Dollar Car Rental - Warning

I have rented with Dollar Car Rental at the Cancun Airport for about 5 years. Alwasy very happy. I even got to know the people there. However on our trip last month they informed me that they have started a new policy. They now require you to pourchase collision insurance. For my 1 week rental it came to $150.00. Even though I have never bought this in the past as I have my own insurance. I even have a letter from AAA stating I was covered. They said all of ther rentals now require this insurance.... no exceptions. It is only liability. It dont even cover their vehcile. That is extra. When I didnt want to pay it..... He said oh well good luck finding another car on a Saturday night. Since I have a family of 6 and need a mini van I didnt want to chance walking away.

Then since i did not want the full coverage on the rental car..... they are now required to place a $4,000.00 hold on your credit card...... CRAZY!

When I returned the car the wanted to bill me in Pesos. He said that is the only way they can do it. My total was $650.00 for the week. He wanted to charge me $11,700.00 pesos. The exchange rate everywhere was 12 to 1. He said they have their own exchange rate. It was 18 to 1. I argued with him for about 30 minutes. He said I had to pay it or he would call the police. So I had to pay it......

So I had a confirmation printed that stated $500.00 for the week. Then they tacked on the $150.00 for insurance. That was $650.00. After their exchange rate scam my credit card was billed $975.00.

I just wanted to warn everyone. They have turned into crooks.

 

You actually have no right to complain for a few reasons even though you used Dollar befor they changed the policy on the insurance. They are now like everyone else and you have no out on this. Even if you found another car at another rental co they would still charge you the insurance. That is the way it is now. So that part fort about. And the fact they charged you in pesos is ok since that way you get the bank rate for the exchange. Again they do not have to charge you in Dollars since you are in Mexico.

So ultimately live with it, and in the future if you are friendly with the $ people perhaps they will give you a free upgrade. By the way if you had a mini van for a week for $975 you did pretty well so overall I would not complain.

 

None of that response makes sense.

Is this just a Mexican policy? I rented from Dollar very recently in the USA and wasn't told there was a mandatory insurance purchase.. my car insurance from Canada was sufficient.

If the guy stated that he was quoted a total coming to $650US for the week and they don't even accept USD, then why quote it in USD in the first place?! And 18-1 is ludicrous.

And since when is $975 for a weeks rental of a minivan a good deal? I rented a full sized SUV in the states for a week for about $400.. From Dollar.

I think this guy has every right to complain.

 

Well I'm from Canada and You're have insurance for USA but no Mexico ( new policy ) it's clear black on white on the website of Canada border agency !


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That very well might be. And perhaps mikef should have looked into this. But the rest of his story seems like he was very much taken advantage of.

I'm not sure why someone would want to rent a car in Mexico anyway.. With the cost, the opportunistic police, the crazy drivers, etc.. But to each their own. His story is enough for me to never rent from Dollar again. I've started hearing of horror stories up here too.

 

If I had experienced what the OP did, I'd have felt roundly abused, just as he did.

 

Renting in the USA is different than Mexico. So different rules apply. Therefore the insurance may not be mandatory in the USA or any other country, but in Mexico that is the rule. So you live with it.

Why quote in US $ vs. Pesos? Simple if you look on line in Mexico on the Mexican site for Dollar rent a car than you will be quoted the price in Pesos. Outside of Mexico on a web site in the US or Canada you are quoted in your local currency to make it easier to understand what the rate is. If you were to further look at the rates, you would see that if you were to add insurance which was probably declined on line the rate would come to what was actually charged.

Finally what you pay to rent a certain car in one city will not mean you get the same rate in another city. Therefore what you pay in the US is not what you will pay in Cancun.

It is the way it is. So we the renters need to live with it if we MUST rent a car. But I do not know why one would need a car for the entire stay in Cancun, and that too is a valid question.

This is a battle the OP will not win. They will argue back and forth and at the end still will end up with the bill they paid. Be glad there was no damage to the car which would make them really upset.

 

This alone is enough to establish that they were overreaching and engaging in extortionate practices, especially when combined with this next little gem.

Whether the rental agent's conduct fairly represents what the company wants to be known for I cannot say, but I'm surprised anyone would try to defend this.

 

I am not defending the actions of the agents. I am only saying that this is the way it is. I know this is wrong but unless you change the entire system it will stay this way.