I don't bother with the insurance in the US. DR is a different story.. I prefer to avoid any nonsense.
As I said in my intial post, I am paranoid when it comes to liabilities.
- Thread starter nyc dad
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Car rental accident
I don't bother with the insurance in the US. DR is a different story.. I prefer to avoid any nonsense.
As I said in my intial post, I am paranoid when it comes to liabilities.
I don't bother with the insurance in the US. DR is a different story.. I prefer to avoid any nonsense.
As I said in my intial post, I am paranoid when it comes to liabilities.
You want to hear some of the horror stories of foreigners renting a car in the US, from reputable companies? Just let me know...
Always get full coverage when renting a car, always do the walk-around, and always have them put down the smallest of scratches...
This is not only a DR-problem, it is a world-wide problem
BelgianK
You want to hear some of the horror stories of foreigners renting a car in the US, from reputable companies? Just let me know...
Always get full coverage when renting a car, always do the walk-around, and always have them put down the smallest of scratches...
This is not only a DR-problem, it is a world-wide problem
BelgianK
First of all there is not that many second hand rental companies in the USA, unlike other places. When people from other countries enter the USA 99.9% rent at the airport.
When you rent a car at a major car rental they ask you MANY times to take the FULL coverage, ESPECIALLY if they do not have a american driver license.
The problems comes when they try to explain the rental agreement to foreigners, and the foreigners have no CLUE what they are signing, because they would rather take the cheapest insurance offered.
If you rent a car with any major company around the world and you try to save some bucks" your rolling the dice"
BTW the USA has the best customer service on the planet in this industry CAR RENTALS no one comes close.
Watch the guy when he checks the car both leaving and returning it. I had a guy who I believe keyed mine to try to get a propina out of me. He said he'd overlook it if I gave him the tip, which I said was in my bags already inside. Once I got the paper I went straight to the checkout and ignored the guy. Not a bad idea to take pictures also.
I learned the hard way that CDW (collision damage waiver) is not the same USA/Europe as it is in the DR. When I first came to live to DR, I rented a car from Alamo, and unfortunately had a rear fender-bender hitting a car in front of me (it was raining and the drive in front of me stopped abruptly). Anyway, I was hit with a US$700 deductible which was deducted from my VISA debit card, which I later disputed and won. During that time I learned than in the DR, the CDW you BUY at the counter usually carries a 500 to 700 USD deductible, and they have $0 deductible super-CDW which costs about the same as regular CDW but they don't tell you about it (they also do not mention the deductible even though it's written in the contract with fine print). I guess in my dispute with CC company I was lucky that the rental company either did not respond to the merchant documentation request or when the bank was reviewing the contract it saw I had CDW and didn't notice the deductible. But I guess, by finding out about the "Dominican ma?ana" the rental company did not respond to CC company documentation request.
I learned the hard way that CDW (collision damage waiver) is not the same USA/Europe as it is in the DR. When I first came to live to DR, I rented a car from Alamo, and unfortunately had a rear fender-bender hitting a car in front of me (it was raining and the drive in front of me stopped abruptly). Anyway, I was hit with a US$700 deductible which was deducted from my VISA debit card, which I later disputed and won. During that time I learned than in the DR, the CDW you BUY at the counter usually carries a 500 to 700 USD deductible, and they have $0 deductible super-CDW which costs about the same as regular CDW but they don't tell you about it (they also do not mention the deductible even though it's written in the contract with fine print). I guess in my dispute with CC company I was lucky that the rental company either did not respond to the merchant documentation request or when the bank was reviewing the contract it saw I had CDW and didn't notice the deductible. But I guess, by finding out about the "Dominican ma?ana" the rental company did not respond to CC company documentation request.
If you are going to use the cc coverage you can not use the rental car ins at the same time.
Avoid Europcar at all expense! They robbed me the first and only time I rented from them and I got no help from their home offices. My credit card company ended up giving me 50% of the fraudulent charges back on my card.
Use Avis or Hertz. Much more professional.
Use Avis or Hertz. Much more professional.
I was involved in two accidents in DR. The first accident was a scratch on the side of the car in 2004. I was able to pay Payless $40.00 and sign some paperwork and I was free. The second accident was in 2005. A truck driver hit the car on the left fender and it was totally smashed. I filed a police report but, it takes the police in Sosua two days to finalize and receive the report and I was flying out the next day. So I was unable to give National the accident report. Upon returning the car, National charged my card $300.00 . Now, to file a claim with visa you need receive paperwork from National in the Capital which they never supplied. So, the $300.00 satisfied National?s claim.
In 2007, Advantage rental at SDQ refuse to rent a car to me because I would not buy their insurance although I was renting the car with a Platinum card. Avis will rent you a car with a credit card that covers car rentals. Avis loss damage wavier is $21.95 a day and if Liability insurance it is an additional $13.00 a day. I would suggest if you have an AMEX card use their ?Premium Car Rental Protection? it?s only $24.95.
In 2007, Advantage rental at SDQ refuse to rent a car to me because I would not buy their insurance although I was renting the car with a Platinum card. Avis will rent you a car with a credit card that covers car rentals. Avis loss damage wavier is $21.95 a day and if Liability insurance it is an additional $13.00 a day. I would suggest if you have an AMEX card use their ?Premium Car Rental Protection? it?s only $24.95.
Several years ago I rented a car through Hertz in Sango Domingo. When I returned it several days later at the airport they said there was a small scratch on the front window. They wanted me to sign a blank recipet, and would later charge my CC when the amount needed to fix the window became apparent. I said hell no and refused to sign anything and left. I then immediately called and flied a complaint with my CC American Express.
Short version was Hertz tried to charge me $600.00 for a scratch the size of a small seed (sunflower seed without the outer crust). American Express fully backed me and I did not have to pay anything.
Additonal info: I opted out of any kind of additional insurance with Hertz.
Short version was Hertz tried to charge me $600.00 for a scratch the size of a small seed (sunflower seed without the outer crust). American Express fully backed me and I did not have to pay anything.
Additonal info: I opted out of any kind of additional insurance with Hertz.
I avoid Europcar and National I think they are the same company. My AMEX card was cloned and use in Texas to buy gas. It had to be the guy who checked me in POP. He wrote all numbers that was on my credit card. I filed a complaint to Europcar head office and received no response. A couple of month later I went back to POP and the same guy was still working at the Europcar counter. Now, I rent from Avis. I will pay the extra cash.
A friend rented from one of the big chains and when he arrived in DR they told him that they ran out of vehicles... WTF??? That does not happen at smaller places where the owner is an active involved owner.
That doesn't strike me as odd.... running out of product.
It happens with airlines all the time.... overbooked, sorry, no seat for you.
That doesn't strike me as odd.... running out of product.
It happens with airlines all the time.... overbooked, sorry, no seat for you.
Exact same thing happened to me at SDQ airport. Just so happened I had my mom with me for a visit. She stressed completely when they said the Avis guy went home because they didn't have a car for us. Fortunately, the other guys did.