On our last trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, we decided to try out this new option that was being offered by Orbitz. We usually go with Budget but considering this was an emergency trip we decided to go with the cheapest one in order to save some money. The description about the company was kind of vague but considering what I just said, it was worth a shot.

Huh... not quite!

First of all, beware that they do NOT have shuttles coming in or out of the airport like a normal rental company. They say on the Orbitz info that they are less than 5 minutes away from the airport and that you need to call them and schedule a pickup. Well, little did we know, it was on the 4th try that finally someone answered the phone. After being on hold for almost 10 minutes, the rep told us to wait 5 minutes for the shuttle. Huh! Sure! It was actually 23 minutes (and remember, PR is on the Caribbean and temperature was only 102F) waiting on the terminal for the shuttle to arrive. After it pulled up, I had to look at the guy to actually get him off the seat and help us with the bags. We jumped in and after about 10 minutes we got to the office only to find out that the wait was the not-so-bad part of this already growing nightmare.

Their "fleet" was actually composed of nearly 7 cars. The rep at the counter didn't have any problems pulling up our reservation but didn't bother to explain how the rental process works or the actual fees. I had to ask if it was only going to be the $44 we agreed on the reservation but of course... that was NOT the case. He was so ready to charge my credit card a deposit fee for $500. Now, I don't know what you may think dear reader, but on this date and time, what rental company still charge a deposit fee? And okay, probably there's a couple of companies that still do, but a $500 deposit fee? No sir, I'm sorry... If you ask for a credit card, you know (being a knowledgeable car rental company) that most of them offer insurance protection.

But I don't know about you, but I don't want somebody just taking $500 out of my credit card to just "hold it". I remember there was a point in time where this was the norm, but not anymore.

Anyway, we simply told the guy that this was nonsense and to please take us back to the airport. Wait 5 minutes. There's the driver! All in all, almost an hour of waiting and asking and waiting a little bit more for nothing. When we got back to the terminal, we jumped in a Budget shuttle in a flash. It actually cost us $30 more but heck, in less than 5 minutes we were driving out the lot with a car! Ain't that the main objective of paying somebody an exhorbitant daily fee for a car that has only about a $200 monthly note payment on it?

Don't you think?



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