National Car Rental

Beware of this place. I had a terrible experience renting a car from this National Car Rental location at Playa Del Carmen, Mal País, Santa Teresa, CR. So many things were wrong with my reservation and the car that I rented. When I made my reservation in advance, I requested a Ford Bronco or similar. They gave me a Toyota Hillux, pick-up truck. I understood that that was the only car available so I accepted it, even though this is wrong. I am a smaller person and I wasn’t prepared to accept such a large car. When the employee showed me the car to confirm the existing damages, he quickly walked me around the car and showed me where the spare tire was and wheel lock and then let me go. When I started my trip and I was driving on the highway and I was close to Alejuela, San Jose at 10:30 PM, the same day I picked up the car, I felt the steering wheel become unstable and I couldn’t control the car. I almost crashed the car on the busy highway. Luckily I was able to pull over to the side of the highway and when I got out of the car, I saw that the front right tire had exploded. The tire light didn’t come on to warn me that there was something wrong. The tire was completely ripped apart. I had to call someone to change the tire late at night in the middle of the highway. It was pitch dark and felt completely unsafe for me. In the days after the tire was changed, no one from your business called to check if I was okay or to see if they could switch the car for me so I could continue my trip. I had to continue my trip with the spare tire. When I completed my trip, and I went to return the car at the same location, I explained the situation to the employee, Fabricio, and he told me that I’m responsible to pay for the new tire. He showed me the original piece of paper that said that they checked the tire pressure before I picked up the car and all tires had a tire pressure of 32 PSI according to the piece of paper he had. When the person came to assist and change the tire on the highway, I asked him to check all of the tires for the tire pressure because I was scared something could happen again. All of the tires had a pressure of 40 PSI or higher. That means that whoever wrote that on the original paper was lying. Your employee, Fabricio, wouldn’t let me leave your office until I paid for the new tire. The tire explosion is the responsibility of National, not me. I could have gotten injured or worse with your car. I should have never been charged for the tire. I already reported this to National over the phone and I’m still waiting for this to be resolved. I don’t recommend renting a car from this place. They are careless and they put their customers at risk and then try to make you pay for their mistakes, even though they put your life and other’s lives in danger.

Some months ago I was double charged for a reservation. Without asking, the employee behind the counter charged my credit card. I asked him to cancel the transaction so that I could be charged with my debit card instead. I paid with my debit card, and he told me it would take 2 to 3 months for the refund to appear on my Visa credit card. The refund never came and I was double charged hundreds of dollars. The company did not follow up or try to resolve the issue.

Didier helped me with everything and it was super easy. Thank you for the kindness! Thanks also Carlos.