from Bonaire Pros. I have never used them personally, but I have benefited from their website, which has lots of great info!
 
I have also read a lot of complaints about them in some Facebook groups. Some of their clients put diesel fuel into a gasoline car tanks because the manuals they found in the glovebox say "Automotive Diesel" causing issues with the car and having to spend several hundred dollars required for cleaning the diesel from the tank and engine. Based on what I read there and here over the past several weeks, I would NOT use Avis in Bonaire even if it were for free.
 
Hey Wild Bill. Sorry to hear about this. I rented a truck from Avis in Jan to mid Feb. 6 weeks. They had the best price and I got a brand new truck. So I rented for 5 weeks this summer. Maybe I should change. I will give them another shot, but I am prepared, now that you opened my eyes. They sure have a nice big shop!
 
There are some smaller companies that have much better customer service (and need our money) a lot more than Avis - and they're cheaper. I'm obviously a big proponent of Daniel and his family at Bonaire Truck Rental but there are others...support local businesses.
 
Thanks for your report / warning. We have two weeks booked with Avis as part of our package with Bonairpros. We will keep a close eye on everything when we pick up at Avis.
We have had good luck with Bonairpros in the past and I am glad to hear they they stood behind you during your issues with Avis.
 
Thanks for your report / warning. We have two weeks booked with Avis as part of our package with Bonairpros. We will keep a close eye on everything when we pick up at Avis.
We have had good luck with Bonairpros in the past and I am glad to hear they they stood behind you during your issues with Avis.

Make sure that you don't put the wrong fuel into the car you rent, I have read lots of stories about this issue from people who were in Bonaire.
 
I have always used and always been extremely happy with 'island car rental' which is walking distance across the street from the airport. Always was a very tall dutch woman that worked there. Love that place.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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